Yuen Woo-ping (Chinese: 袁和平; pinyin: Yuán Hépíng; also known as Yuen Wo-ping; born 24 August 1945) is a Hong Kong action choreographer, movie director, and martial arts teacher. He is widely seen as one of the most important people in the history of action cinema. He is known for creating complex fight scenes, helping develop wire-fu techniques, and training actors for screen fighting. He has worked on many martial arts movies, wuxia movies, and modern action movies in both Asia and Hollywood.
In the early 1970s, Yuen joined Shaw Brothers Studio as a stunt performer and small-role actor. In 1971, he received his first credit as an action director on Mad Killer, produced by Ng See-yuen. He became well known after working with Jackie Chan on the 1978 movies Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master, which he directed. He later became famous around the world for his action design in the first three Matrix movies (1999–2003) and for his choreography in Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and its 2004 sequel.
Yuen's other major movie credits include Dreadnaught (1981, director), Iron Monkey (1993, director), Wing Chun (1994, director), Kung Fu Hustle (2004), True Legend (2010, director), The Grandmaster and Man of Tai Chi (both 2013), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016, director), and Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018, director). By the late 1990s, Yuen had already gained international cult status among fans of action movies.
Yuen has often worked with Jet Li, whom he has called the "best martial arts performer" he has worked with. Their movies together include Once Upon a Time in China (1991) and its 1992 sequel, Fong Sai-yuk and Last Hero in China (both 1993), Tai Chi Master (1993, director), Fist of Legend (1994), Black Mask (1996), Unleashed (2005), Fearless (2006), The Forbidden Kingdom (2008), and Blades of the Guardians (2026, director), which became the top-grossing wuxia movie ever in China.
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Yuen has won several Hong Kong Film Awards and Golden Horse Awards for Best Action Choreography. He is also honored on Hong Kong's Avenue of Stars for his long-lasting influence on action cinema.