Donnie’s Mother – The way of the ribbon and the sword
02.05.12
How Bow Sim Mark created a martial arts dynasty, one student (and movie star) at a time.
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Donnie Yen – Kung Fu Fighters
30.03.12
Donnie’s kick collection
30.03.12
Stephan Berwick’s “The Evolution Of An American Martial Artist”
22.07.11
Appearing in the June issue of Kung Fu Qigong Magazine
What defines a contemporary martial arts master? Is it technical skill? Knowledge? Fighting ability? Performance
ability? Versatility? Internal energy? Physical foundation? Creativity? Traditional skills? A modern approach? If anything, today’s martial artist should be well rooted in classical technique, but able to cut across disciplines, with a capacity to evolve. Maybe today’s martial arts master can be defined as Donnie Yen.
Philosophy
22.07.11
Martial arts is a form of expression, an expression from the inner self to your hands and legs. We humans cannot fly. Like all forms of life in our universe, a gesture, a smile, or just walking down the street is an expression. For example, I would not choreograph a person raising a right fist then the left leg in a particular order. It’s the rhythm of the whole, from raising an eyebrow to the entire movie. For me, shooting, editing, and scoring rely on rhythm. It must be part of you. The essence of art is flow, the flow or images, the flow of music, the flow of communication between an artist and the audience. Certainly there are fundamental technical aspects, but in the end, it’s the harmony as a whole.