Profile of Donnie Yen

Name: Donnie Yen (Zhēn Zǐdān)
Date of Birth: 27 July 1963
Birth Sign: Leo (Rabbit)
Height: 5’ 8” (1.73m)
Weight: 165 lb (75 kg)
Country: China

To get us started let’s take a look at a tribute we found on YouTube!

Training Background

• Yen’s training in tai chi and traditional Chinese martial arts began very young under his mother Bow-sim Mark.
• Yen learned taekwondo in his teenage years, earning a 6th Dan in the process. It was in this period that he also obtained a medal in a wushu competition held in the United States.
• Yen’s parents, worried that their son was hung out too long in the Boston Combat Zone after dropping out from school, arranged for him to go to Beijing for two years’ training with the Beijing Wushu Team.
• While living in the Chinese capital, Yen began studying Chinese martial arts under Master Wu Bin at the Beijing Wushu Academy — the same facility where champion-turned actor Jet Li trained; this is where the two of them crossed paths for the first time. Yen was the first non-PRC Chinese to be accepted there.
• Yen later went on to discover and seek knowledge on other martial arts styles; he would later obtain belts in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Yen also studied the art of parkour, wrestling, muay thai, kickboxing and boxing under various trainers.
• Near the end of 2007, Yen added a new martial arts system to his arsenal; he was offered the role of wing chun grandmaster and Bruce Lee’s mentor, Ip Man, in a 2008 film named after the legend. He worked hard and studied wing chun under Ip Man’s eldest son, Ip Chun for nine months before tackling the role. Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, and complimented Yen as a great martial artist and a fast learner, and on managing to grasp the full concept of wing chun much faster than anyone he has taught before.

Donnie Yen clip from the documentary Kung Fu Fighters where he talks a little of his upbringing and training.

Main Influences

• Yen’s mother, Bow-sim Mark, is a wudangquan-fu (internal martial arts) grandmaster. At a very young age, under influence from his mother, he developed an interest in, and began experimenting with various styles of traditional Chinese martial arts.
• As a teenager, Yen met legendary Hong Kong action director, Yuen Woo-ping, who took him under his wing and brought him to Hong Kong.
• For years, Yen had looked to Bruce Lee as a mentor, being a Chinese man living in the US. “Bruce Lee is the man!” Donnie insists. Although Donnie didn’t know Bruce personally, he has studied all his books and teachings.

Donnie on martial arts:

“Martial art is a form of expression, an expression from your inner self to your hands and legs”

Donnie Yen on training:

“If I’m training every day, then I’d burn out. A specific character requires specific martial arts style, so I’ve pretty much tackled that particular character when the time is expected. For example, when I did Ip Man, I started training in wing chun and understanding and dissecting it, and alongside was dissecting and researching the character itself”

Here’s a fight clip from Kill Zone (2005)

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Donnie on Bruce Lee:

“Bruce is the man. He was definitely ahead of his time”

“For years, I looked to Bruce Lee as a mentor being a Chinese and Asian man living in this country”

Donnie on Sammo Hung:

“Sammo has always been the big brother of the industry — we have a lot of respect for him — and when I work with him, I empty my mind and just want to see what he can do and stay back and see how I can collaborate with his choreography and communicate with him in moments where it can enhance the flavour of the different moments”

Donnie on action choreography:

“There’s a lot of thinking when you choreograph something. You’re not just choreographing some bodies, arms, and legs flying around to look cool. It’s a lot more complicated and sophisticated. You also have to deal with the connection of the whole film, so when I choreograph, I think of the movement itself, the camera angles, the characters. “Does that fit for that character and their emotion at that moment? How does it play overall? Is that action scene in balance with the rest of the action scenes?” Because you can’t overpower the rest of the action scenes; you have to think of pacing, along with creating something fresh.”

Donnie on film production:

“For me, shooting, editing, and scoring rely on rhythm”

“From my experience as an actor, choreographer, action director, and producer, I understand the elements and the dynamics of being a film maker”

Donnie Yen on UFC:

“The main reason I like UFC is not just the martial arts aspect, but it’s about one person against the other person. It’s about being able to test yourself with the truth. There’s a life to it, right? Of course, I love the science behind it. From UFC’s early fights to nowadays, and how they collaborate different core training to the traditional karate and Western boxing, or whatever. That was always my belief. I believe the very first person who came up with that philosophy was Bruce Lee”

Did you know…?

• In his initial training with the Beijing Wushu Team in China, his instructor, Mr. Li Yu-man, demanded Donnie cut his hippie-style mullet, as it was deemed inappropriate.
• Donnie became the first non-PRC Chinese to be accepted at the famed Beijing Wushu Academy, thus opening the door for others to follow in the future.
• Donnie Yen skipped school many times to take part in several kung-fu movies per day.

Clip from Ip Man.  In this powerful, emotionally charged scene, we see ultra-talented martial-arts virtuoso Donnie Yen, playing Ip Man. Here he takes on 10 Japanese black-belts simultaneously. Some excellent wing-chun shown here. Varied manoeuvres combine into a quick, effective combat style, some culminating into direct centre-line attacks to the body. Some may find the last minute disturbing, but it all makes sense in the context of the storyline.

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Selected Filmography