The best martial artists in history are some of the most successful, most famous and toughest fighters to ever compete. These tough guys are UFC champions, movie stars and icons in the fighting world. Whether you’re a fan of the Chinese greats like Bruce Lee, or anywhere in between, it’s hard to argue that all of these men are highly skilled in their various disciplines.
Martial arts is one of the widest classifications for combat sports out there. Typically, martial arts describes fighting styles originating in Asia but can describe everything from activities containing strike attacks like tae kwon do, karate, kung fu ad capoeira to grappling activities like judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and even sumo wrestling. It is perhaps the wide range of disciplines that makes mastering martial arts so difficult.
Action movie fans may enjoy seeing stars like Jackie Chan and Jet Li compete on the silver screen but some may not know that before these talented men were Hollywood favorites, they were leaders in the Chinese martial arts world. Bruce Lee is arguably one of the best martial artists ever and helped the sport gain popularity.
1. Bruce Lee.
Bruce Lee (Chinese: 李小龍; born Lee Jun-fan, 李振藩; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist, martial arts instructor, actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that is often credited with paving the way for modern mixed martial arts (MMA). Lee is considered by critics, media, and other martial artists to be the most influential martial artist of all time and a pop culture icon of the 20th century, who bridged the gap between East and West. He is credited with promoting Hong Kong action cinema and helping to change the way Asians were presented in American films.
2. Yip Man
Ip Man, also known as Yip Man, (Chinese: 葉問 / 叶问; 1 October 1893 – 2 December 1972) was a Chinese martial artist and a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun when he was 20. He had several students who later became martial arts masters in their own right, the most famous among them being Bruce Lee.
3. Joe Lewis
Joseph Henry Lewis (March 7, 1944 – August 31, 2012) was an American karateka, kickboxer, and actor. As a fighter, Lewis gained fame for his matches in the 1960s and 1970s, and was nicknamed “the Muhammad Ali of karate.” He has twice been voted the greatest fighter in karate history, having won innumerable karate tournaments, and has attained the titles of “United States Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion,” “World Heavyweight Full Contact Karate Champion,” and “United States National Black Belt Kata Champion.” His friend and training partner Bruce Lee coined him “The Greatest Karate Fighter of All Time.” He was also named by the STAR System World Kickboxing Ratings as the “STAR Historic Undisputed Heavyweight World Champion” and is credited on their site as the “Father of Modern Kickboxing”.
4. Donnie Yen
Donnie Yen Chi-tan (Chinese: 甄子丹; pinyin: Zhēn Zǐdān; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, action director, and fight choreographer. Yen is one of Hong Kong’s top action stars. Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream Asian cinema by choreographing MMA in many of his films since the early 2000s. The first Chinese UFC champion Zhang Weili states that Yen’s films introduced her to MMA. Yen has displayed skill in an array of martial arts, being well-versed in Tai Chi, Boxing, Kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, Mixed Martial Arts, Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Hung Ga, Sanda, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu[citation needed]. One of the most popular film stars in Asia of the early 2000s, Yen is consistently one of the highest-paid actors in Asia. Yen earned HK$220 million (US$28.4 million) from four films and six advertisements in 2013
5. Jet Li.
Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, martial artist, and retired Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singaporean citizen. After three years of training with acclaimed Wushu teacher Wu Bin, Li won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. After retiring from competitive Wushu at age 18, he went on to win great acclaim in China as an actor, making his debut with the film Shaolin Temple (1982). He went on to star in many critically acclaimed martial arts epic films, most notably as the lead in Zhang Yimou’s Hero (2002), Fist of Legend (1994), and the first three films in the Once Upon a Time in China series (1991–1993), in which he portrayed folk hero Wong Fei-hung.
6. Morihei Ueshiba.
Morihei Ueshiba (植芝 盛平, Ueshiba Morihei, December 14, 1883 – April 26, 1969) was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as “the founder” Kaiso (開祖) or Ōsensei (大先生/翁先生), “Great Teacher/Old Teacher (old as opposed to waka (young) sensei)”. The son of a landowner from Tanabe, Ueshiba studied a number of martial arts in his youth, and served in the Japanese Army during the Russo-Japanese War. After being discharged in 1907, he moved to Hokkaidō as the head of a pioneer settlement; here he met and studied with Takeda Sōkaku, the founder of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu. On leaving Hokkaido in 1919, Ueshiba joined the Ōmoto-kyō movement, a Shinto sect, in Ayabe, where he served as a martial arts instructor and opened his first dojo. He accompanied the head of the Ōmoto-kyō group, Onisaburo Deguchi, on an expedition to Mongolia in 1924, where they were captured by Chinese troops and returned to Japan. ncer in 1969.
7. Jackie Chan
Fang Shilong SBS MBE PMW (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as 成龍 (Sing4 Lung4 in Jyutping, lit. “becoming the dragon”), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for his slapstick acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically performs himself. Chan has been acting since the 1960s, performing in more than 150 films. He is one of the most popular action film stars of all time. Chan is one of the most recognisable and influential film personalities in the world, with a widespread global following in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. He has received fame stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Chan has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, films, and video games. He is an operatically trained vocalist and is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of music albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred.RELATED:
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8. Miyamoto Musashi
Miyamoto Musashi (1584, Harima, Nihuudin Nutg – Mөchn sarin 13, 1645, Higo, Nihuudin Nutg) – Niponmudin samurai.
