Topdog, Underdog

So, Jet Li vs. Jackie Chan. I am writing about this topic because I have been a Jet Li fan for a long time and so many people say that Jackie Chan is better. It irritates me every time (especially when they argue with me), so I am going to get to the bottom of this vicious falsehood. People seem to like Jackie Chan for two reasons: He is funny and he does clever stunts (and all of his own stunts.) Jet Li is not funny (in his movies) and he does not do as many clever stunts (or all of his own stunts.) So, let's establish that Jet Li and Jackie Chan have two different styles. But what are they? What category are the two of them compared in, in which we can determine who is better? Jet Li and Jackie Chan are both martial art superstars. What does it mean to be a martial art superstar? Let's take the first half of the title. Martial art. It would seem to me that to be a martial art superstar, you must be excellent at and have a masterful understanding of martial arts. Let's look first at Jet Li. He was the national wushu champion in China for several years. He trained in many actual forms of Chinese wushu from the age of 8 and on. Since he was named the champion in China, I think we can give him the title of master. How about Jackie Chan? Jackie Chan trained in the Peking Opera School... Opera?! What does that have to do with martial arts? Basically, Jackie Chan learned how to jump around and do alot of acrobatic stuff associated with performance. He learned how to look like he was fighting. And this is very apparent in his movies to anyone with a knowledge of martial arts. The things he does are flat-out fake. The only thing that people find interesting about his fighting is all the stunts. Maybe part of the problem is that no one knows anything about martial arts, so when they watch him fight, they are willing to accept what he puts out. Jet Li, on the other hand, is a beautiful martial artist. Every movie he is in, he carefully thinks about and chooses what fighting styles (both externally and internally) best represent his character. His fights are a beauty to watch because he doesn't have to lean on a lot of stunts. He is also not funny. Let's face it - neither Jet Li nor Jackie Chan are very good actors. But Jackie Chan plays the same goofy character in every movie - and that is Jackie Chan. Jet Li plays a serious guy in alot of his films, but especially lately he's started to put more acting into his work. All in all, if you want to see a guy jumping off walls and through car windows, why don't you go rent a Tony Jaa film? He does all of that (I might add even better than Jackie Chan) but with some brutal martial arts as well. But if you want to see a true master of the art of combat work and create art, go watch some Jet Li. It'll do your soul good.