A chat with AL LEONG – martial artist & stuntman extraordinaire — Chiller Theatre
May 11th, 2012 by Mr. C
(Sifu Al Leong with an aerial attack using the Kwan Dao!)
Al Leong is probably a name you have never heard of but a face that you have most definitely seen in action movies & TV. Sporting a very familiar & killer fu-manchu ‘stache, the long hair, the diminuitive muscular build with the lightning fast kicks, Al is mostly identified with playing villain characters providing explosive high energy fight scenes in movies such as Big Trouble in Little China, Rapid Fire, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Scorpion King, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and in TV series such as TJ Hooker, Fall Guy, Knight Rider, 24, & more! Born in St. Louis, Missouri but grew up on the streets of L.A. – Al’s martial art foundation is deeply steeped within the 5 Animal Style taught by the legendary teacher, the late Grandmaster Ark Yuey Wong in L.A.’s Chinatown. Master Ark Yuey Wong nicknamed Sifu Al – “Kwan Gung” – the Legendary General from China also known as the Chinese God of War. General Kwan Gung was very proficient with the Kwan Dao (a huge broad bladed sword on the end of a long staff) and hence the nickname for Sifu Al besides a slight resemblance of course.
Unfortunately, health issues have slowed down Sifu Al the past 8 years along with the wear & tear from his previous bout with brain cancer going back 20 years, but just as the God of War he is – he continues to fight, claw, & kick just like he was trained to do since childhood. It’s a true testament to his prior years of martial arts training.
We had the pleasure to meet and briefly chat with Sifu Al Leong at the Chiller Theatre Expo in NJ on April 28th. He was gracious enough to answer a few questions for us.
Al’s book: The Eight Lives of Al ‘Ka Bong Leong is a highly recommended fun read and chock full of wonderful personal & professional photos which really added great insight to his warrior mentality but gentle soul. The pictures itself is worth the price of the book! Thank you – Mr. Al Leong, you are an inspiration to us all especially to us Asian Americans! Thank you for sharing your story with us in The Eight Lives of Al Kabong.
You can buy The Eight Lives of Al ‘Ka Bong Leong on Amazon.com – signed, sealed, & delivered!
(Al Leong at the Chiller Theatre Expo on 4/28 – photo credit: Chocko)
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Al Leong is one of my favorite martial art screen presences even though he always seems to play the villain, he enters the screen with a high voltage fight scene but then he somehow manages to end up dying!
Thank you Sifu Al for spending a few minutes of your time to answer these questions:
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PC: It must of been a real privilege to be able to study with the late Grandmaster Ark Yuey Wong in the 5 animal style and be one of his top level students. Did Sifu Wong have a father/son type of relationship with his disciples? Was there a point in time when Grandmaster Wong wanted you to open up a school of your own to extend the 5 Animal Style olive branch?
AL: No, I never discussed teaching for him. Chinese instructors are very different. The old masters have trained a lot and know alot and I do believe they know when they have taken you to your limit. The old teachers trained in two or three styles which they then incorporated to create new things that is different and which works. This is why chinese styles can’t be separate or divided because you lose that blend that can inspire a new & effective style. This is why modern wu shu does not work with the traditional kung fu styles because you really can’t integrate them. The chinese do things that no other martial art styles do because the chinese operate independently. A good example is when you have a neighborhood of Japanese businesses, a japanese business owner would come out and sweep the whole length of the block. On any given chinese neighborhood, the chinese would only sweep the front of his shop because the Chinese are so independent.
PC: When we spoke at Chiller Theatre, you also mentioned that you have a background in the Praying Mantis style. Who was your sifu in that discipline? Also in your book, you mentioned that you studied in New York City, can you elaborate more on your time there.
AL: I was trained in NYC by a great person and was told never to mention him. He had passed away years ago. He was a great man of chinese medicine and had no interest in the light of entertainment with people. He saw the world in a completely different way so I’ll have to leave him there.
