The Women of Martial Arts
I can’t include them all, and some biggies will be missing, but here are 5 I dig the most
Cheng Pei Pei
One of the early stars of the golden age, Cheng is Martial Arts royalty. We recently saw her in Mulan, she played the baddie in Crouching Tiger, and is probably best loved and known for playing Golden Swallow in two films, by two master directors, Chang Cheh and King Hu (Come Drink With Me). I’m also a fan of Lady Hermit
Nora Miao
What Pei Pei was to Shaw Brothers, Nora was to Golden Harvest. Known by many as Bruce Lee’s go-to leading lady, Miao also headlined several Wuxia winners, my favorites being The Comet Strikes and The Blade Spares None. I own a bunch of her movies, with Bruce and otherwise, and in 2020 I had, what I called, a “Nora-Palooza” (which just means I watched and reviewed several of her movies). Like this one…
Yanin Jeeja
I haven’t seen a lot of her movies, but it’s all about Chocolate, Chocolate rocks.
I love the way Yanin imitates other fighters in this movie, M.A. aficionados will be able to spot her doing all the greats from Tony Jaa to Jackie Chan. My favorite moment is when she replicates Bruce Lee’s Ice House fight, complete with cat-like howl. Awesomeness!
Zhang Ziyi
Known for doing more artistic type MA movies, she’s pure grace and a marvelous actor. Zhang made a splash with audiences in Crouching Tiger, which lead to hits like Hero and the House of Flying Daggers
Angela Mao
Lady Whirlwind is such a legend that Shout Factory issued a box set collection to highlight her skills. She has a small role in Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon and can be seen in King Hu’s The Fate of Lee Khan and in her second film, The Invincible Eight, she shared the screen with Nora Miao. I’ve been told I need to see Hapkido, if I’m to maintain my martial arts cred.
To Round it to an even 10
- Kelly Hu
- Michelle Yeoh
- Meiko kaji (Lady Snowblood)
- Shih Szu (co-stared with Pei Pei in Lady Hermit and starred in the sequel, The Black Tavern)
- Cynthia Rothrock - Rifftrax royalty