Hwang Jang Lee is one of the greatest kickers in cinema history, when you watch him on screen, it's hard to think how he can pull off some of the kicks he does and his triple jump kick is excellent. Hwang is also one of the greatest villains in Kung Fu cinema history, always playing a guy who has no fear and will challenge anyone.
Early life
Korean at birth, Hwang Jang Lee was actually born in Japan on the outskirts of Osaka in 1944. His father owned a shipping company, but in 1945 the Japanese wanted all Koreans out of there country, so the company had to be shut down.
At the age of 14, Hwang started training in Tae Kwan Do, his parents were against him training in any Martial Arts, so he had to train in secret. Within a few years he had got his black-belt and also knocked out most of his opponents.
In 1965 Hwang was drafted into the army, after weeks of basic training, he was sent to teach Tae Kwan Do to over 1,000 military students. Already a 4th dan black-belt by this time, Hwang quickly caught the eye of his high ranking officers. One day Hwang was challenged to a fight whilst teaching by a south Vietnamese knife fighter. The fight lasted around 30 seconds with a kick landing to the head which knocked his challenger out.
Movie days
After acting in Korean movies, he came Hong Kong in 1976 to work, at the invitation of Ng See-yuen, he starred in a great number of martial arts movies, being generally cast as the villain, such as The Secret Rivals, which was the first to feature him as “Silver Fox”. His martial arts prowess has earned him a genuine fame among martial arts aficionados, especially due to the fact that he fought almost only with his legs, earning him nicknames such as “King of the Leg-fighters”.
Shortly after, he appeared in movies such as “Snuff Bottle Connection”, “Invincible Armour”, “Heroes Of Shaolin”, as well as starring with Kung Fu legend Jackie Chan in “Snake In The Eagles Shadow” and “Drunken master”, all these films mentioned are great kung fu classics. Hwang actually kicked out Jackie Chans front tooth whilst delivering a jump kick to the face, i heard Jackie was not happy about this at the time. Other movies that stand out for me are as follows:
*Dance Of The Drunk Mantis
*Hit man In The Hand Of Buddha
*Ninja In The Dragon's Den
*The Buddha Assassinator
*The Eagles Claw
In 2009, Hwang returned to acting in the TV series Return of Iljimae, his first time since 1996.
In 2010, Hwang gave his most in depth interview to date in the film “The Anonymous King”, which follows Jon James Hodson as he attempts to find Hwang in his native Seoul. The film contains interviews with family and old cast members and is filmed on location in Korea and Hong Kong.
Please check out my tribute video dedicated to the super kicker himself, thanks.
Source:Wikipedia
