Jet Li is a movie star, Jackie Chan is old, how many more years can the 56-year-old Donnie Yen continue to play?

The Legend of a Master

Recently, it was announced that "Ip Man 4" will be released in mainland China in July, and will be released simultaneously in the United Kingdom and the United States. This marks the continuation of this film. The final chapter in a saga that has lasted for over ten years. As a martial arts movie with unique influence in the 21st century, "Ip Man" carries the martial arts complex of a generation.

In the movie, Wing Chun is far from a martial art. In Ip Man's first three books, Wing Chun is more like a spirit of self-improvement. It ran through the rest of Ip Man's life, making the master honest and worthy of heaven and earth.

As the soul of the series, Donnie Yen has almost supported the entire Ip Man; ten years of Wing Chun and Ip Man have injected new soul into Donnie Yen's acting career.

Long before Donnie Yen became Ip Man, he almost single-handedly changed the action standards of Chinese martial arts movies. Compared to acting, Donnie Yen is better at action design. Therefore, he also directed martial arts, incorporating his personal fighting style into the film.

Donnie Yen himself is obsessed with mixed martial arts. On the basis of the original routine, he added new elements such as mixed martial arts and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to make the movements look intense and realistic.

First of all, in the 2005 "Slaying the Wolf", the sword street fight between Shan Gui and Wu Jing became a story. Then, in the 2007 movie "Fuse," Donnie Yen perfectly integrated Taekwondo techniques into his martial arts designs. In particular, the seven-minute fight between Donnie Yen and Zhou Long has become a textbook model for modern Chinese kung fu movies.

Decent family, martial arts family

Donnie Yen was born in a martial arts family in Chinatown. His mother, Mai Po Chan, was a Tai Chi master and the first modern martial arts instructor in the United States. Under the guidance of his predecessors, Donnie Yen regarded martial arts as an important goal in life.

Perhaps since childhood, Donnie Yen has had an innate sensitivity to kung fu, which stems from the Miao people's redness and understanding. Growing up, Donnie Yen absorbed martial arts techniques from all over the world. Coupled with his naturally active personality, the young Donnie Yen became famous in Chinatown.

Unlike Jet Li and Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen's style combines combat with routine, making the action entertaining while also making it difficult for his opponent to deal with sharp takedowns with punishment and feet.

In 1978, Donnie Yen returned to his motherland and began studying at the Shichahai Sports School in Beijing. His martial arts have both Eastern and Western elements. In 1982, he returned to the United States and won the American Martial Arts Championship.

In the late 1970s, the works of director Liu Jialiang triggered the rise of real-life kung fu movies, and actors with martial arts skills were in great demand.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Kung Fu stars such as Jackie Chan, Yuan Biao, and Liang Xiaolong appeared. Yuen Ka-ban is also famous in the Hong Kong film industry for "Drunken Master" and "Man Dou Jia".

With the support of his mother, Donnie Yen, who had just turned 20, followed Yuen Ba Ye across the ocean and entered the Hong Kong film and television industry. Because Donnie Yen is agile, young and handsome, he received financial support at the beginning of his career. In the 1980s, Yuan Heping filmed two kung fu films for him, "Laughing Tai Chi" and "My Friend."

The fateful showdown with Jet Li

In the 1980s, as the trend of Jackie Chan kung fu comedies gradually faded, Donnie Yen's two imitators did not have much impact. Even his agility in "Beast" dazzled the audience. But in the star-studded 1980s, Donnie Yen didn't have much room to become famous.

In the early 1980s and 1990s, fantasy martial arts films impacted the style of the original "Hard Bridge, Hard Horse" kung fu films. Tsui Hark's "Unbridled" and Cheng Xiaodong's "Flying" once became the mainstream of movies.

The rise of martial arts movies and the weakening of real kung fu demonstrations are like a contradictory group, leaving a lot of channels for Donnie Yen to climb up, but it cannot allow him to climb up quickly. Jet Li was born in the same year as Donnie Yen in the 1990s, when he rose to prominence in the Hong Kong film industry.

After a series of low-budget kung fu films, Donnie Yen eventually landed a key supporting role in Tsui Hark's "The Fight" and "Dragon Inn," in which he competed with a group of superstars. A martial arts duel.

With the return of Hong Kong and the advent of the information age, kung fu movies in the 21st century have gradually declined under the tide of the times, but the fate of Jet Li and Donnie Yen was repeated in the movie "Hero" 10 years later.

At this time, after years of struggle, the 40-year-old Jet Li has already established his own territory; in view of Yan Yuan's many years of martial arts, he has gradually broken through and entered the public eye.

Ip Man became famous in one fell swoop

As Jackie Chan aged and Jet Li drifted away, Donnie Yen finally ventured into the deep waters of Kung Fu movies. At this time, the important task of revitalizing Chinese Kung Fu films in Hong Kong also fell on his shoulders.

Due to his extreme self-discipline, Donnie Yen's figure has maintained good lines; in addition to practicing martial arts all year round, Dandan's physical reaction ability is almost as good as his youth. His solid martial arts skills have also expanded Donnie Yen's film career.

After "Hero", Donnie Yen starred in a number of kung fu films, saving the declining Hong Kong film industry while establishing a deep-rooted character identity for himself.

Of course, as a kung fu actor, the criticism of a person is acting. Although he has worked hard in the film industry for many years, Donnie Yen's shortcomings, such as single roles, acting, and martial arts, have gradually been exposed on the big screen, and the reconstruction of his image identity is urgent and important.

Early performances show that what Yen lacks is not acting talent, but a good role: Yen is waiting for Ip Man, and Ip Man is also waiting for Yen. Donnie Yen and Wing Chun were together before he played Ip Man.

In the 1994 film "Wing Chun" directed by Yuen Woo-Ping, Donnie Yen collaborated with Michelle Yeoh to play the guardian of Wing Chun. Donnie Yen's Wing Chun skills are very strong, but not as powerful as Michelle Yeoh's Wing Chun. Unexpectedly, 15 years later, Donnie Yen would become the only translator of Wing Chun.

The Last Kung Fu Superstar

Ip Man seems to have given Donnie Yen a new life. Yan Zidan has undoubtedly let go of the publicity for this year. With the increase in gender, the master's magnanimity is looming. In the face of heavy pressure, he was as steady as a mountain, carrying the responsibilities of his family and the moral resistance of the motherland on his shoulders; defending justice and eliminating evil.

After the end of "Ip Man 4", the legendary life of "Ip Man" has come to a successful end. By then, Donnie Yen was already 56 years old. After 35 years of ups and downs in the film industry, he finally found a role that suited him best and made it a lifelong classic.

As the last Kung Fu star in Hong Kong movies, he has personally witnessed the ups and downs of Kung Fu movies. His life is half of the history of Hong Kong Kung Fu movies. Donnie Yen's success today is closely related to his lifelong dedication to the Kung Fu dream.

Reluctantly, Donnie Yen’s personal efforts cannot prevent the talent of kung fu movies from withering; the stars who sang on the same stage with Donnie Yen are now either old, retired, changed careers, or passed away.

People don’t believe in Kung Fu anymore. When Donnie Yen stood in front of the long history of Chinese martial arts movies, there were no like-minded people before and after him, he was the only one walking alone.