Donnie Yen Ji-dan is a Hong Kong Chinese actor, martial artist, film director, producer, action choreographer, stuntman, and multiple-time world wushu tournament champion. He is credited by many for contributing to the popularisation of Wing Chun in China. His mother is a Fu Style Wudangquan and Tai Chi grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen, was a newspaper editor.
About Donnie Yen in brief
Donnie Yen Ji-dan is a Hong Kong Chinese actor, martial artist, film director, producer, action choreographer, stuntman, and multiple-time world wushu tournament champion. He is credited by many for contributing to the popularisation of Wing Chun in China. He has also gained international recognition for playing Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Xiang in xXx: Return of Xander Cage. Yen is one of the most popular film stars in Asia of the early 2000s. He earned HK$220 million from four films and six advertisements in 2013. Yen has displayed skill in an array of martial arts, being well-versed in Tai Chi, Boxing, Kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu. His mother, Bow-sim Mark, is a Fu Style Wudangquan and Tai Chi grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen, was a newspaper editor. His younger sister, Chris Yen, is also a martial artist and actress, and appeared in the 2007 film Adventures of Johnny Tao: Rock Around the Dragon. Yen’s first step into the film industry was in 1984 when he landed his first starring role in the 1984 film Drunken Tai Chi. In 1995, Yen starred as Chen Zhen in the television series Fist of Fury produced by ATV, which is adapted from the 1972 film of the same title that starred Bruce Lee.
In 1997, Yen started the production company Bullet Films and made his directorial debut in The Return of The Wolf. At 34, Yen almost went bankrupt when his own production company produced by his and directed by him went bankrupt. He was forced to borrow money from loan sharks and his production crew to get by. In 2002, Jet Li was invited to choreograph scenes in Hollywood films such as Highlander: Endgame II and Blade II. He insisted that he wanted cameo appearances in both movies and insisted that the director wanted him for both movies. In 2008, Yen played Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the film Ip man, which was a box office success. This has led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun and leading to hundreds of new Wing Chun schools being opened up in mainland China and other parts of Asia. His parents were concerned that he was spending too much time in Boston’s Combat Zone, so they sent him to Beijing on a 4-year training program with the Beijing WUSHu Team. He then focused on practising wusho seriously at the age 14 after dropping out of school. He also started taekwondos at around the age of 16. Yen also came from a family of musicians, in addition to being a martial arts teacher in Boston, and his father is a violinist. He also knows hip-hop dancing and breakdancing.
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This page is based on the article Donnie Yen published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 06, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
