He eventually moved to Cambodia with his family but had to he escaped the Khmer rouge to Udon Thani, Thailand in 1975. Five years later, in 1980, he went to Hong Kong and worked as a tour guide. His idol was Bruce Lee which led him to practise Muay Thai and Taekwondo in Thailand.
In 1986, Lo met Jackie Chan in a disco in Hong Kong, where he was head of security, and Chan hired him as his own bodyguard.
Lo not only became Chan"s bodyguard but also acted in many martial arts films. One of his best known roles is "John", the main villain and right-hand man of the British ambassador in Drunken Master II (1994). in which he and Chan engaged in a protracted final fight.
Lo stepped in when another actor was injured. That climactic ten-minute fight sequence has become legendary: film critic Roger Ebert called it "one of the most remarkably sustained examples of martial arts choreography ever filmed."
In 2005, Lo acted in the American action film Into the Sun (2005) with Steven Seagal, with whom he was involved in a fight scene.
Lo is still very active in Hong Kong cinema.
He was a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team.