9. Huo Yuanjia
Huo Yuanjia (18 January 1868 – 9 August 1910), courtesy name Junqing, was a Chinese martial artist and a co-founder of the Chin Woo Athletic Association, a martial arts school in Shanghai. A practitioner of the martial art mizongyi, Huo is considered a hero in China for defeating foreign fighters in highly publicised matches at a time when Chinese sovereignty was being eroded by foreign imperialism, concessions and spheres of influence. Due to his heroic status, the legends and myths surrounding events in his life are difficult to discern from facts.
10. Scott Adkins
Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is an English actor, film producer, screenwriter, gymnast, and martial artist. He has played Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the 2006 film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing and its two sequels, Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Boyka: Undisputed (2017); Casey Bowman in the 2009 film Ninja and its 2013 sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear; French in the 2018 film The Debt Collector and its 2020 sequel Debt Collectors (starring alongside Louis Mandylor). He worked in four films with his idol Jean-Claude Van Damme: The Shepherd: Border Patrol, Assassination Games, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning and The Expendables 2. He also had starring roles in The Legend of Hercules, Wolf Warrior and Ip Man 4: The Finale playing the main antagonist in all three films, and also appeared in The Bourne Ultimatum, Zero Dark Thirty, and the Marvel projects Mutant X, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Doctor Strange. In 2022, he starred in Day Shift with Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco, and will appear in John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) alongside Keanu Reeves.
11. Masutatsu Oyama
Masutatsu Ōyama (大山 倍達, Ōyama Masutatsu, born Choi Yeong-eui (Hangul: 최영의 Hanja: 崔永宜); June 4, 1923 – April 26, 1994), more commonly known as Mas Oyama, was a karate master who founded Kyokushin Karate, considered the first and most influential style of full contact karate. A Zainichi Korean, he spent most of his life living in Japan and acquired Japanese citizenship in 1968.
12. Masahiko Kimura
Masahiko Kimura (木村 政彦, Kimura Masahiko, September 10, 1917 – April 18, 1993) was a Japanese judoka and professional wrestler who is widely considered one of the greatest judoka of all time. He won the All-Japan Judo Championships three times in a row for the first time in history and had never lost a judo match from 1936 to 1950. An author said,” In the history of judo, no one is the strongest before Kimura and no one is the strongest after Kimura.” He has often been described as the strongest judoka in history. In submission grappling, the reverse ude-garami arm lock is often called the “Kimura”, due to his famous victory over Brazilian jiu-jitsu founder Hélio Gracie. In the Japanese professional wrestling world, he is known for the controversial match he had with Rikidōzan.
13. Michael Jai White
Michael Jai White (born November 10, 1967) is an American actor, director and martial artist. He was the first African American to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture, starring as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1997 film Spawn. White appeared as Marcus Williams in the Tyler Perry films Why Did I Get Married? and Why Did I Get Married Too?, and starred as the character on the TBS/OWN comedy-drama television series Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse. White portrayed Jax Briggs in Mortal Kombat: Legacy and the Cyborg Seth in Universal Soldier: The Return. He portrayed boxer Mike Tyson in the 1995 HBO television movie Tyson. He also played the title role in the blaxploitation parody film Black Dynamite, as well as the animated series of the same name.
14. Tony Jaa
Toy Jaa born 5 February 1976), better known internationally as Tony Jaa and in Thailand as Jaa Phanom. is a Thai martial artist, actor, action choreographer, stuntman, director, and traceur. His films include Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003), Tom-Yum-Goong (2005), Ong Bak 2: The Beginning (2008), Furious 7 (2015) and SPL II: A Time for Consequences (2015). Jaa began training in Muay Thai at his local temple at age 10. By 15, he was a protégé of stuntman and action film director Panna Rittikrai. Panna had instructed Jaa to attend Maha Sarakham College of Physical Education in Maha Sarakham Province from which he graduated with a bachelor’s degree.RELATED:
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15. Wong Fei Hung
Wong Fei-hung (born Wong Sek-cheung with the courtesy name Tat-wun; 9 July 1847 – 17 April 1925) was a Chinese martial artist, physician, and folk hero. His recent fame was due to becoming the subject of numerous martial arts films and television series. Even though he was considered an expert in the Hung Ga style of Chinese martial arts, his real public fame was as a physician, who practiced and taught acupuncture, Dit Da and other forms of traditional Chinese medicine in the now famous Po Chi Lam (寶芝林; 宝芝林; Bǎozhīlín; Bou2-zi1-lam4), a medical clinic in Canton (Guangzhou), Kwangtung Province (Guangdong). A museum dedicated to him was built in his birthplace in Fatshan (Foshan), Kwangtung.
16. Muhammad Ali.
Muhammad Ali born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed “The Greatest”, he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, and is frequently ranked as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.
17. Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed “Iron Mike” and “Kid Dynamite” in his early career, and later known as “The Baddest Man on the Planet”, Tyson is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990. Tyson won his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. Claiming his first belt at 20 years, four months, and 22 days old, Tyson holds the record as the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title. He was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, as well as the only heavyweight to unify them in succession. The following year, Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds of the first round. In 1990, Tyson was knocked out by underdog Buster Douglas in one of the biggest upsets in history.
