
"Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself makes you fearless." - Lao Tzu
Plot outline
Personal notes
Cast
- Jet Li
- Li Sun
- Yong Dong
- Yun Qu
- Ailing Xu
- Collin Chou
- Hee Ching Paw
- Nathan Jones
- Shidô Nakamura
- Brandon Rhea
- Anthony De Longis
- Jean Claude Leuyer
- Zhi-Hui Chen
- Jacky Heung
- Zhigang Zhao
- Masato Harada
- Jon T. Benn
- John Paisley
- Graeme Ford
- Samantha Buck
- Mike Leeder
- Jun Li
- Jason C. Lin
- Fusheng Chen
- Yong Cheng
- Shaohang Guo
- Ju He
- Sirong He
- Chao Li
- Licheng Liu
- Jing Ma
- Scott Ma
- Yin Ma
- Dave Mallow
- Philippe Millieret
- Yi Qian
- Jian Shi
- Shuo Song
- Leqiu Sun
- Leung Ting
- Qi Wang
- Binghua Wei
- Dashen Xu
- Yonghai Xu
- Sean Eden Yi
- Tieying Zhao
- Shiming Zheng
- Somrak Khamsing
- Ian Powers
- Michelle Yeoh
Plots
A biography of Chinese Martial Arts Master Huo Yuanjia, who is the founder and spiritual guru of the Jin Wu Sports Federation.
Martial arts legend Huo Yuanjia became the most famous fighter in all of China at the turn of the 20th Century. Huo faced personal tragedy but ultimately fought his way out of darkness and into history, defining the true spirit of martial arts. His self-discovery, and the choices he made, inspired his nation. The son of a great fighter who did not wish for his child to follow in his footsteps, the bullied Huo Yuanjia resolves to teach himself how to fight - and win. Years of training enable him to ace match after match in his home region of Tianjin. But as his fame as a martial arts master grows, so does his pride. After an ill-advised fight leads to another master's death, members of Huo's family are slain in revenge. Grieving and ashamed, Huo wanders the country in shock. Near death, he is rescued by women from an idyllic village, and is offered simple kindness and generosity that help him heal and regain his equilibrium over a period of several years. Huo realizes that the future of martial arts lies in sportsmanship and not brutality, and he rejoins society to apply what he has learned. Returning to Tianjin, Huo takes steps to come to terms with his past and restore his family's name. His evolving, graceful Mizong (Missing) Fist method of fighting brings Huo renewed success, and he forms the progressive Jingwu Sports Federation. Taking note, duplicitous members of the Foreign Chamber of Commerce engineer a Shanghai tournament pitting Huo against four fighters, each representing the major foreign powers in China. Huo commits to the bout and faces off against, respectively, a British boxer, a Spanish swordsman, a Belgian soldier, and a Japanese martial artist. What happened that day in 1910 has never been, and will never be, forgotten in China.
When an ill-advised fight destroys the reputation of a renowned martial arts champion and his family, his difficult path to redemption will bring him face-to-face with the most ferocious fighters in the world.