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From South Kensington to Cannes: Real-life ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’ kung fu couple fighting for film festival win

The couple who fight together – stay together? A couple who swap romantic dining for the dojo have filmed an action packed martial arts movie they hope will wow Cannes.

David Cheung, from north London, and his girlfriend Yolanda Lynes, from Bloomsbury, star in the short film they have submitted to the French film festival.

The Real Target follows the story of a dangerous duo of undercover vigilantes who are out to clean up capital cities by battling corrupt government officials with their martial arts skills.

Kick-ass Miss Lynes, 25, who combines her deadly skills with graceful ballet training, said: “We’re like the real life Mr and Mrs Smith – without killing people though!”

Director and leading man, 27-year-old Mr Cheung, said: “We have a niche, there aren’t many couples out there that train, work and write together and are able to share their passion for martial arts and film alongside each other.

“We want to inspire young film makers and young couples to put their passions together and do things together.”

The short is an excerpt from a 90-minute feature film, which shows the secret agent couple batting it out fist to fist – and smashing up their London apartment in the process.

The pair rehearse their moves and practise their choreography at Imperial College on Exhibition Road and can also be spotted training in Kensington Gardens in warmer weather.

The Real Target is not Mr Cheung’s debut role, he has previously started alongside Johnny Depp in Mortdecai and Taylor Lautner in BBC sitcom Cuckoo.

He was inspired to take up martial arts as his granddad, Leong Kwok Keung, was a wing chun martial artist.

Miss Lynes comes from a wing chun kung fu background but also uses her ballet background, she trained at the Royal Academy of Dance.

She trained with Austin Goh, a martial arts grandmaster, and former head bodyguard to the Prince of Qatar.

The Real Target short will be available to view online at the end of May, and you can see behind the scenes footage at facebook.com/realtargetfilm.

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