Mature Talk: Li, Jet - (Great Kung Fu Asian Actor)

[HongKongDr]

NOTE: No one said that we could only post women!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Jet Li

AKA Lian Jie Jie Li
Born: 26 April 1963 (this makes him mature)
Birthplace: Beijing, China
Gender: Male
Religion: Buddhist
Race or Ethnicity: Asian
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor
Nationality: China

Executive summary: Kung fu action movie star

Most Americans first saw Jet Li as the bad guy in Lethal Weapon 4. After that, ads and reviews for his American films, like Romeo Must Die and Cradle 2 the Grave, touted him as "Lethal Weapon 4's Jet Li." But with his compact athleticism and a restrained, intelligent screen persona, Li offers a lot more than he was allowed to show Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.

His best films include the historical think piece Hero (made in 2002 and released in America in 2004), and such high-kicking chop socky classics as Legend of the Swordsman (1991) and Fist of Legend (1994).



As a young boy, Li was a prodigy in the "wu shu" martial arts discipline. He was one of a group of Chinese children who performed martial arts at the White House for President Richard M. Nixon in 1974.At one point, Nixon turned towards me and said, "Young man, your kung fu is very impressive! How about being my bodyguard when you grow up?" "No," I blurted out. "I don't want to protect any individual. When I grow up, I want to defend my one billion Chinese countrymen!" People were stunned. There was an uncomfortable silence. Nobody had expected me to give that kind of an answer -- least of all myself.Li won the Chinese Wu Shu Youth Championship in 1974, 75, 77, 78, and 1979. If his official biography can be believed, he would have been only 16 when he was featured as a fighting priest in the 1979 kung fu classic The Shaolin Temple.

That film made him a movie star in the far east, allowing Li to migrate to San Francisco in the late 1980s, and to Hong Kong in the early 1990s, where he signed with the legendary Asian action studio Golden Harvest, appearing in Once Upon A Time in China (1991) and its sequels.

Wife: Qiuyan Huang (actress; m. 1987, div. 1990, two daughters)
Wife: Nina Li Chi (actress, Inspector Pink Dragon; m. 19-Sep-1999, one daughter)
Daughter: Jane (b. 19-Apr-2000, to Nina)

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The official Jet Li website: http://www.jetli.com/

[HongKongDr]

JET LI -

Filmography


The following are pages with details on each of Jet's film projects. Click on a link to learn more.

1982

Shaolin Temple (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=1)1984


Shaolin Temple 2: Kids from Shaolin (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=2)1986

Shaolin Temple 3: North and South Shaolin (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=4)
Born to Defence (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=3)1988

Dragon Fight (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=5)
Dragons of the Orient (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=6)1990

Once Upon a Time in China
(http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=7)1991

Once Upon a Time in China 2 (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=8)1992

The Master (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=9)
Once Upon a Time in China 3 (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=10)
Swordsman II (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=11)1993

The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk / The Legend (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=12)
The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk II / The Legend II (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=13)
The Last Hero in China / Deadly China Hero (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=14)
The Kung Fu Cult Master (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=15)
The Tai Chi Master / Twin Warriors (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=16)1994

Li Lian Jie's Shaolin Kung Fu (Documentary)
The New Legend of Shaolin / The Legend Of The Red Dragon (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=17)
The Bodyguard from Beijing / The Defender (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=18)
Fist of Legend (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=19)1995

My Father Is a Hero / The Enforcer (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=20)
High Risk / Meltdown (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=21)1996

Dr. Wai in "The Scripture with No Words" (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=22)
Black Mask (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=23)1997

Once Upon a Time in China and America (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=24)1998

Hitman / Contract Killer (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=25)
Lethal Weapon 4 (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=26)2000

Romeo Must Die (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=27)2001

Kiss of the Dragon (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=28)
The One (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=29)2002

Hero (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=30)2003

Cradle 2 the Grave (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=31)2005

Unleashed (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=32)2006

Fearless (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=33)
Rogue (http://www.jetli.com/jet/index.php?l=en&s=work&ss=filmography&p=34)

[oldies8ladies]

Jet Li's (Childhood years) (Part 1).................

Li Lian-Jie (Jet Li) was born in Beijing, China on April 26, 1963.

He began to learn the fighting art of wu shu when he was eight. Because his father passed away when he was just two, Jet’s family consisted of his mother, two older sisters and two older brothers. He was the youngest. He was the smallest, so his mother never allowed him to go swimming or ride a bicycle. Any risky activity -- any kind of exercise that was even slightly dangerous -- was off-limits. While kids his age were out playing in the street, this docile little boy stayed inside. Even after Jet started going to school, he didn't know how to ride a bicycle. Everybody else was riding around, and he didn't learn until he was 14 or 15! Swimming, ice skating...these were all things that the other kids could do, but not Jet. His mother had said no, and he would never try it behind her back.

Jet Li started training in wushu during the summer of 1971. School had just adjourned for the one-month vacation and the authorities didn't want kids to run around on the streets because they had nothing to do. So they began to send the kids to what's now called the Beijing Sports and Exercise School. Students from all the primary schools in the area--there must have been 15 or so in that district alone--were sent there for a month of sports summer school. They divided the kids up randomly: 1st grade/class 1 was assigned to gymnastics; 1st grade/class 2 learned swimming, 1st grade/class 3 played soccer, 1st grade/class 4 started learning wushu, etc. Somehow Jet got assigned to the wushu class. He had no idea what wushu was--none of them did--but if the teacher told them to practice it, they had to practice it!

When school started again in the fall, almost all of the 1000 kids who had been learning wushu were "fired." That is, they were told that they didn't have to come back. For them, it was merely a fun summer experience that had come to an end. About 20 of them, Jet included, were told that they were to come back every afternoon after school to continue training. It became something of a point of pride for schools to boast how many kids had been chosen from their ranks. There were five or six from his school alone, but of them, Jet was the only first-grader. Being selected out of a thousand made a kid rather famous in his class. Everybody else might have been rejected, but that person was special!

