Tony Jaa: Thai Warrior

Jaa made his first trip to New York to promote the film, giving a first-hand martial arts demonstration of Muy Thai, the fighting style used in the film. He began with a graceful dance showing off some moves before progressing into an elaborate fight sequence where he took on multiple attackers. (Our pal Wilson Morales at blackfilm.com was nice enough to capture the demonstration on video.)

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The actor born Panom Yeerum told ComingSoon.net about his history and the training that led up to the making of "Ong-Bak". "At the age of 10, I started watching films by Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and I was inspired by them," he told us. "When I watched those films, I would come home and practice the moves, but I didn't go into it more extensively until was 15 years old. I told my father that I wanted to study with my master Phanna (Rithikrai), and both of them agreed that I should go back and finish school first. During the summers, I would work behind the scenes on the set--working the dolly, getting drinks for everybody, working with the cameramen-until I finally became an extra. After I finished high school, I had the opportunity to study at a physical education academy, where I learned all the different forms of martial arts-Muy Thai, Muy Thai Boran, Tae Kwon Do-and I worked my way into becoming a stuntman. I auditioned for 'Mortal Kombat 2', which was filming in Thailand, and I became the stunt double for Robin Shou. After that, I realized that as a stuntman, you are only in the shadow of the actor, and you don't really get to be seen. Your true abilities are not really portrayed. I put together a project with my master Phanna, presented it to ['Ong-Bak' director] Prachya and that became 'Ong-Bak'."

What makes Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior so distinctive from the Chinese martial arts films that influenced it is Jaa's unique fighting style: Muy Thai, an ancient form of Thai boxing. "What makes Muy Thai different from other forms of martial arts is that the elbows and knees are used," he explained, going on to tell us about the three different versions. "There's Muy Thai Boran, an ancient form used during wartime that has a lot of culture and tradition involved with it, the kind of fighting you see in 'Ong Bak'," Jaa said. "Then there's a form of stage boxing when it becomes a sport, where the culture and tradition that comes from the various moves disappears because of the rules that become involved with it. There's also an amateur type of Muy Thai."

Getting a chance to see Jaa's Muy Thai moves in action is a great reason to see "Ong-Bak," but there are also a lot of amazing stunts, something which took four years of preparation. "In choreographing these scenes, we created a storyboard of sorts. We took a video of the various action sequences and did various cuts to see what would look best on film," he explained. "We also thought of ways to make this film different from other films you've seen in the past. This is the first time Muy Thai is presented on film, so there is a lot of use of the elbows, like the elbow to the head. We would keep practicing these scenes to see how they'd come out on film."

Because of this preparation and planning, there were no stunts they wanted to do that they couldn't accomplish, and it insured that Jaa's stunt men were never injured on the set. "There was no danger involved because we had safety precautions--just the shock when they got hit or kicked in the face," he joked, "As for me, the worst was that I tore a ligament on my ankle and was out for a month, and I burnt my eyelashes during the fire scene."

Jackie Chan's Drunken Master was the first martial arts film Jaa ever saw, inspiring him to go home and practice Jackie's moves. He used some of those moves to dodge the question when asked about rumors that he might collaborate with Jackie Chan on a new Drunken Master film. Although talks for something like that may happen in the future, Jaa has not even had the chance to meet his hero yet. "I had the opportunity to go visit Jackie Chan on set, but he was busy, so we didn't get a chance to talk. He invited me to dinner, but I had already gone back to Thailand."

Jaa also chose to remain fairly mum about his other upcoming projects, including the oddly named Tom Yum Goong, Pinkaew's follow-up to "Ong-Bak". Named after the spicy shrimp soup you would find on the menu at a Thai restaurant, Pinkaew and Jaa have been filming both in Thailand and Australia and are 70% complete. "There is definitely something different and new, because there's a bigger production and an international cast, but how different and new, you'll have to wait and see, " he teased. Jaa didn't have much to say about the possibility of him appearing in any Western films, but he also refused to comment on the Hollywood tradition of using wirework and camera trickery to make non martial artists do some fancy moves on screen. "It's really up to the viewers what they want to see."

While his main inspirations come from Bruce Lee, Jet Li and Jackie Chan, he said he finds inspiration in a variety of places. "All films are inspiring to me, even Charlie Chaplin, because he would do things back then even before Jackie Chan, and you would wonder how he could do them."

The ever-so-diplomatic Jaa also refused to take sides when asked who he thought might win in a fight between his two idols Jackie Chan and Jet Li or whether he would be willing to take either one on in a fight. "They're both good in their own ways. They wouldn't fight each other, and I wouldn't fight with either one because they're like my inspiration, my heroes and my masters. I keep them in my heart." With that sort of respect and reverence to the past, Jaa is destined to go very far.