Kane Kosugi (ケイン・コスギ, Kein Kosugi?) born Takeshi Kosugi (小杉 健, Kosugi Takeshi?, October 11, 1974–) in Los Angeles, California is an American martial artist and martial arts actor. He is the son of martial arts film star Sho Kosugi. In Japan, Kosugi is considered gaijin tarento (foreign talent) due to his Nisei (second generation foreign born) heritage.
Since 1983, Kosugi has appeared in various roles as a voice actor for video games, stunt actor in movies, and character actor in both English-language and Japanese-language films. His first movie, Revenge of the Ninja, had him playing the son of his real life father, Sho Kosugi. He even kept his real name in the movie. He has also been in other movies starring his father as well. With the intention of following in his father's footsteps, Kane trained to become a martial arts actor. Kane has an extensive martial arts background in wushu, ninjutsu, taekwondo, karate, judo and kendo.
He made his Japanese acting debut in the 1993 television series Ryūkyū no Kaze (Dragon Spirit), the 31st entry in NHK's long-running taiga drama series. Kane followed this up with his first lead role in the two-part Toei V-Cinema movies Za Kakuto Oh (The Fighting King) and Za Kakuto Oh 2 (The Fighting King 2) directed by his father. Next came the 1994 television series Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, an installment in Toei Company's Super Sentai franchise. Kane was the only American-born cast member of Kakuranger and his character (Jiraiya) spoke almost exclusively in English during his first few episodes.
Blood Heat is an original novel written by Jim Mortimore and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Bernice. A prelude to the novel, also penned by Mortimore, appeared in Doctor Who Magazine #205. This novel is the first novel in the "Alternate Universe cycle" which continues until No Future.
As with all Doctor Who spin-off media, its relationship to the televised serials is open to interpretation.
Li Lianjie ([lì ljǎntɕjɛ̌]; born April 26, 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a naturalized Singaporean film actor, film producer, Chinese martial artist, wushu champion, and international star who was born in Beijing.
After three years of intensive training with Wu Bin, Li won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. After retiring from Wushu at age 19, he went on to win great acclaim in China as an actor making his debut with the film Shaolin Temple (1982). He went on to star in many critically acclaimed martial arts epic films, most notably the Once Upon A Time In China series, in which he portrayed folk hero Wong Fei-hung.
Li's first role in a Hollywood film was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), but his first Hollywood film leading role was in Romeo Must Die (2000). He has gone on to star in many Hollywood action films, including Kiss of the Dragon and Unleashed. He co-starred in The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) with Jackie Chan, The Expendables (2010) with Sylvester Stallone, and as the title character villain in The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (2008) opposite Brendan Fraser. He also appeared in the Hong Kong film Ocean Heaven (2010), directed and written by Xue Xiaolu.
Donnie Yen Ji-Dan (born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer, and world wushu tournament medalist. Apart from being a well-known film and television actor in Hong Kong, Yen has also gained international recognition for appearing in many films together with other prominent and internationally-known actors such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh.
Yen is widely credited by many as the person responsible for popularizing the traditional martial arts style known as Wing Chun. He played the role of Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the 2008 film Ip Man, which was a box office success. This has led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun, leading to hundreds of new Wing Chun schools to be opened up in mainland China and other parts of Asia.Ip Chun, the eldest son of Ip Man, even mentioned that he is grateful to Yen for making his family art popular and allowing his father's legacy to be remembered.
Yen is considered to be Hong Kong's top action star; director Peter Chan mentioned that he "is the 'it' action person right now" and "has built himself into a bona fide leading man, who happens to be an action star." Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream of Chinese culture, by choreographing MMA in many of his recent films. Yen has displayed notable skills in MMA, being well-versed in boxing, kickboxing, taekwondo, Muay Thai, wrestling, karate, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu. Seen as one of the most popular film stars in Asia in recent years, Yen is currently one of the most highly paid actors in the whole of Asia.
Scott Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is a martial artist and actor who is best known for playing Yuri Boyka in Undisputed II: Last Man Standing and Undisputed III: Redemption, Bradley Hume in Holby City and Ed Russell in Mile High. Adkins has also appeared in Dangerfield, Hollyoaks, The Tournament and many other TV series as well as many films.
Adkins was born in Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham, England, into a family that for generations were butchers. He has an older brother, Craig. A natural athlete, Scott enjoyed a variety of sports as he grew up, but when he was ten years old, he accompanied his father and brother to the local Judo club, thus beginning an extensive association with various martial arts. Scott's great great grandmother was of Spanish descent.
At the age of fourteen, Scott went on to train in Tae Kwon Do under the instruction of Ron Sergiew with the T.A.G.B. After a few years he moved on to kickboxing under Anthony Jones. He is now a fully trained kickboxing Instructor for the P.K.A.. Adkins holds several black belts in Judo, Jujutsu and Wushu and has also trained in Karate, Ninjutsu and Muay Thai. He was also trained by Sharieff Muhammad, whom many say made him what he is today.