Jackie Chan famously fought Benny "The Jet" Urquidez on-screen in one of cinema's greatest fight scenes - leaving Chan hugely impressed by the kickboxing legend. The kung fu legacy of Jackie Chan is one of the most enduring in the history of action movies. Known for his blend of comedy, stunts, and martial arts, Jackie Chan managed to break out in Hollywood in the late '90s with hits like Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon.
The climactic fight scene between Chan and Urquidez in the 1984 movie Wheels on Meals is widely regarded as one of the best fight scenes ever filmed. Chan and Urquidez would reunite four years later in Dragons Forever, with Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao also returning as former Wheels on Meals cast members. This movie also saw another great final fight between Chan and Urquidez, and it was the latter's impressive kickboxing career that led to his continued work with Chan.
Urquidez has done significant work as a fight choreographer, stunt coordinator, and on-screen fighter in numerous movies, including the Patrick Swayze-led Road House, Bloodmatch, and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man. Aside from kickboxing and choreography, Urquidez is also the founder of his own form of martial arts known as Ukidokan, or "Way of Life." Some of Urquidez's Ukidokan students have even included Hollywood stalwarts John Cusack and David Lee Roth - highlighting Urquidez's high standing within the film industry.
How Benny Urquidez Boarded Wheels On Meals
In an interview with Scott Adkins on The Art of Action, Urquidez explained that his kickboxing career, and, more specifically, his fights in Japan, had drawn the attention of Jackie Chan. As Urquidez explained, Chan, who didn't speak English at the time, had a stuntman hold a kicking shield and asked Urquidez via an interpreter, "How hard can I kick it?" Asked to kick as hard he could, Urquidez, with an extensive background in numerous different martial arts styles, said, "I did a spinning-back kick," with Urquidez subsequently elaborating Chan "went flying." While this impressed Chan and Sammo Hung at the time, Urquidez had a few more tests to pass.
After perfectly mimicking bits of fight choreography demonstrated by Chan, Urquidez then followed Chan's request to perform a series of flips. Despite not being a gymnast, Urquidez was able to do so, though he also collided with a wall at one point. Urquidez then decided to show some of his own skills with a series of kicks, after which Chan "looked at me, and gave me a thumbs up, and then from there, he did not test me anymore!" This demonstration would lead to Urquidez being cast as a villain in Wheels on Meals and also ingratiate him to the rising star Chan.
Throughout the martial arts world, Urquidez is highly respected for his career in kickboxing and movies. Still, for millions of people worldwide, his villainous presence in Jackie Chan's extensive action movie roster and their legendary smackdown in Wheels on Meals is probably how he will be best remembered. That battle and the later Chan-Urquidez rematch in Dragons Forever illuminate how impressive Benny "The Jet" Urquidez's legacy remains both in and out of the ring to this day.