18. Chuck Norris.
Carlos Ray “Chuck” Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts championships and later founded his own discipline Chun Kuk Do. Shortly after, in Hollywood, Norris trained celebrities in martial arts. Norris went on to appear in a minor role in the spy film The Wrecking Crew (1969). Friend and fellow martial artist Bruce Lee invited him to play one of the main villains in Way of the Dragon (1972). While Norris continued acting, friend and student Steve McQueen suggested him to take it seriously. Norris took the starring role in the action film Breaker! Breaker! (1977), which turned a profit. His second lead Good Guys Wear Black (1978) became a hit, and he soon became a popular action film star.
19. Benny Urquidez
Benny Urquidez (born June 20, 1952) is an American kickboxer, martial arts choreographer and actor. Nicknamed “The Jet”, Urquidez was a non-contact karate competitor who later pioneered full-contact fighting in the United States. He made the transition from point to full-contact karate in 1974, the year of its inception in the US, frequently fighting in bouts where the rules were ambiguous and contrasts in styles were dramatic. Urquidez is also known for once holding the rare achievement of six world titles in five different weight divisions, and remained largely undefeated in his 27-year career. His only loss came in a Muay Thai match which was shrouded in controversy, as Urquidez had only agreed to a no-decision exhibition, a clause which was ignored when the fight had ended.
20. Royce Gracie
Royce Gracie (Portuguese: [ˈʁɔjsi ˈɡɾejsi]; born 12 December 1966) is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer, and a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family, he is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA). He also competed at PRIDE Fighting Championships, K-1’s MMA events and at Bellator. Gracie gained fame for his success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Between 1993 and 1994, he was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2 and UFC 4, which at the time was an openweight single-elimination tournament with minimal rules. He was also known for his rivalry with Ken Shamrock, whom he beat in UFC 1 and then fought to a draw in the Superfight Championship rematch at UFC 5. Royce would later compete in PRIDE Fighting Championships, where he is most remembered for his 90-minute bout against Kazushi Sakuraba in 2000, and a controversial “Judo vs Jiu-Jitsu” mixed rules match against olympic gold-medalist in Judo Hidehiko Yoshida at Pride Shockwave in 2002
21. Sun Lutang
Sun Lu-t’ang or Sun Lutang (1860-1933) was a renowned master of Chinese neijia (internal) martial arts and was the progenitor of the syncretic art of Sun-style t’ai chi ch’uan. He was also considered an accomplished Neo-Confucian and Taoist scholar (especially in the I Ching), and was a distinguished contributor to the theory of internal martial arts through his many published works. He was born in Hebei and was named Sun Fuquan (孫福全) by his parents. Years later, his Baguazhang teacher Cheng Tinghua (程延華) gave him the name Sun Lutang. (It was common in old China for people to have multiple names). He continued to use his original name in some areas, including the publishing of his books.RELATED:
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22. Dan Inosanto
Dan Inosanto (born 1936) is an American martial arts instructor. Inosanto is an authority on Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Martial Arts and Pencak Silat. Inosanto is credited for training martial arts to a number of Hollywood actors including Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and others. Dan Inosanto began training in martial arts at the age of 11 receiving instruction from his uncle who first taught him traditional Okinawan Karate and later also Judo and Jujutsu. He was a student of Ed Parker, from whom he received a shodan rank in American Kenpo. Dan served as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division from 1959 to 1961. He was also a member of the Strategic Army Corps. At Fort Campbell he refined his skills in various martial arts, training under Henry Slomanski.
23. Yang Lu-Cha’n
Yang Lu-ch’an or Yang Luchan, also known as Yang Fu-k’ui or Yang Fukui (1799–1872), born in Kuang-p’ing (Guangping), was an influential Chinese practitioner and teacher of the internal style martial art t’ai chi ch’uan (taijiquan) during the Qing Dynasty in the second half of the 19th century. He is known as the founder of Yang-style t’ai chi ch’uan, the most popular and widely practised style in the world today. Yang Lu-ch’an’s family was a poor farming/worker class from Hebei Province, Guangping Prefecture, Yongnian County. Yang would follow his father in planting the fields and, as a teenager, held temporary jobs. One period of temporary work was spent doing odd jobs at the Tai He Tang Chinese pharmacy located in the west part of Yongnian City, opened by Chen De Hu of the Chen Village in Henan Province, Huaiqing Prefecture, Wenxian County. As a child, Yang liked martial arts and studied Changquan, gaining a certain level of skill.
