My Life wíth Jackie Chan

I became a Jackie Chan fan in December 2004. What, my friends asked, a FAN? At YOUR AGE ? Funnily enough that was what happened. I had been practising martial arts for a few years then, I had watched martial arts movies and found out there are some I like more than others, but up to December 2004 I had never expected to become a fully fledged fan of somebody. This is for teenagers !

But this interest was different than liking to see George Clooney or to listen to Robbie Williams. This turned out to influence and change my life. Let me explain:

1. Jackie Chan's way of choreographing fights is unique and different from anybody else's. I simply enjoy the dance-like quality he adds, he humour, the creativity. This is not a Jackie Chan blog, so I won't go into details, which you also can find elsewhere on the Internet. The important thing for this context is that his movies also made me more courageous. With his movies in front of my inner eye, I managed to overcome my own fears and limitations - so for example when one day I forgot about being afraid of a dive roll in my martial arts class and just did it.

2. I learned more about his person and found out that there is a lot more to Jackie Chan than funny Kung Fu movies. His charity work, for example. His ideas of how different people from all over the world should become friends and learn from each other. These thoughts reflected my own ones and with a famous supporter like Jackie, I dared to be again more outspoken, to say what I had buried deep in my soul because I was so often made fun of.

3. I joined a Jackie Chan forum and then another one and all of a sudden the small town I live in had a gate to the world. I so much enjoy my contacts to different people from different cultures. I found new friends in my own country. I forged new friendships that go far beyond a common interest in Jackie Chan. I re-discovered my interest in China, Chinese culture and language and this time (unlike when it all started in the late 1960s) I could travel and start to study the language.

Up to this day, I have not plastered the walls of my room with Jackie pictures, nor have I got a Jackie tattoo on my shoulder. But I have gained a lot from having discovered him and I am most grateful for the really close and important friends all this has brought me.