Kick-up Artist: Wushu Champ Alfred Hsing

Being the first American to win gold at the World Wushu Championships can get you an introduction to Jet Li. But it was personal gumption that helped Alfred Hsing then parlay gigs as a stunt double and actor into a career as action director, choreographer, producer, and talent manager.

What styles did you specialize in?
My main events are straight sword, spear, and Long Fist, although I’ve studied broadsword, staff, whip chain, tai chi, drunken style, Wing Chun, and Muay Thai.

What challenges did you face?
It’s all mental. I truly believed that no matter how hard I tried, I would never able to beat the best. Not until I saw a friend who had started wushu much later than me achieve incredible results due to her monstrous dedication and hard work was I jolted awake. I trained and focused like never before and sure enough, in 2009, I was ranked number one in Long Fist and straight sword on the US wushu team.

But when it came to the World Wushu Championships, suddenly I didn’t believe in myself again. After all, we were competing against athletes who were fully supported by their governments to be the best in their sport. It was friends who knew nothing of the difficulties and history of wushu competition who told me, “Go for the gold” and one day I thought, “You know what? I will.” That’s when a switch flipped and I truly believed that I could win. All my actions, all my training, matched with my thinking. All the time constraints, financial issues, and politics aside, believing in myself 100 percent was the most significant obstacle for me to overcome.

How did you make the transition from martial arts to acting?
In the US, I had a lead role on a Spike TV show called Deadliest Warrior. When I came to China, I worked with Jet Li on The Sorcerer and the White Snake. I ended up working for Jet, having multiple makeshift responsibilities: negotiating deals, setting up contracts, doing scheduling, creating action choreography, and even doubling him.

What upcoming films will you be featured in?
My Lucky Star, starring Zhang Ziyi and Wang Leehom. I have a fight scene with Leehom, but off-camera I was involved with production and action-coordinated a scene with Zhang Ziyi as well. Then there’s Iron Man 3; I worked on the China shooting part for one day. Lastly, there’s I, a Tamil movie directed by Shankar, the “James Cameron” of India, for which I did more stunt work and was an assistant action coordinator.

You have a video short on Youku featuring some amazing kung fu choreography. Who helped you out with that?
The female co-star is Mei Han, a multiple China national wushu champion and All-China Games champion. She worked on Expendables 2. Then there’s Wang Zhenwei, most recognized as the villain in The Karate Kid (2010). We also had Jun Trinh, celebrity chef and travel host; he let us shoot at his restaurant, 4corners. A few classmates from the Beijing Film Academy helped out as well.

And finally, what would your Wu-Tang name be?
According to the Wu-Tang Name Generator, I would be X-cessive Bandit.

See the video and more at Alfred's website.

Read the full July issue of the Beijinger.