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• Alfred Hsing on Wikinews Main Page

  Wednesday, Aug 17, 2011 12:41AM / Standard Entry

  

  Wikinews Screen shot 2011-08-17

  Hey guys! I recently did an interview with Wikinews. Today after muay thai practice, to my pleasant surprise I received an email notifying me that my interview is on the Wikipedia news main page – (http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page) and also a Hungarian martial arts online magazine asked to use the article http://www.budomagazin.hu/cikk.4612.negyszemkozt_egy_wushu-vilagbajnokkal.html

  Here is the direct link to the article: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews_interviews_Chinese-American_martial_artist_Alfred_Hsing

  –

  Wikinews interviews Chinese-American martial artist Alfred Hsing

  Tuesday, August 16, 2011

  Alfred Hsing, a US martial artist with Chinese origins, besides having a long history of martial arts training in various styles, such as traditional kung fu, tae kwon do and karate, considers wushu – an athletic sport based on Chinese martial arts – as a form of art that pushes one’s physical limits and stimulates the mind at the same time. After having won the gold medal at the 10th World Wushu Championships, he became international movie star Jet Li‘s personal assistant and went on to do stunts, action coreography, and land roles in movies.

  Hungarian Wikinews contributor Teemeah has interviewed Alfred Hsing about his views on martial arts, life and Wikipedia.

  Interview

  Teemeah Why did you start practicing wushu? Is it a way of retaining your origins?

  A. Hsing When I was young my father brought home a lot of Chinese martial arts movies so my brother and I grew up liking martial arts. For a long time we would practice moves at home and play fight each other. There are a lot of styles of martial arts and I took classes in tae kwon do, karate, and some traditional kung fu, but when I discovered my first wushu class I knew it was exactly what I was looking for.

  I think at first I wanted to learn wushu because I enjoyed it, but as my training became more advanced and serious I realized that it led me back to my roots and I learned much more about my own culture because of it.

  Teemeah What does wushu mean to you personally?

  A. Hsing Wushu comes second nature to me and through the repetition of practice it’s like a form of meditation for me. When I practice I can release all of the stresses brought on by the world.

  Teemeah Do you have an idol or role model in martial arts?

  A. Hsing When I grew up my dad rented a lot of Jet Li and Jackie Chan movies. As I got to learn more about how hard working and dedicated they were, they became more of an inspiration to me and motivated me to challenge myself to my limits.

  Teemeah Now you live in China. Do you consider to stay there or would you move back to the US if you had the opportunity to?

  A. Hsing I am living in China right now, but I don’t usually limit myself by setting strict plans for the future because we never know what the future will hold so I usually stay open minded and keep myself open to whatever opportunities come my way. Of course since I have family in the US I do see myself being back there at some point, but Asia also is like home for me.

  Teemeah How do you find living in China? What is your favourite pastime there?

  A. Hsing China is a very exciting place right now because there are so many opportunities and there is so much growth. Most of my time is spent working, but when I’m not working my favorite pastime is probably working out with friends. I enjoy anything with physical activity like swimming, playing ball, sparring, etc.

  Teemeah Can you tell us what you have been doing lately?

  A. Hsing I’ve been increasing my scope of knowledge lately. Aside from wushu, I’ve been training boxing, muay thai, and tai chi. I hope to keep expanding my knowledge and skill so that I can be versatile and well rounded in martial arts.

  Teemeah You have accomplished great results in competitive martial arts but an individual always needs a goal in life. What is yours now?

  A. Hsing I have many goals right now. I think one of the biggest ones is simply maintaining balance in life. Another goal is to keep on improving myself. Right now I am also doing more acting and action choreography and following my passions.

  Teemeah You seem to travel a lot, have you ever visited Hungary?

  A. Hsing I have been around Asia and Europe, but have not had a chance to visit Hungary yet. Maybe you could show me around sometime.

  Teemeah And now a different topic: what is your opinion about Wikipedia, as a project [that] aims to collect the knowledge of mankind?

  A. Hsing I think Wikipedia has been very useful. The ability to aggregate data onto a single search-able platform is definitely a great contribution. Mankind has [always] been able to improve through building on knowledge from the past and now Wikipedia is making this process more efficient.

  Teemeah Do you use it? Have you ever contributed yourself?

  A. Hsing I do use it when I need to quickly find out information on a certain subject. I have made some small contributions on Wikipedia in regards to wushu.

  
  
  

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• The Sorcerer and the White Snake Movie Premier!

  Monday, Aug 15, 2011 1:24AM / Standard Entry

  

  The Sorcerer and the White Snake Press Junket

  

  White Snake Jet Li Fight Scene

  The Sorcerer and the White Snake premiers in Theaters September 2011. I am pretty much in anticipation for the release of this movie since I’ve been involved since day 1 of its production.

  In July we held a press release for promoting the movie. In the above picture you can see stars Jet and Eva with director Tony Ching being interviewed by the host. Here is a closer look at the cast and producers:

  

  Sorcerer and the White Snake PR

  At this press release we got to see for the first time the movie trailer on the big screen.

