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One caveat- with the exception of Jackie, these aren’t really in any order.
Other than that, on with the fun…

1. Jackie Chan

   Say what you will about Jackie, for my money there’s no denying he’s the greatest screen fighter of all time. For me, it boils down to this- no one else has made my jaw hit the floor as many times as Jackie Chan. From his 1978 pair of Yuen Wo-Ping directed classics Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master, through his unmatched brilliance in the 80s with films like Police Story, Dragons Forever, Project A and Wheels and Meals, through to his later Hong Kong work like Who Am I, Police Story III and IV and Rumble in the Bronx, he was unmatched in his ability to wow audiences worldwide with his incredible screen fights and stunts. Decade by decade he created films and scenes that rank amongst the best the genre has to offer, culminating with Drunken Master 2, a film that can easily lay claim to the mantle of “best fight film of all time.”

   Don’t believe me? Let’s go to the video replay. Keep in mind, the following ignores a lot of really great fights, since I’ve already posted them here once before.

   Here’s a great little drunken boxing scene (this is drunkenfist.com after all) from the aforementioned Drunken Master 2:
   

   (I miss you Anita Mui!)

   Here’s an awesome scene full of that old school flavor from Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow:
   

   And finally, here’s the incredible “ladder fight” from Police Story IV/First Strike. I never get tired of this scene.
   

   Interviewing Jackie was definitely one of the highlights of my time as a film writer.

2. Jet Li

   Without a doubt my favorite screen fighter of all time. Jet Li may not be the same athlete he was when he was winning Wu Shu championships, but even now he still sells fights with more style than just about anyone and in his prime he possessed breathtaking athleticism. Li’s Wu Shu training, which really focused more on appearance than practical ass-kicking ability, perfectly primed him for martial arts movie greatness. Put plainly, his whole life has been about looking good and having appealing form while doing martial arts. Sounds like a recipe for cinematic success, doesn’t it?

   Here’s a great scene from First of Legend, my favorite Jet Li film:
   

   And a killer scene from Fearless, his latest (last?) martial arts epic
   

   and finally the excellent “four seasons” training sequence scene from his debut film, Shaolin Temple
   

3. Donnie Yen

   Donnie is definitely one of the better martial artists on this list. What’s funny about that is, he’s not even the best martial artist in his family- his mother being the inimitable Bow Sim Mark. Anyway, Donnie is a real favorite around these parts (and not just because I’ve met him a half dozen times and interviewed him on three separate occasions.) He was a key figure in both the Wuxia revival of the early-mid nineties and the frenetic action trend of the mid-late eighties. That goes a long way in my book since those two eras are personal favorites.

   Here’s a brilliant fight from Tiger Cage 2- an excellent example of the kind of balls-out action prevalent in Hong Kong in the late 80s:
   

   and here’s one of the better scenes from the classic Iron Monkey. Donnie only shows up 2:45 in, but the first half is all Yu Rong Guang kicking ass, so I figured I’d post it anyway. Yu Rong Guang is 100% cool.
   

4. Sammo Hung

   Maybe the most surprising screen fighter in the world. Looking at him, I’m sure people don’t know what to expect, but he possesses startling speed and agility. He’s also the best “fake Bruce Lee” ever- ignoring the fact that he looks nothing like him. His “Bruce Lee” in Enter the Fat Dragon is a thing of (fat) beauty.

   Check out a baby-faced Sammo in King Hu’s classic A Touch of Zen. Maybe not his best fight but it gives you some sense of how long he’s been at this:
   

   And here’s a ridiculous scene from Enter the Fat Dragon with Yuen Biao as “Jim Kelly” (as well as Leung Kar Yan)
   

5. Yuen Biao

   The underrated “little brother” of Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan is a brilliant screen fighter in his own right. Possessing incredible agility, flexibility and speed Yuen is one of the genre’s true giants.

