HKCinemagic.com : You are considered as a descendant of the great Shaolin Masters, because of your master, Liu Zhan, was himself a disciple of Lin Shirong, himself a disciple of Wong Fei-hong. Does this give you the feeling of being the only heir of a hundred-year old legacy, philosophy and martial arts?

Gordon Liu : We can't say that. There are so many schools and forms of martial arts derived from the Shaolin schools. One could define me as descendant of the Hung Gar school, but not from the Shaolin school.

[ Editor's note : Located in the Henan province, on one of the 5 sacred Mountains of China – the Mount Song – the Shaolin temple (meaning little forest) has perpetuated since 495 traditional Chinese martial arts.]

GL : Nowadays, lots of people know Shaolin well, thanks to the movies. Before that, very few people had heard about it, especially before the opening of mainland China 's borders and the apparition of the movies in the 70s. Today, everybody thinks that Kung fu is only from Shaolin, which is not true; there are many Kung fu styles completely different. But it doesn't really matter; the important thing is that the Kung fu culture got to be more and more recognized.

[ Editors's note : The worldwide success of the 36th chamber of Shaolin triggered the production of a great number of Kung fu flicks , with “Shaolin” as part of the title]

GL : Hung Gar is a very difficult martial art to learn. Why did I choose this martial art rather than another? Because I like practicing difficult things! And because after learning it, it's easier to learn other martial arts or to bear other difficult things. Starting with the most difficult will make other things sweet in comparison.

[ Editor's note : Hung Gar  was a fighting style created at the 17th century under the Qin Dynasty in Southern China and to oppose Manchu invaders.]