Episode 584 - Mr. Brett Chan
Mr. Brett Chan is a martial arts practitioner and the fight and stunt coordinator on Cinemax’s Warrior.
People could say and do to you what they want, you have no control with that. But if you control how you react with everything, you can avoind giving them any energy and power. Someone told me, just get immune to what people do and say to affect your work and it has served me well.
Mr. Brett Chan - Episode 584
As a 7-year-old, our today’s guest started his journey on finding his own martial arts style through a mixture of everything he’s learned. Mr. Brett Chan, as a stunt and fight coordinator, has a lot of films and TV shows under his belt including Warrior, Iron Fist, Snow Piercer, and a whole lot more. In this episode, Mr. Brett Chan talks about his journey to the Martial Arts and its important role in his career.
Show Notes
In this episode, we mentioned Bruce Lee, Shannon Lee, and Chen Tang of the TV Series, Warrior
Show Transcript
You can read the transcript below.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Hello and welcome this is whistle kick martial arts radio Episode 584 with today's guest, Mr. Brett Chan. I'm Jeremy Lesniak; I'm your host on the show. I'm the founder here at whistle kick where everything we do is in support of the traditional martial arts. If you want to know more about what we do the things that we do beyond this show, please check out whistlekick.com that's our online home, it's also the easiest way to find our products. Yeah, we make some stuff and if you find something that we make that you like. Use the code podcast 15 get to 15% off and lets us know that you know the folks listening are actually throwing some money our way and helps justify what we do. The show has its own website whistlekickmartialartsradio.com. We bring you two episodes every single week and have for years. Why? Well, it's all under the heading of connecting, educating and entertaining, you the traditional martial artists of the world. If you want to support that work, there are lots of ways you can help it. You can make a purchase share an episode, follow us on social media you could tell a friend you could pick up a book on Amazon, you could leave a review, or you could support the Patreon patreon.com/whistlekick to place where we post exclusive content and if you contribute as little as $5. You'll get access, actually at $2 you get some access, $5 you get some audio, $10 for video, $25 you get booked drafts, and there are actually a couple tiers above that.
So, go ahead, check it out see all things that we've got going on, and then come back and check out this episode. But today's episode is with an individual who has been tied to some amazing martial arts content, and is tied to some pretty incredible stuff that's yet to come, not going to spoil it by name dropping because I always like when I'm listening and I get to hear those things come out in real time. Oh, they're involved with that they're part of that, that's super cool. And so you're going to get that experience we talk about people and places and movies and TV, a number of things that we've already talked about prior episodes and yet.
Here's an individual who intersects with quite a few of them, great conversation, good story. And I hope you enjoy it. So here we go with Mr. Brett Chan. Hey, how are you?
Brett Chan:
Hey Jeremy. How are you?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Pretty well thank you. We don't do video. And, you know, it's a lot more work. It's a lot more work to edit video.
Brett Chan:
No worries.
Jeremy Lesniak:
But thank you for your willingness. We're you calling in to?
Brett Chan:
02:46 a Budapest.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, I remember the lessee saying something that you were away. You we're on the road. Sorry.
Brett Chan:
Halo, Budapest.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay, cool. Nice.
Brett Chan:
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Nice. How long are you there?
Brett Chan:
Until July.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Well, yeah. That's it. How's that feeling?
Brett Chan:
It's okay. I mean, it's good to travel again. Use a drop off my job so the last year and a half weeks have been, because of COVID and stuff.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Oh, is this the first the first on location gig?
Brett Chan:
Since, Warrior Season Two, yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Wow.
Brett Chan:
So that was like 2019 of July. June, July when I come home. So, yeah, I've been home since working on Kung Fu and snow piercer and stuff.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. Are there, I guess, habits that you fall out of that are important for being on the road like that and being away for so long?
Brett Chan:
No, I mean, my wife's happy. 04:02 about being home about three months and she was sick of it. And then five months later, she was cool with it again. So I go away for so long. Sometimes we kind of fall out of our own routines per night. And then we cut takes, it takes a little bit to get back in sync.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Can I ask how long you've been married?
Brett Chan:
13 years.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And you've been doing this for a while, right, were you doing this at the beginning of the marriage?
Brett Chan:
I already been doing for a while.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay, so I knew what she was getting into.
Brett Chan:
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You know, anytime, you know, whether it's something like this or a military family, I always find that dynamic so interesting, because I find it. Go ahead.
Brett Chan:
Also a signal to 04:47 to travel lots. Okay and travel for a while, at least. Does she want me?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right on. Where's home?
Brett Chan:
Vancouver, Canada,
Jeremy Lesniak:
A lot going up and a lot going on up in Vancouver, we've had a number of people out there.
Brett Chan:
05:06
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, seems like a cool spot I've heard it described as the only place you can experience four seasons in a single day.
Brett Chan:
Yeah. I mean, if you come a time in like late summer so like say fall and early spring, yeah definitely get off four season in one day, you know, you don't know what to wear, should I wear this or should wear that, great it's raining, it's snowing, holy crap.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I'm in Vermont, in the northeast of the US and, you know, we have that too, but in a very different way. We have the same dilemmas over what to wear. But it's usually because you get all the weather at the same time and it just creates a mess. Like I live on a dirt road and there are days where I look outside and say, you know, I'm just, I'm not going to try to leave my house today, and it’s too muddy.
