Jet Li was raised in Beijing, China and born on April 26, 1963. At the age of eight he started attending the Beijing Wushu Academy, Wushu is a performance version of martial arts. At eleven years old he won his first of five gold medals in the championships. He retired from the sport at age 17 and turned his sights on the world of acting, landing his debut role in the film Shaolin Temple in 1979. He marked his entrance into Hollywood playing the villain in Lethal Weapon 4 and rose to prominence as a leading man in the west with his performance in Romeo Must Die. In 2008 he appeared in The Forbidden Kingdom, the film features both Jet Li and Jackie Chan, two of the biggest Chinese stars to have crossed over into Hollywood. After taking a one year break he returned to acting and starred in Jian guo da ye in 2009.
Currently he has two movies in the post production stage Ocean Paradise due to be released in Hong Kong in 2010 although an exact date is not yet available and The Expendables due to be released in the USA August, 13 2010.
The Expendables screenplay was written by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, both also have parts in the movie David Callaham as himself and Sylvester Stallone as Barney 'The Schizo' Ross. Other stars included in the film are Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger just to name a few.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001472/biohttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt1320253/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1320253/fullcredits#writers
Jet Li Conditioning and Training
This video shows some of the training and conditioning Jet Li goes through. It starts with Jet expanding what looks to be bands as far as they will go and holding them where he wants them to be, he then does a sort of chin up lifting his legs above his head until his feet touch the bar he is holding onto.
Jet Li Timeline
Note: The majority of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.
1963: Born
1982: Shaolin Temple
1998: Lethal Weapon 4
2000: Romeo Must Die
2001: Kiss the Dragon
2002: Hero
2006: Fearless
References
Fast Facts
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Born
April 26, 1963
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Birth Place
Beijing, China
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Won
Five gold medals in the Chinese Championships
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First Movie
Shaolin Temple in 1979
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Most Current Movies
Ocean Paradise due out in 2010, & The Expendables due out Aug. 2010.
