Born Li Lianjie on April 26, 1963, in Heibei, Beijing, Li lost his father when he was two, and was raised by his mother. Extremely protective of her son, she wouldn't let him do anything as risky as riding a bicycle, which caused him to be timid and nervous. Realizing that this was a problem, his mother enrolled him in Beijing Wushu Academy so that he could learn to look after himself.

At the academy, Li was an immediate success, his natural talent and speed earning him the name Jet. At just eight years old, he found the hard work involved in the training to be rather overwhelming, so his coach Wu Bin offered him one-on-one training sessions in order to persuade him to stay. This led to tournament training, and three years later Li caused a sensation across China by winning the national championships with his mastery of spear and sword techniques. He further established himself as a national hero when he met Richard Nixon, who asked him to be his bodyguard. "I don't want to protect any individual. When I grow up, I want to defend my one billion Chinese countrymen." Li told him.

Over the next few years, Li won gold medals in several more national events, making him the most successful wushu artist to date. He was chosen to represent his country with martial arts displays at numerous ambassadorial events.

For such a successful young martial arts star, there was always pressure to move into a film career. Li's first film, Shaolin Temple, about a youth seeking to avenge his father's death, was a massive hit in China and had the distinction of being the first Chinese film distributed worldwide since the cultural revolution of 1966. It was followed by two sequels, Kids of Shaolin and Martial Arts of Shaolin, before Li moved to Hong Kong to take a stab at directing with World War Two epic, Born to Defense. Though the film was unsuccessful, it was the first of several Hong Kong action films in which Li starred, solidifying his reputation in China and winning him a cult following in the west. He found himself in constant demand, with the gang culture underlying film finance eventually claiming the life of his manager Jim Choy. For this and other reasons, especially feeling that his artistic freedom was limited, Li became determined to move to America.

Fortunately for Li, he had come to the attention of director Quentin Tarantino. Though the two never worked together, Tarantino's advocacy helped him to secure a role in Lethal Weapon 4, alongside Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. He then took the lead in Romeo Must Die, opposite young singing sensation Aaliyah, and went on to another starring performance in The One. Further martial arts roles followed, but Li recently declared that he feels he has nothing left to prove within the genre and plans to take his career in other directions. In 2004 he was caught up in the Indian Ocean tsunami while visiting the Maldives, but escaped with only minor injuries, rescuing his daughter in the process.

Li has been married twice. His first wife was the actress Huang Qiuyan, but they reportedly married out of a sense of duty rather than love, and were together for just two years. His second wife, Nina Li Chi, is the mother of his daughter, Jane. In his spare time he relaxes by playing badminton and table tennis.

YUDDY