Mark Alan Dacascos is an American actor, martial artist and television personality. He won numerous karate and kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Mani in Brotherhood of the Wolf, Toby Wong in Drive, Ling in Cradle 2 the Grave, the titular role in Crying Freeman and Zero in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
Romeo Must Die is a 2000 American action film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak in his directorial debut, featuring fight choreography by Corey Yuen, and starring Jet Li and Aaliyah. It follows a Chinese former police officer travelling to the United States in order to avenge his brother's death. He also falls in love with a rival mobster's beautiful daughter as they struggle together against both the Chinese and the American mobs. The film's plot is loosely related to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet but transplanted to contemporary Oakland, California, with the feuding families becoming African-American and Chinese-American gangs.
Cynthia Ann Christine Rothrock is an American martial artist and actress in martial arts films. Rothrock holds black belt rankings in seven styles of martial arts and was a high level competitor in martial arts before becoming an actress.
Martial Law is an American action-adventure comedy television series that aired on CBS from September 26, 1998, to May 13, 2000, and was created by Carlton Cuse. The title character, Sammo Law, is a Chinese law officer and martial arts expert who comes to Los Angeles in search of a colleague and remains in the United States.
Mark Joseph Salzman is an American writer. Salzman is best known for his 1986 memoir Iron & Silk, which describes his experiences living in China as an English teacher in the early 1980s.
Iron Monkey is a 1993 Hong Kong martial arts film written and produced by Tsui Hark and directed by Yuen Woo-ping, starring Donnie Yen, Yu Rongguang, Jean Wang, Angie Tsang and Yuen Shun-yi. It is not related to the 1977 Hong Kong film of the same title.
The Quest is a 1996 American martial arts film co-written and directed by Jean-Claude Van Damme in his directorial debut, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Roger Moore, James Remar and Janet Gunn. The Quest was released in the United States on April 26, 1996.
Shin Koyamada is a Japanese actor, producer and philanthropist.
Craig Ellwood was an influential Los Angeles-based modernist architect whose career spanned the early 1950s through the mid-1970s. Although untrained as an architect, Ellwood fashioned a persona and career through equal parts of a talent for good design, self-promotion and ambition. He was recognized professionally for fusing of the formalism of Mies van der Rohe with the informal style of California modernism.
Iron & Silk is a 1990 Canadian action comedy-drama based on the eponymous book by American writer Mark Salzman. It details his journey to China after college to study Chinese wu shu, better known in the west as kung fu, and to teach English. Though not trained as an actor, Salzman starred as himself, as did Pan Qingfu, who claimed no one else could portray him on film. Salzman's experiences occurred in Changsha, Hunan, though the film was shot in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The film was directed by Shirley Sun, and was the editorial debut for Geraldine Peroni.
The Perfect Weapon is a 1991 martial arts action film directed by Mark DiSalle and starring Jeff Speakman, Mako Iwamatsu, James Hong, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. Set in Los Angeles, the film relates the story of a young man (Speakman), who is trained in the martial art of American Kenpo, and his fight against the Korean mafia.
Antonio De Carlo McKee is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division and is the former Maximum Fighting Championship Lightweight Champion. He has also competed in the UFC, the Tokyo Sabres in the IFL, Dream, K-1 Hero's, King of the Cage, World Fighting Alliance, World Series of Fighting and is currently signed to Bellator MMA.
Cho Hee Il is a prominent Korean-American master of taekwondo, holding the rank of 9th dan in the martial art. He has written 11 martial art books, produced 70 martial art training videos, and has appeared on more than 70 martial arts magazine covers. Cho won several national and international competitions as a taekwondo competitor, and has appeared in several films, including Fight to Win, Best of the Best, Bloodsport II, and Bloodsport III. He founded the Action International Martial Arts Association (AIMAA) in 1980, and is its President. Cho is a member of both Black Belt magazine's Hall of Fame and Tae Kwon Do Times magazine's Hall of Fame.
Dynamite Brothers, also known by its alternate title East Meets Watts, is a 1974 martial arts and blaxploitation film.
Takayuki Kubota is a Japanese American master of karate. He founded the Gosoku-ryu style of karate, and is the founder and president of the International Karate Association. Kubota holds the title of Sōke for his development of the Gosoku-ryū style of karate. He is also the inventor and holder of the trademark of the Kubotan self-defense key chain.
Hero and the Terror is a 1988 American action film starring martial arts star Chuck Norris, directed by William Tannen. Produced by Menahem Golan, written by Michael Blodgett, and was distributed by Cannon Films. The film stars Norris as Danny O'Brien as a cop trying to stop a serial killer, Simon Moon known as "The Terror".
The Man with the Iron Fists is a 2012 American martial arts film directed by RZA and written by RZA and Eli Roth. The film stars RZA, Russell Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu, Byron Mann, Rick Yune, Dave Bautista, and Jamie Chung. Set in 19th century China, the story follows a series of lone warriors who are forced to unite to defeat a common foe and save their home of Jungle Village.
Mark Haskell Smith is an American writer who lives in Los Angeles. He is best known for his books, the non-fiction Naked at Lunch: A Reluctant Nudist's Adventures in the Clothing-Optional World, published by Grove Press and Heart of Dankness: Underground Botanists, Outlaw Farmers and the Race for the Cannabis Cup, published by Broadway Books, as well as six novels: Moist, Delicious, Salty, Baked, Raw: A Love Story, and Blown published by Grove Atlantic/Black Cat.
Michaela (Mickey) Facchinello is an American martial artist, action actress, stunt performer, stunt choreographer, and entertainer.
