It’s impossible to miss the Bruce Lee figurines and posters inside New Era Martial Club, a martial arts studio in Hong Kong’s Quarry Bay district. The founder, Andrew Clifford Pong, is the grandson of Chan Hak Fu, a second-generation practitioner of the White Crane style of kung fu, and grew up watching a lot of martial arts and action movies by the likes of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.
Today, the 34-year-old has accumulated almost 30 action film and drama credits. Most of these were produced in Hong Kong or mainland China, but some, including this year’s releases Agent Recon and 2Alone, are Hollywood productions. It’s not surprising that Pong went down this career path, given that it’s something of a family tradition: his mother, Sharon Kwok, is a former martial arts actress of American, German and Chinese heritage; his father, Chin Siu-ho, is a martial arts actor of Chinese descent, best known for starring opposite Jet Li in Fist of Legend (1994).
His parents’ busy work schedules meant they had little time for him, and the big screen became “the only way to see them; and that translated into me watching old-school action and kung fu films from Hong Kong, such as Fist of Legend”. As a child, Pong dabbled in ice-skating and ballet, but martial arts remained his favourite hobby because of the “the flashy, fancy things like tumbling, chucking and a lot of gymnastics. I didn’t particularly think about becoming a full-time martial artist. I just thought it was fun.”
Published by:
@tatlerhongkong
Author:
@zabrinalo
#Hongkong #movie #kungfu #martialarts 
![It wasn’t until he turned ten that he found a deeper meaning to this craft. He used to spend his summers in San Francisco, where his hero Bruce Lee was born; the summer when he was ten, he learnt that not only did his grandfather have schools in Hong Kong and Macau to teach White Crane kung fu, but he also had a branch in the US city. His grandfather was part of the thriving martial arts scene largely formed by the Chinese community in the Bay Area in the mid-20th century, who saw martial arts as a hobby and means of self-defence against the anti-Chinese sentiments and class struggles they faced in their new home abroad. The traditional craft of martial arts was often seen as a mark of pride they had brought from home.While Pong did not face the same level of racism as his grandfather’s generation did when he attended boarding school in the UK and university in California, he feels the same pride in how “my grandfather’s White Crane style is part of my [Chinese] heritage. It defines me.” His mother gave him some basic training in his teens, and he later started training seriously in a San Francisco dojo, or training hall, during his summer breaks in the city.Like Lee, who taught martial arts to both Chinese and non-Chinese students in the US, Pong also believes that his craft is a means to bring the world together. “I believe that martial arts and action are a universal language that transcends cultural barriers. Jackie Chan didn’t know how to communicate [with English speakers] but then people loved him for [his action movies],” he says. “Back in the 1960s, some Chinese people in [San Francisco’s] Chinatown were offended when Bruce Lee was teaching [white people] kung fu. But as a Chinese person, you should be proud that other cultures are learning or celebrating what you do. Martial arts are not something that should be exclusive to Asian communities. Anyone coming from Antarctica to Africa can learn it for all I care. Different types of martial arts should be celebrated globally. I’m happy to learn theirs as well.”Published by: @tatlerhongkongAuthor: @zabrinalo#Hongkong #movie #kungfu #martialarts](https://sp1.pixwox.com/p/pt_6869505928526164693745_0_bff168a6b22a383226079e9a27b45b22.jpg?v/t39.30808-6/445046294_18420078301064491_4330802386695916236_n.jpg?stp=c0.80.640.640a_dst-jpg_e15&_nc_ht=scontent-hou1-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=107&_nc_ohc=i0e937bA5-0Q7kNvgFz8GsJ&edm=AOQ1c0wAAAAA&ccb=7-5&ig_cache_key=MzM3NzA3MjYwMDQ5NTY2NTIyMg%3D%3D.2.c-ccb7-5&oh=00_AYC3Ia-ESR4XARXs1u66SEBRZ0jq5iea9Jfk7_xmE33TtQ&oe=668B5079&_nc_sid=8b3546)
