Li Lianjie, better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean martial artist, former Wushu champion, film actor, film producer, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most iconic Chinese film stars and one of the most renowned martial arts stars of his generation.
Tai chi is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for self-defense and health. Known for its slow, intentional movements, tai chi has practitioners worldwide and is particularly popular as a form of gentle exercise and moving meditation, with benefits to mental and physical health.
Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu, kuoshu or wushu, are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Ancient China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" of martial arts. Examples of such traits include Shaolinquan (少林拳) physical exercises involving All Other Animals (五形) mimicry or training methods inspired by Old Chinese philosophies, religions and legends. Styles that focus on qi manipulation are called internal, while others that concentrate on improving muscle and cardiovascular fitness are called external. Geographical association, as in northern and southern, is another popular classification method.
Wushu (武術), or kung fu, is a competitive Chinese martial art. It integrates concepts and forms from various traditional and modern Chinese martial arts, including Shaolin kung fu, tai chi, and Wudangquan. "Wushu" is the Chinese term for "martial arts", reflecting the art's goal as a compilation and standardization of various styles.
The Beijing Wushu Team is a world-renowned wushu team from Beijing, China. The team has produced many famous international stars such as Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Hao Zhihua, Huang Qiuyan, Zhang Hongmei and Wu Jing. The Beijing team members also work with movie producers to make films. Aside from Jet Li, many other athletes have also been featured in movies Every year, the Beijing Team performs demonstrations of wushu for the citizens of Beijing as well as visiting dignitaries. They have performed for former US President Jimmy Carter as well as many other foreign heads of state when they visited Beijing.
Wu Bin is a chinese martial artist and wushu coach who has produced more wushu champions than any other coach in China.
Hao Zhihua, also known as Patti Li, is a Chinese wushu practitioner. She started her training at the age of nine at the Beijing Sports Academy under the instruction of Wu Bin, director of the Beijing Institute for Wushu Research and a pioneer of modern wushu in China. For fifteen years she competed in China as a member of the world-renowned Beijing Wushu Team, winning the title of National All-Around Champion three years in a row.
Ma Xianda, wushu Ninth Duan, was a prominent Chinese martial arts master known for championing the combat and fighting aspects of traditional Chinese martial arts and sanda, as opposed to the performance aspects of modern wushu. Ma was a leading practitioner of his family's martial arts system, Ma Style Tongbeiquan, which is composed of four traditional styles of wushu: Fanziquan, Piguaquan, Bajiquan, and Chuojiao. As of May 2002, when Kung Fu Magazine interviewed him around his 70th birthday, Ma was one of only four living masters to have achieved the highest level of wushu, Ninth Duan.
Wang Ziping was a Chinese Muslim practitioner of Chinese Martial Arts and traditional medicine from Cangzhou, Cangxian county, Mengcun, Hebei Province. He served as the leader of the Shaolin kung fu division of the Martial Arts Institute in 1928 and was also the vice chairman of the Chinese Wushu Association. Wang was known for his mastery of Chaquan, Huaquan, Leopard kung fu, Bajiquan, and tai chi. He was also a master of Wushu.
Qigong, is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial arts training. With roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts, qigong is traditionally viewed by the Chinese and throughout Asia as a practice to cultivate and balance qi, translated as "life energy".
Doc-Fai Wong is a master of tai chi and the Hung Sing branch of Choy Li Fut kung fu. He was born in 1948 in the Guangdong province of China, specifically, the Wangshan village in the Doumen District of Zhuhai. In April 1960, he and his mother immigrated to San Francisco, California to be reunited with his father. He arrived as a third-generation citizen of the United States of America since both his grandfather and father were already citizens. He sought out his first kung fu teacher - Lau Bun (劉彬), the founder of the first Hung Sing Kwoon of Choy Li Fut in America, after encountering taunting and bullying due to language and ethnic difficulties after his arrival. When Lau Bun died in 1967, he started teaching and opened his first school when he was 19 years old.
Yuan Wenqing is a retired professional wushu taolu athlete from Shanxi, China. Nicknamed 'the prince of wushu,' he was known for his explosive speed and power, and is still widely regarded as one of the greatest wushu practitioners of all time. It is said that in the sport of wushu, the 1970s belonged to Jet Li, the 1980s to Zhao Changjun, and the 1990s to Yuan Wenqing.
Wudangquan is a class of Chinese martial arts. In contemporary China, Chinese martial arts styles are generally classified into two major groups: Wudang (Wutang), named after the Wudang Mountains; and Shaolin, named after the Shaolin Monastery. Whereas Shaolin includes many martial art styles, Wudangquan includes only a few arts that use the focused mind to control the body. This typically encompasses tai chi, xingyiquan and baguazhang, but must also include bajiquan and Wudang Sword. Although the name Wudang simply distinguishes the skills, theories and applications of the internal arts from those of the Shaolin styles, it misleadingly suggests these arts originated at the Wudang Mountains. The name Wudang comes from a popular Chinese legend that incorrectly purports the genesis of tai chi and Wudang Sword by an immortal, Taoist hermit named Zhang Sanfeng who lived in the monasteries of Wudang Mountain. Wudang quan is often used synonymously with Neijia, but strictly speaking Neijia is a broader term that also encompasses, for example, Aikido and Qigong, which are not Wudang quan.
"Jayden" Yuan Xiaochao is a retired professional wushu taolu athlete and actor from China. He was a world champion in 2005 and 2007.
Sarah Chang is an American actress, producer, stunt coordinator and martial artist. Chang is best known for her work in the title role in the DJI/Wanda film, The Teacher (2018), Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids (2018), Karen Wu in Circle of Bones (2019), Mei in The Trigonal: Fight for Justice (2018), and for her stunt coordination work in Gandarrapido: The Revengers Squad (2017).
Willy Reyes Wang is a former wushu taolu athlete from the Philippines. He is one of the most decorated Filipino wushu athletes of all time in international competition and became especially renowned after his gold medal victory at the 2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament.
Li Fai is a retired professional wushu taolu athlete from Hong Kong. She was a four-time world champion and was a medalist at the Asian Games and the East Asian Games.
Jian Zengjiao is a retired professional wushu taolu athlete originally from Liaoning, China. He is currently a performer in Cirque du Soleil's Kà and is a coach in Las Vegas, United States.
Zhao Changjun is a retired professional wushu taolu athlete from China. He is regarded as one of the greatest wushu athletes of all time. In wushu circles, it is commonly said the 1970s belonged to Jet Li, the 1980s to Zhao Changjun, and the 1990s to Yuan Wenqing.
Zhang Guangde was a Chinese researcher, martial artist, educator, and professor at the Beijing Sport University.
