Latest news with #Shaolin
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
I met a Shaolin Master who can karate chop bricks, do press-ups on his thumbs and bend a spear with his throat. This is how YOU can follow in his footsteps: DAVID LEAFE
Throughout my interview with Shi Heng Yi I can't help feeling strangely nervous. The diminutive yet powerfully built figure in front of me is capable of feats that seem almost superhuman. A teacher of the Shaolin philosophies and martial arts first developed in China 1,500 years ago, he was recently introduced on the hugely popular The Diary of a CEO podcast hosted by Dragons' Den star as 'the world's most hardcore monk'.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I Can't Get Enough Of Jackie Chan's Impressive Stunts, And His Latest Comments About Retiring Are Everything I Wanted To Hear
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Jackie Chan has had an incredible career from his origins as a child actor to becoming a worldwide mega-star. He's been in showbiz since he was five, achieving an early background in martial arts and acrobatics, which went a long way in helping him become a stunt-performing icon in films such as The Legend of Drunken Master and Rumble in the Bronx. With so many impressive stunts in his past, one might think his future will be more restful, but his latest comments about retiring are everything I wanted to hear. There's no doubt that Chan has made an artform out of performing his own stunts. From incorporating everyday objects as weapons, a go-to move in many of his best movies to bringing humorous charm to the fisticuffs, Chan's action scenes are the stuff of leged. While the Shanghai actor may be 71 years old, he's still performing impressive stunts like time never stopped, with a new Karate Kid movie on the way. As such, I absolutley loved hearing the Shaolin actor say in his Haute Living interview that retirement hasn't crossed his mind. In his words: Of course, I always do my own stunts. It's who I am. That's not changing until the day I retire, which is never! And to be honest, when you've done it for 64 years straight, there's no physical preparation anymore. Everything is in your heart and soul; it is muscle memory. I completely understand what Jackie Chan is saying. Since the Rush Hour actor has been performing stunts on screen since he was 17, I'm sure performing these dangerous maneuvers is as easy as breathing for him. If he's in good shape now, why stop? You've gotta give Jackie Chan a lot of credit for not letting a single serious on-set injury stop him from doing what he loves. And believe me, he's had plenty over the years. A couple of examples include sliding down an electrically-lit 70-foot pole in Police Story, where he suffered third-degree burns on his hands, not to mention he almost drowned in Vanguard, which might have caused other actors to avoid stuntwork entirely. Despite every life-threatening injury, Chan says he wouldn't have it any other way, explaining that he's aware how different the action genre is now than when he first started, given the uptick in CGI and wirework in stunt sequences. However, the Hong Kong native believes that true risk is a true reward to make the audience feel the danger and stakes in a scene. If Chan is the man who continues to make us all hold our breaths with each high-risk stunt, all power to him! Not only does Jackie Chan continue to be an onscreen talent, but he also spends his days as a mentor, training the next generation of stunt people through his JC Stunt Team. His 2025 movie release of Karate Kid: Legends also has him reprising his Kung Fu guru role as Mr. Han, where he'll be training a new student looking to compete in a tournament. Chan's also got other sequels he plans to revisit, like Panda Plan 2, Rush Hour 4, and New Police Story 2. With the bankable actor's youthful energy still very much on display in his 70s, there's clearly no stopping him. With all of the love I have for Jackie Chan and his ability to defy gravity with his stunts, I'm so glad the talented actor isn't retiring anytime soon. Considering he helped redefine the action genre, I'd be thrilled to see him continue to shape stunt work with upcoming movies. Make sure to catch his impressive martial arts skills come to life in Karate Kid: Legends in theaters on May 30th, 2025.
