Lau Kar-leung
Lau Kar-leung (traditional Chinese: 劉家良; simplified Chinese: 刘家良; Jyutping: Lau4 gaa1-loeng4; pinyin: Liú Jiāliáng; 28 July 1934 – 25 June 2013) was a Hong Kong martial artist, filmmaker, fight choreographer and actor. He is best known for the films he made in the 1970s and 1980s for the Shaw Brothers Studio, notably those starring Gordon Liu. He is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of martial arts cinema.
Lau Kar-leung
- Died
- 2013 · Hong Kong.
- Nationality
- People's Republic of China
- Occupation
- actor · film director · screenwriter · choreographer
- Honours
- Hong Kong Film Awards Lifetime Achievement Award
- Languages
- Chinese
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Lau Kar-leung (traditional Chinese: 劉家良; simplified Chinese: 刘家良; Jyutping: Lau4 gaa1-loeng4; pinyin: Liú Jiāliáng; 28 July 1934 – 25 June 2013) was a Hong Kong martial artist, filmmaker, fight choreographer and actor. He is best known for the films he made in the 1970s and 1980s for the Shaw Brothers Studio, notably those starring Gordon Liu. He is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of martial arts cinema.
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Note VALÉORINE
Lau Kar-leung (1936–2013) was an actor, choreographer and film director, among other activities, of Chinese nationality. The actor was born in Guangzhou and died in Hong Kong.
Languages used include Chinese. Honours include Hong Kong Film Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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In this article
Early life
Early life
In many of his best-known films, Lau was credited as Liu Chia-liang, the Wade–Giles spelling of his Mandarin name. He was part of a lineage of Hung Ga practitioners originating from Wong Fei-hung.
Lau was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province in 1934. He had a younger brother, Kar-wing, also a prominent martial arts actor and filmmaker. Lau began learning kung fu when he was nine years old, under strict tutelage from his father, Lau Cham. The elder Lau was a well-known practitioner of the Wong Fei-hung lineage of Hung Ga, as a disciple of Wong's pupil Lam Sai-wing. He was the headmaster of the Hua Chiang Martial Arts Society in Guangzhou, where he lived with his family until 1948, when they moved to British Hong Kong. Lau became adept in various styles of Southern Chinese martial arts, training rigorously with his father until the age of 28.
Director and choreographer
Director and choreographer
Before becoming famous, Lau worked as an extra and choreographer on black and white Wong Fei-hung movies. He teamed up with fellow Wong Fei-hung choreographer Tong Gaai on the 1963 Hu Peng-directed wuxia film South Dragon, North Phoenix. Their collaboration would continue on until the mid-1970s. His first appearance in a film was in Brave Lad of Guangong (1950). In the 1960s he became one of Shaw Brothers' main choreographers and had a strong working relationship with director Chang Cheh, working on many of Chang's films as a choreographer (often alongside Tong Gaai) including The One-Armed Swordsman, as well as other Shaw Brothers wuxia films, such as The Jade Bow. After a split with Chang on the set of Marco Polo, Lau evolved into a director during the sudden boom of martial arts films in the early 1970s. He occasionally did choreography work for non-Shaw films as well, such as Master of the Flying Guillotine. After Shaw Brothers stopped producing movies in 1986, Lau continued directing and choreographing films independently, despite numerous obstacles, among them the fact that Shaw Brothers considered his contract with them still valid despite the fact that they were no longer making movies. This led to a rumored four-film deal with Jackie Chan being canceled when Shaw approached Chan and warned him that Lau was still under contract to them. Additionally, because his last film for Shaw Brothers, Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986), had been filmed in Mainland China, Lau was not allowed to work in Taiwan and no Taiwanese distributors would handle his films. Lau approached Cinema City who agreed to settle his issues with Taiwan if he directed three films for them, Tiger on the Beat (1988), Aces Go Places 5: The Terracotta Hit (1989), and Tiger on the Beat 2 (1990). The box office successes of these three films reinvigorated his career. In March 1993, Lau began directing Jackie Chan in Drunken Master II, however, the film's star Jackie Chan and director Lau clashed over the style of fighting, resulting in Lau leaving the set before the shooting of the final fight scene, which was then taken over by Chan. Lau subsequently directed Drunken Master III and Drunken Monkey without Chan. His final credit was when he performed acting and choreography work for Tsui Hark's 2005 film Seven Swords.
