10 Best Martial Arts Movie Stars, Ranked

Everyone can appreciate a martial arts movie here and there as they display incredible stunts, fights, and mindless fun for over an hour. Despite its decline in recent years, this genre was incredibly popular during the 1970s and 1980s, and it has been experiencing a slow resurgence recently.

However, the martial arts genre would not be nearly as good without the stars in the movie. It is very apparent when untrained actors fight, but having an actual martial artist is critical to success in an excellent martial arts movie. Lately, stars like Keanu Reeves and Scott Adkins have shown what actual skill is. But there are still more martial artist actors who have displayed incredible skills in critically acclaimed movies.

10 Jim Kelly

Years Active: 1972-2013

Jim Kelly was a professional martial artist and actor who became popular in the 1970s after starring in action movies. Kelly started learning karate at college after dropping out of the Louisville football program on a scholarship. Besides his acting and fighting career, he was a professional tennis player and opened his own dojo. Kelly is known for his role as the antagonist in Enter the Dragon, one of the best classic martial arts movies.

While Kelly’s fame would decline in the 2000s, he was a prolific face during the 1970s, starring in multiple highly regarded action movies, including Black Belt Jones and Three the Hard Way. He had impressive talent in these movies, displaying martial arts talent and solid acting. Kelly won multiple awards in karate, including the World Middleweight Karate Title in 1971. He was a world-class martial artist, which made his time on screen a spectacle of fighting.

9 Cynthia Rothrock

Years Active: 1985-2004, 2011-present

Cynthia Rothrock didn’t get as much fame in the West as she deserved, but she was well-known for her roles in Hong Kong-produced movies and gained a cult following in America. Her films always had mixed reviews. Sometimes, they were classic martial arts movies, and sometimes, they were laughably bad. She decided to retire from acting in 2004 to focus on teaching martial arts, but has appeared in the occasional film since 2011.

Her debut film, Yes, Madam, was a massive success with co-star Michelle Yeoh and the start of her rise to fame in Hong Kong, making her one of the few American actors to do so. Her impressive martial arts abilities and feats in her movies gave her the Queen of Martial Arts nickname. She is a black belt in seven types of combat, including Taekwondo and Wu Shu, and she has won countless tournaments based on technique and combat.

8 Tony Jaa

Years Active: 1994-present

Before his acting career, Tony Jaa was a stuntman in Thailand and an expert in Muay Thai. This work eventually got him into the movie industry, where he would star in the Ong-Bak trilogy, for which he is best known. It wasn’t until 2013 that Jaa brought his talents to Hollywood, where he would bring his professional fighting to blockbusters like Expend4bles and Furious 7.

Jaa’s first movie, Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, showcases his skills and dedication. He performs all of his stunts without any rigs or special effects, giving the movies a real feeling that no one can replicate in Hollywood. He is an impressive fighter and the sole highlight of Expend4bles, with charisma, talent, and energy that should earn him his own spin-off. Jaa is a talent who deserves more focus in Hollywood because of his impressive martial arts and presence on screen.

7 Chuck Norris

Years Active: 1968-present

Who isn’t familiar with the man, the myth, the legend, Chuck Norris? He blew up and became an iconic B-list action star who would also star in his popular series, Walker, Texas Ranger. Before his acting career, he served in the Air Force and trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, and Tang Soo do. He is also known for his roles in The Way of the Dragon and The Expendables 2.

The fact that Norris mostly lent his talents to B-list action movies shouldn’t take anything away from him; he displayed solid acting and incredible martial arts ability. Before acting, he won multiple American karate tournaments, where he met Bruce Lee to develop a lifelong friendship. Norris would only take on roles that used action appropriately and where he could demonstrate his talent to the fullest. Norris put together a successful acting and fighting career with many great movies.

6 Jet Li

Years Active: 1982-present

Like many martial arts movie stars, Li Lianje, better known by his stage name, Jet Li, started by fighting professionally. Learning under renowned Wushu teacher Wu Bin, Li would win the national championship for Beijing and continue to win the Men’s All-Around National Wushu Champion for five years before retiring at 18. This is when he entered the acting business and quickly put together an impressive career in China before moving on to Hollywood.

