Motivated in part by the anniversary of Bruce Lee’s death, “Spirit of Fight” is a martial arts film that revolves around two brothers and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).
The cast includes Bruce Lee lookalike Danny Chan and Singaporean artiste Rebecca Tan. Chan bears more than a passing resemblance to Lee himself and he fights using the style that Lee created – jeet kune do, a form of mixed martial arts pioneered by the late, most famous disciple of Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man. Chan, who is also a dance choreographer and singer, first shot to fame after he was spotted by award-winning director and actor Stephen Chow, who cast him as a Bruce Lee lookalike goalkeeper in Hong Kong blockbuster comedy “Shaolin Soccer”. In 2008, he transitioned from supporting actor to leading man as the Jeet Kune Do master himself in “The Legend of Bruce Lee”. The television series went on to smash China Central TV’s all-time record in viewership ratings when over 200 million viewers tuned in. For this upcoming film, which filming will begin early next year and is due for release in 2D and 3D the second half of 2011, however, Chan will not be playing the role of martial arts legend, but rather, someone who represents the spirit of Jeet Kune Do and how the mixed martial art can adapt to the modern mixed martial arts (MMA) arena. MMA is a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques and styles — including sumo, karate, kick-boxing and boxing – to be used in competitions. Often described as the world’s fastest growing sport, the world’s most popular form of MMA is the US-based Ultimate Fighting Championship. Watch the stylish, very well-made promo trailer for the film after the break.

“Spirit of Fight” is directed by Singaporean filmmaker Randy Ang, whose blog can be found here. According to the filmmaker, he and his team have been working in development for the project for the last 6 months. The promo clip below, which shot in 2 days, is a special tribute to the legendary Bruce Lee shot way ahead of the feature film due only in production in 2011. The story follows JIN – starring Danny Chan – a martial artist who yearns to fight in a MMA arena. Learning from both victory and defeat; he learns to exceed himself and truly understand the meaning of the Spirit of Fight.