In 2025,The Chinese Boxerfeels like more of a hidden gem than an iconic martial arts masterpiece. However, that’s hardly indicative of the impact it had on the genre, or those involved with it. In a way, the movie was a turning point. In fact, it even had a motivating effect on Bruce Lee himself.
Bruce Lee is largely credited with setting off"the kung fu craze"of the 1970s, but that’s not to say he was the genre’s first star. Interest in such films was building ahead of the international success found by movies likeEnter the Dragon.
When Bruce Lee made his first kung fu movie,The Big Boss, in 1971, the genre was already picking up steam, thanks in large part to the wuxiamovies being made by Shaw Brothers. More important than those, though, was Shaw Brothers' 1970 smash hit,The Chinese Boxer.
The Chinese Boxer Was The First “True” Martial Arts Movie
In the late 1960s, Shaw Brothers was notable for its focus on “wuxia” movies, meaning, action-oriented period pieces set in ancient China, where the characters fight with weapons like swords and spears. This kind of film was extremely popular in the late 1960s, with some of the biggest entries in the genre beingThe One-Armed Swordsman,Come Drink With Me, andThe Assassin.
One of the actors it leaned on the most during this period was Jimmy Wang Yu, who had starred in bothThe One-Armed SwordsmanandThe Assassin. After making these movies, he decided to write and direct a movie for him to star in, and in turn, developedThe Chinese Boxer. But Wang Yu wanted it to be distinct from his other movies.
To this end, Jimmy Wang Yu left the sword-fighting action behind, and instead created a story where all the attention was on hand-to-hand combat, which, at the time, was a unique direction. In this respect, it’s the first “real” martial arts movie, as its predecessors were more concerned with weapon fighting than actual martial arts.
Not only was it different, but it was a solid, quality effort for Shaw Brothers, and specifically, Jimmy Wang Yu. Several great scenes of Wang Yu beating his opponents were topped off by an epic final act where he faced off against fellowmartial arts icon Lo Lieh, amounting to one of the greatest martial arts showdowns of its era.
The Chinese Boxerwas a resounding success for Shaw Brothers, so much that it had a transformative effect on the industry. Weapon fighting remained relevant to the genre, of course, but there was a significant increase in hand-to-hand combat scenes in Hong Kong’s action movies after the film’s release.
The Chinese Boxer Created A Rival For Bruce Lee To Surpass
According to Matthew Polly’s Bruce Lee biography,Bruce Lee: A Life, Bruce Lee was among the many who recognized the significance ofThe Chinese Boxer. But his reaction wasn’t one of awe; as Polly writes in his book, Lee responded to a comment aboutThe Chinese Boxer’s successfrom Golden Harvest studio head Raymond Chow, telling him, “I can do better.”
Describing Bruce Lee’s thoughts onThe Chinese Boxer,Polly says in the book that the movie “seems to havetriggered Bruce’s hypercompetitive nature.” As Polly noted, Wang Yu had come first as a martial arts star, but Lee endeavored to “become bigger and better.”
Way Of The Dragon Was Bruce Lee’s Answer To The Chinese Boxer
Bruce Lee didn’t have an immediate, direct answer toThe Chinese Boxer, but one did come eventually,in the form ofWay of the Dragon. After being called a “copycat” actor by Wang Yu to the Hong Kong press,Lee was determined to top Wang Yu’s crowning glory by directing and writing a movie for himself to star in that would be superior toThe Chinese Boxer.
All things considered, it was a high-reaching goal.The Chinese Boxerwas an excellent film, complete with a great story and good characters, while also showcasing Wang Yu’s talents went beyond his acting. He proved withThe Chinese Boxerthat he was also a skilled director, a notion highlighted by the fact that he was hired to direct three more movies afterward.
But while it could certainly be argued thatThe Chinese Boxeris the better of the two movies, there’s no denying that Lee’s movie was more successful, both in terms of its box office performance and its long-term popularity. So in that sense, Bruce Lee got what he wanted.
The Chinese Boxer
Cast
The Chinese Boxer follows Lei Ming, a determined martial arts student, as he encounters a formidable Japanese karate expert. Released in 1970, the film features intense battles and notable training sequences, set against the backdrop of Lei Ming’s struggle to overcome his adversary.
