Simon Hsu: Unsung Shaw Bros. Action Director

Shaw Bros. martial arts films of the 1960s and ‘70s boasted numerous great action choreographers. The celebrated team of Lau Kar Leung and Tang Chia worked on most of Chang Cheh’s masterpieces before going on to separate directing careers themselves, most notably Lau, who directed some of the genre’s greatest films from 1976 to 1984, including THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, SHAOLIN MANTIS, HEROES OF THE EAST, DIRTY HO and 8 DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER, among others. Lau did more than any other director to focus on individual fighting techniques and weapons styles, emphasizing training and practice in the narratives of the films he worked on.

Lau Kar Leung makes a cameo appearance in HEROES OF THE EAST (1979)

For this piece, I’d like to single out the work of a lesser-known fight director who was most active at Shaw from 1969 to 1975, Hsu Er Niu, pictured below, who is also known as Simon Chui Yee-Ang and Simon Hsu, which is how I’ll refer to him from now on.