Straits Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
At The Movies: Thrills and spills in Fight Or Flight, Another Simple Favor
Josh Hartnett (right) and Charithra Chandran in Fight Or Flight. PHOTO: SHAW ORGANISATION At The Movies: Thrills and spills in Fight Or Flight, Another Simple Favor Fight Or Flight (M18) 102 minutes, opens on May 15 ★★★☆☆ The story: Disgraced former Secret Service agent Lucas Reyes (Josh Hartnett) has a shot at redemption, when tapped by his ex-boss (Katee Sackhoff) for a mission: He is to track down a mysterious cyber terrorist known as 'The Ghost' on an international flight and take him or her into custody back to the United States. Turns out just about every passenger on-board is a crazed assassin after this high-value asset. Is no transportation safe any longer? Fight Or Flight is Brad Pitt's Bullet Train (2022) at 37,000 feet . The airborne action comedy is absurdly entertaining despite the familiar concept, its violence so nuts, the only response is to laugh. Barely has the seatbelt sign been switched off and a skull is skewered, grey matter splattered across the first-class toilet. And speaking of seatbelt, it is repurposed for strangling. Arms are snapped, ribs are crushed by meal trolleys and an eye speared by a broken champagne flute once the international mercenaries leap from their seats to begin competing for their bounty. This is not the sort of movie to ask how a chainsaw got past airport security. The more immediate concern is Lucas having to keep both himself and his target alive. Director James Madigan, a visual effects artist, innovates with brio the close-quarters skirmishes in the pressurised cabins, and Hartnett has mischievous fun as the bleach-blond wash-up in airline pyjamas still capable of holding his own. He finds a reluctant ally in a feisty air stewardess played by Charithra Chandran (Bridgerton, 2020 to present). A befuddled pair of co-pilots and three Shaolin nuns are also in the teeming ensemble, few among them surviving beyond one scene. Hot take: From the producers of John Wick (2014). Which is to say, it is a bonkers romp. Another Simple Favor (M18) 122 minutes, available on Prime Video ★★★☆☆ Anna Kendrick in Another Simple Favor. PHOTO: PRIME VIDEO The story: Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) reunite on the Italian island of Capri for Emily's destination wedding to a handsome mafia scion (Michele Morrone). Beneath the sun-splashed extravagance lurks danger because the bride is a psychopath, surely again up to no good. In the 2018 American noir caper A Simple Favor, widowed single mum Stephanie investigated the disappearance of glamorous Emily and discovered her new best friend from their sons' elementary school had killed her long-lost twin and staged her own death. Seven years later, in Another Simple Favour, Emily is out of prison and Stephanie is a mummy vlogger amateur sleuth. The latter has written a memoir, although reading it to acquaint oneself with the backstory will not help make sense of the convolutions in this knowingly trashy melodrama dressed up as a luxurious travelogue. Emily's dotty mother (Elizabeth Perkins), a shifty aunt (Allison Janney) and Emily's ex (Henry Golding) are the other guests arrived at the resort. Stephanie soon finds herself framed for multiple murders. Is this why Emily invited her here to be bridesmaid, to take delayed revenge? There are secrets, betrayals, fake identities, a mafia war and one too many incident of sibling incest even for an improviser of farcical vulgarities like Paul Feig. The Hollywood director of Bridesmaids (2011) and the girl-powered Ghostbusters (2016) has returned for another female-centric comedy, and the fabulous frenemies – perky Kendrick versus Lively's slippery, manipulative vamp in runway couture – are perhaps reason enough for a sequel, however wearying the endless plot twists. In their byplay, at once flirtatious and a veiled threat, lies all the intrigue. Hot take: Their barbed banter is a treat as Kendrick and Lively talk themselves out of a nonsense frolic. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
13-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Chinese Shaolin Kung Fu shines in Cambodia
Students practice Shaolin Kung Fu at the Shaolin Temple of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on May 10, 2025. - Photo: Xinhua PHNOM PENH: Yue Hanjun practices Chinese Shaolin Kung Fu martial arts here at the Cambodia Shaolin Temple Cultural Center four days a week, believing that the age-old martial arts will improve his physical fitness, mental discipline, and self-confidence. The 15-year-old high school student spends two hours in each evening session to practice the martial arts with Chinese Shaolin Kung Fu monks at the temple located in the capital's Sen Sok district. "I have come to practice Shaolin Kung Fu here for two months," he told Xinhua. "I think Kung Fu is good for my body because I practice every day, and I have a strong body." Yue said his Shaolin Kung Fu masters are very competent and studying with them, he can experience the original styles of the martial arts. He said the whole-body martial arts have helped build strength, energy, and mobility while supporting self-defense and spiritual practice. He said Shaolin Kung Fu classes in Cambodia have played a crucial role in helping promote cultural relations and people-to-people exchanges between Cambodia and China. With a history of more than 1,500 years, Shaolin Kung Fu is one of China's most treasured cultural heritage items, and has been practiced by Shaolin disciples as well as Kung Fu lovers around the world. It offers practitioners a wide array of activities, ranging from hand-to-hand combat to weapons practice. Abhyuday, a 10-year-old primary school student in Phnom Penh, said he has practiced Shaolin Kung Fu at the temple for a few months. He added that the martial arts have built his strength, flexibility, agility, mental