Kung Fu Movie Guide Podcast

When Jean-Paul Ly moved from Cambodia to London to make it in the movie business, he predicted that within three years, he would be the lead in a martial arts action film. It only took two and a half years until he completed work on Jailbreak (out now on Netflix) – Cambodia’s first martial arts film and a runaway international success. Despite being made on a shoestring budget and facing a number...

Having now worked with UK martial arts star Scott Adkins a total of six times – including on the films Savage Dog, Accident Man, The Debt Collector, and the soon to be released martial arts movie event of the year, Triple Threat, which also stars Iko Uwais, Michael Jai White, Tony Jaa, Tiger Chen and Michael Bisping – the writer, director and former stunt performer Jesse V. Johnson is right to fee...

Today is an 'I Am Vengeance' movie special. WWE star Stu Bennett (aka Wade Barrett) and martial arts movie legend Gary Daniels star in 'I Am Vengeance' (aka 'Vengeance'), which is out now in theatres and on digital download in the US. The film tells the story of ex-serviceman turned mercenary, John Gold, and his quest for revenge following the death of his former army buddy. The UK-made action fil...

Although Bob Wall had no desire to become a film star, he somehow ended up appearing in some of the highest grossing martial arts films of all time. As Chuck Norris’ business partner and Bruce Lee’s training buddy and friend for over a decade, Bob – a world professional karate champion – found himself cast as one of the baddies in Lee's 1972 film, The Way of the Dragon. Bob provided a similar foil...

UK actor and filmmaker Joey Ansah’s imagination was sparked at an early age through the power of the classic Hong Kong action movie, Dragons Forever, and the Street Fighter video game. The son of a famous Ghanaian fashion designer father and a UK mother, Joey grew up immersed in both British and African culture. His passion was, and still is, the martial arts, becoming a famous online ‘tricker’ an...

Alain Moussi has enjoyed a rapid rise from stuntman to starring roles to leading his own martial arts movie franchise. As Kurt Sloane, he is the poster-boy at the heart of the rebooted Kickboxer franchise – a role made famous by his childhood hero, Jean-Claude Van Damme – which was launched in 2016 with the film Kickboxer: Vengeance. The second instalment, Kickboxer: Retaliation, received rave rev...

To celebrate the UK DVD and digital download release of Accident Man – a British action comedy based on a comic book by the creator of Judge Dredd – we have two of the world’s biggest martial arts movie stars on today’s show. Listen to my in-depth conversation with one of the most popular female action stars on the planet right now, Amy Johnston, who has gone from being Scarlett Johannsson’s stunt...

Having retired from the world of mixed martial arts, Cung Le is channelling the same grit and determination which made him a champion fighter into his career as an actor in Hollywood and Asia. Over the past decade, the former UFC fighter, Strikeforce Middleweight Champion and highly decorated martial artist has balanced his professional fighting career with appearances in some superb martial arts...

Actor, stunt performer, filmmaker, teacher, activist - there's a lot more to Diana Lee Inosanto than just being the daughter of legendary Filipino-American martial artist Dan Inosanto, not to mention the goddaughter of the iconic Bruce Lee. Despite being only seven when the martial arts superstar passed away in 1973, she still has fond memories of "Uncle Bruce" and growing up with the Lee family,...

Star of the 1985 Motown-produced cult classic, The Last Dragon, we welcome Taimak to our first podcast of 2018. Taimak Guarriello was only 19 when he made his starring-role debut as the wise kung fu kid 'Bruce' Leroy Green in Berry Gordy's weird and wonderful action fantasy. It's a fun mix of martial arts and music, but the shoot wasn't always smooth, and Taimak explains some of the on-set dispute...

Welcome to the Kung Fu Movie Guide's End of Year Show 2017, featuring the action movie expert and ‘Life of Action’ author Mike Fury. Listen as we reveal our Top 5 martial arts films of the year - and also share our thoughts on the worst film of the year. We also discuss the top martial arts movie news from 2017, and take a moment to remember some of the people who have died this year. We look back...

This episode comes to you live from Fighting Spirit Film Festival 2017, an all-day celebration of martial arts movies which took place in London, UK, on 16 September 2017. You will hear from up-and-coming UK filmmakers whose short films were shown at the event, including: multi-award-winning writer, director, producer, actor, stuntman and martial artist, Beau Fowler, whose short film Express Deliv...

