Jet Li’s Biography

In this article, we will get to know Jet Li, the renowned Chinese martial artist and actor. Jet Li has several names; his full name in ancient Chinese is Li Lianjie, and in Cantonese, he is known as Li Lin Kit. Jet Li was born on April 26, 1963, in Beijing, the capital of China. When he was just two years old, he lost his father, which meant he grew up without a father figure for most of his life. His relatively large family (two sisters and two brothers) fell apart after his father’s death. His mother, deeply saddened by the loss of her husband, was very cautious in Jet Li’s daily activities and did not allow him to engage in any dangerous or even slightly risky activities. Perhaps this caution led him to develop an interest in martial arts.

When Li was eight years old, he started school and during a sports camp with his classmates, he was introduced to the sport of wushu. The wushu coach at the camp saw potential in Li and believed he was the only one among all the participating children who could continue with wushu. This marked the beginning of his journey into martial arts. A year later, at the age of nine, Li participated in a series of national wushu competitions and won first place. This victory led him to leave school and dedicate his entire life to practicing wushu and martial arts.

Two years later, he joined the Chinese national wushu team and competed in the U.S. championships. He performed so well and shone so brightly in those competitions that he caught the attention of the then U.S. President, Richard Nixon. The following year, after extensive training, he joined the relatively unknown wushu team of Beijing to help them qualify for the national wushu competitions. Since the Beijing wushu team had never participated in the national wushu competitions before, Li’s talent and perseverance enabled the team to qualify for the first time. Li’s outstanding performance in these competitions earned him the championship trophy and led the Beijing wushu team to win the national wushu championship in their first appearance. At that time, Li was only 12 years old and had brought a great honor to his city. As a result, the governor of Beijing invited him to participate in a ceremony to honor him and showcase his martial arts skills to other cities.

Jet Li’s fame at that time was largely due to his performance at the White House for U.S. President Richard Nixon. Jet Li performed martial arts at the White House more than once, and his trips to the U.S. sparked his interest in American culture and the country itself (he always declared himself neutral in the political conflicts between the two countries over the years).

After winning his first national wushu championship with the Beijing wushu team, Li went on to win the first place in those competitions for five consecutive years, establishing Beijing as one of the important cities for martial arts in China. However, after these glorious years, sports showed its harsh side to Li. In late 1979, while performing a wushu technique, he tore his cruciate ligament, a severe injury that forced him to take a long break from wushu. During those five years, in addition to his consecutive national wushu championships, Li also participated in global martial arts tours to promote wushu worldwide.

After several years, his injured leg finally healed completely, but instead of returning to wushu competitions and martial arts, Jet Li met Chinese director Chang Hsin. This meeting marked the beginning of a new chapter in Jet Li’s life as a martial arts film actor. After participating in several acting auditions for martial arts films, his speed and agility impressed many martial arts film directors, allowing him to quickly climb the ranks in the martial arts film industry.