The Time Jackie Chan Had A Standoff With A Notorious Gang

Jackie Chan is an absolute legend. The guy is such a badass that he does all his own stunts, but according to Mental Floss, he has been known to let his stunt men stand in for him on scenes where his character is walking or driving, so as to still give them work (and give his battered body a little break from the acrobatics). His insistence on doing his own stunts left him with a permanent reminder of how much of a badass he really is. A head injury from a botched stunt attempt on the set of the 1986 film "The Armor of God" left a hole in his skull the size of a quarter. He often shows it off by inviting people to put a finger in it.

But while the Guinness World Record holder is really as sweet and friendly as the pair of stuffed panda bears that the L.A. Times says he likes to travel with and snap photos of alongside other celebrities, don't mess with the guy. He tries to keep his butt kicking limited to the screen, but if you push Jackie Chan, don't be surprised when he pushes back. That's the lesson one notorious gang found out after its continued harassment of him.

As in his movies, Jackie Chan always strives to avoid violence as much as possible. Martial arts are for self-defense, not being a bully. So when Hong Kong's notorious triad gangs began to harass him, he first tried to just stay away. "In the past, when they bullied me, I hid in the United States," he said, according to Time magazine. But the harassment got worse. He was once shot at as he disembarked an airplane. That was the last straw. No more Mr. Nice Chan. He decided it was time to take action.

So during one trip back to Hong Kong, when over 20 thugs with melon knives surrounded him as he enjoyed a meal on the street, Jackie pushed back. "I pulled out a gun, and had two more concealed. I told them they had been going too far." He also claimed to have had six grenades, just in case the high kicks weren't enough, but did not elaborate on exactly how the tense situation came to an end.

Unfortunately for Chan, however, possession of an unlicensed firearm will get you as many as 14 years in the slammer in Hong Kong. So detectives interviewed him to see how much of his story was true, but as the South China Morning Post reports, they found no hard evidence to back up his claim. But Jackie Chan is still alive and kicking (pun wholeheartedly intended), so we can assume that there's at least some truth to his tale about his tiff with the triads.