   Here’s some proof:

   The classic final fight from 1981’s Prodigal Son
   

   And a killer fight with Melvin Wong from the end of Righting Wrongs
   

6. Michelle Yeoh

   She’s the best. A fine actress with screen presence who just happens to be beautiful, fearless, and physically gifted? What’s not to love?

   Like I said- she’s the best.

   Here’s a recent classic from the mega-hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
   

   And here’s a crazy little fight versus a huge dude gigantic man from Project S:
   

   And while we’re here, check out her famous motorcycle stunt from Supercop:
   

7. Bruce Lee

   And if I didn’t include him, I’d have about a half dozen complaints in the comments

   Seriously though, while the choreography in his fights can’t compare to a lot of what came after it’s hard to ignore the quality of his fight scenes. Bruce had true grace, power and an undeniable screen presence.

   Evidence (for those of you might have forgotten?) Bruce Lee versus Chuck Norris:
   

   Remember that Dojo fight above from Fist of Legend? Here’s the original from Lee’s Fist of Fury (aka the Chinese Connection)
   

8. Lau Kar Fai (AKA Gordon Liu)

   For my money- he’s the ultimate Shaw brothers star. If I were to choose a star to represent every decade covered on this list Lau Kar Fai would be the poster boy for the 70s. As the star of some of the genre’s greatest films, he provided precise, powerful movements as the focus of all that delicious Shaw era choreography.

   An excellent “Iron Head Kung Fu” battle with his adopted brother Lau Kar Leung from the brilliant Legendary Weapons of China
   

   Here’s the intro from 36th Chamber of Shaolin- one of the great genre classics.
   

These are in no order and definitely not meant to be a definitive top ten list. Doing a definitive list would take me a year of thinking and re-watching films (And how awesome would that be?) It would also stretch even YouTube’s limits as a source.

Anyway, here’s some kung fu goodness. Enjoy and make sure to check out part two

Jackie Chan vs. Dick Wei in Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars

I think these guys fought five thousand times in the 80s. This one fight always stuck out in my mind. Dick is the guy in the red shirt that comes in a few seconds into the fight.

Quick, but great.

Directed and action by Sammo Hung*

Jet Li vs. Billy Chow from the end of Fist of Legend

Billy Chow is one of my favorite screen fighters from the 90s. Discovered by Sammo Hung, this kickboxer provided a bunch of highlight reel stuff throughout the 90s. This is one of his best moments, playing the heavy in what might be Jet Li’s best martial arts** film.

I actually had a hard time picking a clip from this film. The Dojo fight earlier is maybe even a little better, even if it doesn’t have Billy Chow.

My review of the film.

Directed by Gordon Chan. Action by Yuen Wo-Ping.

Finale of Drunken Master 2. Jackie Chan vs. Ken Lo

Truly one of the great fight scenes ever filmed. From one of the greatest pure fight films ever made. As the standard anecdote goes, Lo was Chan’s real life bodyguard. He’s also a pretty good kicker.

My review of the film.

Directed (credited) by Lau Kar-Leung. Jackie took over after a falling out with the master. Jackie and his team did the action for this scene.

Jet Li Drunken Boxing in Last Hero in China

I just dig this scene. There are plenty of problems with this Wong Jing*** helmed Wong Fei Hung film. This fight isn’t one of them. I get all geeked out when “On the General’s Orders” comes on about 2:30 in…

Directed by Wong Jing. Action by Yuen Wo-Ping.

Sammo Hung vs. Lau Kar Leung from Pedicab Driver

Two of the greatest talents ever to work in the genre face off in a classic battle. Lau was 53 when this sequence was filmed, by the way.

My review of the film.

Directed and Action by Sammo Hung.

Donnie Yen vs. Michael Woods from In the Line of Duty IV

This is a prototypical 80s style fight (and film.) Michael Woods is a great screen fighter and Donnie is, obviously, on of the greatest screen fighters of all time.

