One of my favorite role models. Scratch that, my favorite role model's all for Adidas, my absolute FAVORITE brand!!! holla!!! check him on Jet Li's looking cute

Aah Jet Li.
His real name's Li Lian Jie. He won the world wushu championships when he was really young and gained superstardom after being hired to act in Shaolin Temple when he retired from the sport at 17.
Imagine how young he was then!

Why'd Jet Li suddenly pop to mind? Well, it's coz I've got too much free time on my hands that's what and I'm starting to look forward to watching movies. And, my favorites are Chinese kung fu movies where the main actor is: guess who?

It's funny how I've got him bookmarked in my blog list but I've never really visited more than once or twice. Probably coz his page is in Chinese (but it's changed to English now. FTW!) I have a lot of respect for this guy. Firstly, he's one of the most awesome martial artists on earth. And second, he's quite a religious dude. I mean, think about it, has he ever had a smooching scene in any of his movies? Has he? Nope. Nada. Not Jet Li. That puts him at the top in my books as far as HK film actors go. The most wonderful thing is Jet stands by his principles. Even if he always acts as the hero who pounds the bad guys into submission on the big screen, in real life, he says to leave violence as the last act when nothing else works. See how cool he is? Such a devout Buddhist! Looking at his page, he's founded so many charities to help the less fortunate. I know, every actor does that. But Jet's so different.
He's always smiling. I think the character that he plays are all extensions of his real self: honorable, fair, funny and pleasant. Am I starting to sound like a besotted fan girl here? Well excuse me. I just admire him. A lot.

So there was this one time when The Star newspaper organized a competition to win tickets to see The Warlords: read: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau and Jet Li all in one movie! Are you freaking kidding me??? *hyperventilate*. So, when no one else was looking, I secretly wrote some catchy words to describe why I wanted to watch this movie so much. I think if I dig up the e-mail, I'd be able to re-write what I said last time. Apparently, The Star loved it so much that I was named the Grand Prize winner! *This is my super excited face interjecting here* Honestly, I thought I wouldn't even win. The least I'd hoped for were the free tickets *shiny Shin Chan eyes*
And whaddya know? I won a free t-shirt, free cap, FOUR free tickets and a sticker (?) It's been so long that I don't really remember what else I got from them. At first mom was reluctant to let me go claim the prize at The Star HQ. But I managed to convince dad to send me. Hehe
So yeah, out of all the Chinese people filling the cinema, there were suddenly 4 muslim malay girls amidst them. (Yeah, I brought my sisters along). My baby bros really wanted to tag along but no. Seniority always wins in our family. So the bottom feeders will (always) have to make way for the people on top. Sorry guys! *snickers* I don't know whether it's because I got myself and all my sisters in for free or was it because the HK heavyweights were awesome on screen together. In the end, what really mattered was the movie was AWESOME. I think I did write about this before. I seem to get a sense of deja vu. Nah. Probably not.

So yeah, this is just one example of how much I love Jet Li movies. Below are other examples:

• Bought a whole bunch of Jet Li movies (DVDs): Tai Chi Master, Fong Sai Yuk I & II, My Father is a Hero, Once Upon a Time in China and... (I forgot all the other titles). If I still had them with me and if that freaking thief hadn't broken into our house and ransacked them all (they weren't even opened yet!!!!!), I would not be mourning my loss right now. I still feel it. A piercing, deep sense of loss (way to go on the play on words Maryam, but seriously I do). Coz they were really old movies and very, very hard to find. Curse you, you damn thief!
• Get into Speedy or any other DVD selling stores and the first aisle I go is to the Chinese movies. So far, I've re-bought Fong Sai Yuk I and II. I still need to find Tai Chi master though... again, I hope that thief got his arm cut off somewhere along the way. Oh, and before coming back here, I bought My father is a hero!!! It's sitting safely back at home (I hope). I thought Anita Mui was awesome in this one. and the soundtrack too. and of course the little boy. Kinda like Jet Li's protege
• Coming here, I enrolled in Shaolin Kung Fu. The shifu was actually trained under Jet Li's master (very false understated calmness here. when he actually told us. I was literally wide eyed like changed into Shin Chan or something) And he said he's actually an accomplished, trained Shaolin monk. I consider it one of my greatest achievements when he said my earth fist (one of Jet Li's moves) was beyond! His exact words (coz it has been stored safely in my memory) was: and did you see Maryam? Wow! You were really into it! Bravo! That's what happens when you're in the zone. (well, not exactly his words, I'm not a robot..but something along those lines). That was during grading. And to me, kung fu is the best martial arts I've tried. EVER. The concept is to coil one's energy in and let it out. Everything starts from a coiling motion. The move that got to me the most is the punches. Instead of pulling it in and punching like most martial arts, you'd have to twist the fist along the way. To gain momentum and more power. And it looks absolutely beautiful. I did learn the first step to becoming an initiate but I haven't practiced it since forever so I don't really remember. What I do remember is, I finally got some of Jet Li's moves!!!!!!!!!! the one where he killed the big bad boss in Last Hero in China (double fists, angled body, and wham!) was the move I got praised for by my shifu. Ehhem ehhem.  
• I got into Wing Chun the other day (this is because Donnie Yen was too awesome in Ip Man with his dummy thing). They had the same principles. But they're punches were so hard to grasp! Extend from the elbow, and this is where they become jabs. Quick repetitive jabs. What attracted me the most to Wing Chun is coz the most famous practitioner is a woman. Their principle of sticking hands is too awesome. As demonstrated by the ever stone faced dead pan Donnie Yen. But to tell you the truth, his moves are BEYOND. To get your punches right, you'd have to be a martial arts expert like him. 
• Okay this is my last dot point: when I saw Jet Li in Fearless, he looked way old from when he acted as Fong Sai Yuk. It breaks my heart. He'll get old and die eventually. Sobs.

Jet Li's doing another movie: the sorcerer and the white snake and it looks good. but the graphics look corny compared to the awesome storm warriors. oh and he's collaborating with Tsui Hark (read: AWESOME-ness doesn't begin to describe it) for the first time in 14 years. Movie looks FTW!