Donnie Yen

Who is Donnie Yen?

Donnie Yen, also known as Yen Ji-dan, is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer, and world wushu tournament medalist. He is best known for his role as Ip Man in the eponymous film.

Yen is credited by many for contributing to the popularization of the traditional martial arts style known as Wing Chun. He played Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the 2008 film Ip Man, which was a box office success. This has led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun, leading to hundreds of new Wing Chun schools to be opened up in mainland China and other parts of Asia. Ip Chun, the eldest son of Ip Man, even mentioned that he is grateful to Yen for making his family art popular and allowing his father's legacy to be remembered.

Yen is considered to be Hong Kong's top action star; director Peter Chan mentioned that he "is the 'it' action person right now" and "has built himself into a bona fide leading man, who happens to be an action star." Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts into the mainstream of Chinese culture, by choreographing MMA in many of his recent films.