Best Martial Artists of ALL TIME (in Film)
by mishrust | created - 03 Nov 2021 | updated - 03 Nov 2021 | PublicKarate Chop!
1. Bruce Lee
Actor | Jing wu men
Bruce Lee remains the greatest icon of martial arts cinema and a key figure of modern popular media. Had it not been for Bruce Lee and his movies in the early 1970s, it's arguable whether or not the martial arts film genre would have ever penetrated and influenced mainstream North American and ...
The man, the myth, the legend. Bruce Lee was perhaps the first (certainly in the west) Martial Arts movie star. Most people know his name, though they probably are not aware he has very few film credits to his name. His final appearance which needed a stunt double to fill in key missing scenes was 'Enter the Dragon'
2. Jackie Chan
Actor | Ngo si seoi
Hong Kong's cheeky, lovable and best-known film star, Jackie Chan endured many years of long, hard work and multiple injuries to establish international success after his start in Hong Kong's manic martial arts cinema industry.
Jackie was born Kong-sang Chan on April 7, 1954, on Hong Kong's famous ...
Perhaps best known for his role in 'Rush Hour' alongside Chris Tucker (which spawned 2 sequels), Chan is easily one of the most famous martial arts film stars from around the world. His uncanny knack for creative stunts still amazes people, even if they were done 25 years ago.
3. Jet Li
Actor | Huo Yuan Jia
Jet Li born Li Lian Jie in Beijing, China. He started training at the Beijing wushu academy (wushu is China's national sport, largely a performance version of various martial art styles) at age eight. He won five gold medals in the Chinese championships, his first when he was only 11. In his teens,...
Technically stunning and flawless in martial arts choreography, Jet Li packs way more punch than his small stature suggests. His starring roles in 'Romeo Must Die' and 'Kiss of the Dragon' gave him the No.1 rank as Martial Arts movie star in the new millennium.
4. Donnie Yen
Actor | Ip Man
Donnie Yen was born in Guangzhou, China. His mother, Bow-sim Mark, was a kung fu master and his father, Kylster Yen, a newspaper editor and amateur musician. When Donnie was just two years old, the family moved to Hong Kong and then, when he was 11, to Boston, Massachusetts.
There, Master Bow-sim ...
For years Donnie Yen flew under the radar, slumming it up in B-grade movies, bit parts and unknown foreign flicks. Then came 'Ip Man' in 2008, which has since had 3 sequels. Yen will have a major role in the upcoming and most exciting John Wick 4!
5. Tony Jaa
Actor | Ong-bak 3
Japanom Yeerum was born on February 5, 1976, in the northeastern province of Surin, Thailand. His parents were elephant herders. Jaa watched martial arts films as a young kid and began to emulate some of his idols, from Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan to Jet Li. Jaa studied martial arts at the local ...
The golden fists of Thailand, fast and furious is Tony Jaa. He first made headlines starring in 'Ong Bak' which mesmerized audiences with his brutal combination of stunts like Jackie Chan and punches like Jet Li. Thoroughly deserves a place in the top 5
6. Iko Uwais
Actor | Serbuan maut 2: Berandal
Iko Uwais was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Maisyaroh and Mustapha Kamaluddin. His grandfather, H. Achmad Bunawar, was a master of silat, an Indonesian traditional martial art, and founded a silat school. Iko himself has been learning silat since he was 10 years old. He became National Champion in...
With some excellent filmmakers around him, Iko Uwais was able to go from unknown to world star after his amazing performance in The Raid. His co-stars were equally impressive Yayan Ruhian especially. He featured in a sequel to The Raid and is now making an appearance with No. 5 on this list in The Expendables 4!
7. Keanu Reeves
Actor | The Matrix
Keanu Charles Reeves, whose first name means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian, was born September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is the son of Patric Reeves, a showgirl and costume designer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, a geologist. Keanu's father was born in Hawaii, of British, Portuguese...
Dude, Excellent! Yes, its Keanu Reeves on this list with some immense names, how is this possible you ask? Well, most of us would know about The Matrix, where Reeves spent hours, weeks, months training for to get the scenes looking authentic. But Keanu doubled down on this over a decade later with not one but 3 (soon 4, 5?) John Wick movies, where yep, you guessed it, he trained for years to present us with some awesomeness
8. Jean-Claude Van Damme
Actor | Double Impact
Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium, to Eliana and Eugène Van Varenberg, an accountant. "The Muscles from Brussels" started martial arts at the age of eleven. His father introduced him to martial arts when he saw his son was ...
Famous for his older films such as 'Kickboxer' and 'Bloodsport' JCVD rode the hollywood wave and became an A-list star for quite some time. Unfortunately Box Office success didn't follow him throughout his career but he is still a dude you wouldn't want to dare to do the splits!
9. Chuck Norris
Actor | Walker, Texas Ranger
Chuck Norris is familiar to fans worldwide as the star of action films such as The Hitman (1991), The Delta Force (1986) and Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (1990). He also starred in Missing in Action (1984) and its sequels, Firewalker (1986) and Sidekicks (1992). He was an executive ...
In recent years, Norris became Thee joke about toughness. What people often forget is that he actually fought Bruce Lee on screen back in the 1970s!
10. Steven Seagal
Actor | On Deadly Ground
Steven Frederic Seagal was born in Lansing, Michigan, to Patricia Anne (Fisher), a medical technician, and Samuel Seagal, a high school math teacher. His paternal grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants, and his mother had English, German, and distant Irish and Dutch, ancestry. The enigmatic ...
For a time there in the 1990s, Seagal was a bona fide film star, if his film 'Under Siege' were released today (accounting for inflation) it would have made over $180Mil worldwide!
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