Tony Jaa vs. Jackie Chan

As obvious as it is that I would kick both in the ass, I went with Jackie. As talented as Jaa is, what most people don't realize is that Jackie in his early days was every bit the phenom that Jaa is now, and most of the kind of setpieces Jaa and Rittikrai put together are based on the kind of innovations Jackie made in the industry. With a brilliant mind for detail and a framing, Jackie has been creating unparalleled action scenes for decades, whereas so far Jaa has found success repeating the same formula. Even though he's making some sketchy movie choices these days, Jackie is still a legend and without a doubt one of the most imaginative and impressive performers, on a physical as well as a creative level, in the action film business.

Okay...to make it fair, you would have to say young Jackie and Tony Jaa.

And honestly, I think Jackie would win. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but:

Jackie is versed in many forms of martial arts, while Tony is only familiar with one. Bolt, is that right?

Jackie would win.

Mastering more fighting styles doesn't necessarily guarantee victory. Jaa is familiar with a couple other fighting styles outside Muay Thai variants but mainly sticks to Muay Thai.

In my opinion who has the better movies and has a greater impact on Martial Arts cinema? Jackie

Who would win in a hypothetical all in no holding back fight without preptime? Jaa

tony jaa and jackie chan would probably be PWN by MMA fighters, but i prefer Jackie Chan

Haitien's right about the effectiveness of the fighter based on number of styles learned. I don't want to start a terminology war, but while Jackie has a more shallow knowledge of multiple arts such as Shaolin kung fu, wing chun, kenpo, Shotokan karate, judo, Western boxing, and hapkido, the majority of his skills come from extensive Peking theater training, which includes martial arts technique but not a lot of theory. Jaa, while not branching too far out from Thai martial arts, has a thorough knowledge of modern Thai boxing, Muay Boran, Krabi-Krabong, pradal serey, Pencak Silat, and gymnastics, all of which make for a powerful if not as varied screenfighting style. But I assumed we were just talking about what either guy has brought to the table in terms of filmmaking.

if tony jaa can pull a movie as good as the police story series jackie did, then tony all the way...but most of tony's movies has been lacking story saved by the action...

Jackie Chan > Tony Jaa.

StriderXXX said:

if tony jaa can pull a movie as good as the police story series jackie did, then tony all the way...but most of tony's movies has been lacking story saved by the action...

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I loved Tony Jaa's Ong Bak, but I hated Tom yum goong (The Protector). I don't know if I can look forward to see Ong Bak 2 since it doesn't look like a direct sequel to Ong Bak. :disappoin

StriderXXX said:

but most of tony's movies has been lacking story saved by the action...

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Just like most action movies

Thanks Haitien and Bolt for the info, I enjoyed reading those little blurbs. ^_^

Okay Bolt, so let me ask you this:

If it were a real fight, between Tony at the age he is now, and a younger Jackie, who do you think would win?

It's impossible to speculate with any kind of accuracy who would win a battle like that; the nature of a fight is so unpredictable that either guy could walk away the victor in two seconds, or they could fight all day and neither guy would budge. Jaa was raised in the jungle doing handsprings off elephants and mimicking moves from Jackie Chan movies (ironically), he has an extensive knowledge of Muay Thai but as far as I know he's never used them in the ring. Jackie has also as far as I know never been in any kind of indicative combat sport situation, but he grew up in the slums of Hong Kong where fighting was a daily reality. In his autobiography he talks about having rumbles with anyone from neighborhood toughs, to him, Yuen Biao, and Sammo taking on a gang of bikers, to scary near-death run-ins with Triads, not to mention people taking shots at him to see if he's "the real deal." From a purely physical standpoint, both men in their prime are/were absolutely incredible specimens.. but Jackie's probably had the harder training, so I think I would give him the edge.