Alfred Hsing, a Los Angeles-based actor and martial artist, has built a notable career in the film industry as a stunt coordinator, choreographer, and performer specializing in martial arts sequences. After initially pursuing a career in finance, Hsing shifted his focus to martial arts cinema over a decade ago, working on high-profile projects alongside some of the genre’s most recognized names.
Hsing, 42, was a member of Jackie Chan’s official stunt team for the 2015 film *Dragon Blade* and served as an assistant to Jet Li from 2010 to 2011. His recent credits include stunt work for Christopher Nolan’s 2026 film *The Odyssey* and action choreography for the live-action adaptation *Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender*, released in July. For the latter, Hsing was responsible for designing fight sequences and selecting weapons and abilities for key characters, translating martial arts forms associated with the original animated series into sequences that would guide animators.
Raised in the San Francisco Bay Area by Taiwanese immigrant parents, Hsing began competing in Shaolin kung fu and wushu as a teenager, securing multiple national medals. He studied economics and computer science at the University of California, Los Angeles, while also attending drama classes before deciding to leave a promising financial career with firms such as KPMG and City National Bank to focus on martial arts full-time.
In 2009, Hsing was named to the United States Wushu A team and won a gold medal at the World Wushu Championships, a competition recognized by the International Olympic Committee. That same year marked his entry into martial arts cinema, which included working with Jet Li in *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* (2011) and joining Jackie Chan’s stunt team for *Dragon Blade*. He has also worked with actors such as Michelle Yeoh and appeared in films including *Everything Everywhere All at Once* (2022), *Europe Raiders* (2018), and Steven Spielberg’s *Ready Player One* (2018).
Hsing describes Chan and Li as formative influences, representing contrasting yet complementary forces within martial arts cinema. He also collaborated with Donnie Yen and briefly trained under renowned choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, gaining insight into the differences between Western and Eastern approaches to action filmmaking.
His recent acting work includes a role in the Academy Award-nominated *Train Dreams* (2025), portraying a Chinese railway laborer in early 20th-century America. Despite the decline in widespread popularity of martial arts films since their peak in the 1980s and 1990s, Hsing advocates for a new generation of films that combine authentic martial arts fundamentals with compelling acting, aiming to reduce reliance on stunt doubles and excessive editing.
Hsing acknowledges the challenges of replicating the meticulous fight choreography of earlier eras, noting that past productions often dedicated months to perfecting a single sequence long before the advent of CGI and artificial intelligence.
Looking ahead, Hsing intends to write and direct his own projects, drawing on his extensive experience. His choreography will also appear in the upcoming animated series *Avatar: Seven Havens*. Among industry peers, he is affectionately nicknamed “the avatar” for his versatility across various martial arts styles, though he humorously aligns himself most with the airbender’s spontaneous nature.