Travis Wong is a martial artist, tricker, parkour expert and stunt coordinator.  The former co-host of MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge, has been featured in 30+ international ad campaigns, choreographed for artists Jennifer Lopez, Jason Derulo, Chris Brown, Demi Lovato, Camila Cabello, and Miley Cyrus.

Stunt Coordinating and fight coordinator credits include Back In Action for Netflix starring Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz, "Witchboard," "Minions: The Rise of Gru," "Stumptown," and Marvel's "Legion" on FX just to name a few.

Today Travis is also the co-owner of the world renown Joining All Movement Center - JAM Gym in Van Nuys, CA where the gym welcomes all enthusiasts of the martial arts, tricking and parkour to discover their next level. 

Travis answered some of our burning questions ahead of his interview with our publisher.

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Black Belt Magazine: Growing up you had martial arts all around you. Your father (a renowned Sifu), your mom (a champion), and your uncle (the publisher of Inside Kung Fu Magazine), can you share some memories of those early days? 

Travis Wong: As far back as I can remember, I was always at my parents martial arts studio since I was in an infant all the way through adolescence. There are pictures of me walking around in a walker with a bottle in one hand and a staff in the other. The story that my mother always tells, is that when I was three years old we were at Tat Mau Wong’s tournament in San Francisco and I told her I wanted a trophy. She tried to explain to me that those were reserved only competitors, and I told him that I wanted to compete. She spoke with the event organizer about allowing me to enter the seven-year-old division, since there was no younger divisions at the time, and the organizer said they would give me a medal just for being a part. when the division ended, they started walking four of us over to the podium, and my mother thought that they were going to just give me my participation medal, and before they realized what was happening, I was placed on the second place stand and from that moment on I was hooked on competing. My childhood consisted of going to school and coming home to eat and finish homework, so that we could go to the studio for several hours every single day. My weekends consisted of going to competitions locally and around the United States, and I never realized how truly blessed I was to have been born into a martial arts family until later in life.

What was the emphasis of your training growing up fighting, forms, weapons, demo? 

My parents didn’t have a children’s program at their studio until I was born, and essentially created one out of necessity of me being there. My training consisted of mostly forms and weapons, and as I got older and wanted to compete more I was  focused on training for demonstrations and the competition circuit. Because there were not many other students my age, especially competing, I was one of the  central areas of focus as far as creating forms and drilling them over and over. Whenever my parents friends or teachers would visit I would always be the one to do a live demonstration, and this extended to live events and stage shows as well.

At a very young age you were already very accomplished. But also the first and oldest son of the “sifu” how did that affect your martial arts training? 

There was a lot of pressure being born into a Martial arts family and my father being recognized within the world. It was a blessing in the sense that I was able to receive firsthand instruction from someone that people wanted to learn from all around the world, and he also allowed me  the opportunity to be exposed to several other martial arts and the masters of those respective styles. At times this was also very difficult, because at the end of the day when I would go home my instructor and coach would still be there, and that was not always an easy thing to deal with especially getting it to my teenage years. 

How did you get into the entertainment business? 

I had always watched my parents and their involvement in the entertainment industry from training students that became stunt performers and coordinators, as well as training actors and actresses for television shows and movies but never knew how to find my way. My senior year of college I received a phone call from a Stone coordinator named Noel Vega, who was coordinating a television show for Spike TV, known as “Deadliest Warrior.” They needed individuals that could do several styles of martial arts for recreations, and my name had consistently come up from other Martial arts instructors and Stunt performers. I skipped two weeks of school and drove down to Los Angeles to be a part of this television show, and quickly realized that this is the path that I wanted to take. Fast forward to a couple months later when I graduated and relocated back to Los Angeles, I had driven a few of my friends to a Casting location for a callback they had for a commercial. While sitting in the hallway, the Casting director came up and asked me to also come in, and later that afternoon I was booked on my first commercial for Coca-Cola and Taft Hartley into the SAG/AFTRA union.

What was the first “stunt” job you ever had in a movie? 

Technically my first stunt contract for a feature film was for “The Green Hornet” coordinated by Jeff Imada, and my first feature film I was ever a part of was "Step Up 3D" where I did a flip and was the first time the word Tricker was credited in a motion picture.

What were some of the early challenges when you first started out, both physically and emotionally? 

I think a lot of people have an idea of the entertainment industry being all about glitz and glamour, but there are very long days and times where working conditions are not always ideal based upon weather, your costume, or being challenged to do something extremely difficult and replicate it. I remember the first time I went on a full run of show, which means from the start of production until it finishes principal photography, and after the first two weeks I literally couldn’t move my neck or turn my head, because my body just wasn’t used to doing fight scenes and falling for 12-15 hours every single day. While safety is always one of the primary concerns and important, I unfortunately within the early years of my career had several accidents where I was rushed to the hospital and sustained injuries that required surgery or months off of work for physical therapy and rehabilitation. This process became physically and emotionally draining, as someone so used to using their body every day and having that taken away while going through the process of rebuilding was extremely challenging.