After the novelty wore off, Jet began to realize that all of his classmates got to go home and play, but he had to go to another school for another gruelling two hours of lessons. He then began to rethink the glory of being “chosen”.

Soon, the training got more and more rigorous. When wintertime came, they had no choice but to practice outside, because they had no indoor facilities. Beijing's winters are very cold, and the children’s hands hurt constantly. Doing handslaps was a no-win proposition: if a student didn't slap hard enough to make a sound, he'd get scolded. If he did make a sound, it stung like mad!

A year passed. Jet turned nine years old and began preparing to attend his first competition. Actually, it was the first national wushu competition to be held in China since the Cultural Revolution in the 1960's. Technically speaking, since there would be no official placings or prizes, it wasn't even a standard competition--more like a grand demonstration of forms. Only a single award would be issued: the best performer was to be recognized for "Excellence." In spite of the lack of prizes, the best athletes from all over China were coming to perform.

The competition was to be held in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province. It was to be the first time Jet had ever left home--the first time in his life he had ventured out of Beijing. He was very excited about the prospect of riding the train. His mother, however, was heartsick at the thought of her baby going so far away from home. The morning that he was set to leave, she started weeping. He felt awful and offered not to go. But that wasn't possible either, so he went to Jinan and made a great effort. He ended up winning the award for Excellence.

After winning his first national competition, Jet was no longer required to attend school at all -- not even in the mornings! They asked him to move into the dormitory at the sports school. From that point on, he lived and trained there all week. He went home on Saturday, and returned to the dorms Sunday night. On Monday morning, the training would begin all over again.

The only word Jet can use to describe his training is "bitter." It was exceptionally harsh. There were about 13 students all trained under one coach. Every morning at 6 a.m., they would be awakened by a very loud bell. Their workouts usually lasted 8 hours a day. It was tough.

Even if a student had an accident it would not stop his training. Complaining about an injury would cause the coach to assign him some new hellacious set of exercises that made him wish he'd never spoken up in the first place. Say, for example, a student told him that he'd hurt his arm -- could he take a break from practice?

"Hmm," he would say. "You're right. You shouldn't overwork your arm. Why don't you work on leg exercises instead?" Two thousand kicks, or maybe five thousand stances. Whatever reason one came up with to shirk training, the coach was ready with ten alternatives to counter him. Complaining only made things worse and most of the trainees vowed to keep their mouths shut in the future.

One Monday, Jet returned to the school -- limping badly as he walked. Seeing the state of his leg, the coach set him to practicing upper-body exercises. Jet just stood there, facing the mirror, punching away dutifully. It just so happened that another instructor was visiting the class that day. He noticed him in the corner and stopped by to ask him why he wasn't training with the others. When he saw the big swollen “ham hock” that was Jet’s foot, the other instructor took his coach aside and said, "Maybe you should let this kid go to the hospital. This might be serious." When the X-rays came back, they showed that the bone had cracked clear through. Jet had been practicing on a broken foot for two days -- because he had been too scared to bring it up to anybody! That would count as his first major injury.

He was outfitted with a big plaster cast that pretty much immobilized him from the waist down. For the next few weeks, an older classmate would carry Jet on piggyback to the field every day. He would set him down, and he'd stand there practicing arm movements all day. One thousand, two thousand... No one was allowed to leave the training grounds -- that was the rule! When practice ended, the classmate would hoist Jet onto his back and carry him back to the dorms. That's how it was for several weeks as his leg healed.

In 1974, Jet was chosen for another special training course. Little did he know that the experience would eventually start changing the way he saw the world. The Chinese government was implementing a program to identify the finest young wushu athletes in the country. The process of selection took several months. A group of the students would train together for a while, and then the coaches would sift and screen out those who weren't good enough. This process was repeated over and over again, until they were satisfied with the team they had created. Thirty of them made the final cut.

Their first big assignment would be to represent China (and her 20 million wushu practitioners) on a goodwill tour of the United States. As you can imagine, it was a very significant visit. Sino-U.S. relations were still very touchy at the time.

In preparation for this visit to the West, they were put through an astonishingly detailed training course. Not just wushu training -- they were used to that by then -- but this time, they were required to learn the ins and outs of Western social etiquette. Their teachers also instructed them on the proper way to board a plane and sit quietly. They were taught the proper protocol for answering the telephone, how to listen and respond when an American asked a question, how they were expected to behave when surrounded by crowds, etc. Everything was so complicated. It took half a year, that etiquette training! And they had to learn all this in addition to all the wushu forms that they were expected to perform flawlessly.

The students were thrilled when the classes came to an end at last and they could set off on their goodwill tour. They would be visiting four cities in the United States: Honolulu, San Francisco, New York, and finally, Washington, D.C. From Beijing, they flew first to Hong Kong, then from there to Mexico, where they gave wushu demonstrations for half a month. Then they flew to Hawaii, setting foot on American soil for the first time.
At the time, Jet was growing up...and he was becoming mischievous. Lots of the other kids had been very naughty before they joined the wushu school, but gradually, the discipline had made them obedient. Jet was the opposite. He had been a very meek little boy, but as he grew older, he was becoming more playful – cheeky even. In fact, after being away from home for almost a month, he was starting to feel bolder and bolder about satisfying his curiosity.

Back in school, Jet had been educated to think: "China is good. Everything in China is good." and "The Western countries are decadent societies. Everything about America is evil." When he actually found himself walking around in this Western country however, he couldn't help but notice how different everything was from China -- and not necessarily in a bad way. None of the students dared say the words -- "Hey, it's pretty nice here!" -- but everybody was thinking it.

