The Chinese Boxer
The Chinese Boxer is a 1970 film from Hong Kong, directed by Jimmy Wang Yu, running 87 minutes. reelscum files it under martial arts.
- Year
- 1970 · 1970s films
- Country
- Hong Kong
- Runtime
- 87 min
- Director
- Jimmy Wang Yu
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- cult (47/100)
- Also known as
- Hammer of the Gods · The Chinese Boxer · The Hammer of God
Defined in the glossary: Martial arts
Jimmy Wang Yu invents the empty-hand kung fu film. No swords.
Jimmy Wang Yu directs and stars in the film that invents the empty-hand kung fu picture, dropping the swords that defined wuxia in favour of fists. A student trains in iron-palm technique to avenge his slaughtered school against Japanese karate killers, and the bare-handed combat pointed the whole industry in a new direction.
It predates Bruce Lee's leading roles and set up the hand-to-hand style and nationalist revenge plots that would dominate the decade. Wang Yu was already a huge star and here became a filmmaker.
A genuine turning point, if a rough one, in the history of the genre.
Trailer
The numbers
Nobody has rated this yet. Be the first to make a claim you'll have to defend.
Your call
Where to watch
Legal options in USA
Links open in a new tab (↗). Availability data via TMDB and changes constantly, so confirm on the service. Legal options only. Checked 7 Nov 2026. All options ↗
Discuss with AI
Open a chatbot with a question about this film already typed out. Useful for a second opinion, plot detail, or where to find a copy.
Filed alongside
Executioners from Shaolin
Lau Kar-leung's revenge epic. A survivor spends years learning the one style that can beat the villain.
Heroes of the East
Chinese kung fu versus Japanese martial arts, as a marriage. Lau Kar-leung's most good-natured film.
The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter
Lau Kar-leung's brutal last great Shaw film. A massacred family, and pole fighting as grief.
The Street Fighter
Sonny Chiba tearing people apart. First film rated X in America for violence alone.
Dirty Ho
A prince and a thief, master and pupil in disguise. Lau Kar-leung's wittiest choreography.
Five Deadly Venoms
Chang Cheh's oddest. Five styles, five masks, one whodunit.
Black Belt Jones
Jim Kelly karate-chops the mob to save a Watts dojo. Blaxploitation meets kung fu, joyfully.
The Man from Hong Kong
Jimmy Wang Yu wrecks Sydney, with hang-gliding and a man actually on fire. Peak crossover.
Master of the Flying Guillotine
A blind monk, a bladed hat on a chain, and a tournament. Perfect.
Five Fingers of Death
The one that broke kung fu in America, months before Bruce Lee did.
Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky
A live-action gore manga where nobody has heard of restraint or arterial pressure.
Five Element Ninjas
Chang Cheh spills more guts here than in any Shaw film before it, and grins the whole way.