Peng Zhang Li is a 32nd-generation monk who started training at the age of three at the ShaolinTemple in China. He has traveled the world demonstrating his art from the temple.
At the age of twenty-two, he left for the Netherlands for a new life and set up a stage show about the martial arts which ran for five years.
In 2000, Zhang moved to New York to start a martial arts school. Later he joined work on documentaries about Shaolin, which started a new career for him in film. He has produced, written, and acted in a range of films, in which he depicts the spirit of Shaolin. His films have been co-produced between his homeland China and his current country of residence, the USA. He is mostly known for his movies Last Kung Fu Monk and The Resistance.
Career
In the early 2000s Zhang Li began in documentaries about Shaolin, Shaolin Ulysses: Kung Fu Monks in America, where he explains his background of Shaolin and his life in America.
2006 Zhang Li made his acting debut in an American horror thriller movie Tooth Fairy.
2010 Zhang Li made his directing debut in the martial artdramaLast Kung Fu Monk where he also played the leading role of the Shaolin Monk Li Long. A story of a Shaolin Monk who travels to New York but ends up in trouble with the Mafia.
2011 Zhang Li acted and directed his second movie The Resistance, a WWII drama mix with Ninjaaction and Zorro adventure. The movie entered Cannes Film Festival 17 May 2012 and became a Top DVD seller for 3 months in 2013.
Peng Zhang Li continued working with movies during 2012 and 2013, including a similar movie to Last Kung Fu Monk named The Man From Shaolin, and Zhang Li made a name for himself in the industry as the man from Shaolin to Kung Fu Master to actor and director.
In general, kung fu/kungfu refers to the Chinese martial arts also called wushu and quanfa. In China, it refers to any study, learning, or practice that requires patience, energy, and time to complete. In its original meaning, kung fu can refer to any discipline or skill achieved through hard work and practice, not necessarily martial arts. The Chinese literal equivalent of "Chinese martial art" would be 中國武術 zhōngguó wǔshù.
Shaolin Kung Fu, also called Shaolin Wushu, or Shaolin quan, is one of the oldest, largest, and most famous styles of wushu, or kung fu of Chan Buddhism. It combines Ch'an philosophy and martial arts and originated and was developed in the Shaolin Temple in Henan province, Greater China during its 1500-year history. Popular sayings in Chinese folklore related to this practice include "All martial arts under heaven originated from Shaolin" and "Shaolin kung fu is the best under heaven," indicating the influence of Shaolin kung fu among martial arts. The name Shaolin is also used as a brand for the so-called external styles of kung fu. Many styles in southern and northern China use the name Shaolin.
Fong Sai-yuk is a semi-fictional Chinese martial artist and folk hero from Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province of the Qing dynasty. Fong was also associated with Hung Hei-gun and the Five Elders of the Southern Shaolin Monastery. He was a disciple of Shaolin and his martial arts techniques were considered to have contributed to development of Hung Ga Kuen.
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 Greater 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.
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, also known as The Master Killer, Shaolin Master Killer and Shao Lin San Shi Liu Fang, is a 1978 Hong Kong kung fu film directed by Lau Kar-leung and produced by Shaw Brothers, starring Gordon Liu. The film follows a highly fictionalized version of San Te, a legendary Shaolin martial arts disciple who trained under the general Chi Shan.
Alexander Fu Sheng, also known as Fu Sheng was a Hong Kong martial arts film star in the 1970s.
Bak Mei is said to have been one of the legendary Five Elders — survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Monastery by the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) — who, according to some accounts, betrayed Shaolin to the imperial government. He shares his name with the South Chinese martial art attributed to him.
The Shaolin Temple (少林寺) is a 1982 Chinese–Hong Kong martial arts film directed by Chang Hsin Yen and starring Jet Li in his debut role along with Ding Lan and Yu Hai in supporting roles. The film is based on the Shaolin Monastery in China and depicts Shaolin Kung Fu. The film was among the first major co-productions between Hong Kong and mainland China, and the first to be filmed in mainland China with a mostly mainland cast. The film's plot has an episodic storytelling structure while combining action, comedy and romance elements.