The last stop and climax of their U.S. tour was Washington D.C., where a select few from their team performed their wushu routines on the White House lawn. After the performance, they were introduced to the American dignitaries and posed with them for official pictures. As Jet remembers, President Richard Nixon stood with one of his female teammates, and Jet stood next to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. At one point, Nixon turned towards him and said, "Young man, your kung fu is very impressive! How about being our bodyguard when you grow up?"

"No, " Jet blurted out. "I don't want to protect any individual. When I grow up, I want to defend my one billion Chinese countrymen!"

People were stunned. There was an uncomfortable silence. Nobody had expected him to give that kind of an answer-least of all Jet. Kissinger was the one who finally broke the silence. "Heavens, such a young boy and he already speaks like a diplomat!" It wasn't until a few days later, when they were wrapping up their visit in the States with a dinner at the embassy that somebody showed them that their visit to the White House had made the New York Times, complete with picture and headline. The article described the entire exchange, and went on to wonder what kind of educational methods they were using in Red China if even the youngest representatives were trained to reply with such nationalist fervor.

The Chinese government, naturally, had no problems with the answer Jet had given President Nixon. They praised him highly. What a clever boy to give such a patriotic answer! Once again, he'd earned a perfect score.
The next year, China began preparations to stage its Third National Games. The National Games are like a domestic version of the Olympics; they include all competitive sports: swimming, gymnastics, track and field, and so on. They're held every 4 years – at least that was the theory. In the 25 years since the founding of New China, they'd only managed to hold it twice back in the 50's before the Cultural Revolution put everything on hold. So the 1975 National Games were only the third since Liberation - and the first since the Cultural Revolution. For the government, it was an extremely important event with great symbolism. The entire nation felt that way as well.

END PART ONE OF CHILDHOOD YEARS..................

Source Material: http://www.fightingmaster.com/actors/jetli/index.htm

[oldies8ladies]

Jet Li's Childhood Years (continued - Part two)

Again, Jet started to notice a shift in his training. The pressure began to increase. People had higher expectations of him because he'd just won the youth championship. Personally, he didn't think too much of it. He knew that there were plenty of other athletes who trained a lot harder than he did, especially the adults. But winning the youth championships had allowed him to "skip a grade" - that is, he became eligible to compete in the 18-and-over category. There he was, a 12-year old competing against people in their twenties and thirties. He started to feel intense pressure to represent himself well.

As the National Games approached, though, his coach suddenly stopped teaching him, and Jet didn't understand why. He began to seek out other distinguished wushu experts from all over China and ask them to instruct him. It was like being taught by a series of guest lecturers, and none of them were as strict as his own coach.

The mere sight of his coach could make him shivver. And not just Jet - all of the other students were very frightened of him. But these other masters weren't nearly so frightening. They worked with him very seriously, and explained things very clearly - why one should move like this, how to do this - but they didn't really punish him at all. It was definitely a change of pace. And he was the only one who was getting these special tutors. Everybody else still had to practice as usual.

In May of 1975, an important invitational tournament was held in Kunming, Yunnan Province, for participants from eight big cities. Essentially, it was an invitational for prominent athletes to test their skills against each other, a kind of prelude to the National Games. There were five events and Jet managed to win first place in each category. Things were going well.
But everybody's main focus was the National Games, which were being held in Beijing. You might say that they had entered their most anxious phase. Three days before the official start of competition, Jet was at the arena for the final qualifying round. Even though it was a preliminary round, he still had to take it seriously. That performance would prove to be a fateful one.
He stepped onto the carpet to start his sabre form. The very first move he made was an accident. He sliced himself with his broadsword and cut a big gash on the side of his head. Funny thing was, he had no idea...


His head felt very warm and wet, and he seemed to be perspiring heavily. The more he jumped and kicked, the more he seemed to sweat. Drops were running into his eyes, flying everywhere. “How strange,” he thought.
From a very young age, it had been drilled into him that he could not use physical pain as an excuse to affect his performance. Not even a broken bone could justify it - and under that logic, a little blood was no reason at all. The drive to continue performing was automatic. Years of inflexible training builds will; when you're truly tested, it serves you well. On the other hand, if you are always allowed to stop training whenever you feel discomfort, you will find it too easy to give yourself permission to quit.
So he finished his form, saluted, and ran off the platform. Three or four of his female teammates were standing there, and they were all crying. Somebody clapped a towel on his head. When he looked down, he saw that half of his uniform had been dyed red with blood. He was crimson from the shoulder down to the pant leg. When he saw all that blood, he let out a surprised little yelp. Almost fainted! They rushed him to the hospital, where he got stitched up. Then they took him back to the sports school to recuperate. His coaches told him that the final round was coming up in three days. But the doctor had warned him that under no circumstances could the stitches be removed before a full week had passed.

The day of the competition arrived. The doctor asked if they planned to keep his bandages on during his performance? No, he couldn't do that - it would affect his balance. Did he want to forfeit the competition? No, he didn't want to do that either. So he wore his bandages all the way to the competition arena. When he arrived, everybody was watching him very carefully.

At this point, the lessons he had learned three years earlier from training on the broken ankle served him well. He focused deep down. Nothing mattered except his form.

He walked up to the platform and ripped off the bandage. A nurse was standing by with disinfectant and a syringe. "Immediately after you finish," she told him, "come over here so he can clean your wound and cover it up again." The cut hadn't healed yet, and they were all afraid that the exposure to sweat and dirt might get it infected. Sure enough, as soon as he finished the form, he ran down, pulled down his pants to get an injection, then let the nurse sponge and re-bandage him!

His winning first place caused quite a sensation, because he was so young. He was only 12 years old, and the other two medallists were in their mid- to late twenties. During the awards ceremony, as he stood on the top step of the podium, he was still shorter than the 2nd and 3rd place medallists. It must have been quite a sight. The national anthem began to play. As he stood there, listening, he began to feel overcome with emotion. He hadn't really realized the impact of winning a national title the year before, when he was 11. This time, though, he suddenly wanted to start crying.