Brett Chan:
Oh yeah, we're Vancouver 06:03 in the snow. So, yeah, it's a great place to live though. It's beautiful.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I want to get there.
Brett Chan:
You should. There's a drive. Right now,
Jeremy Lesniak:
The world's insane, what's the, I guess, what's going on with COVID in Hungary?
Brett Chan:
It was a lockdown. So there is a lockdown from 8pm to 5am you can't go out. Unless you have a letter from the government which subsequently I do. But there's really nothing to do anyway, so it's all gonna go out on all the restaurants are closed but you can order delivery. And the shops are open during the day until 8pm. Until then, everything's fine. But, you know, it's okay though with my job, I mean I like we have to test five days a week because we have to be sure. But she might have harmed me because my department goes down.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, I mean there's no social distancing and what you do. Has it changed the way you do things I mean beyond that, are there when you look at a scene or something is there, say you know maybe we could do it this way and keep a little more distance.
Brett Chan:
No, you can't really, other than controlling extras, but you can't really do that because you're cheating and I'll show. It's like, as long as we're all being socially responsible, whether our code practices and even out of work because we have a production team responsible for not just ourselves, then that should be the leading cause of it.
And my department, it was pretty good so far. In my core team alone like four people on a daily basis are interacting with each other like fighting and training and so like they were like, face to face. Although we're in masks. But we're definitely like giving each other space though.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. Obviously I want to ask you some questions about Kung Fu and then the current landscape of martial arts and martial arts, I guess, entertainment, but I want to I want to go back so we can give the listeners some context on how you got to where you are. So I'm assuming there was at some point you started training something somewhere somehow, and it grew from there.
Brett Chan:
When I was seven, my father put me into a Kung Fu and I did that for a little bit. And then he got into Karate, which is what I thought, most of them to it got to a certain point where I was just kind of sick of it. Martial Arts in general one because my dad was forcing me to go. Like, forcing me to go. I would get belted if I didn't.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Why was it so important and then at that point.
Brett Chan:
Because he felt that it brings a lot of discipline in one’s life. He was an avid martial art. And it was 09:19. So, you know, I had to do it. So okay, so you know I was doing it seven days a week. So, even though I was on the track team and I was on the volleyball team and a basketball team I had to build that at some point, and just focus on martial arts, seven days a week.
Sometimes at the travel down throttle so I was Mississauga and, you know, being like, 14 years old, you know, you got to take after school 3:30, 4:30 and then you jump on a bus, takes you on a couple hours and you take a subway and you're downtown and now you're doing martial arts two to three hours, and then you know you get picked up in components like 9:30pm.
Jeremy Lesniak:
A long day for a kid.
Brett Chan:
Yeah, and that was pretty consistent. So, but, and then I strayed away from it for about a year. And then I got back into it but didn't. I took it on my own terms and start taking all different martial arts, but still maintaining what I was doing, which is Karate. And then Blackboard Taekwondo and I kept leveling up on my Karate. And I tried something different styles Karate, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, I was doing some Arnis and then I was doing a little bit of this over that and so the journey just continues on.
So, it's kind of like philosophy obviously says it's a hybrid way. Kind of take to the best of 10:37 find which suit your body and your style and you kind of create your own little style. So it's not any particular one style.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Sure. What changed I mean you, you're talking about your father pushing you seven days a week, and there aren't a whole lot of kids who, when they finally get the opportunity to choose that they're gonna say I'm gonna keep doing this thing that I was forced to do but you decided to do it just in your own way. So what, was it that you wanted to honor his request or was there enough that you had found in the time that you were taking it that you said you know I do want to maintain this aspect of my life.
Brett Chan:
It wasn't really. I mean, you see for the martial arts, I think it's fantastic for kids. I mean, while it teaches them discipline and it teaches respect, you know, and an honor system. It's not just like you know and I'm not saying anything bad against anything else like you could just go jump into boxing, you could jump in to the MMA you can, but those are, although they're great for what they are, but they're not an art and art teaches certain different things. There's credos to, you know, to you, respecting people and, you know, those type of things and more common than not, it just teaches you that kind of discipline.
I do like it. I've always liked it I just hated being pushed to the point where I disliked it. Even though I still liked it, I just wanted to stay away from it; maybe I was getting rebellious at that point. But I come back to it, because I do like it and 12:15 Bruce Lee and, you know, one of my icons growing up in us, which helped us Asian kids because I was never the big kid, I was always the smallest kid in the class. I was always wanted to pick time. But I was always the one kicking around the head and alone afterwards.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah.
Brett Chan:
So that was okay. And you know come with that kind of feel good, it gives you a sense of self-confidence, which I think a lot of kids are lacking to a lot of kids are drawing. They do they draw from what they have while I have an iPhone photo so I'm cool, or I have the latest jeans or I have a nice car and you take those aspects away. And what do you have that? You have nothing, but you build yourself confidence and self-esteem in what you do and being proud then you can't ever really take that away. So that taught me a lot.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You've mentioned Bruce Lee a couple times. Did you, what was your exposure to Bruce Lee kind of given to you by your father was that, did you discover him yourself?
