John Liu (actor)

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Liu Chungliang (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.

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 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 . 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 (1981), (1981) and (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 . 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 's in 1998 and once more in (Any Reason Not To Get Married?) as a cameo appearance in 2006.

Partial filmography[]

• (2006) - as Street Vendor (Cameo, Final Movie Appearance)
• (1998) - as Paschy (Producer)
• (1992) - as Liu (Director, Producer, Scriptwriter)
• (1982) - as Liu (Director, Producer, Scriptwriter)
• (1982) - as Shao Yi-fei
• (1981) - as John Liu (Deputy Director, Producer, Scriptwriter)
• (1981) - as John Liu/James Liu (2 Roles)(Director, Producer, Scriptwriter)
• (1979) - as Chee Kao
• (1979) - as Ma Tien-lang
• Death Duel of Kung Fu (1979) - as Sung Hsin
• The Dragon, the Hero (1979) - as Tu Wu-shen
• (1979) - as Shao Ting Kang
• (1979) - as Lung Kang
• (1978) - as Oh Yang-chun
• (1978) - as Ling Chu-fei
• (1978) - as Luk Ah-chai
• Secret Rivals 2 (1977) - as Shao Yi-fei
• The Invincible Armour (1977) - as Chow Wu-feng
• (1977) - as Wu Kam
• Snuff Bottle Connection (1977) - as Shao Ting-shang
• Secret Rivals (1976) - as Shao Yi-fei (Debut)
• (1973) - Cameo
• (1972) - as Yanoryu Karateka - Cameo

References[]

External links[]

• John Liu at IMDb
• Profile of John Liu