"This medal is for you, mom! You didn't raise me in vain! Without your sacrifices, I couldn't have made it to this point!" he thought. The events of the last few days - the injury, his mom's reaction, competing against the adults - all started swimming in the ocean of his mind, and his eyes filled with tears. Jet says he doesn’t remember ever feeling that way again, standing on a podium, but he certainly did that time.

He won a total of five gold medals in the national championships for 5 consecutive years, from 1974 to 1979. In 1979, Li received his highest achievement in martial arts when he was crowned Gold Champion at the Chinese National Martial Arts Competition. To this date no other man has won more titles. During this stage of his life, he acquired the nickname "Jet" for his blazing speed.

Source Material: http://www.fightingmaster.com/actors/jetli/index.htm

[OldiesLover]

Ahhhh... See, ya let some sexy lil babes in here... and look what happens.
A Thread for a Man! :eek:

Anyways... It's interesting. Carry on Ladies, but please warn us before you Post his nude pictures. :jk:

[xaltair]

Jet Li is cool but he needs to smile more! He looks too serious in the movies i've seen of him.

[oldies8ladies]

Ahhhh... See, ya let some sexy lil babes in here... and look what happens.
A Thread for a Man! :eek:

Anyways... It's interesting. Carry on Ladies, but please warn us before you Post his nude pictures. :jk:

Oldies3Ladies say:

HUMPH - HUMPH - HUMPH - HUMPH -

What ??????????????

You think we only want to look at NAKED MEN Bodies............ HUMPH.

There is much more to many wonderful ASIAN MEN who have done many wonderful things than NAKED BODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MEN.............humph...................this is NOT a hummmmmmmmmm!!!!!!

this is a HUMPH - PFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We post about men. Good Asian Men - NOT naked MEN ..

End of Point
Final Answer...............................pfffffffffffffftttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you - Blessings and light -

[oldies8ladies]

JET LI ESSAY

introduction to Tibetan Buddhism

What differentiates Tibetan Buddhism from the mainstream religion? Well, it's actually a hybrid or mixture of traditional Buddhist teachings with Indian yoga and tantra. These two aspects are very different from one another. The original teachings of Buddha, first off, are contained in scriptures called sutras. They are very traditional, in that they advocate renouncing the self-ego to the maximum extent possible. Desire is bad. Desire is the root of pain. Avoid extremes. Take the middle way. That is the traditional way of enlightenment.

Such a practice, however, might be difficult for many individuals, in a world so filled with material distractions and experiences.

So, Tibetan Buddhism figured out another method. It doesn't reject desire or ignore the ego altogether. Instead, it aims to purify our primal urges by using them to help attain spiritual development. Work with what we have, with what we are faced. This is an alternative way to enlightenment.

Source Material: Jet Li Official Website

[oldies8ladies]

essays

jet's teacher

Lho Kunsang might seem an ordinary man from Tibet.

Something from the very beginning, however, marked him out. He was born, as was told, in a holy province in Tibet. At the time of his birth, very bizarre phenomena were witnessed. A bucket of water turned, on its own, into milk. And witnesses reported strange glows of white light surrounding the site of his birth.

These were the first portents of his unusual state of being.

It was believed, quickly, that Lho Kunsang was the eighth reincarnation of a renowned Tibetan lineage. He was labeled, from early on, a Rinpoche, which is the Catholic equivalent of an abbot. This meant he would preside over the lives of monks in years to come.

The public's recognition of his special place in the world was heralded with great celebration. At the age of nine, he was enthroned in the Palme Gonpa monastery (that, to this day, exists, a holy sanctuary in need of repair).
His early teen years were spent mostly on study. Many great masters taught Lho Kunsang the essence of the Buddhist religion, as well as its incalculable branches, offshoots, and applications. In addition to his strenuous study of the religion, there were many other things to be learned: astrology, poetry, art, ritual performance, and the appropriate placement of religious structures. All these would eventually combine to help him fulfill an important mission of kindness.

With the advent of the Cultural Revolution, however, things were shaken out of frame. The Red Army initiated a frenetic nationwide campaign to kill culture. Scholars and their counterparts were imprisoned and sent to labor camp, if not executed. Books were burned. Everyone was closely censored, their movements and living patterns monitored as if in an experiment. The world, suddenly, clouded over.

Even Lho Kunsang could not extricate himself from the machinations of the Revolution. He was forced to endure great hunger, and had to work as a blacksmith, carpenter, and tailor. It became impossible to study anything during the day. Only when night rolled around could he find the time to study in secret.

At the same time, any religious relics or cultural artifacts deemed undesirable by the government were confiscated and destroyed. But Lho Kunsang could not let some of the relics left behind in destroyed temples go. Risking his life, he collected and hid precious sutras, Buddhist statues, and stupas. The punishment, if he were caught, was most likely to be death, if not incarceration. By the time the Revolution was over, the Rinpoche's salvaged collections were among the last surviving treasures of the religion.

Fortunately, with the end of the Revolution came a temporary peace. As time went on, Lhu Kunsang decided to learn the practice of Tibetan medicine, so he would be able to help others in distress. He studied under a great doctor (Bho Thupten) and trained in all aspects of Tibetan medicinal treatment, including acupuncture, cupping, bloodletting, and so forth.

The opportunities for medical aid were numerous. One day, while making a pilgrimage to a mountain temple, the Rinpoche chanced upon a father and son. The son was mute, and had been so his entire life even though the speech problem, as described by the father, was not a birth defect. None of the doctors they'd seen had been of any help.

But when the boy met the Rinpoche, he sensed something different. The Rinpoche walked with the boy, his arm resting on the latter's shoulder. Later, while they were resting, he took out a bottle of mineral water, said a mantra over it, gave it to the boy, and asked him to recite the Manjushri mantra. To the surprise of witnesses, the boy began vocalizing the mantra. The disease was cured. It might have seemed miraculous to the average layman, but to the Rinpoche, it was just a routine cold treated through a different and more spiritual channel.