Screenplays
Screenplays
Throughout his career, Lau only wrote four screenplays, but they were all for films that he himself directed. Those screenplays/films are My Young Auntie (1981), Legendary Weapons of China (1982), Lady Is the Boss (1983) and Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter (1983). All of the films also starred or featured Gordon Liu in some role or capacity.
Collaborations with Gordon Liu
Collaborations with Gordon Liu
Lau's most frequent collaborator is likely his "god brother" Gordon Liu Chia Hui, and he worked with Liu on a number of films, directing him as a star in the now classic The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978), as well as directing Liu as either a star or cast member in Dirty Ho (1979), Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter (1983), Executioners from Shaolin (1977), Return to the 36th Chamber (1980), Heroes of the East (1978), Legendary Weapons of China (1982), Disciples of the 36th Chamber (1985), Tiger on Beat (1988), Tiger on the Beat 2 (1990), Shaolin Warrior (1980), The Spiritual Boxer Part II (1979), Cat vs Rat (1982), Lady Is the Boss (1983), My Young Auntie (1981), Challenge of the Masters (1976), Shaolin Mantis (1978), Martial Club (1981), and Drunken Monkey (2003). They also appeared together as themselves in the Italian documentary "Dragonland" (2009, directed by Lorenzo De Luca).
Personal life
Personal life
Lau's nephew Lau Kar-yung (son of his older sister) is also an actor, choreographer and director. Another nephew, Lau Wing-kin (Lau Kar-wing's son) is also an actor, and assisted Lau Kar-leung with action directing on Seven Swords. As his acting career went smoothly, his family began to worry about his marriage. On seeing that Liu had reached the marriageable age and there was no suitable woman around him, they introduced him to a woman named Ho Sau-ha (何秀霞). Though Lau only had interest in his acting career, he proceeded with the marriage; they had four daughters and one son. In 1978, Lau first met the then 14-year-old Mary Jean Reimer, who was 30 years his junior and a fan of his. Lau helped Reimer in establishing her acting career. After divorcing his first wife and leaving the family, Lau married Reimer in 1984 and they had two daughters, Jeanne and Rosemary Lau.
Death
Death
Lau died on 25 June 2013 at Union Hospital, Hong Kong. He had been battling leukemia for two decades.
As director
As director
1975 The Spiritual Boxer - Director 1976 Challenge of the Masters - Director 1977 Executioners From Shaolin - Director 1978 36th Chamber of Shaolin - Director 1978 Deadly Strike / Breakout from Oppression - Director 1978 Shaolin Mantis - Director 1978 Heroes of the East - Director 1979 The Spiritual Boxer Part II - Director 1979 Dirty Ho - Director 1979 Mad Monkey Kung Fu - Director 1980 My Young Auntie - Director 1980 Return to the 36th Chamber - Director 1981 Martial Club - Director 1982 Legendary Weapons of China - Director, writer 1982 Cat vs Rat - Director 1983 Lady Is the Boss - Director 1984 The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter - Director, writer 1985 Disciples of the 36th Chamber - Director, writer 1986 Martial Arts of Shaolin - Director 1988 Tiger on the Beat - Director 1989 Aces Go Places 5: The Terracotta Hit - Director 1990 Tiger on the Beat 2 - Director 1994 Drunken Master II - Director 1994 Drunken Master III - Director 2002 Drunken Monkey - Director
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2013
Lau Kar-leung died.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Guangzhou.
Birth place
Hong Kong.
Death place
Style and techniques
Regarding his style of fight choreography, Lau was generally considered a purist, who sought to portray the various martial arts as authentically as possible. He was also notable for emphasizing both unarmed and armed arts. He avoided overt stylization in his on-screen combat, minimizing the use of wirework and trampolines that would prove the staple of other choreographers like Yuen Woo-ping. "My only aim in making a film is to exalt the martial arts," he said in a South China Morning Post interview. In the same interview, he stated"There are four kinds of kung fu. The first one is the one you use to fight, free fighting, kicking the sandbags, running, not much to learn. The second is for strengthening your body – tai chi, which strengthens your chi. The third kind is for exhibition – showing off, so even people sitting far away can see it. The fourth kind is my kind – I learned it to fight in movies!" To that end, he infrequently used low kicks, common in real unarmed combat, for more visible and spectacular high kicks.
