How to become the next Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan (second from right) reunites with "The Seven Little Fortunes" -- can you match each one with their childhood image?
Hong Kongers love Jackie Chan's rags to riches story.
The year was 1959. Cane-happy Peking opera master Yuan Zhanyuan set up the China Drama Academy (now called the Hong Kong-China Opera Institute) in his flat and accepted some 40 penniless young ruffians as his martial arts pupils. The star pupils, nicknamed the 'Seven Little Fortunes,' went on to become important figures in Hong Kong kung fu cinema. They included Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung Kam-bo, Yuan Qiu, Yuen Wah and Yuan Biao.
The training the children went through easily constitutes as child abuse today.
Jackie Chan recalls being beaten by Master Yuan: “Each rip of the cane, each jolt of torment was followed by another, in steady staccato rhythm, until my throat was hoarse and my buttocks almost numb.”
But as the kung fu greats acknowledged last Friday at the now-defunct school’s 50th anniversary dinner, they all owe their stardom to their tough childhoods.
We don’t get schools quite as hard-core these days, but here are a two martial arts schools that come closest to training students with Jackie Chan-like intensity:
Chinese International Kung-Fu School
One of Hong Kong’s biggest schools and popular with foreigners. Courses are taught in English and Chinese and include Wing Chun self-defense, as well as summer courses for tots. Courses last anywhere from a week to six months.
F4, 3/F, Mirador Mansion, 58 Nathan Road, tel: +852 2723 2306
Donald Mak International Wing Chun Institute
The institute offers 180-hour courses in English, as well as private tutorials by appointment.
M/F, Hong Mei Building, 135 Lai Chi Kok Road, Kowloon, tel : +852 8100 3137
The Hong Kong Film Archive will also be hosting a photo retrospective of the school, titled "Qi Ziao Fu: 50th Anniversary Exhibition," at the Exhibition Hall of the Hong Kong Film Archive from now until February 21, 2010. Details on the Film Archive's website, or on CNNGo Events.
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