Brett Chan:
Oh, it was part of my dad's and I took it. My dad had met him, trained with him a couple times. They weren't buddies by any chance, but you know, there was a significant part influence my dad's life. He was, you know, obviously coming up, coming up in the 60s 70s you had this Asian guy coming up and made a scene. And you know where we're most people would just like 13:48 but he created ways, and he created mentalities, he created a chain of thoughts and created, you know, a whole way of thinking and also for, for a whole way to be looked at viewed as being Asian coming up, because when I was coming up in Canada. I was, there wasn’t a lot of an Asian kid in my class, you know, or you know my route, my parents came over to Canada. You know, they were very young and there weren't really that many issues back then either so kind of growing up. You know, we kind of had that thing, but Bruce Lee was an icon for a lot of us.
He showed that you know, you don't have to be white, or you don't have to be black, you can be proud of me being an Asian and doing your thing, you know, and he changed me, he taught a lot of that maybe if you listened to a lot of his philosophies, the way he talks about, you know, how to look for things, what not to look for things. He might, I felt that he brought a lot for me at least, in that aspect and I think a lot of Asian kids felt that way as well. He's been so cool as kicking in with parents in no way yet and his record is I see others low cool things, you know, so even white kids and black kids and all sorts of kids like them too. And at that point he started becoming like an icon, not just for not just for Asian kids but a lot of different ethnicities, and that sprouted a lot of martial arts in not just any particular martial arts but just martial arts in general.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So, you're off, you're doing your own thing or assembling your own style. Under the, you know, the advice or at least in 15:36 in synergy with what Bruce Lee taught. And at some point, it becomes more than a hobby or a pursuit or lifestyle or whatever you choose to call it at some point it becomes your profession but I'm guessing that wasn't, you know, an overnight thing. What did that track start to look like was it a goal or did it happen accidentally?
Brett Chan:
Accidentally, I had no rhyme or reason know how. I mean, I was Ontario's growing up, I was a lost kid. I really had no direction to go here my dad wanted to go there I want to listen and he didn't know. And then one day, but I was just doing martial arts anyways regardless. There's some point where I said if you want to stop competing martial arts because I will start lifting weights, I want to start picking up girls, because I was a skinny little guy, and up to like grades up to like grade 10, I was like five foot three so you can imagine how terrible that is.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yes, I can.
Brett Chan:
So, I just pursued martial arts 16:41 and I started lifting weights and I started doing things differently. And that was, that's how it started. And then I went to British Columbia. I just literally I sold my car and I moved to BC. I didn't know anybody. I was at the airport saying oh am I gonna do now.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Why?
Brett Chan:
I just wanted to change my life, and I was gonna go to school to make Human Kinetics, and my 17:14 and I was going to get into my pre meds, working my way to pick up med school. And then I just didn't like the western medicine philosophies entirely I know I mean I'm not that bad. I'm just saying, they're just things that are like about it. So, when I went into, I was gonna look into physio, didn't like it, but I got into sports rehab massage therapy.
But while I was doing that, I mean, like I was saying, on another podcast one time was, you know, I was sending the mom, my mom's house every Wednesday night, alternating every other Wednesday night was rising sun and Hercules. You know, it was like, oh, man that's so cool. So awesome. Oh Rising Sun man, that was great, you know, he called me on these shows. Next, you know, I'm in a Vancouver. I'm going to school and working in a nightclub, called the Purple Onion, and I met this girl there one day and, and we started, we went on a few dates and she just said to me hey you know, I just opened up my 18:26 would you like to be part of it? And I was like, sure, why not, I don't really know much about it.
And she got me in a commercial. It was actually called the Karate 18:36 so it's toys 18:39, you put them on top of these little plastic things, and then at the end of it, you know, you'll turn the knob back and forth as you turn the knob back and forth. The men, the, you know, the action figures, they swing around their arms go up and down, up and down, up and down, and until you one kicks the other one in the chest when it makes it a guy pop off the stick. If you want to remember those toys or not.
Well, I was the tattoo tear. So, it was like this is fantastic. You know, sitting this chair. I have these beautiful naked ladies, putting makeup on me and then a tattoo chair. And then, and then I'm thinking the sequence I was like that's pretty cool. I saw myself on TV, it's just pretty is pretty cool and I got my check I'm like, whoa. This is something I got to do. And it was a good check. It was a good check. But I really had no idea how to get in the industry really yeah that was kind of my toes are in it but. And then I met these guys who are Ninja Turtles. For the TV series, Fox, and they're working, they come to club regular, me being an Asian guy. And, you know, kind of big tattoos. So, you know, I'd make a good bad guy.
So they said hey you should come in audition because they've seen my martial arts. And so I auditioned and I got the parts and I was like I was cool, but you know, obviously if it didn't. I took a year off to school. So I can pursue this, and the coordinator at the time kind of screwed me over. And I was like, huh, like he's like, okay you eight guys you're my guys. So make sure you create your schedules because I'm going to make sure you guys are using the bad guys all the time, as well. Cool. Awesome. So I literally dropped out of school. And then, you know, a month goes by. I'm not really working minimum goes by, not really working, what the hell is going on? I go to set. What, why am I not working like I was supposed to be?
And there's all these geysers while these bad guys supposed to be on but my names are on there because he was hiring his mechanic, he was hiring his son, he was hiring, you know, all these people were doing favors and stuff so I'm like, man, I just lost eight grand in tuition money, I took the whole your year off, I backed myself up because this is what you told me, and this is what you're doing to me.
So I went back to school. And, but I was still pursuing it, but I went back to school, though, and I would only do this part time because and also working full time in the nightclubs because, you know, if anything, I needed something to fall back on. The idea was to have a gym, right, because I'm also a personal trainer, have a gym, and they don't have a massage place, and they would have a martial arts studio in there, so I could train you, beat you up, but I can send you in the gym, make a little bit stronger beat you up some more, then I can fix yeah, that was the idea. I mean, I get him when they're you got a three for one that was great. They can work out the gym. They can train martial arts to me and then I can fix them.
