Jet Li’s 10 Best Fight Scenes In Martial Arts Movies

An icon of the martial arts movie genre, Jet Li has been responsible for putting some absolutely incredible fight scenes to screen over the course of his legendary career. The Singaporean martial artist and actor was once a national Wushu champion, pivoting into an acting career at the young age of 18 in 1982 with The Shaolin Temple. Since then, Jet Li has had a lauded cinematic career, single-handedly reviving the Hong Kong martial arts movie while leaving a wake of fantastic hand-to-hand combat scenes.

The best action scenes of Jet Li’s show off the performer’s impressive dexterity, agility, and years of dedicated martial arts training, reflecting his skill onto the screen. In addition to unarmed combat, Li is quite proficient with martial arts sword fights and improvised weaponry, making for an impressive breadth of variety in his greatest hits. From the iconic Once Upon a Time in China series to his many crossover scenes with other martial arts greats, Jet Li’s reputation for kung fu mastery is quite earned.

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10 Wong Fei-Hung Vs. “Iron Vest” Yim

Once Upon a Time in China

The masterful Once Upon a Time in China series saw Jet Li join Jackie Chan as Wong Fei-hung, making him the second well-known martial arts movie giant to portray the classic Chinese folk hero. At one point in the series’ first film, Li’s Wong comes up against a burly opponent, the intimidating Master “Iron Vest” Yim, known for his signature torso durability.

Once Upon a Time in China (1991) 0

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Director Tsui Hark Release Date August 15, 1991 Writers Tsui Hark , Yuen Kai-chi , Leung Yiu-ming , Elsa Tang Runtime 134 Minutes

Yim duels Wong Fei-hung in quite the unique arena– A massive barnhouse full of ladders. Issuing his challenge, Yim kicks over a lengthy ladder, beginning one of the most creative and intricately-choreographed sequences of Li’s career. The maze of ladders the two fighters dance around are at once a dojo and a weapon, with both combantants finding some creative ways to use them for maneuverability and attack.

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Wong Fei-hung and Yim also get plenty of chances to show off their unique martial arts strengths, agility and acrobatics for Wong and durability and stamina for Yim. Even if the fight is a little aged by modern standards, with some awkward editing choices and clearly visible wire work, the sheer spectacle and complexity of the ladder setpiece makes the fight stand out in Li’s filmography.

9 Silent Monk Vs. Old Hop

Forbidden Kingdom

While Jet Li and Jackie Chan would both jumpstart their careers playing the same character, it wouldn’t be until 2008 that the two legendary martial arts icons would meet on screen. Forbidden Kingdom served as a loose retelling of the iconic Chinese novel Journey to the West, with the added fish-out-of-water story of a Boston teenager being transported into ancient China.

The Forbidden Kingdom 0

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Director Rob Minkoff Release Date August 29, 2008

The best moment of the entire film may just be Jackie Chan and Jet Li’s fight, with their characters, Silent Monk and Old Hop, both secretly being mythical Chinese folk heroes. The immediate chemistry between Chan and Li in Forbidden Kingdom make it seem absurd that they had never worked together before, the two ebbing and flowing smoothly off of one another’s blows and dodges.

For bringing two cinematic legends together, the title fight in
Forbidden Kingdom
easily deserves a spot among Jet Li’s greatest.

Chan’s drunken boxing and animal forms, referencing his older films, clash nicely with Jet Li’s elegant flowing wuxia wire work. For bringing two cinematic legends together, the title fight in Forbidden Kingdom easily deserves a spot among Jet Li’s greatest.

8 Kung Wei And Ku Kung Vs. Po Kwong And His Men

My Father Is A Hero

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In truth, Jet Li is best known for his appearances in wuxia films set in ancient China. However, that’s not to say that he isn’t well-versed in a more modern setting, as well. This is proven by his incredible performance in My Father is a Hero, also known by the title of the American edit, The Enforcer. Here, Li stars as a supercop tasked with taking down a Hong Kong terrorist organization while protecting his eight-year-old son, an eager new martial artist.

The evolution of this battle essentially splits the fight into three distinct sections. First, Jet Li’s Kung Wei has to contend with the flamboyant techniques of boss Po Kwong, who uses his loose jacket and white-gloved hands as flowing weapons. When Wei proves too much for him, Po calls in his goons, who proceed to assault Wei with a flurry of coordinated kicks, keeping him literally on the ropes. Eventually, Kung Wei is bailed out by his son, Ku Kung, and the father-son-duo proceed to mop up the other fighters with some incredible coordination, including a hilarious human flail technique.

