The Best Movie Martial Artists, Ranked

Action movie fight scenes used to range from laughably bad to cringe-worthy until the 1970s, when martial arts, popular in Asia, infiltrated American cinema, bringing some much-needed butt-kicking to the stale genre. Once audiences got a glimpse of Japanese and Hong Kong-style flying fists and feet, the weird oily wrestling of Spartacus and the telegraphed punches of predictable Westerns seemed lame by comparison.

Martial arts movies have grown in popularity ever since and created some seriously awesome heroes. To be a martial arts movie star doesn’t necessarily involve being a classically trained fighter, though it helps, but rather having a screen presence and choreographed skills. The greatest movie martial artists are admired as much for their charisma as for their combat.

10 Martial Arts Predator, Jean-Claude Van Damme

Essential Viewing:

• Bloodsport
• Kickboxer
• Universal Soldier
• Hard Target
• Time Cop

Jean-Claude Van Damme became one of the biggest action stars of the 1990s, but the beginning of his film career was anything but action-pact. He had an uncredited role in the urban dance movie, Breakin’, and was the original alien in Predator, before quitting because the suit made him pass out. He worked hard to get noticed in Hollywood and was homeless when his big break came in 1988, with the martial arts film Bloodsport. The film was a huge success and provided Van Damme with a stepping stone to stardom.

Before he was the “Muscles from Brussels”, Van Damme was a self-described geeky kid who wasn’t physically gifted. At an early age, he began studying Karate and ended up having an extremely successful competition career with a 44-4 record. He would then go on to master other styles and even train in ballet, which no doubt helped his acrobatic moves and legendary flexibility. Jean-Claude Van Damme is an action hero who bridged the gap between classic and modern martial artists.

9 Tony Jaa Brings Muay Thai To The World

Essential Viewing:

• Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior
• The Body Guard
• Tom-Yum-Goong
• Furious 7
• Expend4bles

The world has more or less been aware of Thai Kickboxing, and some forms of it have even infiltrated films over the years, but there has never been a movie dedicated to pure Muay Thai. Tony Jaa changed that in 2003 with the breakout hit, Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, thrilling international audiences with his high-flying elbow drops and lightning-fast moves. That led to an even bigger hit, Tom Yum-Goong, known as The Protector in the U.S. market, and suddenly he was a martial arts superstar.

Jaa’s training has the most humble of beginnings, with him practicing Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan moves in his father’s rice paddy. He eventually began studying Muay Thai as well as several other styles, which landed him a job as a movie stuntman. His amazing skill caught the attention of American filmmakers which landed him parts in mainstream U.S. films like Furious 7 and Expend4bles. Not only did Tony Jaa bring Muay Thai to the world, he is the face of Thai cinema.

8 Chuck Norris, American Butt-Kicker

Essential Viewing:

• The Way of the Dragon
• Good Guys Wear Black
• The Octagon
• Lone Wolf McQuade
• Missing in Action

Chuck Norris burst onto the scene when his friend, Bruce Lee, convinced him to play his nemesis in Way of the Dragon. Another friend, Steve McQueen, convinced him to take acting seriously, which led to his breakthrough role in Good Guys Wear Black, considered to be the first true American martial arts movie. He first sported his trademark beard in Lone Wolf McQuade, which would inspire his most famous role in the long-running TV series Walker, Texas Ranger.

Norris, whose real first name is Carlos, is a legitimate martial artist, having won dozens of championships and holding black belts in multiple disciplines. He has stated that he was an introverted kid growing up, who was not very athletic, but once he started studying Tang Soo Do, while stationed in Korea with the U.S. Air Force, he found direction in his life. Chuck Norris is an all-American butt-kicker, who brought Asian fighting styles to a mainstream U.S. audience.

