[2] As a martial artist, Shou was an International Forms Champion in 1982 and 1983 and he won several gold and silver medals at prestigious competitions in China.

However, Shou went back to Hong Kong and continued making movies there such as Tiger Cage 2 and Fatal Termination.

In 1994, Shou returned to Los Angeles when he landed his first American leading role as Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat (1995), based on the popular video game of the same name.

That same year, he appeared opposite Chris Farley in the action comedy Beverly Hills Ninja.

Shou also appeared in a minor role in another fighting video game adaptation, DOA: Dead or Alive, based on Tecmo's video game series of the same name, produced by Mortal Kombat director Paul W. S. Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt.