Chinese kung fu has been well-known across the world for centuries since ancient China. Chinese kung fu masters and practitioners have been performing and refining kung fu techniques throughout centuries. However, Chinese kung fu really began soaring just decades ago as Chinese kung fu movies started flourishing. One of the topmost representatives is Fist of Fury with Bruce Lee acting as hero---Chen Zhen. And, there are more.

1.Fist of Fury (1972)

Fist of Fury is Jing Wu Men (精武门) in Chinese, in which Bruce Lee acted as Chen Zhen (陈真), the most outstanding student of Huo Yuanjia (霍元甲), who is the most influential kung fu master in Shanghai but is poisoned and slain by the Japanese invaders. After Chen Zhen learns the truth, he intrudes into the Japanese martial arts club to avenge for his master and kills the murderer in the end. The theme of the movie is centered on Chinese patriotism and Bruce Lee performs brilliant Chinese martial arts, especially when he uses nunchaku fighting against the Japanese kung fu practitioners. This is one of the spotlights of the movie.

2.Way of the Dragon (1972)

Way of the Dragon is Meng Long Guo Jiang (猛龙过江) in Chinese. The Chinese meaning of the movie’s name is that a powerful dragon swims across the river. No doubt, the powerful dragon refers to Tang Long (唐龙: Chinese Dragon or Dragon of the Tang Dynasty) acted by Bruce Lee himself. The story occurs in Italy. Tang Long heads for one Chinese restaurant opened in Rome by his uncle’s friend from Hong Kong to help this friend get rid of the local gangsters who wish to buy the restaurant by force. Two scenes of the movie I think are worth watching again and again. One is when the owner of the restaurant is taken away to the office of the gangsters’ head and Tang Long goes to rescue her, he jumps very high to break the lamp with his foot over his head. The other scene is his fight against that American martial arts master inside the Colosseum of Rome. The great and skillful fighting and traditional Chinese virtues of fighting are revealed. This movie was made and directed by Bruce Lee himself.

3.The Shaolin Temple (1982)

I don’t think that today’s Jet Lee would be as he is if The Shaolin Temple (少林寺) hadn’t been released in 1982. The story occurs during the Sui and Tang Dynasties (581 A.D. - 907 A.D.) in ancient China. The hero Jue Yuan’s father is a famous kung fu master specializing in kicking skills but he fights against the violence and is finally murdered. His son Xiao Hu (小虎: Little Tiger) escapes to the Shaolin Temple and becomes a student of an excellent Kung Fu monk. Finally, he avenges for his father and becomes the leader of the martial arts field. Before entering the Shaolin Temple, his name was Xiao Hu but changes his name to Jue Yuan (觉远) later, the name of a monk. In the movie, Jet Lee fights a lot against those gangsters. Mr. Lee performs Shaolin kung fu in the movie and this makes each viewer impressed so much. Since the movie, Jet Lee has become well-known across China and even the world.

4.Dragon Inn (1992)

Dragon Inn (the name of the movie in North America), also named New Dragon Gate Inn (新龙门客栈), is widely appreciated by Chinese viewers and those who love Chinese kung fu. The most brilliant female star of the movie is Brigitte Lin, who performs extremely excellent Chinese kung fu and whose performance of usually disguising as a male is beyond measure. Other actors and actresses also perform outstanding martial arts, which will bring you to the golden age of Chinese kung fu. The truth is the movie is worth watching time after time, but most of the martial arts movements are not real, for humans cannot move that fast or practice martial arts like gods. In my view, however, the sense of art of Chinese kung fu is embedded in each movement they perform.

5. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

The plot of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (卧虎藏龙) is complicated and full of Chinese style. The movie is a romantic love story between a kung fu master and a woman whose beauty and martial arts are both outstanding. It vividly portrays the scheming, rivalry and hatred within the internal lives of the characters. The greatness of such a story lies in that one master wants to leave the world of love and hatred but finally realizes that he cannot because the current situation doesn’t permit. What draws my attention is the graceful kung fu performed by every kung fu practitioner. A female master can walk and run like a bird on the high walls of an ancient city, a man with extremely high martial skills can stand on tops of the bamboo trees remaining calm and peaceful. Each movement is art and each sound of music is graceful. Art and martial arts are combined. That’s why the movie is quite beautiful and enjoyable.

6.Hero (2002)

The movie Hero (英雄) tells us a story of a few assassins who hold the idea of assassinating the Emperor Qinshihuang (秦始皇: Qin Emperor) to end his tyrannical rule of the country. However, the movie tells us viewers another interesting idea: the emperor thinks for the good fortune of the whole country but nobody but the assassins knows his heart. In the end the most prominent assassin (Wu Ming acted by Jet Lee) gives up his assassination plan. Like the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the movie Hero also vividly and gracefully expresses the beauty of Chinese martial arts. The difference is this movie applies so much slow-motion technique, which to some extent sets it aside from other kung fu movies. In my view it is a movie of art, beauty, wisdom and philosophy.

7.Yip Man (2008)

Yip Man (叶问) was one of the important kung fu masters in Chinese history. As well all know, Bruce Lee once learned Wing Chun (咏春: One kind of kung fu style developed by Yip Man) and modified it and finally got his own style of Chinese kung fu. Yip Man’s life was not that shining as we can watch on the movie, but his life is indeed full of ups and downs. The hero of the movie is Donnie Yen, who performs very good Chinese kung fu, but what he performs may not be Wing Chun. In the movie his fists are extremely fast, his patriotism is admirable and his calm attitude towards kung fu and his own unhappy life is great. It is true that Donnie Yen performs very good martial arts and his movies are worth watching again and again if you have a wish to learn Chinese kung fu. Yet, he still has a long way to go if he wants to be a master of kung fu.