7 Chow Yun-fat Really Is All That

Essential Viewing:

• A Better Tomorrow
• City on Fire
• The Killer
• Hard Boiled
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

With a list of soap opera appearances and love story films on his resume, Chow Yun-fat didn’t seem destined to become one of the all-time greatest movie butt-kickers, but when he paired up with John Woo in 1986 for A Better Tomorrow, his career took a new path. Though much of his early work, including further collaborations with Woo, were mostly ultra-violent gun-fu movies, he has also done traditional martial arts films including the Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Chow Yun-fat is not classically trained in any martial arts disciplines, but he sure can bring it on film, with stunning agility and brutal finishing moves. He often plays characters that have mad killing skills, but also a sense of honor, which adds to his appeal. His attempts at movie stardom in the U.S. were met with a string of box office disappointments, but that’s more due to poorly written scripts than a lack of chops. Chow Yun-fat is a cool martial artist who maintains composure whether he’s collapsing a windpipe or flying through the air with two guns blazing.

6 Michelle Yeoh Takes Out Everything All At Once

Essential Viewing:

• Yes, Madam
• Supercop
• Tomorrow Never Dies
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
• Everything Everywhere All at Once

Another Hong Kong action star with no formal martial arts training is Michelle Yeoh, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her butt-kicking skills in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Yeoh started as a ballet dancer but sustained a spinal injury that cut her career short. Somehow, the injury didn’t interfere with her considerable on-screen martial arts talent, which she first displayed in Yes, Madam, released in 1985. That film led to co-starring roles with Jackie Chan, as well as traditional martial arts films, culminating in 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

She first tasted success in the U.S. with 1987’s Tomorrow Never Dies, where she broke ground as the most combat-capable Bond Girl. Her career has been all over the place, playing everything from a sorceress in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor to a Starfleet Captain on Star Trek: Discovery. Thankfully, she always seems to come back to the action roles, where her Karate chops and acting chops are best utilized. Michelle Yeoh is not only the top female martial artist of all time, she is one of the best period.

5 Sonny Chiba Is A Cult Action Hero

Essential Viewing:

• Karate Kiba
• The Street Fighter
• Shogun’s Samurai
• The Storm Riders
• Kill Bill: Volume 1

Sonny Chiba is the only martial artist on this list who never really made it big in America. That, however, in no way detracts from his pure cinematic skills as a kicker of faces and stomper of butts. Despite earning a blackbelt in Kyokushin Karate, the first decade of Chiba’s career saw him play anything but a Karate Master, starring mostly in crime thrillers. In 1973, he beat the stuffing out of terrorists and drug dealers in Karate Kiba, also known as The Bodyguard, and launched his martial arts career. He followed up with The Street Fighter in 1974, which earned him international acclaim for his fighting style.

Chiba starred in over 125 Japanese films, but he, perhaps by choice, never had a Hollywood career. That’s not to say he wasn’t known in America, as many of his films are cult classics, and he did get some love from super-fan Quentin Tarantino. In the Tarantino-penned True Romance, there are several references to Chiba, and he, of course, played the master swordsmith, Hattori Hanzō, in Kill Bill: Volume 1. Sony Chiba isn’t just one of the best movie martial artists of all time, he is a legend and national hero for bringing Japanese Karate to the international stage.

4 Franchise Fighter: Keanu Reeves

Essential Viewing:

• Youngblood
• The Matrix
• Constantine
• 47 Ronin
• John Wick

To those who would argue that Keanu Reeves is not a movie martial artist, The Matrix and John Wick films beg to differ. The films of those Reeves franchises are among the highest-grossing martial arts movies of all time, with The Matrix Reloaded topping the list with $741.8 million in ticket sales. It’s not just a matter of winning the battle of the box office, as Neo and John Wick are some of the worst brawlers in cinematic history, with more take-downs and confirmed kills than almost any other character.

Unlike in The Matrix, where a Kung-Fu program was uploaded to his character’s brain, real-life Reeves began studying Karate at a young age and then began training in both Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. There wasn’t much call for these skills in his early work like Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, but they may have helped in action flicks like Point Break and Speed. For the Matrix films, which propelled him to superstardom, and the John Wick franchise, which revived his career, they were essential. Keanu Reeves classifies as a top movie martial artist because he’s kicked so much butt in the top martial arts movies.