Spiritual Kung Fu is a 1978 Hong Kong action martial arts film directed and produced by Lo Wei, and starring Jackie Chan and James Tien. The film also features Yuen Biao as one of the Master of the Five Fists martial arts. Chan was also the film's stunt co-ordinator. It was also known in some other dubbed language releases as Karate Ghostbuster.
Xing Yu, also known as Shi Xingyu or Shi Yanneng is a Chinese martial artist and actor, who was one of the 32nd generation Shaolin monks.
Chan Heung was the founder of the Choy Li Fut martial arts system.
Chiang Sheng was a martial arts actor, one of the Venom Mob, renowned for their acrobatic and martial arts skills. He joined the Chang Cheh's Cohorts as an actor, and also worked with Chang Cheh as an assistant director and choreographer. Along with Alexander Fu Sheng, Chiang Sheng was one of the Chang Cheh's favorites.
Shi Yan Ming is a 34th generation Shaolin warrior monk, teacher and actor, best known as the founder of the USA Shaolin Temple. Trained at the Shaolin Temple in Henan, People's Republic of China (PRC) since the age of five, Shi Yan Ming came to the United States in 1992, before opening the USA Shaolin Temple in Manhattan, where he has taught hundreds of students, including numerous celebrities. He has made various media appearances in television, film and print, including National Geographic, PBS, History, Time magazine, and the 1999 American samurai action film, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.
There are several Chinese martial arts known as Snake Boxing or Fanged Snake Style which imitate the movements of snakes. It is a style of Shaolin Boxing. Proponents claim that adopting the fluidity of snakes allows them to entwine with their opponents in defense and strike them from angles they would not expect in offense. Snake style is said to especially lend itself to applications with the Chinese straight sword. The snake is also one of the animals imitated in Yang family Taijiquan, Baguazhang and Xingyiquan. The sinuous, fluid motion of the snake lends itself to the practical theory that underlies the "soft" martial arts.
Carter Wong is a Chinese actor and martial artist, who is mainly known for roles in Kung Fu action movies. The biggest movies he was featured in are Big Trouble in Little China (1986), and Yong zheng ming zhang Shao Lin men (1977). As an actor, he contributed to more than seventy martial arts films. He also worked as a stuntman in films, and was the fighting instructor for the movie Rambo III. Wong is still active in martial arts.
Eagle Han-ying was a Korean actor and martial artist, who rose his fame in South Korea through various Korean drama series from the 90. Outside of Korea, he is best known with his appearance with many kung fu films from the range of Korean, Hong Kong and Taiwanese production.
Last Kung Fu Monk is a Chinese martial art drama from 2010 that was filmed and co worked with both China and United States. The movie is the debut directing by Peng Zhang Li, and the story is inspired by his own life as a monk and his new life in a foreign land.
Johan Karlberg is a Swedish born Chinese actor and is the first actor from Öland that had a career in Asia. He is known from Last Kung Fu Monk, The Resistance, and Marriage Cuisine.
Drunken boxing also known as Drunken Fist, is a general name for all styles of Chinese martial arts that imitate the movements of a drunk person. It is an ancient style and its origins are mainly traced back to the Buddhist and Daoist religious communities. The Buddhist style is related to the Shaolin temple while the Daoist style is based on the Daoist tale of the drunken Eight Immortals. Zui quan has the most unusual body movements among all styles of Chinese martial arts. Hitting, grappling, locking, dodging, feinting, ground and aerial fighting and all other sophisticated methods of combat are incorporated.
Kung Fu Elliot is a 2014 Canadian film co-directed by Matthew Bauckman and Jaret Belliveau, reportedly a documentary, concerning the attempt of Elliot "White Lighting" Scott to become "Canada's first action star".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