24. Jigoro Kano
Jigoro Kano (嘉納 治五郎, 10 December 1860 – 4 May 1938 was a Japanese educator, athlete, and the founder of Judo. Along with Ju-Jitsu, Judo was one of the first Japanese martial arts to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of dan ranking to show the relative ranking among members of a martial art style. Well-known mottoes attributed to Kanō include “maximum efficiency with minimum effort” (精力善用 seiryoku zen’yō) and “mutual welfare and benefit” (自他共栄 jita kyōei). In his professional life, Kanō was an educator. Important postings included serving as director of primary education for the Ministry of Education (文部省, Monbushō) from 1898 to 1901, and as president of Tokyo Higher Normal School from 1900 until 1920. He played a key role in making judo and kendo part of the Japanese public school programs of the 1910s
25. Chojun Miyagi
Chōjun Miyagi (宮城 長順, Miyagi Chōjun, April 25, 1888 – October 8, 1953) was an Okinawan martial artist who founded the Gōjū-ryū school of karate by blending Okinawan and Chinese influences. Sensei Miyagi was born in Higashimachi, Naha, Okinawa on April 25, 1888. One of his parents was a wealthy shop owner. Chojun Miyagi began studying Okinawan martial arts under Ryuko Aragaki at age 11. At age 14, Miyagi was introduced to Kanryo Higashionna (Higaonna Kanryō) by Aragaki. Under his tutelage, Miyagi underwent a very long and arduous period of training. His training with Higaonna was interrupted for a two-year period while Miyagi completed his military service, 1910–1912, in Miyakonojō, Miyazaki.[ Miyagi trained under Higaonna for 15 years until Higaonna’s death in 1916.
26. Helio Gracie
Hélio Gracie (October 1, 1913 – January 29, 2009) was a Brazilian martial artist who together with his brothers Oswaldo, Gastao Jr, George and Carlos Gracie founded and developed the self-defense martial art system of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, also known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Considered as the Godfather of BJJ, according to his son Rorion, Gracie is one of the first sports heroes in Brazilian history; he was named Man of the Year in 1997 by the American martial arts publication Black Belt magazine. A patriarch of the Gracie family, multiple members of his family have gone on to have successful careers in combat sport competition including mixed martial arts (MMA). Gracie was born on October 1, 1913, in Belém, Brazil. Contrary to popular belief, he was a talented athlete, and trained and competed in rowing and swimming since his childhood. He had his first contact in martial arts at 16, when he started training judo (at that time commonly referred to as “Kano Jiu-jitsu” or simply “Jiu-Jitsu”), with his brothers Carlos and George. He also learned catch wrestling under the renowned Orlando Americo “Dudú” da Silva, who taught his brothers for a time.
27. Masaaki Hatsumi
Masaaki Hatsumi born December 2, 1931), formerly Yoshiaki Hatsumi, is the founder of the Bujinkan Organization and is the former Togakure-ryū soke (grandmaster). He no longer teaches, but currently resides in Noda, Chiba, Japan. Masaaki Hatsumi was born in Noda, Chiba on December 2, 1931. During his school years, he participated heavily in sports, along with martial arts and theater, and became “captain of the football team.” While attending Meiji University,[citation needed] he continued learning judo and eventually rose to the rank of black belt. He also began teaching judo during his time at the university to American soldiers at the nearby Yokota Air Base. After graduating, Hatsumi searched for a teacher to further his study of martial arts. He began his kobudo training under Chosui Ueno. When he was 26 he met Ueno’s teacher, Toshitsugu Takamatsu, known as “the Tiger of Mongolia.” Hatsumi was accepted as Takamatsu’s student and spent fifteen years learning various ninjutsu styles from Takamatsu and his family, while he continued to study judo, Shito Ryu karate, aikido, and kobudo.
28. Gordon Liu
Gordon Liu born Sin Kam-hei August 22, 1951) is a Chinese martial arts film actor and martial artist. He played the lead role of San Te in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) and its sequels, and later played two roles in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films: Johnny Mo, the leader of the Crazy 88 Yakuza gang in Volume 1 (2003); and kung fu master Pai Mei in Volume 2 (2004). Liu was born Sin Kam-hei in Guangdong Province, China on August 22, 1951, prior to his adoption into another family.[1] He is often wrongly cited as being the adopted son of Lau Cham, and adoptive brother of directors and actors Lau Kar-leung (Liu Chia-liang) and Lau Kar-wing (Liu Chia-Yung). He was not adopted by the family but is Lau Cham’s godson.RELATED:
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29. Georges St- Pierre
Georges St-Pierre (born May 19, 1981) is a Canadian former professional mixed martial artist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA) history. St-Pierre was a two-division champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), having won titles in the welterweight and middleweight divisions. St-Pierre is a three-time former UFC Welterweight Champion, having won the title twice and the interim title once between November 2006 and April 2008. St-Pierre was ranked as the #1 welterweight in the world for several years by Sherdog and numerous other publications. In 2008, 2009 and 2010 he was named the Canadian Athlete of the Year by Rogers Sportsnet. Fight Matrix lists him as the top MMA welterweight of all time and most accomplished fighter in MMA history
30. Iko Uwais
Uwais Qorny professionally as Iko Uwais, is an Indonesian actor, stuntman, fight choreographer, and martial artist. He is best known for acting in the action films Merantau (2009), The Raid (2011), The Raid 2 (2014), Headshot (2016), Mile 22 (2018), Stuber (2019) and the Netflix series Wu Assassins (2019–present).Uwais was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is the son of Maisyaroh and Mustapha Kamaluddin.
31. Wang Ziping
Wang Zi-Ping (1881–1973, Xiao’erjing: وْا ذِ پٍ) was a Chinese practitioner of Martial Arts and traditional medicine from Cangzhou, Cangxian county, Mengcun, Hebei Province. He served as the leader of the Shaolin Kung Fu division of the Martial Arts Institute in 1928 and was also the vice chairman of the Chinese Wushu Association. Wang was known for his mastery of Chaquan, Huaquan, Pao Chuan, Bajiquan, and T’ai chi ch’uan. He was a master of Wushu.