Incidents as such were spread through word of mouth. The Rinpoche thus became known in other areas of the world, and invitations were issued for him to visit different countries, to add a golden touch to the existing circumstances. He went on a pilgrimage to Nepal and India. He visited Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and United States. In most places he left an indelible impression. Some diseases, both of the body and heart, were alleviated, if not healed. Bizarre phenomena occasionally punctuated his arrivals and stays. At a ceremonial gathering presided by the Rinpoche in Kuala Lumpur, observers reported sighting a strange star which exhibited different colors at once. Some said it had three colors. Others claimed it had five. There seemed to be a lack of consensus. Was this a freak of nature explainable by astrology, or something else of its own?

Even though the Rinpoche travels worldwide to spread his acts of kindness, his root and heart still lie back home. The Palme Gonpa monastery, in which he grew up and received most of his training, continues to hold a special place in his heart. The Rinpoche, for a long time, has hoped to revive the worn monastery, and has taken efforts to reinstate it to its former glory.

Two decades after the first initiative was spearheaded in 1979, that drive for reconstruction continues.

*Footnote - Lho Kunsang Rinpoche is often referred by his followers as His Eminence, an appellation signifying his important position in the religious hierarchy.

Source Material: Jet Li Official Website

[oldies8ladies]

essays

jet's philosophy

I began to be interested in philosophy around the age of 16. Why? Well, here I was with all these medals for wushu in several different categories. People kept calling me the "All-round Wushu Champion of China."

In Chinese, they were literally referring to me as: "all-capable." I thought I should live up to my title. If I was going to be truly all-capable, I would have to know everything. All I had to do was to learn what I didn't already know. As soon as I started learning, though, I realized I didn't know anything. "So I'm not all-around," I said to myself. "I'm not well-rounded enough." Now I knew there was a lot that I was not yet capable of--a lot I hadn't yet mastered.

Instead of learning everything, I decided, perhaps I should just start with wushu. Actually, there are just two main branches of wushu: the external and internal schools. As soon as you start getting into the details, you find that each style has its own theory. And as you chase down theory of each style back to its origin, you discover: to understand wushu, you have to begin not from the body--but from the mind.

You have to understand how this earth came into being. Where the cosmos came from. How all that evolved into the "ten thousand things"--the natural phenomena that we know today. Then you realize that that process of evolution is more than just a mathematical exercise. In fact, the relations between people, between societies, governments, armies, philosophies...none of it falls outside of this pattern.

All of it can be understood within this frame. You know that Chinese saying, "one insight, a hundred applications"? What it meant to me was that I could use this theory to analyze politics, economics, anything. That's when you realize that wushu not only benefits my body, but my life, my way of thinking, etc.

Daoists say: the world is empty. But what comes before this emptiness, or lack? Before absence, there must be existence. "Thing" comes before "nothing." Who could have created emptiness? Only somebody who knew what it meant to be full. Only after people "have" can they create a term for its opposite, "not having." Plentitude precedes deprivation...and follows it as well. Have, not have, have, not have...soon the back and forth between being and non-being creates a circle! And the circle is called taiji.

This is the basic principle. In the beginning, there is wuji, or absolute neutrality. Only from nothing is it possible for something to arise. Once you have, you have a circle. Then the circle becomes taiji. Taiji is nothing more than yin/yang. Everything comes in pairs--male/female, heaven/earth, mental/physical, hard/soft, fat/thin...and they are all balanced. Look at the yin/yang symbol. At its most primitive, it's just a male embryo and a female embryo. It really doesn't matter what the shape of the symbol is, as long as it is half/half.

One part yin, one part yang. Heaven/earth, male/female, big/small...what are these called in English? Dichotomies? Opposites? Anyway, they always come in pairs. They are always dual. Because nothing in nature is complete unto itself. The most beautiful flower may bloom exquisitely for a while, but within a few days it will wither and die. Nothing is perfect, or permanent. This is what Chinese culture says: if something were perfect, there would be no taiji. For every good, there is bad, and vice versa. Balance.

It all depends on how you look at things--your perspective. If you are looking at yang from yin's point of view, yang will seem very good, or very bad. Because that is the angle you're seeing from. From yang's standpoint, yin will look very different. All difference comes down to degree, not substance. Take trees, for example. We have a big tree and a small tree. The smaller tree bears less fruit and the bigger tree can provide us with more nourishment, but they're both trees. It's just a matter of size. Air is air, but people make differentiations between "good air" and "bad air."

Fresh air is "better" because it is constituted by a higher percentage of breathable air. Now, is smog really "worse," or does it just contain a lower percentage of clean air? Its essence--its "air-ness"--doesn't change; it's just a matter of degree. Another example: I'm a person, you're a person. Both of us make money.

One of us makes more. But neither of us is any less of a person because of that difference. Or take happiness. Buying a small computer makes you happy, but maybe I need a powerful Pentium to call myself truly content. The quality of satisfaction is the same, but the means of getting there is quantitatively different. Maybe Bill Gates has a much higher set of demands in order for him to feel happy.

The difference lies in degree.

Source Material: Jet Li Official Website

[oldies8ladies]

FEARLESS - (Great new movie with Jet Li)

Genres: Action - Drama - History -

Tagline: "Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself makes you fearless." - Lao Tzu

Plot Outline This film tells the story of Chinese Martial Arts Master Huo Yuanjia (1869-1910). Huo Yuanjia was the founder and spiritual guru of the Jin Wu Sports Federation.

Plot Synopsis: Already a boxoffice hit in Asia, Jet Li's Fearless, directed by Ronny Yu (helmer of the Hong Kong classic The Bride with White Hair), is Jet Li's final martial arts masterpiece, capping a tremendous body of work in that genre.

