February 11, 2005 - Since some time in the mid-1970s, martial arts movies have been arriving on American shores a dozen at a time – and I'm not just talking about bootleg VHS and DVDs. The Shaw Brothers' films, which include such classics as Five Deadly Venoms, Shaolin Master Killer and Invincible Pole Fighters, brought the promise of Bruce Lee's limited filmography to fruition, and then paved the way for other international stars like Jackie Chan, Samo Hung and Jet Li.

The '80s, unfortunately, saw a dilution of the potent formulas patented in the decades before; Europeans like Jean-Claude Van Damme took over for the emerging Asian stars and foraged minor commercial pathways with derivative adventures of their own. But the 1990s enjoyed a spectacular renaissance, beginning with Jackie Chan's ascension to superstar status, and continuing through Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, and the genre's next generation (think Zhang Ziyi). Expectedly, other countries have slowly followed suit with action stars of their own; and while many failed before they fought their first cinematic battle, Thailand's Tony Jaa is determined to make sure that he emerges victorious at the top of the kung fu scrap heap.

Jaa's big screen debut Ong-Bak hits theaters this week in America, and the diminutive star and sensational martial artist recently sat down with IGN FilmForce to discuss his path from fighting to film. As he explains via translator, making a movie is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream began when he was just a boy, watching martial arts movies from Lee, Chan and Li just like the rest of us.

"I've been watching films since I was ten," says Jaa, whose interview is preceded by a demonstration of physical agility involving five opponents, a couple of acrobats, and a twelve-foot ceiling that turned out to be too low. "I was inspired by Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and I started practicing the stunts that they did on my own. Then, I saw that my master Phanna [Rithrikai] produced these stunts, and these movies, and I realized that Thai people could do this too. So I was inspired to do this."

Tony Jaa in Ong-Bak

Obviously, his predecessors came mainly from Hong Kong and/or mainland China. Being Thai, Jaa says that he was determined to bring the distinctive martial arts culture of his native country to the screen, should he earn the opportunity to make films. "I love every type of martial arts, but with Muay Thai in general, I want to see it being brought to the public more," Jaa says. "There is no movie that has Muay Thai incorporated into it, so I want to bring that to the public." Describing the ways in which Muay Thai differs from kung fu or karate, the two most familiar forms of martial arts, Jaa says, "It's similar to other martial arts where they incorporate nature into it, but with Muay Thai, it's a lot of traditional themes. Also, it incorporates the elbows and the knees into the moves."

Watching Ong-Bak reveals that Jaa's outwardly simple analysis of Muay Thai holds true: much of the fighting involves applying the pressure of the hardest parts of the body – namely, the elbows, kneecaps and forehead – to your opponent's weakest points. Appropriately, Jaa saw the potential for Muay Thai to entertain audiences with its distinctive fighting style. "I was always interested in martial arts for its own sake," Jaa says, "[but] I was inspired when I watched movies by Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, that they could bring [martial arts] to the public. I believe that bringing it out to the public like that gives the audience a sense of entertainment as well."

Jaa explains that he endured several years in the Thai filmmaking industry as a stunt man, an experience which he claims didn't give him enough screen time to show his stuff. "When you are a stunt man, [audiences] don't get to see your abilities fully," he says. "So I talked to my master, and also the director, and talked about creating a plot for a movie." For that fledgling project – which would later become Ong-Bak – Jaa says that additional work had to be done to bring credulity to his role. "I had to train as an actor and in choreographing the scenes with the actors who were starring in the movie."