Once Upon a Time in China. With a homage to it in a Xena episode.

That's not the one I'm thinking of, though obviously there are a lot of kung fu historical movies involving bamboo scaffold fighting.

I'll go look it up...

Wasn't it the Jackie Chan movie where she plays his stepmom?

Okay, so Project S is better known as Supercop 2 or Police Story 3 Part 2 (very confusing).

The user comment backs me up on the fight scene though:

My favourite scene is Michelle's fight against one of the mercenaries: a 7 feet giant trying to hit a 5 feet girl, and you bet he's getting his butt kicked really hard – I've never seen something like this before.

The historical one might be Wing Chun but now I'm wondering if I'm conflating it with another movie.

Enthusiastic user comment on Wing Chun:

Wing Chun is arguably the most entertaining Kung Fu movie of all time! Michelle Yeoh, who matched Jackie Chan stunt for stunt in 'Supercop', is both very tough and very cute as the title character. Yuen Woo-Ping (fight choreographer of the Matrix) directs this film with his usual gusto. The fight scenes are some of the most fast-paced and imaginative ever commited to film. This film is incredibly under-rated, even by Kung Fu fans, which has always left me scratching my head. Please, do yourself a favour and check this thing out!

Hmmm.

Huh. Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh are both in The Mummy 3.

Aha! Got it. Not a Michelle Yeoh movie after all, but Fong Sai Yuk. Kicks Ass!

From an epinions review:

Fong Sai Yuk is also chock full of action. There are 5 or 6 major fight sequences using wire-fu (which makes it appear as if the fighters can hover and even fly through the air). This is used to very good effect. I'm more impressed with the fight scenes in this movie than in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. These are very elaborate hunks of choreography that go on for lengthy periods of time. Kudos go to director Corey Yuen and fight director Tak Yuen. Although there are many moments where you can see the wires suspending the performers themselves, this just fits into the amusing atmosphere of the film. Check out the part where Fong Sai Yuk and Ting Ting's mom actually have to stand on top of other people in the crowd during their battle. That's exhilarating and amusing.

Dang, I miss my Chinatown theaters. All closed now.

That's the first reason I've had to actually watch Mummy3.

Not only did it make no sense to me, it was jammed down my throat violently enough to trigger my gag reflex.

I thought it was some sort of drug-induced hallucination for at least 5 minutes. I kept waiting for Bond to wake up. Boy did it not fit.

For those of you who need some gay love to make your picture perfect, here's the Planet Out review of Fong Sai Yuk.

In Legend, the fighter Fong Sai-Yuk (Jet Li) learns his skills from his mother (Josephine Siao). Mrs. Fong is a resilient woman who submits to her husband`s cruel abuse but is protective of her son. When her son competes for the hand of a woman in marriage, he is defeated by her mother, Mrs. Lu. To regain her family honor, Mrs. Fong dons men's clothes and passing herself off as Fong Sai-Yuk's brother, Fong Dai-Yuk, challenges Mrs. Lu.

In the course of their spectacular kung fu match, the two women fall in love with each other. Mrs. Lu confides to Fong Sai-Yuk that while her husband is a good man, she has never felt passion for him the way she does for Fong Dai-Yuk. In the film's bittersweet romantic conclusion, Mrs. Lu declares to Mrs. Fong, "maybe in another life, there will be room for our love."

Of course that's nothing compared to the transgender shenanigans of The East is Red but it'll do.

HK films always did allow a lot more homo with their eroticism.

Huh. Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh are both in The Mummy 3

Crap! They've actually found a way to make me go see that turkey in the theaters, despite having only recently washed away the last of the chunks that The Mummy Returns blew.

Oooh, really gorgeous vid from the Swordsman/East is Red series on YouTube.

Bridget Lin is my hero. Asian the Invincible is right up there with Lord Fanny and Eddie Izzard in my pantheon of transgendered action heroes.

I like fight scenes where it really looks (to my decidedly amateur eye) like the people involved are really doing what I'm told they're doing.

The stuff in The Matrix -- aside from the flying around the room parts -- was good because it was full-body shots held for a long time, you know? The hand-to-hand wasn't sleight of hand. The swordfights in The Princess Bride, same deal. You could really tell who was a martial-arts/dance expert and who wasn't, in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon by who got to move their feet (experts) and who didn't (Chow Yun-Fat).

The fight scenes in The Matrix were among the weakest parts of it for me. They might have held the shots, but there's only so much you can ask of people who've only been training a few months, no matter how intensely.

By weak I don't mean very weak--I really enjoyed the movie. But I'd definitely grade the actor accomplishments in TPB much higher. Dude. Ambidextrous. Cool.

I went trawling for data on how long they trained for The Princess Bride vs. The Matrix. Didn't find it, but I found this sweet bit of trivia:

During the filming of some scenes, the weather became markedly cold for Robin Wright Penn. André the Giant helped her by placing one of his hands over her head; his hands were so large that one would entirely cover the top of her head, keeping her warm.