Jet Li as Transnational Actor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Jet Li as Transnational Actor - Essay Example He has taken different career paths such as martial arts, film production, martial arts and acting. He started training for martial arts when he was still a young boy. He trained rigorously in Wu Bin and this helped him in winning a championship in the Wushu competition. This was the turning point of his life. He retired from Wushu when he was 19 years old. He now started acting in several Chinese martial arts film. Later he performed in other Hollywood movies the Expendables being on of the movies that hit the box office movies list. This article is review of Jet Li development in his career an actor, how his various roles in varied cultures have grown him and the overall public reception he has had. Jet Li Careers in Martial Art at Wushu Li was born the last born of a family of five children. When he was only two years, his father died leaving his mother with the huge responsibility of raising the children alone. Jet Li joined Wushu when he was very young. At the age of 8, his trai ners realized the talent that he possessed and he was enrolled for classes. He participated in the sports performed by the Wushu teams. This team would perform in the all Chinese games and this gave him the exposure he needed in martial arts. During this time, he was coached by Wu Bin and Li Junfeng. The coaches realized the talent in this young man and would even go an extra mile to ensure that he did not miss on practice and that he performed well. Jet Li came from a poor family background. The coaches would buy Jet Li family meat as this was the diet recommended for a fighter. A diet with meat as a predominant content was crucial to keep an athlete physically fit. As a member of the wushu team, He traveled to 45 different countries to perform. In 1974, he performed together with the Wushu team before the former president of America Richard Nixon. Nixon was deeply impressed by Jet Li prowess that he requested him to be his personal body guard. Jet Li turned this offer down because he said that he was not meant to protect an individual but hoped that when he grew up he would be able to protect a billion Chinese citizens. During this performance, he won the All Round National Wushu Championship a title he continued to hold for the next five consecutive years. When at Wushu, Jet Li trained on several Wushu martial skills. Among them include praying mantis fist, drunken fist, eagle claw fist, shape intent fist and northern long fist style (Ushan, 2011: 182). He retired from Wushu when he was just seventeen and this is the time he began his acting career. Acting Career Chinese Films Li releases his first film in 1982 and it was called the Shaolin Temple. This movie became a hit in china and opened him to Chinese film. He later relocated to Hongkong where he acted in several Chinese martial arts movies. He got his screen name in 1982 when a publicity company in Philippines though that his real name was hard to pronounce. They likened his new career with a jet whic h takes off very fast. The name jet Li was born and was placed on his movie poster. Soon, people started referring him with his new name which is stuck and he has used it ever since. In 1991, he acted in another Chinese film called the Once Upon a Time in China. Here, he assumed the role of a legendary hero who fought against invaders thereby safeguarding and protecting the lives and property of his countrymen (Leon, 2005: 216). Later he acted in the movie fist of Legend which was a