Vincent Zhao

Vincent Zhao or Man Chuk Chiu (Zhao Wenzho) is a Chinese actor and martial arts master.

Zhao was born April 10, 1972 in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China; he is the youngest of three sons in a family. His father was a martial arts practitioner, and his mother was a professional sprinter who broke the record for fastest female Harbin sprinter. At his father's behest, Zhao studied martial arts classes at the age of eight, but he wasn't really burning for wushu; he was more into singing.

In the early 1980s, Zhao was sent to a martial arts academy in Harbin for further training and began training intensely, where he fell in love with wushu. This led to him soon becoming the youngest member of the Harbin City Wushu Team, which was established in 1985. Vincent trained in various wushu techniques and mastered Tai Chi Quan, especially the Chen and Yang styles. After graduating from the academy Vincent Zhao decided to enter Beijing Sports University in 1990 to continue his martial arts education. During his study in the university he participated in a number of different youth martial arts competitions, won first titles, places and gold medals of National Junior Championship, became a member of the Chinese national martial arts team. As a member of the team, he has won several National Wushu Championships, Martial Arts Championships and National All-Around Championships. For his skills, his teammates gave him the nickname "King of Kung Fu."

In 1992, a Hong Kong film producer Corey Yuen came to the university where Vincent was studying to find a martial arts master to play the title villain in the 1993 film "Fong Sai-yuk". Zhao was not too keen on acting at first, especially as the main villain, but after some encouragement from his colleagues and mentors, he accepted the offer and started shooting that same year. Over the years, Zhao often remembers how many people on the set often made fun of him for looking too good and too young to play a villain.

During filming, Zhao also enrolled in acting classes for three months. Fong Sai-Yuk was released in March 1993 and was a box office hit in Hong Kong, box office receipts were HK $30666842.

Vincent Zhao Wenzhuo did not develop into a full-fledged action star like his predecessors Jet Li and Donnie Yen, although he had just as much potential. But his talents come in handy now, when Hong Kong cinema once again lacks true masters.