Taekwondo, also spelled tae kwon do or taekwon-do, is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving punching and kicking techniques. The literal translation for taekwondo is "kicking", "punching", and "the art or way of". It sometimes involves the use of weapons.
Bruce Lee was a Hong Kong-American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that is sometimes credited with paving the way for the combat sport mixed martial arts (MMA). Lee is considered by some commentators and martial artists to be the most influential martial artist of all time and a pop culture icon of the 20th century, who bridged the gap between East and West. He is credited with promoting Hong Kong action cinema and helping to change the way Chinese people were presented in American films.
Samuel "Sammo" Hung Kam-bo is a Chinese actor, martial artist, film producer and director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a fight choreographer for other actors such as Jackie Chan.
Donnie Yen Ji-dan is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and action director best known for his martial arts films. He is one of the highest paid actors in Asia.
Tommy Tam Fu-wing, known professionally by his stage name Ti Lung, is a Hong Kong actor, known for his numerous starring roles in a string of Shaw Brothers Studio's films, particularly The Duel, The Blood Brothers, Clans of Intrigue, The Avenging Eagle, The Sentimental Swordsman and its sequel, as well as the classic John Woo film A Better Tomorrow and its sequel.
Albert Stotland Ruddy is a Canadian-American film and television producer. He is known for producing The Godfather (1972) and Million Dollar Baby (2004), both of which won him the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as co-creating the CBS sitcom Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971).
Stanley Tong is a Hong Kong film director, producer, stunt choreographer, screenwriter, entrepreneur and philanthropist.
Angela Mao Ying is a Taiwanese actress and martial artist who appeared in martial arts films in the 1970s. One of the most prominent martial artist actresses of her time, she is nicknamed "Lady Whirlwind" and "Lady Kung Fu". She was positioned as a female version of Bruce Lee.
Tzi Ma is a Hong Kong-American actor. He has appeared in television shows including The Man in the High Castle and 24, and films including Dante's Peak, Rush Hour, Rush Hour 3, Arrival, The Farewell, Tigertail, and Mulan. From 2021 to 2023, he starred in the American martial arts television series Kung Fu on The CW.
Chung Do Kwan, created by Won Kuk Lee in 1944, is one of the first of nine schools or kwan teaching Tang Soo Do. Later, the school began to teach what came to be known as taekwondo. This style of Tang Soo Do is known for its overall power and emphasis on kicks to the head.
Brian Medwin Trenchard-Smith is an English-Australian filmmaker and author, known for his idiosyncratic and satirical low-budget genre films. His filmography covers action, science fiction, martial arts, dystopian fiction, comedy, war, family, thriller, romance and erotica, and his works tend to be cross-genre pieces.
David Chiang Tai-wai is a Hong Kong actor, director, producer and martial artist. A well-known martial arts actor formerly from Shaw Brothers Studio in the 1970s, he has appeared in over 130 films and 30 television series.
Scott Edward Adkins is a British actor, film producer and martial artist. He gained prominence with his villainous portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006). He subsequently starred in its sequel Undisputed III: Redemption (2010), and Boyka: Undisputed (2017).
Rhee Jhoon-goo, commonly known as Jhoon Rhee, was a Korean-American taekwondo partitioner. He is widely recognized as the 'Father of American Taekwondo' for introducing this martial art to the United States of America, after arriving in the 1950s. He was ranked 10th dan, and held the title of Grandmaster.
Ip Man is a 2008 Hong Kong biographical martial arts film based on the life of Ip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun and teacher of Bruce Lee. The film focuses on events in Ip's life that supposedly took place in the city of Foshan during the Sino-Japanese War. The film was directed by Wilson Yip, and stars Donnie Yen as Ip Man, with martial arts choreography by Sammo Hung. The supporting cast includes Simon Yam, Lynn Hung, Lam Ka-tung, Xing Yu, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, and Tenma Shibuya. The film was a co-production between China and Hong Kong, and was the last film to be distributed by Mandarin Films.
Kenji Kazama is a Japanese. He played the henchman Spider who fought Fred Williamson in the 1973 action film That Man Bolt and he played Yokohama a mean and brutal Japanese official who fought Jhoon Rhee in the 1973 martial arts classic When Taekwondo Strikes. In 1974 he played the part of Senkaku Kan in the Sonny Chiba cult classic The Street Fighter.
When Taekwondo Strikes is a 1973 Hong Kong martial arts film directed and written by Feng Huang, and produced by Raymond Chow. The film is known for the collective martial arts experience of its cast and the high-quality fight choreography. The film stars an international cast of martial arts film actors, including Angela Mao, Jhoon Rhee, Anne Winton, Wong In Sik, Carter Wong, Kenji Kazama, Sammo Hung, Biao Yuen, and Golden Harvest producer Andre Morgan. This was Jhoon Rhee's only film, and Anne Winton's debut film.
The Man from Hong Kong, originally released in the US as The Dragon Flies, is a 1975 action film written and directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith in his directorial debut and starring Jimmy Wang Yu and George Lazenby, with Hugh Keays-Byrne, Roger Ward, Rosalind Speirs, Rebecca Gilling, Sammo Hung, Grant Page and Frank Thring in supporting roles. The first film to be made as an international coproduction between Australia and Hong Kong, it serves as a satire of the James Bond and Dirty Harry franchises, combined with tropes of the concurrent chopsocky craze. Its plot follows Inspector Fang Sing Leng (Wang) of the RHKPF's Special Branch, who travels to Sydney to perform an extradition, only to find himself locked in battle with Jack Wilton (Lazenby), the city's most powerful crime lord.
Ip Man is a 2013 Chinese television series romanticizing the life of Ip Man, a Chinese martial artist specialising in Wing Chun.
Anne Winton was an American ballerina, martial artist and film actress. Hailing from Brewster County, Texas, she starred in two films during the 1970s. Her first film was When Taekwondo Strikes (1973), which she co-starred in. She was the first Caucasian female martial artist to star in an Asian film production. Her second film was Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story (1974), opposite Bruce Li. She was murdered in 1982.