3 Jackie Chan Has Fists Of Fury And Fun

Essential Viewing:

• Fist of Fury
• Drunken Master
• The Big Brawl
• The Cannonball Run
• Police Story

Jackie Chan’s brand of comedic martial arts has made him one of the biggest action stars working today, and he owes his career start to the legendary Bruce Lee. Chan, who is trained in multiple fighting disciplines, began as a stuntman and coordinator in Hong Kong when Lee gave him some of his first on-camera roles. Chan was an extra and stunt double for villain Hiroshi Suzuki in Fist of Fury, as well as being a henchman killed by Lee in Enter the Dragon. These minor parts, as well as his stunt work, led to starring roles, where he eventually hit the big time with 1978’s Drunken Master.

American audiences first experienced Chan’s skill in the Burt Reynolds comedy, The Cannonball Run. The film didn’t lead to immediate success in the U.S., but it did inspire Chan to include outtakes during the credits of his movies, which are almost as fun as the stories. Chan launched the internationally successful Police Story film franchise and then finally conquered America with the blockbuster Rush Hour films. Jackie Chan is obviously a very skilled martial artist, but what makes him such an amazing performer is that he does his own stunts, and he has an absolutely infectious personality that shines through in all of his roles.

2 The Undeniable Skills Of Donnie Yen

Essential Viewing:

• Iron Monkey
• Shanghai Knights
• Ip Man
• Rouge One
• John Wick: Chapter 4

American audiences are just now starting to realize what Hong Kong fans have known for some time, and that is the fact that Donnie Yen is one truly special movie martial artist. Yen has been praised by both Jackie Chan and Jet Li as the best pure martial artist to ever perform on film, and he got his start from an unusual place. Yen’s mother was a Fu Style Wudangquan grandmaster, who encouraged her son to pursue various fighting forms which he himself excelled at. Yen is well-versed in a dozen disciplines as diverse as Shaolin Kung-fu and Muay Thai kickboxing.

Yen had a memorable fight with Jet Li in Once Upon a Time in China II, but really hit his stride in the 1993 film, Iron Monkey. Maybe the best of his work is in the Ip Man franchise, which chronicles the life and adventures of the real-life Wing Chun grandmaster of the same name, who was also Bruce Lee’s teacher. Yen had successfully infiltrated the American film market with roles in Blade II and Shanghai Knights, but his roles in Rogue One and John Wick: Chapter 4 as blind martial artists cemented him as a legitimate U.S. star. Donnie Yen has amazing skills as well as an onscreen presence, and the only reason why he isn’t number one is that his name isn’t Bruce Lee.

1 Bruce Lee Is The Greatest Of All Time

Essential Viewing:

• The Big Boss
• Fist of Fury
• The Way of the Dragon
• Enter the Dragon
• Game of Death

The only reason why there is even a list of the best movie martial artists is because of Bruce Lee. His movies popularized the genre across the globe and inspired anyone who has ever kicked the back of a head-on film. There were certainly Kung-fu and Samurai movies before Lee, but when The Big Boss was released in 1971, the age of the contemporary martial arts action hero was born. Most people are aware that he studied multiple forms including Wing Chun under the tutelage of Ip Man, but a lesser-known fact is that boxing great Muhammed Ali’s footwork had a great influence on Lee’s fighting style.

Lee was a child actor, with nearly 40 movies under his belt by age 18, and he came to America to become a star, but after years of disappointment, he returned to Hong Kong, where his career really took off. Sadly, that career was short, with only five legitimate martial arts movies, two of which were released after his untimely death. Two of the movies he is most remembered for, Enter the Dragon and Game of Death, which was completed with a body double, were released posthumously. Bruce Lee had the fastest hands, the hardest punch, and made the best fighting sounds, but the main reason why he is the best movie martial artist of all time is because he made butt-kicking fun and accessible to the world.