discipline, and self-control, as well as provided valuable self-defense techniques. "Well, when I first started, it was actually my parents who gave me the idea, and I was a bit scared of Shaolin Kung Fu at first, but then, I started to like it more. I want to go and I want to become stronger," he told Xinhua. "That's why I enjoy this." "I feel a bit faster, flexible, and strong," he said. Abhyuday said he would use it to defend himself, to improve his physical fitness, or to show to his friends. He said martial arts would surely help promote cultural ties and bonds of friendship between Cambodia and China. "If more people came here, they would understand how helpful Kung Fu is for the human body," he said. Shi Yanshu, a Shaolin Kung Fu monk at the Cambodia Shaolin Temple Cultural Center, hoped that Shaolin Kung Fu classes would contribute further to deepening cultural relations and people-to-people contact between China and Cambodia. He said Shaolin Temple wants to make a contribution to cultural exchanges and sharing, so it came to Cambodia to set up the Shaolin Temple Cultural Center. "I hope that more people in the capital Phnom Penh can understand Shaolin culture, traditional Chinese culture, and Shaolin Kung Fu," he told Xinhua. Thong Mengdavid, a lecturer at the Institute for International Studies and Public Policy of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, said the Shaolin Temple of Cambodia represented a powerful symbol of cultural collaboration and mutual respect between Cambodia and China. "By offering Shaolin Kung Fu training to people in Cambodia, the temple not only promotes physical fitness and discipline, but also fosters spiritual growth and cultural awareness rooted in centuries of tradition," he told Xinhua on Sunday (May 11). - Xinhua
The Advertiser
12-05-2025
- The Advertiser
Inquest to explore mystery of what happened to missing boatie Ashley McKellar
A CORONIAL inquest on Wednesday will attempt to provide answers to the mystery disappearance of Ashley McKellar, an experienced boatie who vanished without a trace after heading out of Swansea Heads on a clear day nearly two years ago. Mr McKellar, 43, a popular member of the Lake Macquarie sailing community, an engineer and a master instructor and fourth degree black belt in karate, was last seen at Bolton Point about 8.30am on June 14, 2023. Police believe Mr McKellar launched his boat, a Telewater 4.8 metre aluminium runabout, from the lake access at Bolton Point about 10.30am that day. But by about 6.30pm, when he could not be contacted or located, his family raised the alarm. Authorities launched a multi-agency search, including helicopter crews, water police, five Marine Rescue vessels and surf lifesavers and spent the following days scouring the coastline from Anna Bay to Norah Head. Conditions were reportedly clear with light winds and half-metre seas and an Australian Maritime Safety Authority aircraft dropped datum marker buoys to assist with drift modelling to determine the search area. However, the day after Mr McKellar was reported missing, his boat was found abandoned 20 nautical miles offshore. He is suspected to have drowned. But a coronial inquest in NSW State Coroner's Court on Wednesday will focus on the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, whether he could still be alive and, if not, whether a manner of death can be determined. Hunter Valley Martial Arts Centre at Warners Bay said in an online memorial that Mr McKellar had travelled extensively, including multiple times to Japan to study. "Shihan Ashley McKellar, a fourth degree black belt, has trained in Chitokai karate since his early teen years," the memorial reads. "He has travelled the world studying martial arts, spending a year at a Shaolin temple, training in Capoeira in Brazil and Tai Chi in Ireland. "Shihan Ash was lost at sea in 2023. "We will always remember his dedication, integrity, humility, and generosity. "His contributions to Ryusei Chitokai Karate live on in our memories of him." Scott Ellis, an old friend, described Mr McKellar as an "absolutely amazing person" who was "always smiling and full of life and energy" and recounted how the Bolton Point man had once spent six months in a martial arts monastery in order to get out of his comfort zone. The coronial inquest is listed for a one-day hearing before Deputy State Corner Magistrate Rebecca Hosking. A CORONIAL inquest on Wednesday will attempt to provide answers to the mystery disappearance of Ashley McKellar, an experienced boatie who vanished without a trace after heading out of Swansea Heads on a clear day nearly two years ago. Mr McKellar, 43, a popular member of the Lake Macquarie sailing community, an engineer and a master instructor and fourth degree black belt in karate, was last seen at Bolton Point about 8.30am on June 14, 2023. Police believe Mr McKellar launched his boat, a Telewater 4.8 metre aluminium runabout, from the lake access at Bolton Point about 10.30am that day. But by about 6.30pm, when he could not be contacted or located, his family raised the alarm. Authorities launched a multi-agency search, including helicopter crews, water police, five Marine Rescue vessels and surf lifesavers and spent the following days scouring the coastline from Anna Bay to Norah Head. Conditions were reportedly clear with light winds and half-metre seas and an Australian Maritime Safety Authority aircraft dropped datum marker buoys to assist with drift modelling to determine the search area. However, the day after Mr McKellar was reported missing, his boat was found abandoned 20 nautical miles offshore. He is suspected to have drowned. But a coronial inquest in NSW State Coroner's Court on Wednesday will focus on the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, whether he could still be alive and, if not, whether a manner of death can be determined. Hunter Valley Martial Arts Centre at Warners