The 2014 action movie ‘The Skin Trade’ served up an epic battle between two martial arts icons, Tony Jaa and Michael Jai White.
In the real world this wouldn’t seem like a fair fight given that the 40 year-old Jaa is only 5ft 6 tall and 134lbs, while the 48-year old White is 6ft and 220lbs.
However, this is the movie business, and in that world Jaa is a larger-than-life figure who has become one of the biggest martial arts stars of the 21st century, starring in the seminal ‘Ong-Bak’ series, while also crossing over to Hollywood blockbusters like ‘Fast & Furious 7’ and ‘xXx: The Return Of Zander Cage’.
White’s movie career began a decade earlier, initially appearing in movies like ‘Universal Soldier’ in the early 1990’s, before taking starring roles in super-hero movie ‘Spawn’, starring as Mike Tyson in a TV movie about the boxers life, and in more recent times featuring in movies like ‘The Dark Knight’ and the ‘Mortal Kombat’ franchise to name but a few.
These two movie stars aren’t just being made to look good on film due to camera trickery and body doubles though, as they are both legitimate martial artists.
Jaa helped bring the ancient art of Muay Boran and Muay Thai to the big screen, having studied in those styles from his early teens, as well as other disciplines like Judo, Taekwondo and Washu, and he’s famous for performing gravity-defying martial arts moves and stunts without the use of wires.
White also has an extensive martial arts background, holding black belts in Shotokan Karate (3rd Dan), Kyokushin (3rd Degree), Taekwondo (2nd Degree) and Tang Soo Do (1st Degree) and also fought competitively, winning 26 titles, including the U.S Open.
Speaking of the fight scene between the two in ‘The Skin Trade’, White told nukethefridge.com last year that the two stars were actually able to draw on their fighting skills to help choreograph most of the action themselves.
The majority of what Tony and I did, we created a lot on the day, White said. Sometimes it’s more realistic and it’s more organic when you’re in the moment. So Tony and I put our heads together and I think pretty much one of the most exciting parts of the fight is the stuff we created 10 minutes before shooting.
…It’s kind of like two musicians vibing. I think that made it very special.
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It’s a testament to the two actors talent and professionalism that the whole scene took just a day to shoot, and required only three takes.