And that was on the route. So as a massage therapist for a little bit and then I just, I'd stopped that because my career as a stunt performer, really started picking up. And at that point, you couldn't make an executive decision. Because when stars come up you'll just you'll get a set schedule whose call you will say hey, I've got this part, will you be able to these dates? Well, yeah, but you know, I had clients, I start dropping your clients and doesn't make a very good business. So I had to say okay so I'm not going to do this massage anymore and I can do this personal training and 22:29. And that's where he got to.
Jeremy Lesniak:
When did it, I'm looking for the right words. There was a transition point. There was a point where there was enough momentum that martial art professionally was able to launch you.
Brett Chan:
Yeah, that was in the moment tattoo tear came in.
Jeremy Lesniak:
That was it. That was it. Okay. So what are the next few years look like then?
Brett Chan:
Well, so then, second is times and, you know, the film industry. I mean there are a lot of people in it. There's a lot of people want to see you do well in it, but there are not a lot of people who want to see you do better than them. So also, it's a very cutthroat industry, or by, but, you know, I've made some really good friends out of it.
But there was at one point where I was getting beaten down so much for people just doesn't want to see the work, more than them or work, or you're working too much or they felt that that job should have been there and for whatever reason, because they're delusional. I was actually going to quit the industry at one point because it was just that brutal, just to get into the union, to be a full time stuntman at your profession, you know, you have to learn a lot of things, do a lot of things, that's like so hard. You know, just getting in union, I know a guy that took eight years to get, you know, all his crutches in the union. It's ridiculous. But this guy, Nick Powell, he was like going in for like Last Samurai, Braveheart, Gladiator, Push, you know, hot rod and this guy from England, and he had moved to Canada, and I met him through other coordinators I was working with every once in a while and he cuts winners way. He's a martial artists. He's also, he's a bright guy and he's, you know he's majoring in theater and he is a geologist and just he's just really good in engineering, but he's one of the best sword guys around.
And he's just, he's brilliant. 24:45 and I traveled with him around the world a little while, year, something like that and I wasn't learning and soaking up all the information from him was teaching him, teaching me and stuff like that so that was a really big point that was 2006, I want to say. It was really a big transition point for me. And, you know, because of that it gave me the boost to me to become immune to the treachery of people to the industry because ultimately, your work speaks for itself. You know, people can say what they want to do, do what you want; you have no control over that. But if you just told them how you react to everything, and you don't give them any energy and any power by all that I mean, then you'll do fine. And as long as you can get immune.
Someone once told me just get immune, Brett. Immune to what people can do and say, 25:48 your work. And that's what happened. And it's good, and was always part of my life, no matter what, whether it was in and out, I was always practicing martial arts and, you know, these are trading, I trade training things and trade oh did I 26:04 golf for like eight or nine years, nine years, and I was doing like other martial arts you know and 26:12 starts taking all these martial arts, which just created, whatever style that I needed to create, whatever I needed to do something for show. Because I'm sure she'd be the same. I mean, it could be depending on the character and all that jazz. But as long as you're creating it for the character within the show. Then you can change style with everything needed to be.
So martial arts was definitely one of the biggest things that pulled me through and although I hate to my dad for the longest time because of it. Cuz so many fights, they just skipped this credit class and sweat arcade. And he caught me one time well that was fun. But it definitely, what did he do? Yeah, well, so I'm Chinese. I'm Chinese Filipino Spanish. So, my dad's Chinese, my mother's Filipino, right Filipino Spanish, and you know anything about Filipinos?
Jeremy Lesniak:
A little bit, I have some friends.
Brett Chan:
You know, slippers, 27:21 belt. Yeah, those are 27:24. But you know what, I mean, there's something to be said for for two who knew the consequences of their actions, you know, and something to be said for kids that don't 27:43 respect value of things to you kind of understand. You know, but martial arts, since day one. You know, actually, here we go. One of the big turning points in my martial arts. I was in grade nine. Okay, I was five foot three. I had braces, I got eyeglasses and big hair, and there was this guy named Dave and Dave last name. He was a football player, and he was a defensive linebacker. So, at grade nine is you I think is probably like 5'10, maybe, 11, but he was, I was five foot three at 98 pounds so I remember I was in religion class. And the teacher's name was Mr. 28:38 and we're all sitting around just waiting around trying to put up a short film. And this guy, he did something and I said, Why don't you 28:49 for. He said what do you say to me? I said, Why are you searching? And he goes, oh yeah, and it basically threw a punch, and I, and he knocked my glasses off. And I stood up and I popped in the head. 29:07 but hit him so hard. He rolled over the desk on the other side. And cut him in the eye. And I'm like, I'm sorry. And at that point, the whole class got good that's awesome I was like holy crap. And that was a big turning point because after that day nobody really messed with me in school, doesn't matter how small it was small battles, small battles, small triumphs, that we have in high school it's a big thing, especially with the way bullying goes and all these things so for me that was, that was huge, that those that, you know, that solidified a lot of like what my dad was doing, forcing me to do things so I was like hey that's actually gonna work. I mean I don't promote violence but it was more about that you know the defending of the of the of the weak because I was five foot three and like I'm telling you, 98 pounds, big 29:56 could braces and glasses and ugly hair is just, yeah. Oh, one for the geese, because we're set up for us that good.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Nice. So obviously, you know, go ahead.