32. Gichin Funakoshi
Gichin Funakoshi (船越 義珍, Funakoshi Gichin, November 10, 1868 – April 26, 1957) was the founder of Shotokan karate-do, perhaps the most widely known style of karate, and is known as a “father of modern karate”. Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato, he was one of the Okinawan karate masters who introduced karate to the Japanese mainland in 1922, following its earlier introduction by his teacher Itosu. He taught karate at various Japanese universities and became honorary head of the Japan Karate Association upon its establishment in 1949.
33. Jean Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme born 18 October 1960) is a Belgian actor, martial artist, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, at the age of ten his father enrolled him in martial arts classes, which led to Van Damme participating in several competitions. With the desire of becoming an actor, he moved to the United States in 1982, where he did odd jobs and worked on several films, until he got his break as the lead in the martial arts film Bloodsport (1988) Van Damme was brought up Roman Catholic. His paternal grandmother was Jewish. He began martial arts at the age of ten, enrolled by his father in a Shōtōkan karate school. His styles consist of Shōtōkan Karate and Kickboxing. He eventually earned his black belt in karate at 18. He started lifting weights to improve his physique, which eventually led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title.RELATED:
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34. Jhoon Rhee
Rhee Jhoon-goo (January 7, 1932 – April 30, 2018), commonly known as Jhoon Rhee or Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee, was a South Korean master of taekwondo who is widely recognized as the ‘Father of American Taekwondo’ for introducing this martial art to the United States of America since arriving in the 1950s. He was ranked 10th dan. Rhee was born on January 7, 1932, in Korea, during the period of Japanese occupation. He began training in the martial arts at the age of 13 in 1945 without his father’s knowledge. Rhee received martial art training under Nam Tae Hi and graduated from the Chung Do Kwan. While an officer in the Korean Army, he traveled to attend Southwest Texas State College in 1956, and later returned to attend the University of Texas at Austin for an engineering degree.
35. Ed Parker.
Edmund Kealoha Parker (March 19, 1931 – December 15, 1990) was an American martial artist, Senior Grandmaster, and founder of American Kenpo Karate. Born in Hawaii, Parker began training in Judo at an early age and later studied boxing. During the 1940s, Parker was introduced to Kenpō by Frank Chow, who then introduced Parker to William Chow, a student of James Mitose. Parker trained with William Chow while serving in the Coast Guard and attending Brigham Young University, and in 1953 he was promoted to the rank of black belt. Parker, seeing that modern times posed new situations that were not addressed in Kenpo, adapted the art to make it more easily applicable to the streets of America. He called his adapted style American Kenpo Karate.
36. Frank Dux
Frank William Dux born April 6, 1956) is a Canadian-American martial artist and fight choreographer. According to Dux, a ninjutsu expert named Senzo Tanaka trained him as a ninja when he was a teenager. He established his own school of ninjutsu called Dux Ryu Ninjutsu, and has said he won a secret martial arts tournament called the Kumite in 1975. His alleged victory at the Kumite served as the inspiration for the 1988 film Bloodsport starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Dux’s victory at the Kumite has been disputed, as has the existence of both the Kumite he described and Senzo Tanaka.
37. Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-law’s dojo. He later moved to Los Angeles where he had the same profession. In 1988, Seagal made his acting debut in Above the Law. By 1991, he had starred in four films. In 1992, he played Navy SEAL counter-terrorist expert Casey Ryback in Under Siege. During the latter half of the 1990s, Seagal starred in three more feature films and the direct-to-video film The Patriot. Subsequently, his career shifted to mostly direct-to-video productions. He has since appeared in films and reality shows, including Steven Seagal: Lawman, which depicted Seagal performing his duties as a reserve deputy sheriff.RELATED:
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38. Chiu Ping Lok
Chiu Ping Lok (May 15, 1938 – August 22, 2009) was a Chinese kung fu master based in Brazil. At the age of 15, for political reasons Chiu Ping Lok and his family left China and took up residence in Hong Kong (at the time a British protectorate). It was in Hong Kong that he came into contact with Tai Chi Chuan and deepened his knowledge of this art, although at that time, he found that movement very slow and lacking in action. He also learned Chinese acupuncture from Master Hui, and Yoga from a Hindu group that toured the region. He is responsible for creating the Fei hok phai style, which mixes different styles of kung fu and Tai Chi Chuan and is one of the main introducers of kung fu in Brazil. Chiu Ping Lok was the pioneer of Chinese Folk Art of Lion Dance and representative of the International Dragon and Lion Dances Association Limited in Brazil since 1961. In 1969 he opened the Tai Chi Yoga and Kung Academy Fu in Santo André, being the first registered Kung Fu academy in the country.