7 Danny Vs. The Stranger

Unleashed

Unleashed showed off a new, ferocious side of Jet Li’s range as a genuine actor while making countless examples of his overwhelming combat IQ. The film stars Li as Danny, a gifted fighter psychologically trapped into the servitude of a callous loan shark (Played by Bob Hoskins, of all people). With the control of a metal collar, Hoskins’ Bart is able to sic Danny on his enemies like a crazed attack dog, prompting a feral performance from Li in both the acting and fighting arenas. While there are many fight scenes to appreciate in Unleashed, the greatest has to be Danny’s final rampage through an apartment complex.

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Director Louis Leterrier Release Date February 2, 2005 Cast Jet Li , Morgan Freeman , Bob Hoskins , Kerry Condon , Vincent Regan Runtime 103 Minutes

Li’s Danny makes short work of most opponents he comes across in the film, making it all the more intense when another fighter is finally able to give him pause. The mysterious man credited as “The Stranger”, played by real-life kickboxing champion and stunt coordinator Mike Lambert, is the one to do so, tearing through the claustrophobic hallways of the apartment building without caring who gets caught in the crossfire. Danny uses some expert dodging and improvised weaponry to win the day, eventually kicking The Stranger through a window only to save him, honoring his vow to never kill again.

6 Wong Fei-Hung Vs. Commander Lan

Once Upon a Time in China II

Widely considered to be the best Once Upon a Time in China movie, a series very crucial to Jet Li’s career, it’s no wonder that Once Upon a Time in China II would present one of Li’s best action showcases ever. All the better that the particular fight in question would be Li’s first time starring opposite the legendary Donnie Yen. In Once Upon a Time in China II, Wong Fei-hung is back, this time tasked with protecting a rebel leader attempting to replace the Qing Dynasty with a republic government from Donnie Yen’s deadly Commander Lan.

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Director Tsui Hark Release Date April 16, 1992 Cast Jet Li , Rosamund Kwan , Max Mok , Donnie Yen , David Chiang , Huang Yan-yan Runtime 113 Minutes

The fight rages as Wong Fei-hung desperately attempts to protect one of his students while he burns a ledger containing the names of those responsible for the anti-Qing uprising, putting a tense ticking time element on the fight. Li and Yen both dexterously wield staffs, striking at one another and defending themselves with elegant, flowing motions. Wong Fei-hung’s athleticism and acrobatic prowess is firing on all cylinders here, resulting in cheer-worthy moments like his series of flying side kicks or Lan snapping Wong’s polearm in half with a length of silk.

5 Han Sing Vs. Gangsters

Romeo Must Die

Jet Li is skilled with the usage of many traditional kung fu weapons, with the most impressive and flashy being the rope dart. That being said, Li has demonstrated that he doesn’t necessarily even need a custom-made weapon to emulate the style’s signature moves, as shown off in Romeo Must Die.An intriguing crime film, Romeo Must Die posited Li as Han Sing, a former police officer who travels to America to investigate the murder of his Triad brother, coming into conflict with street-level gangsters in Oakland, California.

First, he demonstrates that guns are no way to even the playing field against a martial arts master, beating the criminals in a firefight with bursts of high-pressure water while making his own mobile cover out of metal workbenches.

The moment in which Jet Li beats a whole swarm of thugs with nothing but a fire hose attached to the wall could be the apex of creativity in his fight scenes. First, he demonstrates that guns are no way to even the playing field against a martial arts master, beating the criminals in a firefight with bursts of high-pressure water while making his own mobile cover out of metal workbenches. When someone cuts off his supply, the hose quickly becomes a weighty rope dart in Han Sing’s hands, as he proceeds to mop up the remaining thugs with some effortless long-distance strikes emphasized by the early-2000s slow motion.

4 Lu Yuhao Vs. Anno Tanaka

Fearless

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Not to be confused with the Jeff Bridges-led drama, 2006’s Fearless had some of the best showings of Jet Li’s combat abilities. Similarly to the Ip Man movies, Fearless saw Li as Lu Yuhao, a lone fighter determined to restore Chinese nationalism by publicly taking on a coterie of foreign opponents. This results in some of the most variety of different styles in any martial arts movie ever, with kung fu, boxing, fencing, and lace-users all getting a moment in the spotlight. However, it’s Lu’s fight with the Japanese swordsman Anno Tanaka that presents one of his most eye-catching challenges.