Brett Chan:
That's the martial arts turning point for me.
Jeremy Lesniak:
We started our conversation, acknowledging the fact that you're involved in. We might have a debate about this, whether or not it's the biggest martial arts reboot of all time. Not that there are a lot of big things that could be rebooted, we've got a few and there's another pretty good size reboot. It's already underway, and is getting. Honestly, not a whole lot of attention which surprises me.
Brett Chan:
Which Mortal Kombat?
Jeremy Lesniak:
No, no Walker. Oh, the reboot Walker.
Brett Chan:
I didn't even know I was gonna reboot it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Exactly. If I caught it right it's already airing, but it's just, it's limited I'm having a hard time tracking it down with the services that I subscribe to,
Brett Chan:
Well what is up with that?
Jeremy Lesniak:
I don't know, it's just licensing agreements. I guess is the best way to think of it.
Brett Chan:
Terrible like Warrior was, I mean Warrior, it was on Cinemax.
Jeremy Lesniak:
But if it had been anywhere else.
Brett Chan:
I've been watching anywhere. It was so difficult to get, even if you had HBO it was difficult to watch it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, it's. and then let's talk about Warrior, because it's such a, you know, it's such a brilliant show and you sent over the photos that you sent over. I just did a quick scan but they look like they're mostly from Warrior?
Brett Chan:
Yes. Yeah, yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Warrior season two?
Brett Chan:
One and two.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And, how'd you get involved with that? We've had a couple people from the show on we've had Chan Tang and we had Shannon Leon. Yeah, oh she's amazing. So how did you get started in there? How'd you get the call?
Brett Chan:
I was on the movie Skyscraper. And a producer, my producer Eric Shark, he called me and says, hey, what are you doing right now. Skyscraper, Dwayne Johnson. And they go, that's what you want to come on to the show, inspired by Bruce Lee entire blah blah, Justin man, Tommy. I was like, it's not a very big budget show, but I read the script and you'll see what I'm talking about. So, I read the script. I was like, oh, I mean, it could have went one of two ways really kind of went away did, which I thought was really good. The way it is kind of done but I was scared because I'm gonna be doing part of the legacy of what we know as Bruce Lees.
So, you know, if I don't do it right, I mean that's going to be hell. For me, I did a show and it was hell. Because it wasn't sure what the cast like it was Iron Fist. And it was hell because I just really just didn't want to do anything, and the show just didn't turn out very good, or how we expected it to at least. It was a lot of criticism for that.
So, you know, for me it was like gay man I'm going to be part of this, I'm gonna be part of this show, and I really got to do this justice and Jonathan Tropper really embraced a lot of what creativity input I could put into, and he let me shoot everything that was going to be action wise and, and put input to everything and be creative, so. So before that decision, it was like, well I'm on the show right now and two big blockbusters with Dwayne Johnson and huge but this gives me a chance to go South Africa.
And, I mean, I wasn't really having that much of a good time on Skyscraper at the time for other reasons but do look at it like you only live once and I figured if I'm gonna be spending six months of my life somewhere. I want to be enjoying myself at least or having a good time. Because, you know, who knows what can happen any day and you know, that kind of sucks because I just would last six months of my life, like hating it. But, boy, South Africa was able to bring my team, Johnny Yang and Jason Nang and a bunch of guys and it rocked, I loved it. I loved it so I flew to Los Angeles to meet with Justin Lin, and Danielle Woodrow. They were partners at the time of producing partners, and they said okay, you're a guy. Now, they asked JJ Perry first come on the show it's Justin Lin by JJ Perry was busy on Skyscraper with me. Funny enough, but he was the director. But Jason Perry did some good things, too. So they took a meeting with me and then they had to transform, which was awesome. I'm very thankful for.
So, you know, I had to leave Skyscraper and I was in Warrior. But I mean, come on with Warrior, Bruce Lee, Shannon Lee, Devin Tropper I mean, and the cast. I mean the cast, you really know the guests and they weren't really big names, made a joke 35:28 but I know that like you know Caribbean someone's guys had some bigger names in England and stuff but they were like, this is like the cast was fantastic. The show is fantastic, the writers to creatives, Jonathan Tropper, I mean, it was just awesome. Ronnie Pristera, I met and became a very good friend, who wanted to stare at the bread. Brad Cain and, you know, Josh Stoddard and Kevin 35:58 think about if you go look at their names now and look around, they're like, do some great things. And they were, it was a dream team. And I don't think, I think a lot of it to was Richard Sharkey which is the producer, you know, a producer on board, who doesn't know what they're doing can really destroy a show but he was fantastic. And I just I can't, I mean, in my career. I think that was my highlight shows was Warrior, Season one and two.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Did you feel any pressure? You talked about Bruce Lee so admiringly early on and you end up working on a show that he conceived of. Did you behind weight from that? Sounds heavy.
Brett Chan:
Yeah, that's a heaviest because if I would have screwed that up. Could you imagine, could have been a career ending for me, like, oh yeah there's Brett, that's the guy you screwed up Bruce's legacy. Turns out it wasn't me. You know me and my team I did a good job and, and it's just political reasons why went away, which we're trying to fight for Season Three still, I mean, before Season Two aired, a petition it started by the fans, it was like 8000 9000, signatures. After Season Two aired, it's a 50,000 now so. And that's probably because people were able to see it, now that it's on HBO Max, more people are starting to see a liking it and wanting it, so they're liking the martial arts in it. And the story, the characters, that it was just the writing was sort of overall good. So let's hope. Let's hope it goes somewhere.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Fingers crossed yeah it's an exceptional show.