39. Andy Hug
Andreas “Andy” Hug (7 September 1964 – 24 August 2000) was a Swiss karateka and kickboxer who competed in the heavyweight division. Considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers of all time, Hug was renowned for his ability to execute numerous kicking techniques rarely seen in high-level competition. Although he was usually smaller than his opponents, standing at 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) and being barely a heavyweight, weighing around 98.0 kg (216.1 lb; 15.43 st) in his prime, he made up for his lack of size with his tremendous athleticism and speed. A southpaw, his trademark kicks included the axe kick and the “Hug Tornado”, a low spinning heel kick targeting his opponents’ thighs. Raised in Wohlen, Aargau, Hug was a keen footballer in his youth but gave up the sport to pursue Kyokushin karate which he began practicing at ten years old. Beginning his full contact karate career in the 80 kg/176 lb middleweight division, he rose to prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s by winning numerous regional tournaments around Europe and made the transition to heavyweight in 1984.
40. Choi Hong Hi
Choi Hong-hi (9 November 1918 – 15 June 2002) was a South Korean Army general and martial artist who was an important, albeit controversial figure in the history of the Korean martial art of taekwondo. Choi is regarded by many as the “Founder of Taekwon-Do”—most often by International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) organisations. Others, such as the South Korean World Taekwondo (WT) organization, portray Choi as either an unimportant or a dishonorable figure in taekwondo history, whether by omitting him from their versions of taekwondo history or through explicit statements.
41. Guo Yunshen
Guo Yunshen (simplified Chinese: 郭云深; traditional Chinese: 郭雲深; pinyin: Guō Yúnshēn) (1829 – 1898) was a famous Xingyiquan master. [self-published source] He represented the xingyi martial philosophy of preferring to become highly proficient with only a few techniques rather than to be less proficient with many techniques. His skill with one technique Beng Quan was legendary: Although it is not historically reliable, he is said to have fought Dong Hai Chuan, the founder of baguazhang, whereby neither was able to defeat the other. The outcome of their purported match was that practitioners of both arts each highly respected the others. In another version of this story, Guo Yunshen, desiring to fight Dong Hai Chuan, he first went to visit Cheng Tinghua, another native of Hebei province.
42. Huo Diange
Huo Dian-Ge was a renowned master of Bajiquan and the founder of the Huo Family Bajiquan system. He was also well known for being the first student of Li Shu-Wen. Training At a young age, Huo took a keen interest in martial arts, training with local teachers in Piao Sa Boxing. Over the course of 12 years, he managed to gain the favour of his notoriously harsh teacher, and paved the way for future students, including his brother Huo DianKui, to study under Li. Teaching Once Li began his travels, Huo himself began teaching in Zhong Xin Park, TianJin and Tianjin’s Jianguo Road. Soon after, he would travel to Harbin (Working under the same general as his master), ShengYang and ChangChun where he would continue to teach until becoming the Bodyguard for Pu Yi, the last emperor of China. During this time, Huo Huo also taught Bajiquan to the emperor and his bodyguards, helping bajiquan eventually earn it’s nickname as the “Bodyguard Style”. In 1924 (Following Pu Yi’s expulsion from the forbidden city?) he returned to Tianjin and taught there.
43. Zhao Wenzhuo
Vincent Zhao Wenzhuo (born 10 April 1972), sometimes credited as Vincent Chiu or Chiu Man-cheuk, is a Chinese actor and martial artist. Zhao is best known for playing the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung in the Once Upon a Time in China film and television series and for his films The Blade, True Legend Zhao was born in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China the youngest of three boys. His father was a martial arts practitioner, and his mother was a professional sprinter, who broke the record for being the fastest female sprinter of Harbin. Under the instruction of his father, Zhao attended martial arts lessons at the age of eight but he never completely devoted himself to his lessons as he was more interested in singing. In the early 1980s, Zhao was sent to a martial arts academy in Harbin and began to train vigorously, where he started to love the sport. He soon became the youngest member of the Harbin wushu team, which was established in 1985. Trained in various wushu techniques, Zhao mastered Tongbeiquan, t’ai chi ch’uan, especially the Chen and Yang styles.RELATED:
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44. Moy Yat
Moy Yat (梅逸) (June 28, 1938 – January 23, 2001) was a Hong Kong martial artist, painter, seal maker, teacher and author. He was a student of the legendary Wing Chun Kung-Fu teacher Yip Man (also romanized as Ip Man) from 1957 until Ip Man’s death in 1972. Moy Yat was a teacher of the Ving Tsun ( 詠春, also romanized as Wing Chun or Wing Tsun) style of Kung-Fu. He began teaching in Hong Kong, in 1962, at the direction of his Sifu (teacher), Ip Man. After Ip Man’s death, Moy Yat moved to New York City and began teaching there until he retired from teaching at age 60. According to Inside Kung-Fu Magazine, he was “…considered among the greatest martial arts teachers of all time.” He had many students, coming from all around the Tri-State Area. Some of his students include:
45. Pan Qing Fu
Pan Qingfu (Chinese: 潘清福), also known as Grandmaster Pan, was a Chinese martial artis Grandmaster Pan’s awards include a Hall of Fame award from the United International Kung Fu Federation, a Hall of Fame Award from the World Christian Martial Arts Federation, the International Legend Hall of Fame award from the USA Wushu Kung Fu Federation and a Hall of Fame Award from Black Belt magazine.[citation needed] He was the Honorary President of the United Wushu Federation of Canada. In 2002, he was honored with a special ceremony where he became the only person ever conferred with a Level 10 degree, from the Confederation of Canadian Wushu Organizations, an organization that only has 9 levels. Grandmaster Pan won the Chinese national Kung-Fu championships multiple times, and served as a coach at the Shenyang Physical Education Institute.
