Li
Lianjie (李连杰; born 26 April 1963), better
known by his English stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer,
martial artist, and wushu champion who was born in Beijing. He is a naturalized
Singaporean citizen.
After three years of intensive training with Wu Bin, Li won his first national
championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. After retiring from Wushu at age 19,
he went on to win great acclaim in China as an actor making his debut with the
film Shaolin Temple (1982). He went on to star in many critically acclaimed
martial arts epic films, most notably the Once Upon A Time In China series, in which he
portrayed folk hero Wong Fei-hung.
Li's first role in a Hollywood film was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998),
but his first Hollywood film leading role was in Romeo Must Die (2000). He has
gone on to star in many Hollywood action films, including Kiss of the Dragon
and Unleashed. He co-starred in The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) with Jackie Chan, The Expendables (2010) with Sylvester
Stallone, and as the title character villain in The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon
Emperor (2008) opposite Brendan Fraser. He also appeared in the Hong Kong film
Ocean Heaven (2010), directed and written by Xue Xiaolu.
Early
life and martial arts career
Li was born in Beijing, China, as the youngest of two boys and two girls. His
father died when he was two years old, leaving the family struggling.
Li was eight when his talent for wushu was noticed at a summer course at
school, and he began his practice there. Li participated in the sport of wushu
in the non-sparring event. He began his wushu on the Beijing Wushu Team, an
athletic group organized to perform martial arts forms during the All China
Games. He was coached by renowned wushu coaches Li Junfeng and Wu Bin, who made
extra efforts to help the talented boy develop. Wu Bin even bought food for
Li's family because they could not afford to buy meat, which was essential for
the good physical condition of an athlete. As a member of the team, he received
wushu training and went on to win fifteen gold medals and one silver medal in
Chinese wushu championships, where, despite his young age, he competed against
adults.
According to Li, once, as a child, when the Chinese National Wushu Team went to
perform for President Richard Nixon in the United States, he was asked by Nixon
to be his personal bodyguard. Li replied, "I don't want to protect any
individual. When I grow up, I want to defend my one billion Chinese
countrymen!"
Li is a master of several styles of wushu, especially Changquan (Northern
Longfist Style) and Fanziquan (Tumbling fist). He has also studied other arts including
Baguazhang (Eight trigram palm), Taijiquan (Supreme ultimate fist), Xingyiquan
(Shape intent fist), Zuiquan (Drunken fist), Yingzhaoquan (Eagle claw fist) and
Tanglangquan (Praying mantis fist). He did not learn Nanquan (Southern fist),
because his training focused only in the Northern Shaolin Styles. He has also
studied some of wushu's main weapons, such Sanjiegun (Three section staff), Gun
(staff), Dao (Broadsword), Jian (Straight sword) and many more.
It is Jet Li's authentic martial arts prowess that enabled his rise to domestic
and international fame.
Acting
career
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film
star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li
acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company
thought his real name was too hard to pronounce. They likened his career to an
aircraft, which likewise "takes-off" as quickly, so they placed the
name Jet Li on the movie posters. Soon everybody was calling him by this new
name, which was also based on the nickname, "Jet," given to him as a
young student, due to his speed and grace when training with the Beijing Wushu
team. He made his debut with the 1982 film Shaolin Temple. Some of his more famous
Chinese films include:
- The Shaolin Temple series
(1, 2 and 3), which are considered to be the films which sparked the
rebirth of the real Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, China;
- The Once Upon a Time in
China series (Chinese title: Wong Fei Hung), about the legendary Chinese
folk hero Master Wong Fei Hung.
- Fist of Legend (Chinese
title: Jing Wu Ying Xiong), a remake of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury.
- The Fong Sai Yuk films about
another Chinese folk hero.
