John Liu (actor)

Liu Chung Liang (Commonly credited as John Liu) is a Taiwanese actor and martial artist. He mostly appeared in low-budget Taiwanese action/martial art movies and never appeared in the higher budget Hong Kong martial arts movies from the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest.

John Liu
Born
Liu Chung Liang
劉忠良

(1944-05-20)May 20, 1944
Taiwan
Occupationactor
Years active1972-2006

Martial arts

When Liu was young, he learned martial arts from his grandfather who taught him everything from Japanese Karate to Chinese mixed martial art styles. In the 1960s, he met Tan Tao-liang who was working as a martial arts instructor at the National Taiwan University. Tan would teach Lui Korean Taekwondo. According to Tan, Liu was not really flexible with his kicking when they first met. But through Tan's teaching, Liu was able to greatly improve the flexibility of his legs and his kicking would be featured in all his martial arts movies. Liu is often cited as being one of the best kickers in 1970s and 1980s martial arts films along with his teacher Tan Tao-liang who also became an actor, Bruce Lee, Sun Chien of the Venom Mob, Casanova Wong, and Hwang Jang-lee who Liu would co-star in 5 films with Hwang often playing the villain to Liu's hero.

Film career

Liu made his debut in 1972 movie Great Boxer as the character Yanoryu Karateka, although it flopped at the box office. His real success came from the movie Secret Rivals, alongside with Hwang Jang-lee and Don Wong Tao. Director Ng See-yuen furthermore brought Liu to the attention, with the likes of films such as Snuff Bottle Connection and Secret Rivals 2. Combined with amazing choreography from the likes of Yuen Woo-ping, Corey Yuen and Alan Chui Chung-San, Liu's kicking brought him notoriety.[1]

Directing and Zen Kwan Do

In 1981, Liu set up his own production company under the name John Liu's (H.K.) Film Corp, initially directing 3 low budget action movies that are all based in Paris and Mexico. Liu made a total of 3 films, including Zen Kwan Do Strikes Paris (1981), In the Claws of CIA (1981) and Dragon Blood (1982). Ever since the downfall of his directed films, he retired from the film business and start to develop his own martial art form, known as Zen Kwan Do, where it is named after his teacher Liu Zen. Liu's martial art form is based on Lau Gar kung fu with a mixture of Tae Kwon Do and Karate. The form has been spread through the 80s in Paris while Liu was shooting Zen Kwon Do Strikes Paris. While the form itself is generally unknown by many other martial art fans and students, Zen Kwan Do has maintained a following in France.

Retirement and after

Liu has returned to the big screen in Robert Tai's Trinity Goes East in 1998 and once more in Il giorno + bello (Any Reason Not To Get Married?) as a cameo appearance in 2006.

Partial filmography
  • Il giorno + bello (2006) - as Street Vendor (Cameo, Final Movie Appearance)
  • Trinity Goes East (1998) - as Paschy (Producer)
  • Dragon Blood (1982) - as Liu (Director, Producer, Scriptwriter)
  • Secret Rivals 3 (1982) - as Shao Yi Fei
  • Zen Kwan Do Strikes Paris (1981) - as John Liu (Deputy Director, Producer, Scriptwriter)
  • In the Claws of CIA (1981) - as John Liu/James Liu (2 Roles)(Director, Producer, Scriptwriter)
  • Fighting Ace (1979) - as Chee Kao
  • The Mar's Villa (1979) - as Ma Tien Lang
  • Death Duel of Kung Fu (1979) - as Sung Hsin
  • The Dragon, the Hero (1979) - as Tu Wu Shen
  • Incredible Kung Fu Mission (1979) - as Shao Ting Kang
  • Struggle Through Death (1979) - as Lung Kang
  • Two Great Cavaliers (1978) - as Oh Yang Chun
  • Shaolin Ex Monk (1978) - as Ling Chu Fei
  • The Incredible Kung Fu Trio (1978) - as Luk Ah Chai
  • Secret Rivals 2 (1977) - as Shao Yi Fei
  • The Invincible Armour (1977) - as Chow Wu Feng
  • The Instant Kung Fu Man (1977) - as Wu Kam
  • Snuff Bottle Connection (1977) - as Shao Ting Shang
  • Secret Rivals (1975) - as Shao Yi Fei (Debut)
  • Los Kalatrava Contra el Imperio del Karate (1973) - Cameo
  • The Great Boxer (1972) - as Yanoryu Karateka - Cameo

References
  1. "Profile of John Liu - Kung-fu Kingdom". kungfukingdom.com. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.