Cover Andrew Pong in the traditional white crane kungfu outfit (Photo: Zed Leets / Tatler Hong Kong)
Andrew Pong in the traditional white crane kungfu outfit (Photo: Zed Leets / Tatler Hong Kong)
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The martial arts and movie stunt studio founder Andrew Pong wants to bridge cultures through his craft, as he tells Tatler in this series on a new generation of Eurasian action and martial arts film stars who navigate their identities and find new purpose from the craft
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.”
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.”
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Above Andrew Pong (Photo: Zed Leets / Tatler Hong Kong)
Andrew Pong (Photo: Zed Leets / Tatler Hong Kong)
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To that end, he set up his Hong Kong martial arts school that teaches White Crane-style kung fu to students from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. He also brings together professionals of different backgrounds—martial artists, parkour artists, ex-military personnel, ex-bodyguards—to teach a wide range of activities and skills. Over the years, Pong himself has picked up new skills from other cultures: taekwondo, hapkido and, in February, he earned a licence as a gymnastics coach.
As for his film career, he also has great ambitions. The actor has mainly played police officers, wuxia heroes and gangsters in his western productions. “That has nothing to do with race or my Eurasian looks, however—I was cast for my physical skills. Though I find it amusing that the crew on set in Hollywood sometimes asked if I needed Chinese food. They weren’t rude; they thought it was part of my diet and they were genuine,” he says. He hopes one day to challenge himself with sentimental, emotional roles in the “Wong Kar-wai kind of films. It’s the true test to any actor’s capabilities, because you convey a meaning or emotion without speaking—which, in a way, is similar to martial art films, in which your body does the storytelling.”
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