Jet Li's Fearless reunites the actor and martial arts superstar with producer Bill Kong (Hero) and action choreographer Yuen Wo Ping (Unleashed) as he portrays martial arts legend Huo Yuanjia, who became the most famous fighter in all of China at the turn of the 20th Century.

Huo faced incredible personal tragedy but ultimately fought his way out of darkness and into history, forever defining the true spirit of martial arts. His self-discovery, and the choices he made, inspired his nation. The son of a great fighter who did not wish for his child to follow in his footsteps, the bullied Huo Yuanjia resolves to teach himself how to fight - and win. Years of training enable him to ace match after match in his home region of Tianjin.

But as his fame as a martial arts master grows, so does his pride. After an ill-advised fight leads to another master's death, members of Huo's family are slain in revenge. Grieving and ashamed, Huo wanders the country in shock. Near death, he is rescued by women from an idyllic village, and is offered simple kindness and generosity that help him heal and regain his equilibrium over a period of several years.

Huo realizes that the future of martial arts lies in sportsmanship and not brutality, and he rejoins society to apply what he has learned. Returning to Tianjin, Huo takes steps to come to terms with his past and restore his family's name. His evolving, graceful Mizong (Missing) Fist method of fighting brings Huo renewed success, and he forms the progressive Jingwu Sports Federation. Taking note, duplicitous members of the Foreign Chamber of Commerce engineer a Shanghai tournament pitting Huo against four fighters, each representing the major foreign powers in China.

Huo commits to the bout and faces off against, respectively, a British boxer, a Spanish swordsman, a Belgian soldier, and a Japanese martial artist. What happened that day in 1910 has never been, and will never be, forgotten in China.

*************************************************************
Jet Li's Fearless

Jet Li's Fearless is only the latest of dozens of Asian films based on the life of Huang Yuanjia who, in 1910 restored China's national esteem. In the film, Huang has grown to be a glory-seeking, hard partying martial arts champion who is so taken with his fame that he is easily manipulated by would-be student and disciples - to the point of near-bankruptcy.

When he kills a rival martial arts master over a perceived injustice, - and after the master's son has slain his wife and daughter - he learns that the "injustice" was a lie, and drinks himself into a stupor before fleeing to an outer province. There, he is taken in by a blind farm woman and comes to learn what is really important in life - and comes to understand his late parents.
During the same period of time, China has become subservient to a coalition of foreign powers, including the Americans, the Germans, and the Japanese. Since his return, Huang has become a champion, again, but this time, one who is humble and eschews the party life. He comes to the attention of representatives of these when he defeats an American called Hercules O'Brien, and they challenge him to a series of four matches, all on the same day. He faces a boxer, a lancer, a fencer and a Japanese martial artist.

Huang's story is used as a vehicle to expound [without a trace of preachiness] Li's philosophy - the philosophy behind his martial arts skills: the more accomplished a fighter one becomes, the more he should become a peacemaker. That may be a bit of a simplification, but it is at the heart of Li's beliefs and makes the film something more than just another wushu movie.
Li shows that he's developed as an actor and his supporting cast is mostly excellent. Ronny Wu's direction is as crisp as it needs to be, and Yuen Wo Ping's choreography is extremely good. The only real problem is that Fearless covers ground that has been told many times, already. It's Li's passion that keeps the film from becoming maudlin, or too-over-the top - Li's passion that makes it worth watching more than once.

Source Material: Fearless

[oldies8ladies]

JET LI's PHILOSOPHY.................................

I began to be interested in philosophy around the age of 16. Why? Well, here I was with all these medals for wushu in several different categories.

People kept calling me the "All-round Wushu Champion of China." In Chinese, they were literally referring to me as: "all-capable." I thought I should live up to my title. If I was going to be truly all-capable, I would have to know everything.

All I had to do was to learn what I didn't already know. As soon as I started learning, though, I realized I didn't know anything. "So I'm not all-around," I said to myself. "I'm not well-rounded enough." Now I knew there was a lot that I was not yet capable of--a lot I hadn't yet mastered.

Instead of learning everything, I decided, perhaps I should just start with wushu. Actually, there are just two main branches of wushu: the external and internal schools. As soon as you start getting into the details, you find that each style has its own theory.

And as you chase down theory of each style back to its origin, you discover: to understand wushu, you have to begin not from the body--but from the mind. You have to understand how this earth came into being. Where the cosmos came from. How all that evolved into the "ten thousand things"--the natural phenomena that we know today. Then you realize that that process of evolution is more than just a mathematical exercise. In fact, the relations between people, between societies, governments, armies, philosophies...none of it falls outside of this pattern.

All of it can be understood within this frame. You know that Chinese saying, "one insight, a hundred applications"? What it meant to me was that I could use this theory to analyze politics, economics, anything. That's when you realize that wushu not only benefits my body, but my life, my way of thinking, etc.

Daoists say: the world is empty. But what comes before this emptiness, or lack? Before absence, there must be existence. "Thing" comes before "nothing." Who could have created emptiness? Only somebody who knew what it meant to be full. Only after people "have" can they create a term for its opposite, "not having." Plentitude precedes deprivation...and follows it as well. Have, not have, have, not have...soon the back and forth between being and non-being creates a circle! And the circle is called taiji.
This is the basic principle. In the beginning, there is wuji, or absolute neutrality. Only from nothing is it possible for something to arise. Once you have, you have a circle.

