Profile: Eric Lee

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Profile: Eric Lee

Date of birth: 30 July 1946 (Zhongshan, China)

Full name: Lee Wing Chow

Other names: Daniel Eric Lee, Eric W.C. Lee

Nickname: The King of Kata

Style: Kung fu, Aikido, Tai Chi, Judo, taekwondo, weapons.

Biography: Born in Zhongshan, China, Eric Lee was first introduced to the martial arts by his father, who taught him the Choy Li Fut style. Every evening after dinner, they would hit a gong to signal the time to train. At the age of seven, the Lee family moved to Hong Kong. During his youth, Lee also became inspired in his training by the black and white martial arts serials being …

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 90: Eric Lee

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 90: Eric Lee

“I don’t believe in success or failure, there’s no such thing. If you worry about failure, you’ll never start. If you think you’re going to be successful, you’ll fail.”

The martial artist, instructor, writer, actor, painter, fight choreographer, singer and all-round entertainer Eric Lee got his nickname – the ‘King of Kata’ – after winning a string of trophies throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s. He has over 100 world titles, and was the undefeated forms and weapons champion from 1970 to 1974. Over the years, his kung fu demonstrations escalated to include music, lighting, comedy, acting and sound effects, and …

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 89: Stuntwomen special – Alyma Dorsey / April Wright

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 89: Stuntwomen special – Alyma Dorsey / April Wright

“The same issues we deal with in society, we deal with in stunts.” Alyma Dorsey

Women have been performing stunts in movies since the advent of cinema, but over the decades, their voice and influence in the industry has become marginalised. From fears of being overlooked, undermined or replaced, to the notion of “wigging” – male stunt performers doubling female characters – and concerns over sexual harassment, safety and security, April Wright’s fascinating 2020 documentary, Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story, tells the shocking truth of how women – and other marginalised communities – have had to fight, quite literally, to be heard …

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Profile: Keith Cooke

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Profile: Keith Cooke

Date of birth: 17 September, 1959 (Seattle, Washington, USA)

Full name: Keith Cooke Hirabayashi

Other names: Keith H. Cooke

Occupation: Martial arts instructor, actor, stunt performer.

Style: Karate, wushu, taekwondo, boxing.

Biography: Keith Cooke is a martial arts instructor and actor. He has a fifth degree black belt in karate and is a five-time World Martial Arts Grand Champion. He was named ‘Competitor of the Year’ in 1983, 1985 and 1986. He has also been named as one of the top 100 ‘most influential martial artists of the last century’ by Black Belt magazine, and inducted into their ‘hall of fame’.

Keith Cooke Hirabayashi was born …

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 88: Keith Cooke

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 88: Keith Cooke

“I don’t regret the movies at all. I had a blast.”

Keith Cooke is one of action cinema’s all-time greatest kickers. From his explosive triple kicks as Muay Thai instructor Prang in the cult classic, The King of the Kickboxers, to his turns in costume as Reptile and Sub-Zero in the 1990s Mortal Kombat movies, Cooke’s poise, energy and talent marked him out as one of the most engaging breakout martial arts stars of the 1990s. It was a phone call from none other than Enter the Dragon producer Fred Weintraub that transformed Cooke’s fortunes in Hollywood. A karate world champion …

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 87: Mike Leeder

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KFMG Podcast S07 Episode 87: Mike Leeder

“I would be the only westerner in the cinema, and 90% of the audience would be like, ‘there’s a white guy in the cinema, what’s he doing?’”

When Asian action cinema expert, producer and casting director Mike Leeder left his job in a Croydon department store to go on holiday to Hong Kong, little did he know that – 32 years later – he would still be there. Before he fell in love with the city, he fell in love with its movies; a blossoming romance which started with a Jackie Chan double bill of Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and …

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Heatseeker (1995)

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Heatseeker (1995)

Another low-budget cyborg movie from director Albert Pyun. This one is set in 2019, when corporations use bioengineering to create a new range of super-humans. One particularly slimy CEO (Norbert Weissner) hosts a kickboxing tournament on his private island to show off his latest technology, which is implanted into Gary Daniels, who looks majestic in foppish blonde hair, shiny muscles and bright blue contact lenses. The tournament promises to be “bigger than the Super Bowl, World Cup and the Olympics”, but it actually looks like a cheaper version of Bloodsport. As a way of attracting the reigning world champion, Chance …

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The Assassin (1967)

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The Assassin (1967)

The Shaw Brothers’ dream-team of director Chang Cheh, leading actor Jimmy Wang Yu and fight coordinators Lau Kar-leung and Tong Gaai follow their huge hit, One-Armed Swordsman, with this sumptuous, romantic, and often overlooked wuxia epic which might be one of Cheh’s best films. Released at a politically charged time not just in Hong Kong but globally, Cheh’s story is set during the tumultuous period of China’s Warring States and focuses on the tragic, anti-establishment heroics of a young swordsman, Nie Zhang (Wang Yu). Nie identifies as a lowly commoner, but is nonetheless burdened by an overwhelming existential fear. He …

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The Guillotines (2012)

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The Guillotines (2012)

A modern, 3D-rendered retelling of the 1975 Shaw Brothers film, The Flying Guillotine, from director Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs). He uses his visual effects skills to cook-up a flying guillotine worthy of the digital age. This is no flimsy hatbox on a chain which is simply thrown into the air before landing on the necks of its unsuspecting victims. This sophisticated, multi-blade contraption spins viciously at the end of a massive sword, gathering momentum until it is released like a frisbee, whirling violently in various directions, disorientating its victims, and revealing a sequence of evil-looking sharp things before the victim’s …

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Return of the Chinese Boxer (1977)

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Return of the Chinese Boxer (1977)

This has all the hallmarks of a filmmaker throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks. It is not too surprising, then, that this would prove to be Wang Yu‘s final film as director, producer and star. His 1970s output – as well as being mostly insane – was prone to repetition, featuring variations of his most popular characters, and sequences which seem interchangeable with his other movies. For instance, this film features an extended tournament sequence plonked in the middle for no good reason, centring on Kam Kong as another mad monk, which feels eerily similar to the …

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