Lau Kar Yung belongs to the famous Lau family.

Born in 1955, Lau Kar Yung began to learn Kung Fu under the tutelage of his mother (at eight years old) and initially found work under his uncle Lau Kar Leung at Shaw Brothers Studios, as a stuntman (notably in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin). By the mid 1970s he had taken lead roles in such movies as Shaolin Disciples and Dragon's Claws (capitalizing on the wave of kung fu comedies led by Jackie Chan, and adapting them to the Lau style). In the early 1980s he acted in such movies as The Tigress Of Shaolin (with his mother, Lau Sui Yee) and in 1980 he choreographed Jackie Chan’s The Young Master (and memorably performed the lion dance at the beginning of the film).

Lau Kar Yung disappeared from films for several years, devoting himself to TV series. He returned to the cinema in the late 80's. This time he worked primarily behind the camera as a choreographer (He Who Chases After The Wind is one of his notable works).

He enjoyed a brief to films in 1994 (Drunken Master II and Drunken Master III and Crystal Fortune Run) and 2002 (Drunken Monkey, alongside his uncles and cousin Lau Wing Kin). Now he helps spread the name of what made him famous. He (along with Mark Houghton) as a teacher at the Lau Family Hung Fist School in Hong Kong, a venture created by his uncle Lau Kar Leung.

Recently he (again with Mark Houghton) authored and performed in a series of instructional kung fu DVD’s that highlight the styles of the Hung Gar form.


(Source: HKCM/Scott Finch) Edit Biography