If you’re a fan of Chinese martial art movies, then no doubt you must have heard of Wong Fei Hung. Usually played by international superstar Jet Li, the Once Upon a Time in China movie series was literally my childhood. 🤣 However, there were other popular martial artists back in the olden days besides Wong Fei Hung. These include Fong Sai Yuk and Huo Yuanjia. In this random song highlight episode, I’ll be focusing on a television series on the latter.

Huo Yuanjia was a real martial artist born in 1868. Suffice it to say, he was considered a hero to the Chinese folks because at a time when they were bullied by their British colonizers and for giving them the humiliating label of being the “sick man of Asia”, Huo Yunjia used his skills as a martial artist to prove that not all Chinese people should be looked down upon. Long story short, a lot of movies were based on his life and how he help fought the Brits in a time when opium use and government corruption was running rampant across the country.

The television series, Heroes, released in 2020 and played by Vincent Zhao, was a series I enjoyed a lot. Vincent Zhao also has shared duties with Jet Li in playing the Wong Fei Hung character. Interestingly enough, Jet Li also have returned the favor by playing Huo Yuanjia in the movie Fearless! Vincent Zhao was a great choice to play the role, as he just has that innocent and noble look needed to bring to life a martial art hero on the big screen.

It can be rare to find a good opening theme to a series, but even more rare to find both an awesome opening and closing theme together. As usual, the song needs to really harmonize with the overall theme and tone of the movie or series. With Heroes, we needed an opening that makes you feel proud to root for the good guy in the story. You need a song where the singer has a clear and strong voice to help bring out those feelings in the viewers. As for the closer, viewers need to also be reminded that a hero’s path can also be a harsh one. Your friends will eventually die or get sacrificed at the hands of the corrupted. Or it could be that your significant other not knowing and worrying whether each day will be your last due how many powerful enemies you’ve made.

Folks, I’m going to cheat here in this episode and present both songs because both have succeeded in bringing out those feelings. It took me a while to find both songs on YouTube and Spotify. I do hope you enjoy them!