What is the most challenging part about stunt work? 

Physically, I think the most challenging part is being able to take falls and reactions where it supposed to look like you were injured or dying, and having to jump back up and do it again repeatedly. There is an extreme level of precision required in order hit your marks, keep actors safe that you are interacting with, and being able to do skills repeatedly with the same precision and energy for multiple takes and different camera angles. Mentally, I think most people aren’t prepared to work long days on set which can go anywhere from 12-18 hours and even longer in rare instances, and also the challenge of being away from home and the comforts of familiarity when you are on the road on projects living out of hotels in a foreign place.

You must have seen a lot of martial arts movies. What era do you most enjoy or relate to? 

While I am a huge fan of modern action that I have been fortunate to be a part of over the last two decades, I always love the old school movies of Jackie Chan before he came to America and when he just broke into the American scene.

What is the origin story of JAM? 

When I graduated college and relocated back to Los Angeles, we would all train at open gyms at Gymnastics Olympica or Valley College. During a few of the sessions there were times in which we had paid at GO to begin training and had to wait for their gymnastics teams to finish practicing, and I joked with my friends saying that I was going to buy a spring floor so we had our own place to train at. I couldn’t shake this idea from my head, and convinced my parents to move their Kung Fu studio into a warehouse I would rent and split the rent and floor space with them. The first few months were empty and I was worried I made a bad decision, and one day I released a video on youtube of my friend Anis Cheurfa doing “9 corks in 9 seconds” which went semi-viral within the stunt and tricking communities and before long we had people coming from all over to train as there weren’t any other tricking or parkour gyms in existence at the time. After 3 years we outgrew the space and because I had split the facility with my parents I had been using the name White Lotus Martial Arts Center which was an extension of my fathers White Lotus Kung Fu studios. I wanted to create my own legacy and before we expanded to a new building I thought of what words were used in tricking, parkour, dancing etc and settled on JAM and reverse engineered it to spell out Joining All Movement. Along with 2 of my stunt friends and colleagues Aaron Toney and Jake Huang, we invested in a much larger space and moved into the first JAM in Reseda, CA and the rest is history. We’ve been blessed to be considered a Mecca for individuals in the tricking and stunt communities, and are thankful for anyone that has walked through the doors and become a part of the JAM family over the last 12 years. 

What type of training do you offer at the gym? 

We offer parkour, tricking, and tumbling classes for all ages as well as private lessons and special workshops/intensives for actors and aspiring stunt performers in film fighting and fight choreography. We also have my parents that sublease and teach Kung Fu, as well as Simon Rhee’s Tae Kwon Do program, and Bryan Sloyer’s Balintawak LA. 

What is the best advice for people entering the field of stunt work? 

My best advice is to be a sponge and learn as much as you possibly can from watching previous action movies to modern day films, and to practice on improving your skillsets as often as you can. I tell people all the time that we can make as much money as doctors and lawyers, but with that being said we have to hold ourselves accountable to the same amount of time and energy that they spent in school that we must translate to our training. For those starting off one of the best exercises is to replicate a scene from an existing short film, independent fight scene, or TV show/feature film, which will teach you how to perform, shoot, edit, place cameras, as well as have something you can compare you version to performance wise etc. Most job opportunities when starting off will have to be either short films, student films, music videos, or commercials, and just continue to compile footage to add to your reel and resume and continue making meaningful connections with other stunt performers and eventually meeting stunt performers. 

Who are your heroes in the stunt-fighting field? 

My heroes of previous generations are Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Jet Li and Donnie Yen. Modern day heroes include Tony Jaa, Scott Adkins, and Michael Jai White. But I also look up to many stunt coordinators that came before me such as Jeff Imada, JJ Perry, Chad Stahelski, David Leitch, and many of my peers that are some of the top performers and up and coming coordinators. 

What projects are you working on that you can discuss? I’m currently stunt coordinating a Netflix film called “Back In Action” starring Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, and Glenn Close.

What's your favorite movie you have worked on? 

I will forever remember working on "GI: Joe Retaliation" because it is the only film where I worked with my other on as she was cast in a featured part. She got the chance to come watch me perform on set, and sharing the screen with her is a special memory. For selfish reasons I also will always remember "The Jungle Book," as I grew up watching it and got to work on it with two of my best friends Ben Jenkin and Paul Whitecotton, but it was also one of the first times in my life I got to be a lead stunt double as there are limits roles for Asian performers as the leads in films. 

What's your favorite movie you have ever seen featuring stunts? 

One of my favorite movies of all time is Police Story because it features so many iconic and insane stunts that were done years ago before current technology. From the car chase through the village, to Jackie holding onto a bus with an umbrella, to the over the top fight scenes in the mall concluding with him jumping and sliding down a pole multiple stories, there are tons of elements that still hold up to this day. 

Watch the full video interview HERE!

Connect with Travis here:

www.TravisWong.com

www.imdb.me/TravisWong

@TheTravisWong | @JAMovement