Phanom Yeerum (Thai: พนม ยีรัมย์), better known in the West as Tony Jaa, is a martial arts actor and choreographer who is highly skilled in Muay Thai, taekwondo, swordplay, and gymnastics. He was born in the Surin Province of northeastern Thailand. The term Western world can have multiple meanings depending on its context. ... Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... Choreography (also known as dance composition) is the art of making structures in which movement occurs, the term composition may also refer to the navigation or connection of these movement structures. ... Muay Thai (Thai มวยไทย, IPA /muai32 tʰai32/)means Thai Boxing. ... Tae Kwon Do, Taekwondo or Taekwon-Do is the Korean national sport and most commonly practiced form of mudo. ... Russian Ivan Tourchine and American Weston Kelsey fence in the second round of the Olympic Mens Individual Epee event at the Helliniko Fencing Hall on Aug. ... Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of sequences of movements requiring physical strength, flexibility, and kinaesthetic awareness, such as handsprings and handstands. ... Surin (Thai สุรินทร์) is one of the north-eastern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. ...

Jaa initially worked as a stuntman, appearing in the movie Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. His first major movie, in which he played the lead character, was Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003). Jaa did all the stunts in this movie without mechanical assistance or computer-generated effects. He claims to have been inspired by the Chinese action movie stars Bruce Lee, Jet Li, and Jackie Chan, although his fighting style in Ong-Bak remains loyal to his Thai roots. Stuntman refers to any of several types of skilled performers. ... Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997) was directed by John R. Leonetti. ... Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003) is an action film from Thailand in the mold of old school Jackie Chan-styled kung-fu flicks. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Movie poster for Die Another Day, the 20th James Bond movie. ... Martial arts actor Bruce Lee. ... Jet Li Jet Li (Traditional: 李連杰; Simplified: 李连杰; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Li Lien-chieh; Cantonese: Ley5 Lin4 Git6) (born April 26, 1963) is a martial artist and film actor. ... Jackie Chan, born Chan Kong-sang on April 7, 1954, is a Hong Kong martial artist, film actor, director and stuntman. ...

Jaa's prowess as a martial artist, as witnessed in Ong-Bak, is extraordinary by any standards, and he has gained many fans throughout the world. His extreme popularity among teenage boys in North America who have seen him performing may be seen as a result of the similarity between his movements and those of martial arts fighters found in video games. Many of his movements seem to be almost physically impossible, and look like ones which a video game character would use. World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is the third largest continent in area and in population after Eurasia and Africa. ... Computer and video games A screenshot of Tetris for the Nintendo Game Boy A console game (better known as a video game) is a form of interactive multimedia used for entertainment, which consists of a moveable image displayed on a screen that is usually controlled and manipulated using a handheld...

His next movie is Tom-Yum-Goong.

External links

• Tony Jaa (http://www.tonyjaa.org/) Unofficial fan site
• Suicide Girls Interview (http://suicidegirls.com/words/Ong-bak%20star%20Tony%20Jaa/)
• [1] (http://www.tomyumgoongmovie.com) Tom-yum-goong