Kim Jin Pal

[ShawAngela]

Does anyone know why he played in only six movies and have any informations about him (year of birth, if he is still alive...).

Maybe he played also in Korean movies that I'm not aware of and that these six movies are the only ones he made for the Chinese cinema ?

Any idea about this matter ?

[J.J. Hayden]

I did a bit of sleuthing, but couldn't find a great deal of info, so can't answer all your questions. Here you go:

 

Kim Jin-pal was born on the 2nd of April 1941, in a small town called Yoopolee Il-goo (Seu-chung) in South Korea.

In 1971 he moved to Hong Kong and opened a martial arts studio in Kowloon using the nickname he's been given "Flying Tiger", due to his impressive flying kicks. The Flying Tiger Hapkido School would be used by most studios and stuntmen at the time, including: Jackie Chan; Sammo Hung; Angela Mao; and Carter Huang.

He was spotted by Kai Fa Film Co. while appearing on Hong Kong TV, although I'm not sure, I think it's more likely to have been a demo or interview rather than him acting in something.

They cast him in his first film Tiger in, 1973.

 

He's reportedly been in eight movies altogether, all of them from Hong Kong (no Korean movies etc.). But I suspect this may be inaccurate as the three that don't appear on the HKMDB, seem to not exist.

1) Jet-do Karate - I believe this might be Bruce Lee, The Man & The Legend, under a different title (maybe in Korean) and then translated back into muddled English.

2) Code Name Panther - similar to the above but the actual film being Black Guide, the Korean title being Black Leopard.

3) Dae Ha Drama - not sure what this one could be, maybe a TV drama, if it exists.

 

Then I'm not sure what happened as there's a gap from his last film in 1974 to 1982 when he relocated to Southern California, I don't know why he made no more films; no enough money, not interested anymore; studio didn't renew his contract? I just don't know.

 

Apparently he is currently living in Westminster, California and his martial arts studios are now being run by his students such as Thomas Lok.

 

Kim Jin-pal in the past and in more recent times.

 

Well I hope this helped a bit.

Cheers

Edited April 21, 2022 by J.J. Hayden

[Jesse Smooth]

He ran a Hapkido Dojang in the Washington DC area for years. I think it’s closed. There were Dojangs in California and Canada as well. I think the Canadian Dojang is the only one that’s still open, as there’s an Instagram and Facebook page. I’m not sure if his son still teaches stateside. I believe Mrs. Kim had passed away a few years ago.

[Jesse Smooth]

There is a Dojang in Westminster, CA and one in Spring, TX.

[teako170]

Dug up some photos of Jesse, Linn, and myself with KJP from 2007. The photo with Linn includes Kim's son, Eric. Looks like that's the poster for The Mandarin 滿州人 (1973) on the table. I know Linn tracked down some of his movies and memorabilia which he gave to Kim. Linn also interviewed him that day. Wonder what became of that interview? It wasn't on video I don't think.

 

[Jesse Smooth]

I was standing behind Linn when GM Kim signed that poster...I have it rolled up in my closet to remember my friend.

[ShawAngela]

4 hours ago, J.J. Hayden said:

I did a bit of sleuthing, but couldn't find a great deal of info, so can't answer all your questions. Here you go:

 

Kim Jin-pal was born on the 2nd of April 1941, in a small town called Yoopolee Il-goo (Seu-chung) in South Korea.

In 1971 he moved to Hong Kong and opened a martial arts studio in Kowloon using the nickname he's been given "Flying Tiger", due to his impressive flying kicks. The Flying Tiger Hapkido School would be used by most studios and stuntmen at the time, including: Jackie Chan; Sammo Hung; Angela Mao; and Carter Huang.

He was spotted by Kai Fa Film Co. while appearing on Hong Kong TV, although I'm not sure, I think it's more likely to have been a demo or interview rather than him acting in something.

They cast him in his first film Tiger in, 1973.

 

He's reportedly been in eight movies altogether, all of them from Hong Kong (no Korean movies etc.). But I suspect this may be inaccurate as the three that don't appear on the HKMDB, seem to not exist.

1) Jet-do Karate - I believe this might be Bruce Lee, The Man & The Legend, under a different title (maybe in Korean) and then translated back into muddled English.

2) Code Name Panther - similar to the above but the actual film being Black Guide, the Korean title being Black Leopard.

3) Dae Ha Drama - not sure what this one could be, maybe a TV drama, if it exists.

 

Then I'm not sure what happened as there's a gap from his last film in 1974 to 1982 when he relocated to Southern California, I don't know why he made no more films; no enough money, not interested anymore; studio didn't renew his contract? I just don't know.

 

Apparently he is currently living in Westminster, California and his martial arts studios are now being run by his students such as Thomas Lok.

 

Kim Jin-pal in the past and in more recent times.

 

Well I hope this helped a bit.

Cheers

Thank you so much for these informations ! I loved him in Tiger and in The Mandarin !

[J.J. Hayden]

4 minutes ago, ShawAngela said:

Thank you so much for these informations ! I loved him in Tiger and in The Mandarin !

No probs.

Just imagine if he'd have continued doing films, who knows, we may have had another Korean super-kicker in the Jackie Chan films.