Bay said in an online memorial that Mr McKellar had travelled extensively, including multiple times to Japan to study. "Shihan Ashley McKellar, a fourth degree black belt, has trained in Chitokai karate since his early teen years," the memorial reads. "He has travelled the world studying martial arts, spending a year at a Shaolin temple, training in Capoeira in Brazil and Tai Chi in Ireland. "Shihan Ash was lost at sea in 2023. "We will always remember his dedication, integrity, humility, and generosity. "His contributions to Ryusei Chitokai Karate live on in our memories of him." Scott Ellis, an old friend, described Mr McKellar as an "absolutely amazing person" who was "always smiling and full of life and energy" and recounted how the Bolton Point man had once spent six months in a martial arts monastery in order to get out of his comfort zone. The coronial inquest is listed for a one-day hearing before Deputy State Corner Magistrate Rebecca Hosking. A CORONIAL inquest on Wednesday will attempt to provide answers to the mystery disappearance of Ashley McKellar, an experienced boatie who vanished without a trace after heading out of Swansea Heads on a clear day nearly two years ago. Mr McKellar, 43, a popular member of the Lake Macquarie sailing community, an engineer and a master instructor and fourth degree black belt in karate, was last seen at Bolton Point about 8.30am on June 14, 2023. Police believe Mr McKellar launched his boat, a Telewater 4.8 metre aluminium runabout, from the lake access at Bolton Point about 10.30am that day. But by about 6.30pm, when he could not be contacted or located, his family raised the alarm. Authorities launched a multi-agency search, including helicopter crews, water police, five Marine Rescue vessels and surf lifesavers and spent the following days scouring the coastline from Anna Bay to Norah Head. Conditions were reportedly clear with light winds and half-metre seas and an Australian Maritime Safety Authority aircraft dropped datum marker buoys to assist with drift modelling to determine the search area. However, the day after Mr McKellar was reported missing, his boat was found abandoned 20 nautical miles offshore. He is suspected to have drowned. But a coronial inquest in NSW State Coroner's Court on Wednesday will focus on the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, whether he could still be alive and, if not, whether a manner of death can be determined. Hunter Valley Martial Arts Centre at Warners Bay said in an online memorial that Mr McKellar had travelled extensively, including multiple times to Japan to study. "Shihan Ashley McKellar, a fourth degree black belt, has trained in Chitokai karate since his early teen years," the memorial reads. "He has travelled the world studying martial arts, spending a year at a Shaolin temple, training in Capoeira in Brazil and Tai Chi in Ireland. "Shihan Ash was lost at sea in 2023. "We will always remember his dedication, integrity, humility, and generosity. "His contributions to Ryusei Chitokai Karate live on in our memories of him." Scott Ellis, an old friend, described Mr McKellar as an "absolutely amazing person" who was "always smiling and full of life and energy" and recounted how the Bolton Point man had once spent six months in a martial arts monastery in order to get out of his comfort zone. The coronial inquest is listed for a one-day hearing before Deputy State Corner Magistrate Rebecca Hosking. A CORONIAL inquest on Wednesday will attempt to provide answers to the mystery disappearance of Ashley McKellar, an experienced boatie who vanished without a trace after heading out of Swansea Heads on a clear day nearly two years ago. Mr McKellar, 43, a popular member of the Lake Macquarie sailing community, an engineer and a master instructor and fourth degree black belt in karate, was last seen at Bolton Point about 8.30am on June 14, 2023. Police believe Mr McKellar launched his boat, a Telewater 4.8 metre aluminium runabout, from the lake access at Bolton Point about 10.30am that day. But by about 6.30pm, when he could not be contacted or located, his family raised the alarm. Authorities launched a multi-agency search, including helicopter crews, water police, five Marine Rescue vessels and surf lifesavers and spent the following days scouring the coastline from Anna Bay to Norah Head. Conditions were reportedly clear with light winds and half-metre seas and an Australian Maritime Safety Authority aircraft dropped datum marker buoys to assist with drift modelling to determine the search area. However, the day after Mr McKellar was reported missing, his boat was found abandoned 20 nautical miles offshore. He is suspected to have drowned. But a coronial inquest in NSW State Coroner's Court on Wednesday will focus on the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, whether he could still be alive and, if not, whether a manner of death can be determined. Hunter Valley Martial Arts Centre at Warners Bay said in an online memorial that Mr McKellar had travelled extensively, including multiple times to Japan to study. "Shihan Ashley McKellar, a fourth degree black belt, has trained in Chitokai karate since his early teen years," the memorial reads. "He has travelled the world studying martial arts, spending a year at a Shaolin temple, training in Capoeira in Brazil and Tai Chi in Ireland. "Shihan Ash was lost at sea in 2023. "We will always remember his dedication, integrity, humility, and generosity. "His contributions to Ryusei Chitokai Karate live on in our memories of him." Scott Ellis, an old friend, described Mr McKellar as an "absolutely amazing person" who was "always smiling and full of life and energy" and recounted how the Bolton Point man had once spent six months in a martial arts monastery in order to get out of his comfort zone. The coronial inquest is listed for a one-day hearing before Deputy State Corner Magistrate Rebecca Hosking.
