Martial Arts Legend Sammo Hung Says He Can’t Teach His Grandsons Kungfu ’Cos He Can’t Control Them: “I Don’t Even Dare Tell Them To Go To Bed”

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It’s a Thursday afternoon in late April and 8days.sg is waiting to speak to martial arts legend Sammo Hung in a suite at the Royal Park Hotel in Sha Tin, Hong Kong.

Suddenly, a hasty-looking young assistant trots into the room, saying: “Dai Gor Dai is coming, please make way for him.” For the uninitiated, ‘Dai Gor Dai’ means ‘Big Big Brother’ in Cantonese.

The 72-year-old star then slowly dodders into the room, one hand clutching a walking stick for support, before quietly sitting down on the sofa with the help of the young assistant.

8days.sg is in Hong Kong to meet Sammo and the rest of the cast of new movie Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In. The action-thriller, which also stars Raymond Lam, Louis Koo and Richie Ren, is set around Kowloon Walled City, a dangerous and densely populated, largely ungoverned enclave in Hong Kong in the ’80s.

In the movie, Sammo plays Mr Big, a ruthless and ambitious mafia boss who lets his righthand man, played by Hong Kong actor Philip Ng, run the show while he sits back and reaps the profits of their shady dealings.

Philip, who plays an unhinged maniac in the film, has also joined us for the interview.

Seated on the same sofa a few inches away from Sammo, Philip, 46, appears intimidated by Sammo.

He sits stiffly and upright throughout the entire interview, almost as if he was too afraid to move while next to the movie legend.

We get it though. Sammo’s no-nonsense vibes were so strong, we felt like we had to remain silent while he was getting mic-ed up. No one let out a peep lest it disturbs Big Brother.

But the mood instantly eases up the moment Sammo snaps into meet-the-press mode.

Sammo first asks if the interview would be conducted in Cantonese or Mandarin. When we reply that he can speak in whichever language he prefers, he widens his eyes and chuckles: “What about vulgarities?”

The room bursts into laughter as Sammo adds: “Then the entire interview would just be ‘beep, beep, beep’ and then ‘good bye’.”

Meanwhile, Philip simply flashes a tense smile before looking down to adjust his blazer.

Both stars had performed most of their own stunts in Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In.

We can’t help but wonder if they had taken a toll on Sammo. He had knee surgery in 2017 and was photographed going about his daily life in a wheelchair just a couple of years back.

“It was alright, because I’m strong!” he bellows, while comically flexing his biceps.
“If only I had a stunt double, but I did most of my stunts by myself. I haven’t watched the movie yet, so I don’t know how I performed,” he adds.

Sammo says he was not at all worried about accidentally injuring his co-stars during their fight scenes.

“If I accidentally hurt them, serve them right! If such an old person like me could injure you, that shows how lousy you are,” he laughs, before saying that they “know how to hold back [their] punches when necessary.”

Sammo also couldn’t stop singing praises of Philip, whom repeatedly pats on the shoulder.

“I’ve known him for a really long time and I know his kungfu foundation is great. But I’ve never had the chance to direct him in a film. I hope we’ll have the opportunity in the future,” he says while Philip smiles and replies with a firm “Thank you”.

Philip, on the other hands, says it was extremely comfortable acting opposite Sammo, whom he likens to a “great dance partner”.

Sammo is one of the few cast members to have seen the real Kowloon Walled City back in the day.

“It was almost like I grew up there, ” he says. “I went into the Kowloon Walled City with my grandfather when I was only seven. There was a street there where my grandfather used to play Digging Flowers, a game similar to mahjong.”

“There was also another street where people would watch X-rated movies. I went to watch some as well,” he giggles.

He remembers to praise the director Soi Cheang and his crew for doing a great job in recreating the set.

The team had built a life-size replica of the Kowloon Walled City, said to be almost identical to the real one. The set was demolished right after filming wrapped.

Sammo says Hong Kong’s martial arts industry is slowly becoming obsolete.

“The martial artists back in the day have all switched careers to sell char siew baos now, or they’ve become taxi drivers,” he says wryly.

He hopes to open an academy to teach kungfu, but is worried it would be of no use in today’s society.

“What do my students do after they graduate? Sell char siew baos? Then what’s the point of me teaching them those things I spent my entire life learning? It honestly aches my heart,” he laments.

It’s why Sammo hopes Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In could inspire some children to pick up martial arts.

“In the past many young boys would practise kungfu every day and say they want to be martial artists when they grow up. But now they look [at the industry] and wonder: ‘What’s the point of learning?’. They don’t see any future in it,” he sighs.

Does he intend to at least pass his legacy down to his grandsons, TJ, 11, and JT, nine — the sons of former TVB actor Timmy Hung and actress Janet Chow?

“I rather they learn [kungfu] from someone else because I can’t bear to lay a finger on them,” he grins, adding that it’s essential for kungfu masters to be “merciless and brutal” with their disciples.

He then admits that he has absolutely “no power” over his mischievous grandkids.

“When I hit the table and shout: ‘Go to bed!’, they just run around complain: ‘Grandpa scolded me!’. So now, I don’t even dare tell them to go to bed,” he chuckles.

Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In opens in cinemas today (May 17).