Brett Chan:
There's definitely the pressure.
Jeremy Lesniak:
All right. Did that surface? Did that impact any decisions? Is there a story you can say, you know, because of my legacy with Bruce Lee as a figure. I did this instead of that, anything like that you can share.
Brett Chan:
Say that again.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I'm just. When I think of the decisions that I make day to day and people that have been influential in my life, you know, my parents or certain. Let's say you know a martial arts instructor. When I'm faced with a thing, whether I'm conscious of it or not, you know, often in retrospect, I'll realize, oh you know it was because of that influence that I did this when otherwise I might have done that. And I'm wondering if the specter of Bruce Lee was it all more than just pressure if you said you know I think Bruce Lee would want this instead of that.
Brett Chan:
Well, I followed the lines of, of where Jonathan Tropper wanted to take it. And he was always conferring with Shannon Lee, and Tom Shannon, and just overall kind of dynamics of it. Also, it was following the lines of, not trying to be Bruce Lee, because when Bruce Lee had conceptualized it. It wasn't supposed to be Bruce Lee he was writing that he was supposed to play the character, but it was supposed to be three so taking the storyline to Andrew Koji, he didn't want to be Bruce Lee. He just wanted to have Bruce Lee isms. And so, you know, the John the chopper would write in the margins to Bruce Lee movies. Every once in a while you see something that was specific to Bruce Lee film, which was kind of cool.
But, I mean, no I just knew that I had to do this. It just had to be. And I had to pray that they were going to, you know, kind of see the influence that that me and the team would give in creating things, and paying homage to Bruce and Jonathan Tropper being a very big Bruce Lee fan too because he had done a lot of martial arts with John and Jonathan Tropper fantastic with nun chucks just walked in one day to come up with like holy crap was yeah he sent me pictures of him with nun chucks I'm like that. That's pretty cool.
So, but it was always a pressure, always a pressure, just to make sure I did a justice. And, you know, to make sure that you know that Shannon was happy. Shannon called me one day and told me that, you know how happy she was, and her mother was really happy with that, what we've done with the action because she felt that that's how Bruce Lee would have taken it down that road. And then, Bruce who are Bruce's good friends Dan Inosanto, his daughter Diana. And she had messaged me and she said, hey, I just want you to know like you know great job and Warrior and, you know, my dad says that this is like. So, Bruce Lee, he was so happy with this and what you've done with it. And so that alone is like, I mean it doesn't get any closer to Bruce Lee at that point to the people that are closest to that would know it so that was a big victory for me. And I was very I'm very proud of that moment.
Jeremy Lesniak:
It's pretty exceptional.
Brett Chan:
Yeah. My dad was excited over that because my dad was a very big fan of Bruce Lee as well. I mean one thing my dad always did was take me to all the Bruce Lee films, no matter what. There was a Bruce Lee film on TV, we'd be home watching it. It was a big coming father coming over in the 60s, you know, being a Chinese Canadian. And you know how they were viewed and treated back in the day so having someone like that is always was pretty cool.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And then how did Kung Fu happen for you?
Brett Chan:
The Warner Brothers essentially they purchased HBO, who then took all of Cinemax and stuff so they were having all these new shows and CW as part of Warner Brothers gets going into that. So, one of the producers who Ian Smith, basically, he actually called me nice he said hey do you know any female martial artists, some coordinators I'm like yeah, and he said his show Kung Fu coming. That's kind of the reboot, and we wanted to have a female sign coordinator, because the leads are females. So is it cool. So I called Kim Chang. She's one of the top martial arts coordinators in Vancouver. And, but she was busy at the time. So I said, Listen, she's busy right now so what we need is budget now so that I can help you the budget, just gets back when I got the budget and they're just like, you know what, why don't you just do it Brett, we kind of like you. I was at the time going away somewhere so I wasn't sure but, you know, COVID was hitting us okay yeah, let's do this. And so it happened, and so I got to Kung Fu. And then, I did. I finish up snow piercer. So it was kind of rolling right into it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
And again, we have you know the ghost of Bruce Lee lingering, you know, I assume you know your history a lot of the listeners are going to know their history because we've talked about it's come up on the show that, you know, it was, It should have been was supposed to be, could have been however you want to phrase it, that he would have been the lead.
Brett Chan:
Yeah, he would have been the lead on Warrior.
Jeremy Lesniak:
No, no, on Kung Fu.
Brett Chan:
Oh, on Kung Fu back in the day, well I say the same thing, really.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right, pretty similar. And so again we have this thread for you. You know, it's your and maybe it's because it's hard to say that, you know, as a martial artist and as an Asian martial artist growing up outside of Asia. You know that there, it's hard to take more than a couple steps away from a man who casts such a big shadow. Maybe I shouldn't say shadow which has had such an impact on so many that really reached globally 50 years after his passing he's still the most recognizable figure we have in our industry. Yeah, so it's not surprising but what can you tell us about this reboot and well I guess we'll just start there. What can you tell us?
