Yang Sze, best known by his stage name Bolo Yeung, is a martial artist, actor, and former bodybuilder from Hong Kong. At the age of ten, Yeung began martial arts instruction in southern China with a number of Kung Fu instructors.
He escaped Communist China in the 1960s by swimming to Hong Kong. He wanted a life with more options, and swimming reduced the likelihood that he would be apprehended by border patrol.
He began training in bodybuilding as he grew older and eventually won the title of Mr. Hong Kong for a full decade before launching a lucrative film career. He was known as the “Chinese Hercules” because to his enormous size and strength in battle.
The physique and martial arts skills of Yeung drew the attention of Hong Kong film makers. Yeung agreed to work for Shaw Brothers, the area’s biggest production firm at the time. Yeung’s physique and scary gaze led to him virtually always being cast as the bad guy in his film appearances. Before leaving the company in 1971, he worked on important Shaw Brothers productions like Angry Guest, The Heroic Ones, and The Deadly Duo.
Ironically, the champion bodybuilder later met martial arts icon Bruce Lee while appearing in a Winston cigarette commercial. This was the beginning of their close relationship, and their connection helped Bolo earn the part of a commanding enforcer in Bruce Lee’s legendary film Enter the Dragon. Yang Sze adopted the stage name Bolo for this part, which is also the name of his character in the movie.
Another interesting fact: A picture of Bolo using Jackie Chan as a weapon against Bruce Lee in the movie has been making the rounds. One of Jackie’s earliest cinematic performances was as an uncredited henchman in this movie. There is significant disagreement, nevertheless, as to whether Jackie is the man in the picture. The scene in question served only as a showcase for Bolo’s extraordinary strength.
He would develop yet another unshakable friendship with Jean-Claude Van Damme, a second notorious tough guy, in the late 1980s. The friendship between the two men has endured the years, as seen by a well-publicized dinner they both attended in 2011.
Yeung actually played a significant role in the 1988 film Bloodsport. He portrayed Chong Li, Frank Dux’s primary foe played by Van Damme.
In 1991’s Double Impact, the titanic duo will square off once more. Yeung portrayed Moon, a thug for an elderly Hong Kong crime boss who murdered the father of Van Damme’s character.
Bolo is still going strong (very literally) at the age of 76. When he has the time, he enjoys going to conventions to interact with his devoted followers. Some fortunate spectators even get to have the fabled Chinese Hercules throw them around:
Bolo still has acting to do. He will play the lead role in the exciting action movie AFEREZ, which is directed by Birol Tarkan Yildiz. In the movie, a man wakes up bound and gagged in an unfamiliar location. He is commanded to hand over “the formula” by an odd voice. Bolo will play the starring role, judging by the movie’s IMDb profile. Although the movie is finished, there is no set date for its release.
A documentary about Bolo’s life appears to be in production. The documentary, dubbed “Chinese Hercules,” has been in development since 2018, but there haven’t been many updates regarding when it would air. It’s possible that the epidemic put a stop to the filming and that a Bolo documentary may surprise us soon.
Bolo is the current chairman of the Hong Kong Gym Business Association and resides in Monterey Park. Yeung is married, although he doesn’t reveal who his wife is.
Danny and David are two of his kids, and Debbra is one of his daughters. This Instagram photo demonstrates his pleasure in his kids and how they emulate him as martial artists and bodybuilders.
Bolo was also one of the few Chinese celebrities of the time to be renowned for both his enormous build and his mastery of martial arts. You may say that Bolo had a greater influence as a result of this combo.