Jet Li

Li was born in Beijing, China, and was the youngest of two boys and two girls. His ancestral home is in Shenyang, China. When he was two years old, his father died and his family then lived in poverty.

Li was eight when his talent for Wushu was noticed as he practiced at a school summer course. He then attended a non-sparring wushu event, followed by joining the Beijing Wushu Team which did a martial art display at the All China Games. Renowned coaches Li Junfeng and Wu Bin made extra efforts to help the talented boy develop. Wu Bin even bought food for Li's family in order to boost Li's protein intake.

A very young Li competed against adults and was the national all-around champion from 1975 to 1979.

My winning first place caused quite a sensation because I was so young. I was 12 years old, and the other two medalists were in their mid- to late twenties. During the awards ceremony, as I stood on the top step of the podium, I was still shorter than the 2nd and 3rd place medalists. It must have been quite a sight.

In 1974, Li was part of a delegation of forty-three martial arts practitioners who traveled to the United States as part of China's people's diplomacy. The group performed for American audiences in Hawaii, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

According to Li, once, as a child, when the Chinese National Wushu Team went to perform for President Richard Nixon in the United States, he was asked by Nixon to be his personal bodyguard. Li replied, "I don't want to protect any individual. When I grow up, I want to defend my one billion Chinese countrymen!"

Li is a master of several styles of wushu, especially changquan and fanziquan. He has also studied other arts including baguazhang, tai chi, xingyiquan, drunken boxing, Eagle Claw, and Praying Mantis. He did not learn Nanquan ("Southern Boxing"), because his training focused only in the Northern Shaolin Styles. He has also mastered wushu's main weapons, such as Sanjiegun (Three Section Staff), Gun, Dao (Broadsword), Jian (Straight Sword).

Li retired from competitive wushu when he was only 18 due to a knee injury, but became an assistant coach of the Beijing Wushu team for a few years. Li's martial arts prowess would eventually contribute to his domestic and international fame.