  Here is roughly what we saw:

  Youtube version:

  If you’ll look closely at the scene with the monks, you might see this guy..

  

  The Sorcerer and the White Snake and Alfred Hsing

  Yep, that’s me in my costume and the pic on the left is the on-set artists rendition of me. I had a scene with Jet and Raymond Lam where we were trying to control Raymond who is possessed by some demon forces. I was happy to find that I made it into the trailer. Hopefully you’ll be able to see more of it in the actual film. Check out the Hong Kong version of the trailer.

  As I reflect back to the stressful long cold days on set shooting this film.. and compare to the present with the knowledge that the film is finished and about to play in theaters around the world, a warm feeling of satisfaction washes over me. This is why I chose to get involved in the film industry – because it feels awesome when a finished product comes together and you have this bond with all the people you worked with on set.

  Anyways, I’ll leave you with this picture of all the stunt guys on our last day on set. Everyone was wearing super puffy jackets because it was freezing at that time.

  

  White Snake Stunt Team

  Hope you all can get a chance to check out the movie!

  
  
  

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• Now Hiring: Assistant to Jet Li

  Saturday, Apr 30, 2011 5:13PM / Standard Entry

  Dear all,

  It has been an amazing learning experience being able to travel side by side with internationally renowned Jet Li. Recently Jet Li has formed a company focused on promoting health through elements of taiji (aka tai chi). I will be transitioning over to help with the development of this company- therefore we are looking for a new assistant.

  Thanks,

  This post is relevant as of April 2011.
  See Job Descrīption below.

  Please only email the proper hiring email address listed below. Applications sent to any email address other than the one listed below will not be reviewed.

  ————
  POSITION: Assistant to Jet Li — Internationally Renowned Actor and Martial Artist, Founder of One Foundation, Founder of BNU1 Institute, and Founder of Taiji Zen International

  GENERAL BACKGROUND:
  As a martial artist and action film star, Jet Li needs no further introduction. In recent years, however, Jet has redefined himself as what some call “the first Chinese social entrepreneur.”

  In 2007, he founded One Foundation, a globally-minded charity with the simple idea that everyone has responsibility to help society. With the slogan of “every person, every month gives one yuan = one big family,” One Foundation has made history by paving the way in China’s NGO sector.

  In 2010, Jet founded the Beijing Normal University One Foundation Philanthropy Research Institute, or BNU1. With the goal of educating the next generation of social sector leaders in China, BNU1 is an accredited, degree granting academic institution formed in partnership with Beijing Normal University.

  In 2011, Jet officially launched Taiji Zen International, a new movement to promote health and happiness through the practice of taijiquan (also known as tai chi chuan). Taiji Zen will also express the philosophy of taiji, which focuses on balance and harmony.
  
  OVERALL RESPONSIBILITIES:
  Serve as primary communication bridge between Jet and various personal and business relations; Arrange travel and scheduling; Maintain personal and business accounts; Execute public relations strategies; Review and prepare film production materials.

  Responsibilities also include maintaining relationships and partnerships with multinational corporations, government and religious dignitaries, and media/film/public relations entities in the USA, Europe, and Asia.

  Candidate must be willing to travel with Jet, often at short notice and potentially for long durations, and must bring great organizational skills and a flexible attitude. With disaster relief as one of the foundation’s focus areas, travel to harsh and inconvenient locations may sometimes be required. During film productions, the candidate will accompany Jet on set and will gain hands-on production-related experience.

  QUALIFICATIONS: Fluency in English, Proficiency in Mandarin; Undergraduate degree at minimum

  PREFERENCES: Male; Based in or willing to relocate to Beijing; At least 1-2 years of work-experience

  TO APPLY: Please send your resume and cover letter to hiring [at] taijizen.com Attn: Alfred Hsing

  
  
  

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• Choreography for Jet Li’s Adidas Q4 All In Campaign – Results!

  Friday, Apr 1, 2011 3:27PM / Standard Entry

  

  Jet Li Adidas WuJi

  The new line of WuJi apparel is out. WuJi is Jet Li’s Adidas line of clothes – it is currently a top selling line for Adidas here in China. I believe the line is expanding distribution to more parts of Asia and the world. We’ll have to stay posted to see how that develops!

  Anyways! Now that the Adidas marketing campaign is already in full motion and we’ve attended a Q4 promotion event and all the posters are up.. I can finally see the results of some fun and hard work put in from a few months back. Knowing that I also had a wushu background, I got put to the test to come up with some choreography and poses that Adidas, the photographer, and Jet would be happy with… and that was also in line with their theme and so on…

  Here are some photos from the day of the photo shoot.

  

  Jet Li Adidas Photo Shoot Choreography

  The picture above is me on the monitor (we both had shaved heads at this time!). After I discussed the pose and angles with the photographer, he would set up all the lighting and take all the test shots with me until we were satisfied on a result. For this shot all parties involved decided to go with a more powerful and grounded feel.. so I decided to go with a lower stance that felt more solid, but at the same time avoided the typical horse stance and fist pose or front stance and punch pose. I feel we see Jet in this pose less often so although it’s a small drop in his large bucket of poses.. and we are trying to fulfill a certain marketing need, it was my 2 cents of freshness for this shot.

