Limbs as fast as light

It's nearly impossible to talk about Martial Arts without thinking of Asian films, specifically the Kung Fu or Karate variety. Kick-ass action, with its jaw-dropping stunts, have made international icons of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, etc.

Of course, Hollywood has been quick in cashing in on the entertainment bonanza from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. At its most basic level, McLuhan's theory of the global village can be easily gleaned from the escapist experience of viewers from Afghanistan to Zaire whose common culture may include their being enthralled by the gee-whiz genre of flying kicks and faster-than-bullets fisticuffs. We may as well call it the transnationalization of the action genre beyond the so-called Hollywood hegemony. Aside from the Karate Kid franchise, audiences in the United States and the rest of the world have been all out in embracing such Asian sensation as Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Zhang Yimou's Hero.

Yuen Wo Ping, the stunt director and choreographer of Lee's critically acclaimed film, has become a fixture in Hollywood as its filmmakers seek his expertise in calling the shots for the stylized kinetic poetry in such box-office sensation as the Wachowski brothers' The Matrix series and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, among others.

There's more than meets the eye as Ping picks his favorite action scenes, among them this clip from Lee's film:

For more action, read this article on Asian cinema's 20 greatest fight scenes.