Brett Chan:
Let's see, The Reboot. It is a female lead. Her name is Olivia Liang and she is fantastic. She's a sweetheart and encompasses a lot of like Kung Fu style. And then, as she comes into modern day, it kind of transitions a little bit to modern street fighting with aspects of Kung Fu for that point. And then it gels back into Kung Fu, depending on who she's fighting and why. And that's usually because it's like, you know, you come across a couple of street thugs and they're necessarily gonna use these streets tiles, but then you're, she comes across like an ancient hero or ancient villain then it kind of reverts back to what Hersey 45:53 earlier, in the church journey about finding the person who killed her sheep who, and she takes her back to America back to her hometown. But you will be spoiled with this girl. She's so good.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Nice. And whenever we talk about anything in the martial arts we kind of have two demographics that we think about the people who are going to watch it with martial arts experience, and they're going to look for something in particular, and we have people who don't have martial arts experience and they're going to watch it with a different set of expectations and desires. I'm sure that comes up in conceiving of the movie, but does that at all impact your role, are you as you're coordinating these things. Are you saying you know, I want to drop this a little bit in here because you know Kung Fu practitioners are gonna pick up what I'm putting in there. But, you know, we've got to make. Go ahead. You know, are you are you cognizant of making the body of it, something that is maybe it's less traditional, but more dynamic for the non-martial arts audience.
Brett Chan:
That's really up to the writer, the creator is Chrissy. She's awesome. But she's also writing for demographics of like a younger generation of kids to maybe an older generation that might reminisce some parts of Kung Fu. And, yeah, you know, kind of like write the storylines and I'll just kind of dictate what's kind of happening with what's happening with the fights that Turner takes through certain things, because, you know, like I said, like you know, it'll turn into like she'll go through these guys she'll help people and, and they're spreading these, you know, try gangsters or whatever it is, and she wanted us to be all like Kung Fu so she'll have aspects of it. But then she goes into fighting this person who's also a Kung Fu martial artists and, and it goes back to the, you know, the mysticism of the martial arts and that brings it back and forth to the kids, and then the adults kids who want to see, taking in the school and the martial arts as happening. And then the adults who remember from Kung Fu back in the day are watching now we want to, we want to see certain aspects of, like, the Kung Fu, and just dictates where it's being dictated depending on where the show is going to are from or the storylines happening at that point. So, essentially gives everybody a little bit of taste of what they want to see, hopefully.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Nice and, you know, fingers crossed that it gets the support, you know, I'll be watching it, you know, you know, I was sad for Badlands for warrior, you know, and. Fingers crossed here because we need more now martial arts on TV.
Brett Chan:
You know, don't forget like Batman's like an hour long, and they can get risky. A lot of wire work a lot of fights and all that stuff. I mean, Warrior was an hour long too. But those were in the budget to Warrior Badlands was like, so huge difference in comparison. You warrior. Yeah, it wasn't a huge budget at all but what we were able to do with it was, was you know great Kung Fu is a CW show which you have to keep in mind, and it's like half an hour. So, the time for lots of things isn't quite good to be quite the same, as you would get from those to.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Make sense. Yeah, maybe that's what's missing. Maybe you needed to be shorter.
Brett Chan:
Maybe. Maybe. Hopefully it's all about programming. Maybe. 10 is justice. That'd be cool.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. So what's next? You know you're out there for a little while longer. But what's on the docket when you when you're done?
Brett Chan:
I'm on right now, I'm on Halo. Well after this show I can't wait to talk. And there's another show, which was going to be directed by Lonnie stair. And we're just kind of waiting, and it's called The Remainders and it's kind of along the lines of some kind of like John Wick but not really. It's kind of on his lines. But I'm slated to direct three films, one of which we wrote. And then one of us to be showing Korea one to be shot in Thailand, and the one that I kind of rewrote, I'm trying to take that one over to South Africa, in Cape Town, or Vancouver. It's one of the two really.
Jeremy Lesniak:
What can you tell us about any of those films if anything.
Brett Chan:
Sixteen is, it's a show it's about a guy who was inducted into the Yakuza, but he's not Japanese. That's a very old story get those stories a lot but he got a, he wanted to get out of it. They said, Yeah, sure. And then they killed her and killed him and his family was a rite of passage superstition that fall on the lines of a certain superstition of different ethnicities, but this one, basically, this happens, it gives the victim, a rite of revenge which, but it only happens for a duration of time so his soul had inhabited a kid's body, who basically he wakes up with kids but it's not really realizing as he's in a kid's body, and the kid not really realizing there's someone having to particularly take over the body fully, but he asked to read now realize that you know whatever he does affects this boy's life after he leaves. And he has literally like once you fall asleep and wakes up, he's gone. So, he has to figure out how he's going to manage that. And so exactly the bench, not destroying the kid still doing everything he had, he came back to do. There's a whole block lots of twists and turns and the boys and the boys by the inhabitant happened to be a good friend of the daughter of the children, his family and, and the boys actually in love with the girls so it becomes a whole mess of things. But there's definitely a lot of action. A lot of action but not a lot of action like you think like it's full on full on attacking mode it because he's a 16 year old boy so it can't be the same, but there are aspects of it. They're the ones one is, you did watch the movie The Revenger?
Jeremy Lesniak:
It's familiar but maybe not.