Then the circle becomes taiji. Taiji is nothing more than yin/yang. Everything comes in pairs--male/female, heaven/earth, mental/physical, hard/soft, fat/thin...and they are all balanced. Look at the yin/yang symbol. At its most primitive, it's just a male embryo and a female embryo. It really doesn't matter what the shape of the symbol is, as long as it is half/half. One part yin, one part yang. Heaven/earth, male/female, big/small...what are these called in English? Dichotomies? Opposites? Anyway, they always come in pairs. They are always dual. Because nothing in nature is complete unto itself. The most beautiful flower may bloom exquisitely for a while, but within a few days it will wither and die. Nothing is perfect, or permanent. This is what Chinese culture says: if something were perfect, there would be no taiji. For every good, there is bad, and vice versa.

Balance.

It all depends on how you look at things--your perspective. If you are looking at yang from yin's point of view, yang will seem very good, or very bad. Because that is the angle you're seeing from. From yang's standpoint, yin will look very different. All difference comes down to degree, not substance. Take trees, for example. We have a big tree and a small tree. The smaller tree bears less fruit and the bigger tree can provide us with more nourishment, but they're both trees. It's just a matter of size. Air is air, but people make differentiations between "good air" and "bad air.

" Fresh air is "better" because it is constituted by a higher percentage of breathable air. Now, is smog really "worse," or does it just contain a lower percentage of clean air? Its essence--its "air-ness"--doesn't change; it's just a matter of degree. Another example: I'm a person, you're a person. Both of us make money. One of us makes more. But neither of us is any less of a person because of that difference.

Or take happiness. Buying a small computer makes you happy, but maybe I need a powerful Pentium to call myself truly content. The quality of satisfaction is the same, but the means of getting there is quantitatively different. Maybe Bill Gates has a much higher set of demands in order for him to feel happy.

The difference lies in degree.

Source: Jet Li philosophy of his.

[dredd]

Jet Li is cool but he needs to smile more! He looks too serious in the movies i've seen of him.

he does smile quite alot
i love his character in fong sai yuk + the mother of course played by the super siew fong fong

interesting things you might not know, he was one of the survivors during the great catastrophe of tsunami that hit Asia on Boxing Day (26 Dec) 2004. When he noticed the tsunami coming in, he grabbed his daughter and ran to safety, due to his agility and awareness, he was not harmed. If not we would have mourned for a great loss

But then again, there was another program which a fortune teller predicted his fortunes. The fortune teller said that he would famous until the age of about 60+ (62/3 IIRC). What captivates audiences are his eyes, they are really lady killers.

[Blackfox]

Jet Li's Fearless

Jet Li's Fearless is only the latest of dozens of Asian films based on the life of Huang Yuanjia who, in 1910 restored China's national esteem. In the film, Huang has grown to be a glory-seeking, hard partying martial arts champion who is so taken with his fame that he is easily manipulated by would-be student and disciples - to the point of near-bankruptcy.

When he kills a rival martial arts master over a perceived injustice, - and after the master's son has slain his wife and daughter - he learns that the "injustice" was a lie, and drinks himself into a stupor before fleeing to an outer province. There, he is taken in by a blind farm woman and comes to learn what is really important in life - and comes to understand his late parents.
During the same period of time, China has become subservient to a coalition of foreign powers, including the Americans, the Germans, and the Japanese. Since his return, Huang has become a champion, again, but this time, one who is humble and eschews the party life. He comes to the attention of representatives of these when he defeats an American called Hercules O'Brien, and they challenge him to a series of four matches, all on the same day. He faces a boxer, a lancer, a fencer and a Japanese martial artist.

Huang's story is used as a vehicle to expound [without a trace of preachiness] Li's philosophy - the philosophy behind his martial arts skills: the more accomplished a fighter one becomes, the more he should become a peacemaker. That may be a bit of a simplification, but it is at the heart of Li's beliefs and makes the film something more than just another wushu movie.
Li shows that he's developed as an actor and his supporting cast is mostly excellent. Ronny Wu's direction is as crisp as it needs to be, and Yuen Wo Ping's choreography is extremely good. The only real problem is that Fearless covers ground that has been told many times, already. It's Li's passion that keeps the film from becoming maudlin, or too-over-the top - Li's passion that makes it worth watching more than once.

Source Material: Fearless

There's an error in the source material (http://dvds.eclipsemagazine.com/dvd_reviews/potpourri_jet_li_s_fearless_unrated_edition_the_wicker_man_2). It should be Huo Yuanjia 霍元甲 and not Huang Yuanjia 黄元甲.

[oldies8ladies]

Here are some various essays written by Jet Li (himself) about various thoughts:
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introduction to tibetan buddhism

What differentiates Tibetan Buddhism from the mainstream religion? Well, it's actually a hybrid or mixture of traditional Buddhist teachings with Indian yoga and tantra. These two aspects are very different from one another. The original teachings of Buddha, first off, are contained in scriptures called sutras. They are very traditional, in that they advocate renouncing the self-ego to the maximum extent possible. Desire is bad. Desire is the root of pain. Avoid extremes. Take the middle way. That is the traditional way of enlightenment.

Such a practice, however, might be difficult for many individuals, in a world so filled with material distractions and experiences.
So, Tibetan Buddhism figured out another method. It doesn't reject desire or ignore the ego altogether. Instead, it aims to purify our primal urges by using them to help attain spiritual development. Work with what we have, with what we are faced. This is an alternative way to enlightenment.

*******************************************************
*******************************************************
jet's teacher

Lho Kunsang might seem an ordinary man from Tibet.

Something from the very beginning, however, marked him out. He was born, as was told, in a holy province in Tibet. At the time of his birth, very bizarre phenomena were witnessed. A bucket of water turned, on its own, into milk. And witnesses reported strange glows of white light surrounding the site of his birth.

These were the first portents of his unusual state of being.

It was believed, quickly, that Lho Kunsang was the eighth reincarnation of a renowned Tibetan lineage. He was labeled, from early on, a Rinpoche, which is the Catholic equivalent of an abbot. This meant he would preside over the lives of monks in years to come.

The public's recognition of his special place in the world was heralded with great celebration. At the age of nine, he was enthroned in the Palme Gonpa monastery (that, to this day, exists, a holy sanctuary in need of repair).

