Martial arts legend Sammo Hung may be one of the most prolific actors and action choreographers in Asian cinema, but all the decades of action movies has taken a toll on his body.

He has been mostly wheelchair-bound since undergoing knee surgery in 2017, and the 68-year-old also sparked health concerns recently when he was photographed looking visibly frailer.

Despite his condition, Sammo feels he has many years left in him and isn’t ready to retire.

“Everyone tells me to retire, but why should I? Firstly, I can still speak and scold people. Secondly, this is a given talent so why wouldn’t I use it? I will continue [working] while I still can. When my body and mind start to give up and I don’t want to humiliate myself, then I will retire,” said Sammo in a recent interview on Hongkong talk show Gin Hong Dan, which can be translated as Healthy Dan.

During the show, Sammo also shared his challenges as an action star and choreographer. One of his most memorable experiences was when he played dual roles as actor as well as stunt director in 1976 martial arts classic Hand of Death.

Also starring Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao, the movie was known for its action scenes and Sammo recalled a scene that required a stunt performer to execute a complicated fight sequence from the second storey of the movie set before jumping down from a height of at least 4.5m and smashing a platform.

“After describing the sequence, I asked the stunt instructor who was performing the stunt but there was no reply. No one wanted to do it, so I did it myself. But I landed on the ground, 10 feet away from the where I was supposed to be,” he said, adding that he was in a great deal of pain.

Sammo lamented that safety measures on set were few, adding that such accidents were typical at the time.

“[Then] there were no tatami mats [to cushion our fall]. Later we had straw mats and placed a canvas sheet over it, and we just jumped and landed on it. During that time, we were just eking out a living. If you have the talent and ability, you have to show it off and go all out,” he said.

Photos: YouTube