What is "wire fu"

n. (context slang English) The special effects-enhanced martial arts seen in movies, especially those where wires are used to suspend the actors in physically impossible positions.

Wire fu is an element or style of Hong Kong action cinema used in fight scenes. It is a combination of two terms: "wire work" and " kung fu."

Wire fu is used to describe a subgenre of kung fu movies where the stuntmen's or actor's skill is augmented with the use of wires and pulleys, as well as other stage techniques, usually to perform fight-scene stunts and give the illusion of super-human ability (or Qinggong). It is exemplified by the work of Tsui Hark, Yuen Woo-ping, and Jet Li, that has subsequently been appropriated by the Hollywood film industry. Almost all modern wuxia movies fall in this category. Not all martial arts films use wire work.