Ho ho ho and happy Christmas to all the Fu followers around the world! Welcome to Part One of our annual End of Year Show, featuring the author of 'Life of Action' Vol. 1 and 2, Mike Fury. In Part One, we discuss the martial arts movie news that has been grabbing the headlines in 2023 - from Donnie Yen and Jackie Chan's many new projects, to Michelle Yeoh's success at the Oscars and the 50th anniversary of Bruce Lee's death - and remember the famous people we lost this year. We also play clips from some of the many great guests who have appeared on the podcast in 2023, including action st ..read more

From Chile to Mexico to Hollywood - and back again - Marko Zaror's incredible rise in the action world reached a new crescendo in 2023. Known as the 'Latin Dragon', Marko's scene-stealing performance as the main heavy, Chidi, in Chad Stahelski's masterpiece, 'John Wick: Chapter 4', saw him duel on-screen with fight legends Hiroyuki Sanada, Donnie Yen and Keanu Reeves; meanwhile, back in his home country of Chile, he reunited with his childhood friend - the filmmaker Ernesto Díaz Espinoza - to produce and star in their fifth indie action film together, the deeply personal 'The Fist of the ..read more

It has been over a decade since we last spoke in-depth to the author and kung fu movie expert, Ric Meyers - the man responsible for introducing much of America to the classics of martial arts cinema over a writing career spanning five decades. His books - including 1985's 'Martial Arts Movies: From Bruce Lee to the Ninjas', 1995's 'The Encyclopedia of Martial Arts Movies', 2001's 'Great Martial Arts Movies: From Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan and More', and 2011's 'Films of Fury' project, which involved both a book and a documentary - are essential resources for any serious fan of kung fu cinem ..read more

Vincent Lyn's short career in Hong Kong action movies may only span a few years, but his good looks, martial arts abilities and acting skills saw him work with some of the biggest names in the industry, operating at the height of their powers. The list includes Donnie Yen, Yuen Woo-ping, Corey Yuen, Cynthia Rothrock, Cynthia Khan, Simon Yam, and Jackie Chan. He admits he had no idea that the films he was making would go on to become so influential and cherished by generations of action fans around the world. In fact, given the ad-hoc nature and breakneck speed of Hong Kong filmmaking, he somet ..read more

We have a directors double bill on this episode of the Kung Fu Movie Guide Podcast, featuring conversations with two filmmakers who have both released independent martial arts movies in 2023. Froukje Tan is a Dutch filmmaker who specialises in telling family-orientated stories which are accessible to all. Her new film - her first in the directors' chair for over a decade - combines her knowledge of child development and the martial arts, herself being a long-time practitioner of southern style kung fu. Set in her home city of Rotterdam, 'Kung Fu Leeuw' - aka 'Kung Fu Lion' - tells the st ..read more

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 Drunken Master, and has led him to working on many of Hong Kong's biggest and best productions over the last three decades; from Fist of Legend to Fearless, True Legend to Once Upon a Time in China, Man of Tai C ..read more

The wait is over! We can now finally reveal our favourite fight films of 2022 in Part Two of our annual End of Year Show, featuring Mike Fury, the action movie expert and author of Life of Action Vol. I-II. As is tradition with this show, neither Ben or Mike are aware of what the other person has selected for inclusion in their personal top five list; will there be consensus, or will it end in a bloody fight to the death? Top picks for 2022 include a strong roster of big-budget superhero carnage from the Marvel and D.C. cinematic universes; quirky, offbeat action comedies; DTV slugfests from g ..read more

It's the most wonderful time of the year... that's right, the time when we release our special annual two-part End of Year Show, in which we look back over the best and worst that martial arts movies had to offer in 2022. Podcast host Ben Johnson is joined once again by Mike Fury, film expert and author of 'Life of Action Vol. I-II'. In Part One, Ben and Mike discuss the big stories that grabbed the martial arts movie headlines in 2022, play Christmas messages recorded especially for the show by some of the biggest names in martial arts movies - including the likes of Kenji Tanigaki, Phil ..read more

It was a screening of 1972's 'Five Fingers of Death' (aka 'King Boxer') that would transform the life of Robert "Bobby" Samuels. At that time, he could not have foreseen that he would go on to become the first African American member of the Hong Kong Stuntman Association, a star of martial arts action cinema, a Hung Gar expert training under kung fu master and actor, Chiu Chi-ling, and a close personal friend of Sammo Hung - one of the biggest names in kung fu movies. Bobby's story is one of dogged determination and commitment to a singular vision; to break free from his humble beginnings ..read more

When Jimmy Wang Yu died on 5 April 2022 at the age of 79, Jackie Chan took to his social media accounts to pay his respects, stating that "the contributions you've made to kung fu movies and the support and wisdom you’ve given to the younger generations will always be remembered in the industry." But Wang Yu's legacy is a complicated one. Despite being a huge Hong Kong martial arts star in the 1960s and 70s, his international status has now been overshadowed by his contemporaries - especially Bruce Lee - and his infamous off-screen antics have, particularly in Asia, threatened to overwhelm his ..read more