My Take
Yuen Woo-ping is one of those rare artists whose fingerprints are all over cinema without most casual viewers ever knowing his name — and honestly, that's kind of beautiful. Growing up in a martial arts family (his father Yuen Siu-tien was a legendary performer himself), he absorbed the craft from childhood and eventually became the guy Hollywood called when they needed fight choreography that felt genuinely impossible. The Matrix's bullet-dodging, wire-fu sequences? That's him. Kill Bill's sword battles? Him again. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's gravity-defying poetry? You guessed it. What gets me is how he brings a choreographer's musicality to action — every punch and kick has rhythm and intention, not just impact. He's been doing this since the 1970s Hong Kong cinema golden era, and somehow never lost his edge across decades and continents.
Overview
Yuen Woo-ping (Chinese: 袁和平; pinyin: Yuán Hépíng; alias: Yuen Wo-ping; born 24 August 1945) is a Hong Kong martial arts choreographer and film director who worked in Hong Kong action cinema and later Hollywood films. He is one of the inductees on the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong. Yuen is also a son of Yuen Siu-tien, a martial arts film actor.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Yuen Woo-ping
- Name (Japanese)
- ユエン・ウーピン
- Reading
- ゆえん・うーぴん
- Born
- January 1, 1945 (age 81)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Rooster
- Origin
- Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- film director / choreographer / actor / screenwriter / film actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- American Choreography Awards
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.