Yuen Wo-ping (placeholder)

Hong Kong Fight Coordinator YUEN WO PING was born in Guangzhan in 1945, one of 12 children. He studied Peking Opera and kung fu under the tutelage of his illustrious father, Yuen Siu Tin, who was also a father figure to the young Jackie Chan.

Yuen Siu Tin brought his eldest son to the attention of the “Wong Fei Hung” series producers and Wo Ping worked on some of their films during the 1960s. He subsequently worked as a kung fu fighter and stuntman at Shaw Brothers and can be seen in films such as Wang Yu’s “The Chinese Boxer.”

In 1971 he received his first credit as a choreographer on “Mad Killer,” directed by Ng See Yuen. Yuen Wo Ping choreographed most of Ng’s early kung fu hits, including “Bloody Fists” and “Secret Rivals 2.” For Shaw Brothers, Wo Ping arranged the fights for Chu Yuan’s films “The Lizard” and “The Bastard.”

He made his directorial debut for Ng See Yuen’s newly formed Seasonal Films in 1978 with the hugely successful and influential “Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow,” followed by “Drunken Master,” also starring Jackie Chan, and “Dance of the Drunk Mantis,” starring his brother, Sunny Yuen.

Wo Ping also worked for Golden Harvest, directing the Wong Fei Hung films “Magnificent Butcher” and “Dreadnought.” He formed his own company in 1979 and produced and choreographed Tsai Siu Ming’s “Buddhist Fist” the following year. He directed his protege, Donnie Yen, in “Drunken Tai Chi,” followed by “Tiger Cage,” “In the Line of Duty 4” and “Tiger Cage 2.”

The revival of traditional kung-fu movies saw Wo Ping work on the fight sequences of Tsui Hark’s “Once Upon A Time In China” films with Jet Li, and on Wong Ching’s “Last Hero In China.” His other credits include the kung fu epics “Tai Chi Master” and “Wing Chun.”

In 1993, Wo Ping directed one of his finest films, “Iron Monkey,” again starring Donnie Yen, and in 1994 he was fight choreographer on the film “Fist of Legend.” It was his work on this film that caught the attention of the Wachowski brothers.