Li starred in the 1995 film High Risk, where Jet Li plays a Captain who becomes
disillusioned after his wife is murdered by crime lords. Along the way, he
pairs up with a wacky sell-out actor, Frankie (played by Jacky Cheung), and
proceeds to engage in a series of violent battles in a high-rise building. The
setting is similar to that of Die Hard and both their Chinese film titles. This
movie is notable in that director Wong Jing had such a terrible experience
working with Jackie Chan in Jing's previous film City Hunter
that he chose to make Cheung's character a biting satire of Chan. Jet Li would
later publicly apologize to Chan for taking part in it.
In 1998, he made his American film debut in Lethal Weapon 4 which also marked
the first time he had ever played a villain in a film. He agreed to do Lethal
Weapon 4 after the producer Joel Silver promised to give him the leading role
in his next film, Romeo Must Die (2000) alongside late singer Aaliyah. The film became a box office hit.
Li turned down Chow Yun-fat's role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
because he promised his wife that he would not make any films during her
pregnancy. He also turned down the role of Seraph in The Matrix trilogy, based
on his belief that the role was not one which required his skills and that the
films were iconic and stunning enough without adding his name to the cast list.
Personal
life
Li is a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism. His master is Lho Kunsang of the
Drikung Kagyu lineage of the Kagyu school.
In 1987, Li married Beijing Wushu Team member and Kids from Shaolin co-star
Huang Qiuyan, with whom he has two daughters, Si and Taimi. They divorced in
1990. Since 1999, he has been married to Nina Li Chi (born Li Zhi), a
Shanghai-born, Hong Kong-based actress. He has two daughters with her as well,
Jane (born 2000) and Jada (born 2002).
Li was in the Maldives when a tsunami hit during the 2004 Indian Ocean
earthquake. Although it was widely reported at the time that he had died during
the disaster, he only suffered a minor foot injury, caused by a piece of
floating furniture, while he was guiding his 4-year-old daughter Jane and the
nanny holding his 1-year-old daughter Jada to safety. The four of them were by
the pool and slightly above the beach when the wave came ashore.
In 2009, Li, who previously had American citizenship, after years working in
the United States, was thought to have renounced his American citizenship and
taken up Singaporean citizenship, although no official confirmation has been
provided by Singapore authorities. On July 28, 2009, the chairman of One
Foundation (the Charity fund of Jet Li) announced that Jet Li had indeed become
a Singaporean citizen. He was said to have chosen Singapore for its education
system for his two daughters.
In 2009, Li launched his own fitness program that he named
"Wuji".[30]The programme consists of elements of martial arts, yoga
and pilates; Adidas launched a special clothing line for it that bears the
initials of "JL".
In his free time he likes to play badminton, table tennis, volleyball, ride his
bicycle, read and meditate. He collects rare Tibetan beads. He says he is never
bored in his free time.[
Views
on life and martial arts
Li as a Buddhist believes that the difficulties of everyday life can be
overcome with the help of religious philosophies. He thinks that fame is not
something he can control; therefore, he does not care about it.
According to Li, everything he has ever wanted to tell the world can be found
in three of his films: the message of Hero is that the suffering of one person
can never be as significant as the suffering of a nation; Unleashed shows that
violence is never a solution and Fearless tells that the biggest enemy of a
person is himself. Li thinks that the greatest weapon is a smile and the
largest power is love.
About Wushu, Li said that he believes the essence of martial arts is not power
or speed but inner harmony and considers it a sad development that today's
Wushu championships place greater emphasis on form than on the essence of being
a martial artist. He believes Wushu now lacks individuality and competitors
move like machines, whereas according to his views Wushu should not be
considered a race where the fastest athlete wins. He would like to see Wushu as
a form of art, where artists have a distinctive style. Li blames the new
competition rules that, according to him, place limitations on martial artists.
Li believes that Wushu is not primarily for self-defense and instead of trying
to play the hero people should think about peaceful resolutions of conflicts
and call the police if necessary: "A gun outdoes years of martial arts
training in a split second. Like I've said many times before, it is important
to differentiate between movies and reality. The hero in movies may be able to
knock the gun off his opponent and save the day, but in real life – probably
that is not the case." He has also stated that he has never had to use his
martial arts skills in a real life fight and he does not wish to, either.