When my teacher from NYC knew that I was welding, doing brakes, and painting cars – He was against it all. He hated the Hollywood thing and when I became a grip in the movie business, it seemed like he knew that I would end up in front of camera. When I had brain cancer, I think my sifu was expecting that something would go wrong with my body from all the activities I was doing. He always said I did too much. The same thing my cancer doctor later said. My teacher thought that this was the end for me and maybe it should have been but it was not. A year later, I came back and fought Brandon Lee in Rapid Fire. The death of Brandon’s father – Bruce was always weird to me. Then what happened to Brandon was even stranger. When I had the stroke which finally took me out of the movie business. it made me think my teacher knew this was going to happen which in retrospect took me out of the busines for good reason. Probably the same reason that Bruce and Brandon shouldn’t have been in the movie business as well.
PC: The current trend of the fighting arts seems to have gravitated towards mixed martial arts. What are your thoughts about traditional martial arts vs MMA?
AL: I think all styles are good. People have unique personalities and the different styles also have their own personalities & strongsuits. Today, everyone is in a mad rush and to some, MMA is their answer. A lot of tradition has been lost and that is why I am glad the old chinese instructors held back a lot of things. Today this knowledge from the old teachers would be extremely wasted. If the traditional kung fu teachers thought that martial arts could truly be taught in six months – they would have taught it in six months.
PC: Does it get competitive between stuntmen and martial artists behind the scenes on movie sets? Any impromptu fights or challenges ever take place between the crew when the camera wasn’t rolling?
AL: There has never been any fighting or brouhahas that I can recall between stuntmen and martial artists on the set. The stunt coordinator hires the staff and if anything did happen between his people, the whole team would lose the chance of working the next big hollywood job.
PC: We loved watching you as one of the Wing Kong hatchet men in Big Trouble in Little China. Were there any particular favorite roles that you enjoyed the most in your movie and TV career?
AL: Big Trouble in Little China was extremely fun because the director – John Carpenter was great! Rapid Fire was a blast as well. Brandon Lee was such a wonderful guy & a pleasure to work with. Working with Jeff Imada – the Stunt Coordinator was incredible as well. The director of Rapid Fire – Dwight Little was such a nice person.
PC: There must of been lots of grindhouse movie theaters around when you grew up in L.A. . Any standout films that you remember watching in the old school cinemas of those times?
AL: When I was younger, I loved watching all the martial art films from the Shaw Brothers Studios!
PC: OK, we had to ask this since you said you worked in Jack in the Box when you were a teenager. Do you prefer Jack in the Box burgers or In N Out?
AL: I worked at Jack in the Box for three years if I can remember correctly with the greatest group of guys. After that, I worked at Mcdonalds. Back then all the meat came in fresh at Mcdonalds and frozen at Jack in the Box. 45 years ago, I preferred Mcdonalds because of the fresh meat. Today, I love In N Out, Carl’s Jr. (which is Hardies back east) because the meat is served fresh where now Mcdonalds has all precooked meat.
PC: What are some of your all time favorite movies, new or old?
AL: I like westerns and I love Clint Eastwood. I wasn’t too fond of the movie Gran Torino though, but I did think that Eastwood acted great in it. I didn’t care for some of the asian actors in the film. I wished Eastwood would have used more well known asian actors in the cast. I think that would have made for a much better film. I also love the last two Batmans and I probably will like the new Batman – The Dark Knight Rises which will be released in July because Christopher Nolan (Director/Writer) has a great sense of telling a good story. If you don’t have a good story you have no movie.
PC: What is your favorite city and why?
AL: I love Hawaii and back in the States, I love the east coast because the people there are more real. L.A. is “hollywood” and everybody thinks they are somebody and the fact that nobody talks to you has always been strange to me.
PC: And most importantly, any favorite foods and restaurants that you can share with us while in your favorite city?
AL: I don’t go out to eat in fancy food establishments. I have very simple requirements – No spicy foods!
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(Al Leong with double broadswords at Balboa Park’s “sideways tree” in Van Nuys, California – Photo source: THE EIGHT LIVES OF AL KABONG LEONG)
(The Rock -Dwayne Johnson,Michael Clark Duncan,Al Leong ,Tom Lupo on the set of SCORPION KING (Photo Source: THE EIGHT LIVES OF AL KABONG LEONG)
(Al Leong – the early years – (Photo source: THE EIGHT LIVES OF AL KABONG LEONG)
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THE EIGHT LIVES OF AL KABONG LEONG on Amazon.com .
Tags: al leong, chiller theatre 2012
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