Many of Li’s movies would become iconic martial arts films, with Once Upon a Time in China inspiring many fans to learn how to fight. His fluid motions and precise combat skills landed him his first Hollywood movie as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4, where he would then dominate as a true martial artist and movie star. Fans aren’t the only ones who recognized Li’s talents; according to Li, Richard Nixon asked him to be his bodyguard when he grew up after a Wushu demonstration for the former president.

5 Jean-Claude Van Damme

Years Active: 1979-present

Known as The Muscles from Brussels, Jean-Claude Van Damme started karate at ten, where he would later become a black belt and learn kickboxing. Despite having incredible talent, he dreamed of becoming an actor, so he moved to America. It wasn’t until 1988 that Van Damme got his first significant role in Bloodsport. He used the momentum and became increasingly popular, establishing himself as an iconic martial arts movie star.

Van Damme, who competed in amateur karate from 1976 to 1980, had an impressive 44 wins and 4 losses and helped the Belgium national team win the European Karate Championship in 1979. He also had a remarkable kickboxing career, with 18 wins (all by knockout) and one loss. This professional record helped him rise to stardom with his flashy and well-trained techniques. With his movies making over $1 billion, fans wanted to see kick-ass fighting by The Muscles from Brussels.

4 Michelle Yeoh

Years Active: 1983-present

Michelle Yeoh started her career in the 1980s and gained fame in the Hong Kong movie scene in the 1990s. Known for her roles in Yes, Madam, along with fellow female martial arts star Cynthia Rothrock and The Heroic Trio, she eventually moved on to Hollywood, starring in a James Bond movie and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which earned her multiple award nominations.

Despite fame in the 2000s, it wasn’t until recently that Yeoh would take things to the next level with her roles in Crazy Rich Asians and Everything Everywhere All At Once, which earned her the Academy Award for Best Leading Actress. Unlike many of her other list counterparts, Yeoh never had a professional fighting record, but she certainly had the skills and made up for it with her acting ability.

3 Donnie Yen

Years Active: 1984-present

At a young age, Donnie Yen started learning martial arts, including Tai Chi. Since then, he has trained in Wing Chun, Taekwondo, Karate, boxing, Hapkido, and many more, making him an extremely versatile fighter who can play almost any role in an action movie. He entered the film industry as a fight choreographer and slowly made his way into acting, where he would be most known for his roles in Ip Man and John Wick: Chapter 4.

Yen would debut as the counterpart to Jet Li in Once Upon a Time in China, where he demonstrated impressive technique and acting. The popularity of his character has earned him a spin-off in the John Wick franchise, where he’ll be sure to give fans more of his martial arts ability. Yen has found mainstream success as of late as he continues to prove his acting chops and martial arts, making him a household name and a star in the movie scene.

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2 Jackie Chan

Years Active: 1962-present

Despite training in multiple martial arts, most prominently Kung-Fu, Jackie Chan describes his fighting style as “Chop Suey: everything.” He likes to borrow from all the styles he’s learned to do whatever is best at the moment, such as wild acrobatics, drunken fist, or using whatever he finds as a weapon. After performing as a stuntman and actor in Hong Kong movies, Chan would develop his signature slapstick martial arts style for film, which led to his fame overseas.

Chan would star in some of the best martial arts movies ever, such as Police Story and The Legend of Drunken Master, but is most famous for his Rush Hour franchise. Chan cemented himself as a legend in the action and comedy genres because of his unique presence and martial arts style. Becoming one of the most influential actors of all time, he brings martial arts to life in his movies and is always the funniest person on screen.

1 Bruce Lee

Years Active: 1941-1973

Before his untimely death at the age of 32, Bruce Lee trained multiple celebrities, including Sharon Tate and Chuck Norris, the latter of whom was also one of the most prominent martial arts figures in Hollywood. He learned Wing Chun under Master Ip Man, whose life would later be made into the movie franchise Ip Man, starring another famous martial artist, Donnie Yen. Lee is a Hollywood icon best known for his movies The Way of the Dragon and Fist of Fury.

Lee’s legacy is unrivaled, as he paved the way for future martial artists in Hollywood, broke down barriers in Asian stereotypes, and created his own martial art style, Jeet Kune Do, which is still taught today. He continues to be the most influential figure in movies, inspiring half of the people on this list to become martial artists. Many of his action movies are deemed perfect because of his expertise in fighting and acting abilities. If not for his early passing, Lee would have been one of the biggest stars ever, creating an even larger legacy than the one he has already built.

NEXT: The 10 Best Jackie Chan Movies, Ranked