Brett Chan:
It's on Netflix. The lead is Bruce Khan. Fantastic martial artists him. Anyways, he all the islands, around Southeast Asia, all have his one island they all drop their comics on. So one day this guy Washington shore. He's in search of everything so anyways. He is an ex police officer who who actually got himself put in prison, so he could be dropped off this island, and he wanted to hunt down the guy who killed his family. Anyways, that storyline, when he comes back after that it goes back and it's like the world's post apocalyptic now, and it's called 53:54. So, the green fish which Mr. Lee, he contracted me to direct that next part of it, that's that one. There's one called 54:11 time, which is happens in Thailand about a female assassin who her and her boyfriend said to lead the thing and then they get hit on them and then they find out later on, it was there to their best friends and get to deal with fighting them and then, and there's all these little tricks and trades that happen in those twists and turns in the story, totally makes it exciting for everyone to watch it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Nice. What if people want to follow along with what you're doing, do you do you keep a log of this stuff on a website somewhere I mean your, it sounds like you're insanely busy, and it doesn't stop.
Brett Chan:
Well, I'm on a way. I can't jump off that way this year. But, no I mean I just, whether it's my fit my Facebook, my Instagram. It's usually on there, aspects of somebody will be on my website, but I have my websites currently being updated at www.brettchan.com or my stunt group that I've created a little while ago 2007 called hitch international 55:18. So if you go to hitchinternational.com, you'll see all the members worldwide and all the different projects we're doing we're up to. And, yeah, so hopefully if anything comes out. He just posted on one of our social media outlets for us. Yeah,
Jeremy Lesniak:
This has been awesome. I mean, I didn't have to do anything, you just kind of went and I mean we got a pretty, which is always what I like, you know, I like to listen along, kind of in the same way that the audience does. But as we wrap it up here. You know what, what would your final words to the folks listening be, you know, advice wisdom. Motivation cautions you know anything. How do you want to send us out to the outro?
Brett Chan:
Give me a topic pertaining to that I would give advice for.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Well, how about this.
Brett Chan:
Now how do you work with it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, that's fine. Let's take it as real time here it is, it's 2021, we're recording here in February. And for a lot of people, they have not been at a conventional martial arts class come close to a year. And they're fading. They're losing hope, they miss training. And we have people who come to this show because it gives them a sense of being around martial artists for a little while. Now as someone who, as you said, martial arts has always been there, you know, even when you stepped away, you were still training. What advice would you give to those folks who are faced with a non-normal relationship to martial arts in their own training?
Brett Chan:
If you really wanted to bet enough you'll find every excuse to do it. And then there's this girl Instagram name was Miss Megan Lee. Okay. Now, if you see this girl kick, she's fantastic. Okay or a rally angle. And they just go outside, they practice the park. We wear the masks and they just practice, that's all they do, because they love it.
If you really want to do you do, I mean, I'm fortunate enough because we're I'm in a time situation where we have to we have to do, because we're creating, we're doing things so we're constantly trading and doing stuff so that's what we're able to do and I'm blessed that way. Like you look like Megan Lee or what they're doing. I mean, you can always find like one person at least who has the same interest and you guys can do drills together.
Be safe. Be cautious about it. And you can always go train. There was a girl. So, one of our leads on Kung Fu is, you know, she has no martial arts, but she's the lead of your master. So 58:20 you do a double for her Kung Fu is a very particular skill, right. So I told this one girl named Aaliyah 58:30 I said Aaliyah, it's COVID now. We're going to come back in September, go train Kung Fu. So what she did was, I think, was like three days a week. She was on a zoom call for two hours a night. Training Kung Fu. And she came back in September and she was an audition. And she killed it. She was so awesome. And she did all this training in her basement on a computer screen with somebody talking her through it. She's so good now. Like she had to learn, Eagle Claw and crane and her stances or movements or it wasn't like she's just being being the girl on a Zoom call so I mean, if you really want to bet enough, you'll find every excuse to do it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I love when we get someone on the show who has been able to take their passion for martial arts and show us where their life changed because of it. And then they continue training turned it into their job. It happens quite a bit with our guests, and yet every story while there are plenty of similarities there are some important differences and on this episode. When I started hearing, Mr. Chan talks about how his father made him train. I was pleasantly surprised I mean, obviously we knew he kept training at some point, but I was expecting there was going to be a big gap in there or some other stuff so I'm really thankful that that didn't happen because what's out of it, not just for him but selfishly for all of us some absolutely wonderful content. And this is yet another reminder if you haven't checked out Warrior do so and get on that petition that I believe he mentioned during the episode, there's a petition going around to keep the show going and if you're anything like me, you're looking forward to some of these other projects that he mentioned to me that the reboot of Kung Fu I'm so excited.
So, Mr. Chan thanks for coming on the show. Thank you, your time, your stories had an absolute blast, those of you listening go to whistlekickmartialartsradio.com check out the episode check out the show notes with the links and the photos and all that good stuff. And then, head on over to whistle kick calm and check out what we've got going on over there maybe find something you want to want to throw in your shopping cart Bring it, bring into your home. We got that code podcast 15, if you forgot. I remember sharing episodes and leaving reviews and telling friends, those are all additional important ways to help grow, what we do as we grow, we reach more and more listeners. And also, more and more guests. If you've got a suggestion for a guest or a topic, go ahead, reach out, jeremy@whistlekick.com or fill out one of the forums, one of the websites are lots of ways to reach us, if you see somebody out there wearing something says whistle kick on it, make sure you say hello and introduce yourself and our social media is @whistlekick.
Okay. That's all we have for you today. Until next time, train hard, smile, and have a great day.