His early teen years were spent mostly on study. Many great masters taught Lho Kunsang the essence of the Buddhist religion, as well as its incalculable branches, offshoots, and applications. In addition to his strenuous study of the religion, there were many other things to be learned: astrology, poetry, art, ritual performance, and the appropriate placement of religious structures. All these would eventually combine to help him fulfill an important mission of kindness.

With the advent of the Cultural Revolution, however, things were shaken out of frame. The Red Army initiated a frenetic nationwide campaign to kill culture. Scholars and their counterparts were imprisoned and sent to labor camp, if not executed. Books were burned. Everyone was closely censored, their movements and living patterns monitored as if in an experiment. The world, suddenly, clouded over.

Even Lho Kunsang could not extricate himself from the machinations of the Revolution. He was forced to endure great hunger, and had to work as a blacksmith, carpenter, and tailor. It became impossible to study anything during the day. Only when night rolled around could he find the time to study in secret.

At the same time, any religious relics or cultural artifacts deemed undesirable by the government were confiscated and destroyed. But Lho Kunsang could not let some of the relics left behind in destroyed temples go. Risking his life, he collected and hid precious sutras, Buddhist statues, and stupas. The punishment, if he were caught, was most likely to be death, if not incarceration. By the time the Revolution was over, the Rinpoche's salvaged collections were among the last surviving treasures of the religion.

Fortunately, with the end of the Revolution came a temporary peace. As time went on, Lhu Kunsang decided to learn the practice of Tibetan medicine, so he would be able to help others in distress. He studied under a great doctor (Bho Thupten) and trained in all aspects of Tibetan medicinal treatment, including acupuncture, cupping, bloodletting, and so forth.
The opportunities for medical aid were numerous. One day, while making a pilgrimage to a mountain temple, the Rinpoche chanced upon a father and son. The son was mute, and had been so his entire life even though the speech problem, as described by the father, was not a birth defect. None of the doctors they'd seen had been of any help.

But when the boy met the Rinpoche, he sensed something different. The Rinpoche walked with the boy, his arm resting on the latter's shoulder. Later, while they were resting, he took out a bottle of mineral water, said a mantra over it, gave it to the boy, and asked him to recite the Manjushri mantra. To the surprise of witnesses, the boy began vocalizing the mantra. The disease was cured. It might have seemed miraculous to the average layman, but to the Rinpoche, it was just a routine cold treated through a different and more spiritual channel.

Incidents as such were spread through word of mouth. The Rinpoche thus became known in other areas of the world, and invitations were issued for him to visit different countries, to add a golden touch to the existing circumstances. He went on a pilgrimage to Nepal and India. He visited Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and United States. In most places he left an indelible impression. Some diseases, both of the body and heart, were alleviated, if not healed. Bizarre phenomena occasionally punctuated his arrivals and stays. At a ceremonial gathering presided by the Rinpoche in Kuala Lumpur, observers reported sighting a strange star which exhibited different colors at once. Some said it had three colors. Others claimed it had five. There seemed to be a lack of consensus. Was this a freak of nature explainable by astrology, or something else of its own?

Even though the Rinpoche travels worldwide to spread his acts of kindness, his root and heart still lie back home. The Palme Gonpa monastery, in which he grew up and received most of his training, continues to hold a special place in his heart. The Rinpoche, for a long time, has hoped to revive the worn monastery, and has taken efforts to reinstate it to its former glory. Two decades after the first initiative was spearheaded in 1979, that drive for reconstruction continues.

*Footnote - Lho Kunsang Rinpoche is often referred by his followers as His Eminence, an appellation signifying his important position in the religious hierarchy.

[HongKongDr]

The Forbidden Kingdom is a forthcoming martial arts (adventure film) which is the first film collaboration between martial arts veterans (a) Jackie CHAN and (b) JET LI, with action choreography by Yuen Woo-Ping. Filming was completed on August 24, 2007 and it went into post-production on September 29.

As of April 2007 the film is officially titled The Forbidden Kingdom, before it had been often referred to as The J & J Project. Director Robert Minkoff (who previously helmed such films as "The Lion King" and the " Stuart Little " films) will be behind the camera. Film studios Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company will share distributing duties.

Cast

Actor Role

Jackie Chan: Lu Yan, the Drunken Immortal
Jet Li / Sun Wukong the Monkey King / Lan Cai He, the Silent Monk
Michael Angarano Jason Tripitikas
Liu Yi Fei Golden Sparrow
Li Binqbing White Haired Demoness
Collin Chou Jade Warlord

Pre-Production While the character "Sun Wukong" came from Wu Cheng'en's famous classical novel "Journey to the West", in an interview with Screen Power magazine, actor Collin Chou, denied that the plotline will be related to the novel.

The details of the plot were devised by screenwriter John Fusco along with actor "JET LI".

Jet Li explains,
“ The screenwriter is a good friend of mine and we have been sparring partners for the past three years. I was among the first to get hold of the story and later we were joined by Jackie and others. The screenwriter and I discussed how to turn the story into a fantasy and dream-like film. He is a superb screenwriter and has been learning Chinese martial arts for more than 10 years. He has roughly put across in the film some of my basic understanding of martial arts and principles of Buddhism ”

***********

The fight choreographer was Yuen Woo-Ping, he and Chan had not worked together in over 15 years, the last time being when Yuen worked as one of the action directors on " Twin Dragons". Filming continued at the Wuyi Mountains and at the Hengdian World Studios. Filming finished on 24 August, 2007.


Post-Production

Several teasers and trailers have been released to the web and the latest one currently places on the official site. There have also been many posters released, each showing one character from the film with their own distinct color background and tagline.

Source: Asian News 2008

NOTE: you can win a 5 day trip to china by going to: http://www.forbiddenkingdommovie.com/