By YHF

Most hot-blooded males, or at least guy friends from my social circle, have our own movie heroes; men we look to for inspiration and excitement. They are considered icons by fans of action cinema and made their name from epic onscreen ass kicking.

Without further ado, these are my favourite men of action:

Bruce Lee

There is something about him that captures my imagination. Be it his charisma or animalistic howls when he fights, there is no denying the fact that the late Bruce Lee is not only a celluloid colossus but a legend off it.

In the 1960s when many martial arts practitioners were still preoccupied with inflexible fighting forms, Bruce broke convention by integrating elements from different disciplines like grappling, karate and Western boxing into what he called Jeet Kune Do or ‘Way of the Intercepting Fist’. This revolutionary unarmed combat system is considered by some exponents in the martial arts fraternity as the forefather of modern Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

Aside from being an innovator in fighting techniques, Bruce was also ahead of his time by incorporating an extensive weights training regimen and intensive cardiovascular workout into his routine to make him an all-rounder.

But where Bruce ultimately shone, was on the glorious silver screen. Before he burst into the limelight in 1971 with The Big Boss, martial arts movies were filled with sloppy choreography featuring flailing arms and clumsy kicks. The Big Boss blew all of that out of the water with modern fight choreography boasting sleek and powerful punch-and-kick combinations coupled with takedowns – the culmination of Bruce’s many years of dedicated fitness training and effectively mixing fighting styles to suit his combat philosophy.

After a further four movies, the last being the uncompleted Game of Death, Bruce tragically passed away at the age of 32-years-old in 1973 brought about by brain swelling. However, his legacy continues to live on in re-runs of his movies and the sport of MMA.

Sylvester Stallone

Stallone is best known for his two onscreen personas Rocky and Rambo and it is easy to see why. Rocky was the underdog from the street who came good, going from amateur to professional and finally the boxing champion of the world. He provides me with the feel-good factor when I am down in the dumps and that emerging triumphant over immense adversity is not impossible if enough hope and heart is put into an endeavour.

Rambo, on the other hand, inspires me in a very different way. Every time when I find myself demoralised, I will turn to him for solace and he never disappoints. Watching him stab, shoot and blow up people with an assortment of weapons such as hunting knives, explosive arrows, heavy machine guns and rocket launchers never fail to bring a smile onto my face and reinvigorate me for another round of life’s challenges.

Stallone’s finest hour undoubtedly came in Rambo IV (2008). This movie was a gritty and intense look at the civil war in Myanmar and how brutal the governing military junta could be to its people. When a group of Christian missionaries were imprisoned while on a humanitarian trip to Myanmar, Rambo and a merry band of mercenaries were on hand to save the day; and they did it in style. The last ten minutes have to be seen to be believed, with junta soldiers getting blown up into hunks of flesh and blood by the dozens.

Donnie Yen

Similar to Bruce Lee in his approach to martial arts and physical fitness, Donnie is just as explosive and majestic as Bruce when it comes to injecting energy and raw power into his fight scenes.

Donnie may look young and seem like he just entered show business. In actual fact, he has been in showbiz since the 80s. Turning 49-years-old this year, Donnie’s youthful physique and looks are often attributed to constant exercise, and that in itself is an inspiration to me. Whenever I find myself getting lazy and out of shape, I will psyche myself up by watching Donnie’s movies before I pound the pavement with my runs and work my muscles with weights, albeit 5kg ones rather than the 50kg weights Donnie pumps at the gym.

So why did Donnie get only famous now when he was around for almost three decades? Tabloids in the 90s – the decade Donnie was supposed to get his big break – claimed that he had a falling out with several bigwigs in the Hong Kong film industry, thus stagnating his career. In any case, it was better late than never.

Donnie’s career got back on track in 2005 with the actioner SPL, a Hong Kong cop thriller which brought film fighting to another plane with the introduction of MMA. Donnie built upon that with more elaborate hard hitting, bone crunching MMA action in his 2007 masterpiece, Flashpoint. Donnie won the ‘Best Action Choreography’ title at the prestigious 2008 Golden Horse Film Awards for the latter and the 'Best Action Choreography' title at the 2006 Hong Kong Film Awards for the former.

What really cemented his superstar status was 2008’s Ip Man and Donnie never looked back since, with movie after movie offer pouring in.