Philanthropy
Li has been a "philanthropic ambassador" of the Red Cross Society of
China since January 2006. He contributed 500,000 yuan (US$62,500) of box office
revenues from his film Fearless to the Red Cross' psychological sunshine
project, which promotes mental health.
In April 2007, touched by his life-shaking experience in the Maldives when he
was close to dying during the 2004 tsunami, Li formed his own non-profit
foundation called The One Foundation. The One Foundation supports international
disaster relief efforts in conjunction with the Red Cross as well as other
efforts, including mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Since the
starting of the foundation, Li has been involved with recovery efforts in seven
disasters, including the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan.
Wu Jing was a One Foundation volunteer and helped in the effort.
Li discussed his commitment to philanthropy in an interview with the December
2009 issue of Alliance magazine, stating that "grassroots non-government
organizations can help the government in its blind spots. Government relief is
not always detail-oriented. Grassroots NGOs can’t be as big as a government
effort, but they need to be flexible and independent."
In September 2010, Jet Li was appointed by the International Red Cross as the
first Good Will Ambassador. He posted online saying "Today I signed a deal
with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies –
IFRC - to become the FIRST goodwill ambassador in the history of this
humanitarian organization. I am very honored! At the same time, I will not
pause to celebrate, but instead keep pushing forward.. and do my best to help
the world! Thank you all once again for your support and belief in me!"
It was also announced that Jet Li would be meeting Bill Gates and Warren
Buffett to talk about charity work. "Three days ago, I received an email
from Gates, hoping I could make time because he and Buffett hoped I could go
for a 30-minute chat before the dinner about the future we face as human
beings, so I will go," Li said.
Filmography
Considering US box office statistics, the most successful Jet Li film as of
August 2010 is Lethal Weapon 4, which grossed over 130 million dollars
domestically, while the second is The Expendables with over 103 million
dollars. Hero is the third most successful foreign language film in the US, and
one of the best critically acclaimed Li movies. Fearless is the sixth most
successful foreign language film of all time in the US. From a critical point
of view, the best acclaimed Li movie is Fist of Legend (Rotten Tomatoes: 100%)
and the worst is War (Rotten Tomatoes: 12%).
Reference: Jet Li Wikipedia
DOWNLOAD FILE VIDEO
Once Upon a Time in China (1991)
Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)
Tai-Chi Master (1993)
BRRip 720p 600MB
The Bodyguard from Beijing (1994)
Fist of Legend (1994)
Dr. Wai in the Scriptures with No Words (1996)
Hero (2002)
Cradle 2 the Grave (2003)
Unleashed (2005)
Fearless (2006)
http://www.asixfiles.com/kpzg4blxm1in/wedus.indofiles-T.For.Kin.2008.BR.720.5.1CH.SAUFI88.rar.html
The Mummy:
Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
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The Expendables (2010)
http://www.asixfiles.com/k21hxgu1mp7g/wedus.idfl-T.Exp.2010.BR.720.Ganool.com.part1.rar.html
http://www.asixfiles.com/uo9ffxunhriq/wedus.idfl-T.Exp.2010.BR.720.Ganool.com.part2.rar.html
The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2011)
http://www.asixfiles.com/8ho73jr30z2y/wedus.indofiles-T.Sor.a.t.Whi.Sna.2011.BR.720.Ganool.com.rar.html
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011)
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The Expendables 2 (2012)
http://www.asixfiles.com/2zai7qn0f3bu/wedus.idfl-T.Exp.2.2012.PRO.BR.720.Ganool.com.part1.rar.html
http://www.asixfiles.com/24gv47og4mrt/wedus.idfl-T.Exp.2.2012.PRO.BR.720.Ganool.com.part2.rar.html
