Heroes of the East

Liu Chia – liang born July 28, 1936 in Guangzhou, Guangdong) is a famous Hong Kong martial arts filmmaker, choreographer, and actor.
He is best known for his movies which he made during the 1970s and 1980s for the Shaw Brothers Studio. One of his most famous films is The 36th Chamber of Shaolin which starred his martial brother, Lau Kar-fai, as well as Drunken Master II which starred Jackie Chan

Before becoming famous, Liu worked as an extra and choreographer on the black & white Wong Fei Hung movies. He teamed up with fellow Wong Fei Hung choreographer Tong Gaai on the 1963 Hu Peng wuxia picture South Dragon, North Phoenix. Their collaboration would continue on until the mid-1970s.

In the 1960s he became one of Shaw Brothers’ main choreographers and had a strong working relationship with director Chang Cheh, working on many of Chang’s movies as a choreographer (often alongside Tong Gaai) including The One-Armed Swordsman, as well as other Shaw Bros. wuxia pictures, such as The Jade Bow. After a split with Chang on the set of Marco Polo, Liu evolved into a director during the sudden boom of kung-fu movies in the early 1970s. He occasionally did choreography work for non-Shaw movies as well, such as Master of the Flying Guillotine.

After Shaw Brothers collapsed in the 1980s, Liu moved on and continued directing and choreographing movies, among them Drunken Master II. However, the film’s star Jackie Chan and director Liu clashed over the style of fighting, resulting in Liu leaving the set before the filming of the final fight scene, which was then taken over by Chan. Most recently, Liu performed acting and choreography work for Tsui Hark’s 2005 wuxia movie Seven Swords.

Mark Houghton opened the Lau Family Hung Kuen school Lau Family Hung Gar academy in HK/Fanling with the support of his sifu, Lau Kar Leung. He gave his disciple the permission to spread the art of Lau Family Hung Kuen to chosen students. There are already branches in England,Philippines, and China.

Liu Chia-liang was the third child of Lau Cham (Lau Jaam, 劉湛), a martial art master who studied under Lam Sai Wing, pupil of the legendary Wong Fei Hung2. He has two brothers who make a living in the film industry, actor/choreographer Lau Kar Wing, and adopted martial brother Gordon Liu. His nephew Lau Kar Yung (son of his older sister)is also an actor,choreographer and director. Another nephew, Lau Wing-kin (son of Lau Kar-wing) is also an actor, and assisted Lau Kar-leung with directing the action of Seven Swords.
Liu’s wife is Mary Jean Reimer whom he married in 1984. A former girlfriend of Liu is Kara Hui. Liu currently resides in Hong Kong with his wife and their daughters Jeanne and Rosemary.

Liu Chia-liang on what he thought of Bruce Lee’s kung fu:

“There were elements derived from Aikido, Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Western boxing — all that, with a little of Chinese kung fu. But Bruce Lee was very smart. He applied himself diligently, and when he practiced kung fu, he gave it his all. He was a superb actor. He began to do movies very young.

When we were kids, we knew each other very well. Bruce Lee was passionate about kung fu. It was his life. His contribution was recognized by those of us who were doing kung fu. He introduced it to the whole wide world. But he was missing something; That was the “Wude” (martial arts philosophy) and the “Xiu yang” (self-control). He only knew how to fight. He hit to hurt, for the pleasure of the strikes. He was too much a Westerner. The traditional Chinese courtesy was alien to him. When you watch his movies, the violence and the power of his blows can’t be missed. For us, the principle is Dian dao ji zhi (to stop when we hit the opponent, to know how to restrain yourself and slow down the strike at the very moment of the hit). Someone is really strong in kung fu only if he’s able to do that." —wikipedia

alternate names he is known by: Liu Chia-Liang | Lau Kar-Leung | Kar-Leong Lau | Kar-Leung Lau | Kung Fu Leung | Lau Kar Leung | Kung Fu Liang | Lau Ka Liang | Chia Liang Liu | Jialiang Liu | Lau Kar-Leung Sifu