  

  Jet Li Adidas WuJi Q4 Campaign

  Here is Jet’s poster in the main Adidas store in Beijing. I think initially I made the pose a little more aggressive and he slightly modified it to make it feel more upright / a more holistic healthy feel. I know most might be thinking.. “whatever, it’s just a simple wushu pose” but truthfully our body language speaks a lot… even a slight lean forward or down can make someone seem more imposing or threatening, whereas having your chest and body upright might feel more comforting.. etc.. so these were some thoughts that went through my head while aligning everyone’s requests. I just wanted to put my full effort into it since this is what I enjoy doing.

  Here we have an outdoor shot. It was shot by the Great Wall – very beautiful view of the sunset.

  

  adidas wuji choreo

  So first Adidas specified they wanted a kicking motion pose. We wanted an action pose, but we also wanted to keep a wushu element in the shot… so my idea originated from a front snap kick or front push kick and sort of evolved from there.

  After seeing the initial poses and options Jet decided it would be more exciting to catch the pose “in motion” meaning.. seeing the kick before final extension. His creativity and uniqueness always amazes me.

  

  Jet Li Adidas WuJi Pose

  The way he pulls off the moves is always just right. I think that for me his style is his style and has definitely had a huge impact on the sport of wushu… but it’s not something to be consciously “replicated” – I think as a sense of self becomes more and more strongly defined you can offer your own “style” and in this way can offer more in the way of innovation and creation.

  Anyways, for me this is just a look back at some of the work I did last year and now I get to see some of the fruits of that! =)

  
  
  

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• HK International Asian Film Awards Madness

  Tuesday, Mar 22, 2011 11:16AM / Standard Entry

  

  Zhang Ziyi at Hong Kong International Film Awards Ceremony

  And by madness – I just meant I was going to post a few pictures from the event. haha!

  

  Nadia Hatta at the Asian Film Awards

  A ton of AnDers and other people I knew all happened to be at this event. It was very fun.. and I wasn’t even planning on going… I just kinda ended up there. It was great meeting all the people behind the blogs. =P

  A few notable attendees of the night included – Sammo Hung, Chow Yun Fat, Zhang Ziyi, Aaron Kwok, and Feng Xiaogang.

  Sammo Hung sat 2 rows ahead of me.. he seemed startled when they announced he won best supporting actor for Ip Man 2… not sure if that was his acting skills though.

  

  AnDers at the Asian Film Awards Afterparty

  

  My Dinner at the HK Film Awards

  So with my remaining days in HK I’m hoping to be able to meet up with a few other people that I met up from last night. It was good (an unexpected) gathering for me.

  Oh and I might as well comment on some of the victories at the awards ceremony: Sammo won for best Supporting Actor in Ip Man 2, a Korean film Yellow Sea’s lead won best actor, Taiwanese film Monga’s lead won best new actor, ‘Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives’ won the Asian Film award for Best Picture, and best-actress award went to Xu Fan for her role in ‘Aftershock,’ from Chinese director Feng Xiaogang. Aftershock also won for top grossing film for 2010. It pulled in US $101.3 million.

  Veteran Hong Kong producer and co-founder of Golden Harvest Raymond Chow received a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to Hong Kong cinema, which includes classic films starring Bruce Lee (Enter the Dragon), Jackie Chan (Police Story) and Jet Li (Once Upon a Time in China).

  Here is some more info in case you’re curious:

  BEST FILM

  * Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thailand)

  BEST DIRECTOR

  * Lee Chang-dong / Poetry (South Korea)

  BEST ACTOR

  * Ha Jung-woo / The Yellow Sea (South Korea)

  BEST ACTRESS

  * Xu Fan / Aftershock (Mainland China / Hong Kong)

  BEST NEWCOMER

  * Mark Chao You-Ting / Monga (Taiwan)

  BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

  * Sammo Hhung Kam-po / Ip Man 2 (Hong Kong)

  BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

  * Yoon Yeo-jeong / The Housemaid (South Korea)

  BEST SCREENPLAY

  * Lee Chang-dong / Poetry (South Korea)

  BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER

  * Mark Lee Ping-Bin / Norwegian Wood (Japan)

  BEST PRODUCTION DESIGNER

  * Hayashida Yuji / 13 Assassins (Japan)

  BEST MUSIC SCORE

  * Indian Ocean / Peepli Live (India)

  BEST EDITING

  * Nam Na-young / I Saw The Devil (South Korea)

  BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

  * Phil Jones, Zhang Yan-ming / Aftershock (Mainland China/ Hong Kong)

  BEST COSTUME DESIGNER

  * William Chang Suk-ping / Let the Bullets Fly (Mainland China / Hong Kong)

  The Asian Film Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asian Cinema

  * Kim Dong-ho

  
  
  

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