While Jackie Chan remains the best-known martial arts star working today, it’s shocking just how many future kung fu legends he trained with in his early days. As a student at the China Drama Academy, Chan was surrounded by plenty of talented fighters who went on to join him in the legendary Seven Little Fortunes performance troupe.

Many of the best Chan movies feature his fellow pupils, as he made up one-third of the Three Dragons alongside martial arts legends Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung, with whom he made six films. It was under the guidance of his Master Yu Jim-yuen that Chan gained his incredible talent, but he wasn’t the only one to become a star.

Yuen Wah

Years Active: 1966 – Present

Yuen Wah is a veteran martial arts movie legend who has worked as an actor, action choreographer, and stuntman in over 160 films and 20 television series. As a student at the China Drama Academy in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he became a member of the Seven Little Fortunes alongside Jackie Chan and other future stars.

With incredible acrobatic skills, Yuen Wah has been involved in some of the most acclaimed martial arts movies of all time. Starting off his film career as Bruce Lee’s stunt double in Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon, even though Yuen Wah isn’t as well-known as other martial arts stars, his career is no less impressive.

Whether it was through appearing in cult favorites like Stephen Chow’s comedy Kung Fu Hustle or even English-language productions like Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, Yuen Wah has shown up in plenty of major productions. Yuen Wah even joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a supporting role as Guang Bo in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Corey Yuen

Years Active: 1960 – 2022

As a member of the Seven Little Fortunes, Corey Yuen trained alongside Jackie Chan under the harshly disciplined stylings of their master Yu Jim-yuen. With parents who could not afford to raise him (via HK Film Archive), they signed their son up to a ten-year contract with the China Drama Academy when he was just nine.

From working on major kung fu films like Fist of Fury in the early 1970s to acting alongside his fellow students Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao in Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain, Corey Yuen made a name for himself as an important figure in the Hong Kong film industry.

Corey Yuen also found success as an action director in American productions like Lethal Weapon 4, X-Men, and The Expendables. As a talented fight choreographer, Corey Yuen consulted on Jason Statham’s The Transporter, showcasing just how entrenched Hong Kong martial arts legends are in the DNA of modern Hollywood action movies.

Yuen Qiu

Years Active: 1972 – Present

The Hong Kong actress Yuen Qiu apprenticed at the Peking Opera School under Master Yu Jim-yuen alongside students like Jackie Chan. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Yuen Qiu worked as a stuntwoman and club performer, utilizing her skills in both Chinese martial arts and Beijing opera.

During the 1970s, stuntwoman roles were limited, and Yuen Qiu managed to gain a small part in the Roger Moore Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun, where she portrayed Lieutenant Hip’s niece Nara. Yuen Qiu was absent from the Hong Kong film industry for 20 years before she landed a role in Kung Fu Hustle in 2004.

Yuen Qiu’s return to the martial arts happened by accident as she was spotted by director Stephen Chow accompanying a woman to audition for the China Drama Academy, and he persuaded her to take the role. As ‘The Landlady’ in Kung Fu Hustle, Yuen Qiu had a small but memorable role, and she’s stayed active in the film industry since.

Yuen Biao

Years Active: 1962 – Present

Yuen Biao was one of the most famous members of the Seven Little Fortunes and, alongside Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan, formed a trio of “brothers” who worked with each other consistently. Biao, Hung, and Chan were known as the Three Dragons, and they appeared in six Hong Kong films together, including Project A and Dragons Forever.

With an incredible talent for acrobatics, according to Chan’s autobiography, Biao accomplished Master Yu Jim-yuen’s request of doing a backflip perfectly on his first day of training. He studied at the Peking Opera School until he was 16 before following his classmates into the film industry as a stuntman and extra in movies like The Way of the Dragon.

While Biao is best known for his work with Chan, he also had starring roles in Knockabout, Righting Wrongs, and The Iceman Cometh. Biao even worked with Chan on Hollywood productions, acting as action choreographer on Chan’s Western comedy Shanghai Noon in 2001. While still active, Biao has been the least prolific Three Dragons member in the 21st century.

Sammo Hung

Years Active: 1961 – Present

Few Hong Kong stars who have achieved the kind of global recognition Jackie Chan has, for martial arts lovers, Sammo Hung’s career has been just as impressive. As a member of the Seven Little Fortunes and one of the Three Dragons, Hung has left an undeniable impact on kung fu cinema and stands as one of the greats.

As a pivotal figure in the Hong Kong New Wave movement of the 1980s, Hung is a trailblazing actor, producer, and director who helped popularize the zombie-like jiangshi genre. Having studied martial arts since he was nine years old, Hung got his start in the movie industry working for Shaw Brothers Studio on wuxia classics like Come Drink with Me.

Hung remains a major figure in the Hong Kong film right up to this day, acting as action director on Wilson Yip’s Ip Man and appearing in Ip Man 2 as Hung Chun-nam. As a defining figure of kung fu cinema, it’s clear that performers like Hung and the rest of Jackie Chan’s fellow students all pushed each other toward greatness.

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Sources: HK Film Archive, Weibo post from Jackie Chan, I Am Jackie Chan