Lam's Peking Opera Buddies

I think someone out there may be able to shed some light on this.

This weekend I've been watching a lot of Sammo Hung classics, so of course I'm seeing people like Yuen Biao and Corey Yuen pop up occasionally. I was thinking about the dominance that Sammo and his Peking opera classmates have had on HK cinema, particularly in the late-70s and 80s, and then started wondering about LCY's schoolmates.

I'm not really aware of who else that Lam Ching Ying trained with under Madame Fan Fok Fa, but I would certainly like to know who among them made a name for themselves in the movie industry. Given that Sammo, Jackie and others trained under the arduous regime of Sifu Yuen and thus able to do incredibly things both on and offscreen, certainly Lam and his buddies would equally have been as dexterous and able to perform crazy acrobatics and stunts.

So who else trained with Mr Lam?

(Oh and wOOt, first post in this section!)

Good topic.So far i know these guys are madame Fan Fok Fa's disciples.


01.Peter Chan-stuntman,supporting actor

02.Billy Chan-action director,producer,director,supporting actor,stuntman and Peter Chan's brother.Some of his directorial works are very good movies.

03.Chung Fat-action director,producer,actor.One of my favourite guys!!!He's the leading man in New Mr Vampire(just like Lam in Mr Vampire).

04.Fung Hak On-you must know him from Police Story or Magnificent Butcher-action director,director,actor.

05.Austin Wai-action director,actor.Kara Hui's brother.

06.Lee Hoi Sang-action director,actor,wing chun teacher

07.Hsiao Ho-action director,actor and stunt double(doubled for Gordon Liu in LKL films for Cynthia Rothrock in Righting Wrongs and even for Yuen Biao in Shanghai Express)

08.Chin Siu Ho-actor.He appeared in later venom movies,then in Sammo's big productions.

09.Chin Ka Lok-stuntman,action director,director,actor.Chin Siu Ho's younger brother.(Doubled for Michelle Yeoh in Yes Madam,for Yuen Biao in Wheels On Meals and Dragons forever and for Jackie in Dragons Forever and Thunderbolt).

10.Mars-action director,actor.He was Sammo's stuntman but then joined Jackie's Sing Ga Ban.(Doubled for Jackie many times)

11.Chin Yuet Sang-action director,director,supporting actor,stuntman.He too doubled for others.He did it for Cynthia Rothrock in Righting Wrongs.

12.Tai Bo-actor,stuntman in early 70's.He was more like an actor than stuntman,and regular in both Sammo's and Jackie's teams.Has won the best supporting actor in 1984 for Danny Lee(my avatar)'s Law With Two Phases.

13.Mang Hoi-action director,director,actor.Even though he's short he's well known as a hot tempered action director:)His sister is also kung fu fighter,but unfortunately i don't know her name.

14.Tai San aka Tarzan.Supporting actor,stuntman.

15.Chou Kam Kong-action director,stuntman,supporting actor.

16.Kay Lay-action director,assistant director,stuntman,supporting actor.

17.Zebra Pang-action director,supporting actor.


As you see most of them are Sammo's stuntmen.
Regarding those stunt doubles in movies,most of them were found by me.I have posted some pictures at kungfucinema forums.
I hope i could help :lol!:

Thank you so very very much ekisha. This collection is priceless. Wonderful!

ekisha wrote:

13.Mang Hoi-action director,director,actor.Even though he's short he's well known as a hot tempered action director:)His sister is also kung fu fighter,but unfortunately i don't know her name.

She is Kitty Meng Chui

http://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=3929&display_set=eng

Thanks for that pretty exhaustive list Ekisha!

I have to admit though that I went back and read up on LCY's bio from the website .

I still find it hard to believe that Hsiao Ho and Chin Siu Ho and Chin Kar Lok all went to the same school as LCY.

The thought that popped into my mind is that apart from LCY, none of Madame Fan Fok Fa's students really made it big. I mean they may have appeared in big movies, but they are almost always the bad guy. Within Asia, I'm sure they would have all had some kind of following, but little outside of the region like say, Yuen Biao.

Any thoughts?

BTW: Has anyone seen the Shaw Bros movie with Chin Siu Ho that called something like I'll finally knock you down, dad? I heard it's very good.

I'm glad.
Well,Chin Ka Lok and Chin Siu Ho are madame Fong's students but it doesn't mean they studied in Opera School together with Lam.And later they were disciples of Chan Chau Shung who was mentor of Chen Kuan Tai(he later won the best fighter title in SE Asian championship).Hsiao joined LKL's team,and mister Lau teached him some hung gar i think.After SB all of them joined Sammo's team.But Sammo didn't give any opportunities to Hsiao Ho.That's why i'm little bit angry with him.Because in acrobatics no one can beat Hsiao Ho.He should have the same rating as Yuen Biao.

I have seen I will Finally Knock You Dad,if you are looking for something like Chang Cheh's works then you are not right.But it's actually good martial arts-comedy(about swindle technigues).

Once again thanks Ekisha!

I totally agree with your opinion on Hsiao Ho - He was an incredibly gifted martial artist and a fantastic acrobat and on-screen performer. He really managed to flip effortlessly in LKL classics like Mad Monkey Kung Fu, My Young Auntie and Legendary Weapons of China. The way he was able to flip, twist and fall really made him the 'Tony Jaa' of his time.

Funnily enough I watched Eastern Condors again the other day. I knew he was in the movie, but I had always thought he was on the first plane that crashed - hence killing of his character immediately. Well, that wasn't the case, but it just as well might have been as he only had a couple of lines in the movie and ended up dying without a fight .

As for I'll finanlly knock you down, dad I had heard it was a comedy, so I didn't have expectations of the brutality and rawness of a Chang Cheh movie. I still definitely want to check out this movie. How's Chin Siu Ho's performance?

Raoul wrote:

Once again thanks Ekisha!
As for I'll finanlly knock you down, dad I had heard it was a comedy, so I didn't have expectations of the brutality and rawness of a Chang Cheh movie. I still definitely want to check out this movie. How's Chin Siu Ho's performance?

He's like Little Monkey from Mad Monkey Kung Fu.Naughty and useless kid who doesn't know anything,especially kung fu.And his dad-Chen Kuan Tai thinks he's useless.Then he leaves home to learn kung fu and meets conman Bill Tung who helps him to learn basics of kungfu(some dirty tricks).Well,i suggest you watch it.As it's fun.

Sounds good. Given that Chen Kuan Tai is also in it, it sounds excellent!

That is quite a crew!

Lee Hoi Sang has been a favorite of mine for years--even though he is generally a monk or a thug (hardly ever a good guy, never a star) he brought panache and professionalism to his roles and was a very skilled martial arts performer.