Teaching
Lau began training students Hung Gar before the age of 5 and was already quite proficient in the style. Bruce Lee treated Lau as an elder uncle and asked him for advice in regard to his film career. He also founded the Liu Clan (Chinese: 劉家班), a stunt team, which received two nominations for Best Action Choreography in the 6th and 8th Hong Kong Film Awards with Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986) and Tiger on the Beat (1988). Lau opened the Lau Family Hung Gar academy in Fanling, led by his pupil Mark Houghton. He gave his disciple the permission to spread the art of Lau Family Hung Gar to chosen students. There are already branches in England, Philippines, and Mainland China.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q706293: Lau Kar-leung
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Lau Kar-leung”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1207500119, Lau, Kar-leung.
Unverified · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Awards and nominations
In 2005, Lau won a "Best Action Choreography" award at the Golden Horse Award for his action choreography work on Tsui Hark's Seven Swords. He also won another Golden Horse Award in 1994, for "Best Martial Arts Direction" in the film Drunken Master II (or The Legend of the Drunken Master). In 1995, Lau also won a "Best Action Choreography" award at the Hong Kong Film Awards for his choreography in Drunken Master II and in 1997, the film won "Best Film" at the Fantasia Film Festival. Lau was also nominated for a "Best Action Choreography" Hong Kong Film Award in 2006 for his work on Tsui Hark's Seven Swords, and nominated in 1983 for a "Best Action Choreography" Hong Kong Film Award for his work on Legendary Weapons of China (1982), which he also directed and wrote. In 2010, Lau was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards for his contributions to the martial arts film genre.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.The Grandmaster: Lau Kar-leung MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art.
- 2.Cunliffe, Tom. Lau, Kar-leung – Senses of Cinema. 2020-07-26.
- 3.His only aim in making films was 'to exalt the martial arts'. South China Morning Post. 2020-08-23.
- 4.Lau Family. My CMS.
- 5.Viiret, Justin. Lau Kar Leung: from Brave Lad of Canton to Hero of the East. www.yesasia.com. 2005-09-30.
- 6.Rovin, Jeff. The Essential Jackie Chan Sourcebook. Pocket Books. 1997. 9780671008437.
- 7.Callenbach, Ernest. A Study of the Hong Kong Martial Arts Film . Film Quarterly. 34. 4. 41. July 1981. 0015-1386.
- 8.Ten Essential Films from Lau Kar Leung | Twitch.
- 9.60 years of Shaw Brothers movies. Time Out Hong Kong.
- 10.LAU Kar Leung 刘家良 â€" Oral History Interviews â€" Record Details (Accession Number 003005) â€" Reel/Disc 1 of 13.
- 11.Rare Hong Kong Movie Behind the Scenes on Drunken Master 2. 9 July 2020.
- 12.Snadden, John. Golden Shadows presents: Drunken Master 2. Sunday 1 September 2002, Melbourne. www.heroic-cinema.com.
- 13.一夫當關:懷念劉家良師傅. Oriental Daily News. 10 July 2013.
- 14.Chen, Ross. 6th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards. LoveHKFilm.com.
- 15.Chen, Ross. 8th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards. LoveHKFilm.com.
- 16.网易. 刘家良:出轨后娶娇妻,回家查岗发现男尸,遗孀再嫁豪门. www.163.com. 2020-12-20.
- 17.Legendary Lau Kar Leung (Liu Chia Liang) Sifu is dead. Shaolin Wahnam Institute Virtual Kwoon and Discussion Forum. 4 July 2013.
- 18.Reifschneider, Matt. Cat vs. Rat (1982). bloodbrothersfilms.com. February 16, 2017.
- 19.Heffner, Ariana. Cat vs. Rat (御貓三戲錦毛鼠) (1982). asiasociety.org. 1982.
- 20.Karen Chu, Hong Kong Director and Martial Arts Master Lau Kar-leung Dies at 76. The Hollywood Reporter. 25 June 2013.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1207500119, Lau, Kar-leung.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Partially resolvedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q706293: Lau Kar-leungWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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