Michael Woods, as big as he is, can do Hwang Jiang Lee’s triple kick. Just thought you should know.

He does a great double kick in this one.

Directed and Action by Yuen Wo-Ping

Cynthia Rothrock & Michelle Yeoh In Yes Madam

Michelle Yeoh is all kinds of awesome and contrary to what you might think, under the right tutelage Cynthia Rothrock can fight her ass off on-screen.

This is a really good example from the slew of films featuring female protagonists in the 80s. Yes, I said “slew.” Where Hollywood had Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and little else that I can remember, Hong Kong produced a few dozen films featuring ass-kicking female leads.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Directed and Action by Corey Yuen Kwai

Lau Kar Leung and Lau Kar Wing in Legendary Weapons of China

This is the sort of intricate choreography that old school fans drool over. From one of the greatest martial arts move ever made, by the way. Lau Kar Leung is truly a master of the genre. If I had to pick just one martial arts film to represent the genre, 36th Chamber of Shaolin would be on my short list of candidates.

Directed and Action by Lau Kar Leung.

Jackie Chan “playground fight” from Police Story 2

Easily one of Jackie’s best sequences. Pure mid 80s Hong Kong action brilliance. Stay with it to the very end for a great (and dangerous) little car stunt.

Speaking of stunts, pay close attention to the bumps these guys take. Those aren’t special “soft” jungle jims. What you see is what you get- being a Hong Kong stunt man in the 80s was like being a superhero.

Directed and Action by Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan from Police Story. “The Mall Fight”

Saving the best for last, here’s the greatest action sequence of all time- the blistering finale of Jackie Chan’s original Police Story. I could write a book just on this scene.

And yes, both Brigitte Lin and Maggie Cheung are in this film.

Directed and Action by Jackie Chan

*I’m doing my best to credit folks for the work here. It’s not an exact science, and I’m working from memory. Also, these fights were collaborative efforts between the director, the stunt men, the action director and whoever else was on set, so there are a lot of people that deserve props for these gems.

**he’s been in better movies. This one works really well as a pure martial arts film.

***Not that that means I don’t like Wong Jing’s work. Quite the opposite. I unashamedly think he’s a genius.

Want more? check out- 8 Great Screen Fighters - Hong Kong’s Greatest Martial Arts Movie Stars

He came up at lunch, and I was wondering which of the old WuShu videos I know are out there were on YouTube. I found one good one so far:

Jet Li’s latest film, Fearless is one of the best martial arts movies ever made. I’m not really sure what I thought going in, but after the credits rolled I was positively exhilarated. This is a true “martial arts” film in the purest sense of the phrase (since it deals with the martial arts themselves as the theme) and it measures up against or exceeds any of the other truly great pure martial arts films you’d care to put up against it. The fights are brilliant, the story is even better, the cinematography and direction are top notch and Li provides what might be his best performance in who knows how long… Check this film out.

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The One. Now… don’t I feel like an ass! For whatever reason I skipped out on seeing this Jet Li vehicle and boy am I a goof. This was a lot of fun. To me it’s his best US film (not that that’s saying much.) I really enjoyed the blend of effects and martial arts, which more than made up for any shortcomings in terms of plot, etc.

OHMYGOD THIS LOOKS SO GOOD! WHY AM I YELLING?? BECAUSE IF I DIDN’T I MIGHT EXPLODE. THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST MOVIE EVER MADE!!

Check out the site - HERO and the trailer

Saw this on Wednesday. It was pretty damn good. Maybe a little silly at times, and some of the camerawork during the fights was annoying, but overall it was pretty cool. I’m going to be writing about this one for Boston’s Metro, a new daily paper in town with at minimum a six figure circulation. On Friday, when the piece runs, I’ll probably see, with my own eyes, a hundred people reading the paper. Very cool. Oh, and for what it’s worth, the official site for KOD is a typically bloated Flash piece of garbage.