Tony Jaa
Tony Jaa ( Thai: โท นี่ จา, pronounced [t ʰ o ː ni ː ʨa ː. ]; Actually: [. P ʰ á.nom ji ː ram ] Panom Yeerum, พนม ยี รัมย์ pronounced; born February 5, 1976 in Surin province, Thailand) is a Thai actor who participates especially in martial arts movies. He is also a stuntman, stunt choreographer and film director.
Life and work
Panom Yeerum Son, the real name of the artist, was born in 1976 near the town of Surin in the eponymous province of Northeast Thailand on the border with Cambodia, the third of four children of a family of rice farmers and elephant trainers. He has one brother and two sisters and had the parents in his childhood help in their daily work in the rice field, but also the elephant training. Even then he looked at Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan films that were shown in a ten kilometers past the village on canvas. This confirmed him in his intention to also be a martial artist: "Because of Bruce and Jackie, I Realized I wanted to be a martial arts movie star [ ... ] But theywere doing Chinese kung -fu. I wanted to do something to show the world Thai culture, Thai martial arts, so I Decided to practice Muay Thai Boran. "
When he left school, he told his family that he was going to be a movie star, and used since he was ten years all his energies to follow in the footsteps of his great idols. His father was a Muay Thai boxer who denied struggles throughout Surin.
Then Jaa saw with 15 years of the film Born to Fight by writer and director Phanna Rithikrai ( พัน นา ฤทธิไกร ), who later became his master. He went to Phanna and asked him to teach him. Phanna first sent him to the Maha Sarakham College of Physical Education in Maha Sarakham Province, where Jaa studied sports science. Although Phanna too young found him for the work as a stuntman, he trained him after school, and so Jaa could act as a stuntman for various film projects.
Meanwhile, he has mastered Taekwondo, Muay Boran, sword fighting, Krabi Krabong, Pencak Silat and gymnastics. Yeah finally perfected the traditional martial arts and soon acquired his coaching diploma. And so developed Phanna Rithikrai and Tony Jaa 1995 with the idea to produce a new type of screen action. The old, traditional martial arts should be shown and used no special effects. In the meantime very demanding audience that was no easy task.
After he had taken a series of smaller activities at various local productions, he เจมส์ 1997 Stunt double for Robin Shou in the Hollywood movie Mortal Kombat 2 He also worked for a Thai television series as a double of the native Stars Ruengsak Loichusak (James) ( เรือง ศักดิ์ ลอย ชู ศักดิ์ ).
His international breakthrough reached Tony Jaa Ong - Bak 2003 ( องค์ บาก ), which was released worldwide on DVD and VCD. His second big movie was 2005 Revenge of the Warrior - Tom Yum Goong ( ต้มยำ กุ้ง ).
Encouraged by the overwhelming success, the Ong - Bak series was continued, and Jaa also tried as co- director. But the shooting proved to be particularly difficult, and there were constant problems with the production company because of funding. Despite the complications of the second and third parts were completed respectively in 2008 and 2010, but the whole process left deep marks and bad taste in Jaa.
Zerworfen with the government line, he retired to a Buddhist temple in his hometown Surin (Thailand) back to himself again. On 28 May 2010 Jaa became a Buddhist monk.
He has now left the monastery surprising and is already turning the movie Revenge of the Warrior - Tom Yum Goong 2