Today we welcome one of martial art cinema's all-time greatest villains to the show. The giant, musclebound German fighter Matthias Hues has spent a career taking on the likes of Dolph Lundgren, Cynthia Rothrock, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Bolo Yeung, Billy Blanks, Lorenzo Lamas and Mark Dacascos. But despite his on-screen persona, Matthias is actually a very sweet-natured person, as revealed in thi...

Today we celebrate the weird and wonderful world of Bruceploitation cinema with the martial arts action star, director, writer and fellow podcaster, Michael Worth. When he's not making his own movies, Michael has been following his passion for kung fu movies with a number of exciting projects. I catch up with him during the filming of his own Bruceploitation documentary, which looks into the stran...

Fresh from his award-winning fight choreography duties on a string of Scott Adkins hits - including Boyka: Undisputed, Eliminators, Ninja: Shadow of a Tear, and the upcoming Accident Man and Triple Threat - it was a great pleasure to spend time with the Swedish martial arts maestro, Tim Man. A former taekwondo champion, Tim Man learned the hard way by getting knocked around as a stuntman in Thaila...

Scott Adkins is one of the world's biggest martial arts movie stars. From humble beginnings as a Van Damme and Bruce Lee obsessed taekwondo practitioner growing up in Birmingham, UK, to starring in some of the best fight movies of the last decade, Scott Adkins has consistently brought a unique charm, athleticism and authenticity to his own special brand of high-kicking action films. His latest fil...

Céline Tran continues to enjoy a remarkably diverse career. She has gone from adult film star to action hero following the release of her first martial arts feature film, Jailbreak - Cambodia's first martial arts film. It was a hit when it was released locally in January 2017, and has now been picked up by The Raid distributors XYZ Films for international release. The film showcases Céline's aweso...

Bruce Lee historian and author Steve Kerridge is my guest on this special episode of the show, which is very much a celebration of Bruce Lee's life and work. Steve is the author of the fabulously detailed book, Bruce Lee: Legends of the Dragon, which outlines the making of the film The Way of the Dragon (1972). Along with fellow Bruce Lee expert David Tadman, Steve also produces the regular Bruce...

Aspiring filmmakers should definitely tune into this episode of the Kung Fu Movie Guide Podcast, as I talk to two up-and-coming, talented, London-based directors Matthias Hoene and James Nunn, who are both making waves internationally with their own action films. Firstly, I talk to the director Matthias Hoene about his new film, Enter the Warrior's Gate (aka Warrior's Gate), a Chinese-European co-...

It was a pleasure talking to the rising Asian-American movie star JuJu Chan on the latest podcast. JuJu was born in Hong Kong and raised in America where she has enjoyed prominent roles in films like the Netflix-produced Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016) - directed by kung fu movie legend Yuen Woo-ping and starring Donnie Yen and Michelle Yeoh - and her new film, Jesse Johnso...

This is an action-packed show with not one, not two, but three up-and-coming UK martial arts stars. Firstly, I catch up with the directors, writers and stars of the new martial arts action flick The Real Target: David Cheung and Yolanda Lynes. After raising funds through their Indiegogo campaign, David and Yolanda are now in production with The Real Target alongside a cast of great UK fighting tal...

What better way to launch the second season of podcasts than with a chat to one of Hollywood's most beloved and prolific stunt co-ordinators, J.J. Perry. Jordan Andrew 'J.J.' Perry has been involved in some of the best action movies of the last 25 years, including Avatar, Iron Man, Star Trek Into Darkness, Django Unchained, Transformers: Age of Extinction and the John Wick films. He trained Gina C...

Here's a kung fu movie double bill for the final episode in the first season of Kung Fu Movie Guide podcasts. Join me as I have a quick chat with the legendary Korean-born Hapkido master and former action star Hwang In-shik, famous for his role in the 1972 Bruce Lee classic The Way of the Dragon, and his work with Jackie Chan in The Young Master and Dragon Lord. The person I have to thank for orga...

Here's a real treat for fans of competitive kickboxing and martial arts movies, as I have a conversation with former world champion Jerry "Golden Boy" Trimble. Kentucky-born Trimble took the kickboxing world by storm in the 1980s by winning four consecutive world championships before embarking on a highly successful film career. His debut feature was alongside Jet Li in Tsui Hark's The Master, bef...

British actor and former world kickboxing champion Cengiz Dervis is my guest on this episode of the Kung Fu Movie Guide Podcast. This interview took place in the same week Cengiz discovered that he had landed a large role in a new 10-part TV series produced by Marvel's Avengers star Jeremy Renner and The History Channel called Knightfall. Since retiring from the ring, Cengiz has worked behind-the-...