Plot:The film starts with Huo Yuanjia fighting three Westerners: a British boxer, a Belgian lancer, and a Spanish fencer. Huo defeats all three of them and has a flashback before the next fight with Anno Tanaka from Japan.Huo Yuanjia watches his father Huo Endi teaching students martial arts and wants to participate, but his father is concerned about his asthma and refuses to allow him to practice martial arts. Huo Yuanjia then sees his father in a leitai match with another martial artist named Zhao, who won the match dishonorably by retaliating when Huo Endi showed mercy on the final blow. Huo Yuanjia felt humiliated by his father's defeat and vowed to regain his family's honor and pride. He practiced martial arts secretly behind his father's back. As the years passed, Huo Yuanjia defeated several opponents in leitai matches and became one of the most famous martial artists in Tianjin. However, as he became increasingly successful and popular, he also became more arrogant and ruthless towards his opponents. His late father, however, advocated the practice of showing mercy and not doing any serious physical harm to opponents.Huo Yuanjia (left, in black, seated) challenges Qin Lei (right, in white, standing).When a rival martial arts master named Qin Lei injures one of his followers, Huo feels insulted and confronts Qin at the latter's birthday party. The confrontation escalates into a fight between Huo and Qin, in which Huo emerges as the victor by killing Qin with a fatal blow to the chest. However, Qin's godson seeks vengeance on Huo and kills Huo's mother and daughter in revenge. Guided by fury, Huo goes to Qin's house and Qin's godson admits to the murders before committing suicide. Later, Huo learns that it was his follower who had provoked Qin earlier, which resulted in his beating from Qin.Overwhelmed with grief and shame, Huo flees Tianjin and wanders aimlessly for many miles. A disheveled, greying wanderer, he nearly drowns in a river, but is saved by Granny Sun and her blind granddaughter Yueci. They bring him back to their village and Huo, guided by their simple acts of kindness, begins to learn the value of kindness and mercy.In 1907, Huo returns to Tianjin and sees the changes that have taken place in his absence. He apologizes to the family of Qin and reconciles with his businessman friend, Nong Jinsun, whom he offended earlier. He challenges the American wrestler, Hercules O'Brien, who had been making headlines by defeating Chinese martial artists and calling the Chinese "weak men of the East", and defeats O'Brien. He saves O'Brien from being impaled by some nails on the side of the ring that had become exposed during the fight and wins the appreciation of O'Brien, who names Huo the victor. Huo's fame begins to spread with successive challenges with other foreign fighters. In 1909, with funding from Nong Jinsun, he founds Chin Woo Athletic Association in Shanghai.The members of the foreign chamber of commerce fear that Huo's victories might fan anti-foreign sentiments in the Chinese people and thus become a disadvantage to them. They propose a match between Huo and four foreign champions. Huo takes up the challenge, even though it is an unfair one. Before the matches, Huo meets the Japanese champion Tanaka for tea and strikes up a friendship with him.Back to September 14, 1910, Huo faces Tanaka in a titanic battle. In the first round, they fight with their weapons of choice. Huo uses a three-section staff and Tanaka uses a katana. The first round is a draw. Before the next round, Huo drinks from a teacup containing poison, which had replaced his original teacup. In the second round involving unarmed combat, Huo suddenly has difficulty in breathing and loses his strength. He collapses and starts coughing blood, dying from arsenic poisoning. Tanaka and Huo's supporters immediately demand that the match be halted and postponed, but Huo replies that he wants it to continue since he is going to die soon. Huo is dominated by Tanaka but he manages to deliver a blow to Tanaka's chest, similar to the one he used on Qin. Huo could have killed Tanaka with that blow but he refrained from doing so and collapsed. Tanaka declares Huo the victor moments before Huo's death. A scene then shows Huo's ghost training in the field and Yueci runs towards him. The film ends as Huo smiles at her.[edit] Cast Jet Li as Huo Yuanjia. Lu Yuhao played the younger Huo Yuanjia. Dong Yong as Nong Jinsun, a businessman and childhood friend of Huo Yuanjia. Zhu Qilong played the younger Nong Jinsun. Nakamura Shidō II as Anno Tanaka, a Japanese champion Collin Chou as Huo Endi, Huo Yuanjia's father Betty Sun as Yueci, a village girl who took care of Huo Yuanjia when he was in a state of depression. She is called Moon in the U.S. release. Nathan Jones as Hercules O'Brien, the American wrestler Paw Hee-ching as Huo Yuanjia's mother Mike Leeder as Randall, the match referee Ian Powers as Dante, the bellboy Anthony De Longis as Anthony Garcia, the Spanish fencer Brandon Rhea as Colonel Han Herzon, the Belgian lancer Jean-Claude Leuyer as Peter Smith, the British boxer Somluck Kamsing as Beicha, the Thai boxer. He appears only in the director's cut. Masato Harada as Mr. Mita, the Japanese diplomat John T. Benn as the American businessman Philippe Millieret as the French businessman John Paisley as the British businessman Michelle Yeoh as Ms. Yang, the narrator of Huo Yuanjia's story in the opening scene. She appears only in the director's cut. Hu Xiaoling as Huo Yuanjia's daughter. She is known as Jade in the U.S. release. Chen Zhihui as Qin Lei, a rival martial arts master who was killed by Huo Yuanjia. He is known as Master Chin in the U.S. release. He Sirong as Qin's wife Ma Yin as Qin's daughter Ting Leung as Laifu, the Huo family servant Qu Yun as Granny Sun, Yueci's grandmother. She is known as Grandma in the U.S. release. Ma Zhongxuan as Zhao Jian, Huo Yuanjia's childhood rival. Shang Yapeng played the younger Zhao Jian. Jacky Heung as Qin's godson, who kills Huo Yuanjia's family to avenge his godfather Zhao Zhonggang as Zhao Zhiqiang, Zhao Jian's father who defeated Huo Endi in a match at the start of the film Zheng Shiming as Xia Xiang Chen Fusheng as Xu Dashan Wang Qi as Gui He Jun as Bang, the town idiot Liu Licheng as Qiang Qian Yi as the referee at Huo and O'Brien's match Sun Yueqiu as accountant Yi Shixiong as Liu Zhensheng, Huo Yuanjia's student Ma Jing, Wei Binghua, Zhao Tieying, Xu Yonghai and Song Shuo as Huo Yuanjia's students
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