Grandmaster Donnie Yen

Born in the Chinese province of Canton, Yen came to Hong Kong at age two. He lived there until he was eleven, then moved to Boston, MA. He spent his early teenage years there, where his mother, Bow Sim-Mark, a world famous Wushu and Tai Chi master, ran the internationally known Chinese Wushu Research Institute, and martial arts became a major influence in his life. His footsteps would soon lead him down the less traveled path, his destiny perhaps. But first he would study classical piano, favoring Chopin, music being the other inspiration in his life. His father, Klysler Yen, the Boston editor of Sing Tao, an international Chinese daily paper, plays the violin and a similar-sounding stringed instrument, the Chinese erh-wu while his mother sings soprano. The younger Yen's sensitivity to rhythm would eventually make its way into the films he directed, adding texture and depth.

Donnie Yen's mother began training her son in the martial arts almost as soon as he could walk. With her he mastered traditional and modern Chinese Wushu and Tai Chi, understanding internal and external principles. As a young teenager hanging out in Boston's Chinatown, Yen, like most youth, caught every kung fu movie he could, but with a difference. Watching Fu Sheng, Ti Lung, Bruce Lee, and Jackie Chan onscreen, Yen could come out of the theaters accurately repeating their moves in the movies he'd just seen. Yen even took to skipping school to take in several movies a day. Hungry for more knowledge and always the rebel, Yen began searching out and mastering various martial arts styles. Whatever his friends were studying, he compared notes and explored other schools too. Feeling the strength and power of his martial arts, he was well along the path in his quest for the truth of martial arts.

As a teenager, the rebellious Yen began running wild on the mean streets of Boston's notorious Combat Zone. Concerned, his parents arranged a detour for him-sending him to Beijing, where he would spend two years training with the famed Beijing Wushu Team, studying with the same master as Jet Li. Yen became the first non-PRC Chinese to be accepted at the school, thus opening the door for others to follow in future. While the training was intense and rigorous, Yen wanted more, so his time at the school became only a sojourn. En route back to the U.S, he made a side trip to Hong Kong and was introduced to film director Yuen Wo-ping, the action choreographer for 1999's The Matrix. Yuen, who had launched the career of Jackie Chan in Snake in Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master, was looking for a new kung fu movie hero. In Yen, he found his man, and so began a new journey.

Inspired by his idol, Bruce Lee, Yen not only explored a wide variety of different fighting styles, he also created his own unique martial arts system. His progression in the martial arts is paralleled onscreen by the assimilation and combinations of various martial arts styles displayed. Starting as early as Drunken Tai Chi, his immense physical capabilities were evident. In the Tiger Cage series, Yen showed his versatility with Western kickboxing. Iron Monkey showcased traditional kung fu style, and Yen's memorable performance as Wong Key-ying made the movie one of the most influential martial arts films of the decade. Here, he glorified the kung fu style of Hung Gar. Ironically, Yen explains he doesn't know Hung Gar but credits his ability onscreen to his martial arts philosophy. Throughout his film career, he has never stopped training and his martial arts have never stopped developing. The mental and the physical become one, and the more elevated his art has become, the more Bruce Lee's philosophy has meant to him. Master of all and none, Yen says, 'I've been involved with martial arts for so many years now, I don't really analyze them too much anymore. Basically I agree with what Bruce Lee said, that, as human beings, we all have two arms and legs, so there can't really be many different styles of fighting.' Every style of martial arts has something to offer.

Yuen recognized Yen's extraordinary physical abilities; their series of films together led to a new direction in Hong Kong action cinema. Waiting to begin the filming on his first starring vehicle, Drunken Tai Chi, Yen's talents were utilized by Yuen on Miracle Fighters 2. Performing incomparable movements, he doubled for all of the Yuen brothers and actor Eddie Ko, all at work on the picture. Yen made his lead debut at the tender age of 19 in one of the last traditional martial arts movies, Drunken Tai Chi, which climaxes with an amazing final fight. He would later star in other Yuen vehicles, and with each, his progression as a martial artist and actor is there for all to see. Mismatched Couples (1985), a lightweight comedy capitalizing on the break dancing craze, showcased Yen's agility and flexibility and tapped into his comic flair. The Tiger Cage series, a string of contemporary cops-and-robbers action dramas, hits hard and fast, each film upping the ante action wise. Audiences still debate which is the favorite. In Tiger Cage (1989), he brought talented martial artists and friends Michael Woods and Stephan Berwick on board; their fights incorporated tae kwan do kicks, western boxing, and traditional Chinese martial arts. In The Line of Duty 4 (1989) brought his friend John Salvitti onto the scene as well, and Yen innovatively choreographed realistic fights which exhibited the advanced skills of all the combatants. By Tiger Cage 2 (1990), he had created his own, very modern style of combat choreography, based on his ongoing and widespread research into different fighting arts, and many consider the feral fights in this movie to be among the best in action movie history.

Donnie Yen has the skills and experience to transcend boundaries between Hollywood East and West. Fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, born on the Mainland, having spent his early childhood in Hong Kong, youth in Boston, recent years in Hong Kong, and now based between L.A. and New York, he gives new meaning to the word cosmopolitan. He thrives on the energy of cities and remains a world traveler. His movies reflect his personal intensity and drive as well as the life of the world he observes around him. Filmmaking for Yen is flow, the flow of images, the flow of music, and the flow of communication between the art and the audience.' He brings a new style of world cinema for the millennium and the road ahead.