|
|||
| JACKIE CHAN & The Art of Giving Back! INTERVIEW BY NAPMA PRESIDENT ROB COLASANTI EDITED BY JOHN CORCORAN PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE JC GROUP & NEW LINE CINEMA In this very exclusive interview, movie icon, business mogul and humanitarian Jackie Chan talks about leadership, charity, maintaining tradition in the martial arts, his crusade against waste, the benefits of martial arts for children, the importance of teaching discipline to our youth and his evolution into the man that he is today. Prepare yourself for a glimpse into a side of Jackie Chan that you probably have never experienced before.  "The young children, everybody should go to a martial arts school. Why? Because as soon as they go to a martial arts school, they learn discipline. They learn respect. You can tell the [difference between the] children [of the] same age—six years old—one in martial arts, one without martial arts. [With martial arts training,] you know the difference. One is jumping around. One is very quiet." In the world of martial arts, there's presently no bigger celebrity than Jackie Chan. In fact, as a result of his amazing movie career, which spans more than four decades and 70 films, Chan has become one of the world's most famous entertainers, period. Now this may surprise you, but I did not seek an interview with Mr. Chan because he is so famous, wealthy, or because I wanted to hang out with him on a movie set for an hour or two. Not even close. (I didn't even ask him for his autograph, although I was holding a Mont Blanc the entire time.) Instead, I wanted to interview Jackie Chan for much more meaningful, beneficial and altruistic reasons—for reasons that would benefit you and all of my fellow martial arts professionals. My thinking went something like this. At his core, Jackie Chan is a martial artist just like you or me. Furthermore, when you look past Jackie Chan the movie star, he's just a person like you or me. We all have the same 24 hours in a day and our own issues to deal with. But one big difference is that Chan has found a way to tap into the limitless potential and inner greatness that we all have tucked away inside. He's brought it to the surface and he's done so in a big way. My goal was to learn some of the ways in which he did it, so that I could share this information with you. I wanted to reveal his secrets to success!  When the name Jackie Chan is mentioned, many of us immediately think: martial arts hero, world famous actor and unbelievable stuntman. That's because we've been so heavily exposed to these particular aspects of his career. However, these staples represent only a few of Chan's remarkable accomplishments. Case in point: what you may not know is that he is also an extremely successful international business mogul. In fact, it's rumored that he's a billionaire. If that's true, then he's the first martial artist in history to reach that lofty financial height. Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if his worth was indeed in the ten digits these days, after discovering just how many powerful revenue streams he's created. To give you an idea, Chan is involved with many kinds of businesses outside of motion pictures, ranging from upscale men's Chinese clothing stores, to a line of Jackie Chan cosmetics, to a chain of fast-food restaurants. He's done television and print commercials for Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Glad= garbage bags. He was recently signed as spokesperson for InstaGreen Tea Beverage Mix. He's endorsing fitness centers, computer games and theme parks. He has just launched a Chinese TV competition aimed at finding his successor, which quickly generated more than 100,000 sign ups. Plus, he even has his own cartoon, The Jackie Chan Adventures, which is broadcast on the Cartoon Network in the U.S. and on various other networks throughout the world. And finally, he owns expensive homes all over the world including Beverly Hills and Hong Kong. That's just a sample of what Jackie Chan, the entrepreneur, has in the pipeline. So, do you think you can learn a thing or two from Jackie Chan? Now you can see why my mission was to uncover valuable nuggets of information from this giant of a man, not to get his autograph. The journey for this incredible interview kicked into high gear when my associate at New Line Cinema finally made contact with Mr. Chan and his people, who were enroute from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. She called right away with the news: 'Jackie agreed to do the interview!" But he didn't want to do a "phoner." Instead, he wanted to conduct this interview face-to-face and on the set of Rush Hour 3. (Rush Hour 1 and 2 comprise a blockbuster franchise that has grossed more than $500 million worldwide.) So about 24 hours later, I was on a plane bound for Los Angeles. My dear friend and five-time female world kickboxing champion, Kathy Long, greeted me at the airport. A map denoting the location of the set was disclosed to me just prior to the interview, and thank goodness for Kathy, who graciously transported me there. As bad as I am with directions, I probably would have been eaten by mountain lions before ever finding my way in or out of this place. It was located in a somewhat remote area north of Los Angeles called Canyon Country.  When we arrived, Mr. Chan's publicity manager treated us like gold and showed us around the set. This was a really amazing experience. At the time, the 100-something-person crew was hard at work, filming a big stunt, against a huge green screen. Jackie's and Chris Tucker's stunt doubles were hooked to cables, dangling over a big pool that had been built. There were cameras, computers, cables and machinery everywhere. The doubles repeatedly slid down the cables and crashed into a big pool of water as they were kicking and screaming. They shot this one scene over and over again, as the crew tweaked everything possible to get it just right for Chan and Tucker to step in and take their places. That happened later on that evening (after the interview) and it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. In the movie, this will be an action scene that takes place at some famous fountains in France. We watched for hours and I was so intrigued by everything that was going on that I totally took my mind off the interview. Then, next thing you know, I received a tap on my shoulder and the publicity manager said, "Jackie's ready to meet with you." A few moments later, I sat down with the 53-year-old superstar in his trailer to conduct the exclusive and rather unique interview you're about to read. Right off the bat, I noticed that he was in fantastic physical condition. He had v-shaped forearms, big triceps, a full head of hair and he was very focused and calm. One thing I figured out in a hurry is that he really didn't want to talk too much about Rush Hour 3, or his film career. That's good, because honestly, it was the last thing I wanted to talk about, too. However, he quickly beamed with excitement the instant I asked him about his charity, the Jackie Chan Foundation. This was definitely his hot button and what he's most passionate about. We ended up discussing his incredible humanitarian works quite extensively, and that's why it has become the focal point of this cover story. It's incredible to learn just how much Jackie Chan is giving back to society at this stage of his life. As you'll read, he is without a doubt the quintessential "give back guy" of the martial arts. I mean, think about anything you've ever done for charity and then multiply it by amillion! That's the league Jackie Chan is in. He's really using his fame and fortune to help countless others, in many ways, in many countries, and the proof of that is clearly illustrated in much of the imagery found throughout this interview. All in all, I was truly touched by what Mr. Chan had to say about leadership, charity, maintaining tradition in the martial arts, his crusade against waste, the benefits of martial arts for children, the importance of teaching discipline to our youth and his evolution into the man that he is today. This interview will give you, and all the leaders in our industry, a glimpse into a side of Jackie Chan that you probably have never experienced before. I trust that his words will inspire you as much as they inspired me. Continue to the next page >>> |
© Copyright Martial Arts Marketing, Incorporated DBA NAPMA®