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Director Ronny Yu Release Date January 26, 2006 Cast Jet Li , Sun Li , Dong Yong Runtime 103 minutes

To fairly arm himself against the blade-wielding opponent, Lu Yuhao picks up a sanjiebian, also known as a three-section-staff, a unique, seldom seen kung fu weapon. The melee combat with Tanaka is intense, so much so that the two fighters end up swapping weapons at one point. Tanaka’s struggle with utilizing the unwieldy staff demonstrates just how much skill Lu Yuhao truly has. Even if the fight ends in a draw when Lu offers to swap back to their original armaments officially, it’s clear who the more skilled of the two is.

3 Lu Yuhao Vs. Qin Lei

Fearless

With how many creative fights its premise promises, it’s no wonder that Fearless contains not one, but two of Jet Li’s greatest fight scenes. As interesting as his many foreign opponents are, Lu Yuhao’s most gripping and emotionally impactful fight is against his peer, fellow kung fu master Qin Lei. Believing Qin to have attacked one of his students, Lu Yuhao furiously interrupts his birthday party, demanding a duel to the death to settle the score.

What follows is a gripping life-or-death sword fight between the two martial arts teachers in a dimly-lit room surrounded by a raging storm reflecting the internal turmoil of Li’s character. Lu Yuhao is able to outmaneuver Qin Lei, but Qin’s strikes are unbelievably powerful, eventually reducing Lu’s own sword to scrap metal. Following this, the two engage in brutal, drag-down unarmed combat that ends with Lu landing a deadly, chest-caving finishing blow on Qin, much to his own despair. From the gripping narrative significance to the reverberating SFX of each blow, this battle isn’t one to be missed.

2 Nameless Vs. Long Sky

Hero

Hero is often hailed as one of the best films of Jet Li’s career, and meticulous battles like the nameless protagonist’s duel with Donnei Yen’s Long Sky make it easy to see why. The film follows Jet Li as a literally unnamed hero simply referred to as “Nameless”, who recounts to the Qing Dynasty Emperor how he was able to survive against three of the most deadly assassins of the warring states period.

The flashback of his battle with Donnie Yen’s Long Sky, and expert spear user, is one of the most creative and artistically striking martial arts movie battles of all time.

Beginning their bout with a menacing staredown, the two kung fu legends hypothesize how a battle would play out against one another in their minds, with black-and-white footage of a gravity-defying battle representing their visualizations.

The combat itself is undoubtedly breathtaking, with intricate wire work standing among the best of Li’s career and Donnie Yen’s own experience coming into play. Time resumes, and Nameless reveals himself as the victor of the predictive duel, striking Long Sky down in real life with a single elegant move through the slow-motion raindrops.

1 Chen Zhen Vs. Huo Ting-en

Fist of Legend

For a long time, a re-make of the venerated Bruce Lee classic Fist of Fury seemed like an impossible task. While Jet Li’s Fist of Legend doesn’t quite outdo its inspiration, it comes shockingly close, offering up perhaps the single strongest fight scene of Li’s entire filmography. Here, Li stars as Chen Zhen, a martial arts student who returns to Shanghai after his master’s death. Challenged by another upstart fighter, Huo Ting-en, because of his reputation and taboo love of a Japanese woman, Chan Zhen defends himself with skill and grace in a fight scene that would make Bruce Lee proud.

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Director Gordon Chan Release Date December 22, 1994 Cast Jet Li , Chin Siu-ho , Shinobu Nakayama , Billy Chau , Yasuaki Kurata , Paul Chun Runtime 103 Minutes

At first, Chen holds back against his opponent, toying with him by dodging his blows with one-handed pushups evoking the famous exercise of Bruce Lee himself. However, when it’s time to stop holding back, he unleashes the full might of his Jeet Kune Do-like fighting style, dancing around Huo and harrying him with far-flung Capoeria-esque kicks and boucning dodges. Even in a style outside his usual wheelhouse, Jet Li is able to execute some cinematic fight scenes that pay homage to the great martial arts masters to come before him.

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