Jet Li Has Only Made One Old School Kung Fu Film In His Career, And It’s A Must-See

Jet Li has enjoyed a long and storied career as a martial arts film star, with the bulk of his filmography coming from his work in the Hong Kong film industry. But despite that background, the actor has only made one film that could be described as an old school kung fu film – and that was Shaolin Martial Arts.

Released in 1986 when his career was just starting to take off, Shaolin Martial Arts is Jet Li’s third major role. Directed by the legendary Lau Kar-leung, the film completes an unofficial martial arts trilogy that includes his theatrical debut, Shaolin Templeand its sequel, Children of Shaolin.

What Makes Shaolin Martial Arts An Important Film For Jet Li

Sadly, Shaolin Martial Arts represents a dying era in the martial arts genre. Films of the 1970s and 1980s that are today considered old-school kung fu films are remembered for their period settings, heavy emphasis on Chinese martial arts, training sequences, revenge storylines, and carefully choreographed fight sequences that relied heavily on over-the-top action and long takes.

Of course, Hong Kong has never stopped making martial arts films, but that particular formula hasn’t been around for years. This faded in the mid-1980s. The closure of Shaw Brothers’ film division – the largest studio associated with that side of the genre – was the death knell for old-school kung fu films.

In the final year of filming, Shaw Brothers produced Shaolin Martial Artsstarring Jet Li. In keeping with the traditional Shaw Brothers style, Shaolin Martial Arts tells the story of a young man who joins the Shaolin Temple as a way to gain the training necessary to seek revenge.

With Shaolin Martial Arts arriving just before the end of Shaw Brothers’ historic kung fu film, it marked the first and last time Jet Li made such a film. Instead, Jet Li became part of the next big trend in the genre, namely historical martial arts epics and wuxia films, from Hero to Once upon a time in China.

The days when Hong Kong studios made films whose fight scenes took weeks or even months or even made films are becoming a thing of the past. The fact that there never was another Shaolin Martial Arts as Jet Li makes it even easier to appreciate, with the first and last team-ups between Lau Kar-leung and Jet Li producing some truly great fight sequences.