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I'm not a wushu champion. I was an athlete when I was a kid. I was a swimmer and a runner, but all this action stuff is such a challenge. It really, really is.

Martial art is a form of expression, an expression from your inner self to your hands and legs.

I see martial arts as moving forms of meditation. When you're sparring or drilling techniques, you can't think of anything else.

Martial arts is like dance. It's so beautiful and what I love about the martial arts mostly is that what it basically says is you take their energy and you redirect it. Then if you need to, use it on them. That whole thing about redirecting energy I love.

Zhang Yimou tried to use martial arts to talk about Chinese culture, Chinese people. What do they think, what do they want and what do they hope.

Martial arts is not about fighting; it's about building character.

I think a lot of people don't realize that martial arts are just an expression like anything else. It's just that most people are not trained to punch or kick, but you can walk or run or dance, which is also part of expression.

The martial arts that I got into was because of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, because of all of the animal styles at the time. It was around about the time when Jackie was doing 'Drunken Master,' and, like, Snake versus this and that.

A lot of Chinese martial arts films were based on Chinese martial arts novels. And these novels created a world of putting history, calligraphy, and martial arts into one.