Chen Shihuang

The blockbuster1 film in 2017 definitely went to Wolf Warrior II by Wu Jing. It grossed a record huge box office of 5.6 billion yuan in the mainland of China and has become the first Chinese film， as well as the first nonHollywood film， to be listed in the Worldwide Top 100 Box Office2.

However， Wolf Warrior I did not cause a stir3， though still bringing in about 540 million yuan at the box office. The investment in Wolf Warrior II reached 200 million yuan， which might as well be considered as a heavy investment compared with the first installment4. But the market eventually answered to this spirit of courage and venture with a dazzling5 result—Wolf Warrior II set a new record in domestic movie box office.

Wed better leave this halo of success behind for the time being and focus more on the topic of how the director Wu Jing made such a hit movie possible.6 Before this sensation， he seemed to have lived in obscurity for a few years despite his occasional titillating TV or film productions.7

In fact， the information on Wu Jings history of involvement in martial arts shows has been dug up and spread wide on the Internet.8 Some of his fans even made an overall review of the injuries he had ever been confronted with in his career.

A fraction of Wu Jings injuries can be listed as follows： at the age of six the nose was broken， at eight the head hit on the ground， at nine the arm broken， at 10 the leg ligament torn， at 14 his feet almost paralyzed， at 17 one of his knees dislocated， etc.9 It can be said that Wu Jing has gone through a certain amount of hardship， yet always with the spirit of striving for success. His story indicates once again that success cannot be gained in an easy manner， but must be pursued with long years of persistent efforts.

In martial arts filmdom10， how many action actors did suffer from so much as Wu Jing？ The number can only be counted on ones fingers. Those famous martial arts actors with more reputation than Wu Jing have experienced even more painful and traumatic11 wounds.Jackie Chan was injured almost in every movie he starred. The total injuries he has been subjected to could be cataloged in such a long list that he might be awarded a medal of honor in the army if possible.12 Jet Li once received the national tertiary disability certificate due to the severe injury in a film-shooting accident.13 In a kung fu movie， Donnie Yen was badly hurt in his eyes that bled so profusely as nearly to result in his blindness.14 On one occasion， Stallone and Schwarzenegger were both admitted to the same hospital for treatment due to their injuries in the movie shooting.15

It is thus appropriate to conclude from these cases that the martial arts actors achievements are in direct proportion to the traumas they have ever suffered from. As audience， we only see their ostensibly16 inspiring successes， behind which their unspeakable sadness and pain have seldom been noticed. Nevertheless， it was precisely through enduring such great hardship that they finally managed to make extraordinary achievements and stand at the pinnacle17 of their career that could not be reached by ordinary people.

For their successes， these martial arts actors have paid strenuous18 efforts to be viewed by ordinary people as almost crazy， but this is exactly the secret that lies behind their successes. Their examples prove a common yet standing principle that there is no success without struggle. A small price brings about less success， while more need to be paid for greater success.

We can also make a brief study of how some other people who were regarded as geniuses succeeded in their careers. For the invention of the electric-lighted lamp， Edison had ever strived solidly and consistently to carry out experiments from morning till night for over 13 months， consuming more than 6，000 kinds of materials and testing them more than 7，000 times. How many average people can withstand so immensely long and arduous19 experiments within such a limited period of time？ As a result， the patent for the electric-lighted lamp eventually belonged to Edison， who was also the founder of the great General Electric Company20.

Just take another example for demonstration. Kobe Bryant seemed to be born with talent in playing basketball. He was almost invincible in the basketball field with his free-flowing style of play.21 In effect， Kobes majestic22 success in basketball came from his numerous days and nights of hard training. Few people have ever learned about his insane work ethic as could be seen in such anecdotes as scheduling frequent marathon workouts， taking another 100 free throws after practice，23 and refusing to eat his favorite food to keep weight off. He even called up a teammate to train with him at 4：15 a.m. for an offseason scrimmage， hence the well-known anecdote about the scene of Los Angeles at 4 oclock before dawn.24

Examples similar to the notable stories mentioned above can be countless but all point to the common principle that success comes with struggle. Success comes usually to a small number of persevering persons since there are not so many people that can endure hardship and make unremitting25 efforts. This fact also serves well enough to expound the epigram：26 the road to success is not crowded.

1. blockbuster： 轟動一時的書籍或電影。

2. Worldwide Top 100 Box Office： 全球電影票房前100強。

3. stir： 轟動。

4. installment： 此處指系列電影（film franchises）中的一部。

5. dazzling： 非凡的，令人印象深刻的。

6. halo： 光環(huán)；a hit movie： 成功的電影。

7. sensation： 轟動一時的事件；obscurity： 默默無聞；titillating： // 令人興奮的，使人愉快的。

8. mortial arts： 動作電影；dig up： 找出，發(fā)現(xiàn)。

9. ligament： 韌帶；dislocate：錯位，脫臼。

10. filmdom： 電影界。

11. traumatic： [醫(yī)學(xué)]外傷的。

12. 成龍為拍電影受傷繁多，近乎可以被授予軍事獎?wù)?。subject to： 使經(jīng)受（不快之事）。

13. 李連杰曾因拍電影嚴(yán)重受傷領(lǐng)取過三級殘疾證書。tertiary： // 第三等的，第三位的。

14. 甄子丹拍武打片時眼睛受重傷，流血過多險些失明。profusely： 大量地。

15. 史泰龍和施瓦辛格曾因拍電影受傷而入住同一家醫(yī)院治療。

16. ostensibly： 表面上。

17. pinnacle： // 巔峰，頂點。

18. strenuous： 艱苦的，費力的。

19. arduous： 艱巨的，費力的。

20. General Electric Company： 簡稱GE，美國通用電氣公司，由愛迪生始創(chuàng)于1892年。

21. invincible： 不可戰(zhàn)勝的，無敵的；free-flowing： 自由流暢的。

22. majestic： 雄偉的，巨大的。

23. anecdote： 軼事；workout： 訓(xùn)練；free throw： 自由投籃。

24. offseason： 休賽期；scrimmage： //（足球、籃球等的）練習(xí)比賽。后半句中的anecdote指曾有記者問科比成功的原因，科比反問記者：“你見過凌晨四點的洛杉磯嗎？”

25. unremitting： 不間斷的。

26. expound： 詳解，闡述；epigram： 警句，雋語。