46. Du Xinwu
Du Xinwu (Chinese: 杜心武; Wade–Giles: Tu Hsin-wu; 1869–1953), aka Ru Xia (儒侠), Dou Mi Guan Jushi (斗米观居士) was a Chinese martial artist and an important figure in the development of Zi Ran Men kung fu. Du was born into a wealthy family in the city of Zhangjiajie in Hunan province. He started training in martial arts at the age of six, and by the time he was nine he was a student of a local martial arts master named Yang Ke. After becoming involved with a revolutionary anti-government movement, Du was forced to flee from Zhangjiajie to the province of Yunnan. Here, in an attempt to find a new teacher, he issued a general challenge by posting a notice on a street corner. The challenge was met by a beggar named Xu (Hsu), a dwarf. Xu soundly defeated Du and then took him on as a student, teaching him the Zi Ran Men style. Du trained with Xu, travelling across the country with him, until the age of 16.
47. Tat Mau Wong
Originally from Hong Kong, Grand Master Wong has been involved in martial arts since 1963. o Student of the Great Grand Master Poon Sing and Grand Master Lee Koon Hung o Began his teaching with Kung Fu and Judo at the Hong Kong University Grand Master Wong is currently ranked as a 10th degree Black Belt Part of the Hong Kong performance team with the Great Grand Master Shek Kin (Mr. Han from the Bruce Lee movie ‘Enter the Dragon’) who together wowed the crowds in Paris, New York, Boston, Seattle and San Francisco with their speed, power, and unique style of Kung Fu. Full-contact fighter in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia – Recognized as one of the most formidable fighters in his day – with a following from Hong Kong to Singapore Students and Instructors from as far away as Brazil flocked to him since he immigrated in 1983 to San Francisco CA, USA. Both forms and fighting champion – with Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu, Judo, and Tae Kwon Do expertise, he’s been able to pass on the best of the best to his students.
48. Zhong Yunlong
Master Zhong Yunlong is a 14th generation legitimate inheritor of Wudang Sanfeng Pai (Pai equates to sect), an Orthodox Wudang Internal Kung Fu successor of two great Wudang Taoist masters and senior priests: Guo Gao Yi and Zhu Chengde. When Wudang Taoism first opened to the outside world, Master Zhong Yunlong was sent by the Wudang Taoist Association, to unearth Wudang martial arts which were then only being practiced outside the temple. The Wudang Taoist Association established the first Wudang Taoist Martial Arts Team, and Master Zhong was the leading member of the team.
49. Li Wing Kay
Master Li Wing Kay (李榮基), born in Hong Kong, lives in Brazil since 1970, started practicing kung fu at the age of seven. He was a disciple of the late Lau Fat Moun, Grand Master of the eagle claw style, who marked the history of Chinese martial arts being known and respected by his people. In addition to this style, Master Li is also very knowledgeable about other styles, including: hung gar, wing chun, tai chi chuan and shuai chiao, as well as Wu Shu, Judo, Karate, Taekwondo, Tang Soo Do and Muay Thai. In addition to being the creator and director of the 1st Brazilian Kung Fu Championship in Ribeirão Preto in 1980, he participated in the foundation of federations in states such as São Paulo and Minas Gerais. He represented Brazil at the founding of the International Federation of Wu Shu (kung fu) in 1990 in China. He taught several self-defense courses in places such as the 16th Battalion of the São Paulo Military Police, the Barro Branco Military Academy and the Military Police Physical Education School.
50. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (né Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed between 1996 and 2017, retiring with an undefeated record and winning 15 major world championships from super featherweight to light middleweight. This includes the Ring magazine title in five weight classes and the lineal championship in four weight classes (twice at welterweight). As an amateur boxer, he won a bronze medal in the featherweight division at the 1996 Olympics, three U.S. Golden Gloves championships (at light flyweight, flyweight, and featherweight), and the U.S. national championship at featherweight.RELATED:
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51. Conor McGregor
Conor Anthony McGregor (Irish: Conchúr Antóin Mac Gréagóir; born 14 July 1988) is an Irish professional mixed martial artist. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight and lightweight double-champion. He is the first UFC fighter to hold UFC championships in two weight classes simultaneously. He is also the former Cage Warriors featherweight and lightweight champion. As of September 13, 2022, he is ranked #11 in the UFC lightweight rankings. In his debut professional boxing match, he was defeated by Floyd Mayweather Jr. He is the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) draw in MMA history, having headlined the five highest-selling UFC pay-per-view events. His bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 drew 2.4 million PPV buys, the most ever for an MMA event. His boxing match with Mayweather drew 4.3 million PPV buys in North America, the second most in combat sports history. McGregor was ranked as the world’s highest paid athlete by Forbes in 2021, earning a reported $180 million. He also featured in the list in 2018, when he was ranked fourth, with a reported income of $99 million.
52. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib Abdulmanapovich Nurmagomedov born 20 September 1988) is a Russian former professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was the longest-reigning UFC Lightweight Champion, having held the title from April 2018 to March 2021. Nurmagomedov was inducted into UFC Hall of Fame on June 30, 2022. With 29 wins and no losses, he retired with an undefeated record. A two-time Combat Sambo World Champion, Nurmagomedov has a background in the disciplines of sambo, judo and wrestling. Nurmagomedov was ranked #1 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings at the time of his retirement, until being removed following his title vacation in March 2021. Fight Matrix ranks him as the #1 lightweight of all time.
53. Arthur Abraham
Avetik Abrahamyan (Armenian: Ավետիք Աբրահամյան; born 20 February 1980), best known as Arthur Abraham, is an Armenian-German former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF middleweight title from 2005 to 2009, and the WBO super-middleweight title twice between 2012 and 2016. Avetik Abrahamyan was born in Yerevan, Soviet Armenia on 20 February 1980 to parents Grigor and Sylvia Abrahamyan. He moved to Germany with his parents and brothers in 1995 at the age of 15. As a teenager, Abraham showed an interest in cycling and eventually became the North Bavarian and Franconian Youth Champion. However, after watching an exciting Mike Tyson fight, Arthur was inspired to become a boxing star too.[4] In 1999, Arthur and his brothers returned to Armenia for military service. After 2002, all the brothers had finished their military service and returned to Germany in 2003.
54. Vic Darchinyan
Vakhtang “Vic” Darchinyan (Armenian: Վախթանգ Դարչինյան; born 7 January 1976) is an Armenian-Australian former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2017. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF flyweight title from 2004 to 2007; and the WBA (Undisputed, later Unified), WBC, IBF, and lineal super-flyweight titles between 2008 and 2010. Additionally, he held a record four IBO titles at flyweight, super-flyweight, and twice at bantamweight between 2005 and 2011. A southpaw with a highly unique fighting style and formidable punching power, Darchinyan became the first Armenian boxer to win a world title in 2004.
55. Mark Coleman
Mark Daniel Coleman (born December 20, 1964) is an American retired mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and amateur wrestler. Coleman was the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournament champion, the first UFC Heavyweight Champion, and the Pride Fighting Championships 2000 Open Weight Grand Prix champion. At UFC 82 Coleman was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Coleman is credited with proving the ability of wrestlers to dominate in the developing sport of mixed martial arts, and with being one of the first in American MMA to use the strategy that he coined ground-and-pound successfully, earning him the moniker, “The Godfather of Ground & Pound”. In the sport of wrestling, Coleman was a World Championship runner-up and Pan American Games Gold medalist in 1991, won three Pan American Championships, competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics and was an NCAA Division I National Champion for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
56. Chris Leben
Christian Cyrus Leben (born July 21, 1980) is an American former mixed martial artist, referee, and bare knuckle boxer. A professional MMA competitor from 2002 until 2013, he most notably competed in the UFC in the Middleweight division, compiling a record of 12–10 in 22 appearances for the organization. Leben first appeared in the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, and also fought in the now-defunct WEC. He began his UFC career with five victories in a row before suffering a knockout loss to future UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, and was known for his toughness and powerful left hand. Leben was the inaugural WEC Middleweight Champion.
57. Alistair Overeem
Alistair Cees Overeem (born 17 May 1980) is a Dutch professional heavyweight mixed martial artist and kickboxer, currently competing in the heavyweight division of Glory. He is a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and was the first fighter to hold world titles in MMA and K-1 kickboxing at the same time.RELATED:
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58. Brock Lesnar
Brock Edward Lesnar (/ˈlɛznər/; born July 12, 1977) is an American–Canadian professional wrestler, former mixed martial artist, amateur wrestler, and professional football player who holds both American and Canadian citizenship. He is currently signed to WWE. Lesnar is the only person to have won all of the primary heavyweight championships in WWE, UFC, NJPW, and the NCAA. Lesnar competed in collegiate wrestling for the University of Minnesota, winning the NCAA Division I national championship in 2000. He soon signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed WWE in 2002), rising to industry prominence in 2002 by winning the WWE Championship at age 25, setting the record for the youngest performer to win the championship. In 2004, Lesnar departed WWE to join the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL), but was cut from the team during pre-season. He won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in 2005 while with NJPW, and he re-signed with WWE in 2012; his 504-day reign as Universal Champion is the seventh-longest world championship reign in the promotion’s history.
59. Manny Pacquiao
Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao born December 17, 1978) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer. Nicknamed “PacMan”, he is regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously served as a Senator of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. Pacquiao is the only eight-division world champion in the history of boxing and has won twelve major world titles. He was the first boxer to win the lineal championship in five different weight classes, the first boxer to win major world titles in four of the eight “glamour divisions” (flyweight, featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight), and is the only boxer to hold world championships across four decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s). In July 2019, Pacquiao became the oldest welterweight world champion in history at the age of 40, and the first boxer in history to become a recognized four-time welterweight champion after defeating Keith Thurman to win the WBA (Super) welterweight title.
60. Shinya Aoki
Shinya Aoki born May 9, 1983) is a Japanese mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and grappler currently competing in ONE Championship’s and Rizin Fighting Federation’s Welterweight division. He also competes in DDT Pro-Wrestling where he is a former three-time DDT Extreme Champion. A professional competitor since 2003, he is noted for being the DREAM Lightweight Champion, former two time ONE Lightweight World Champion, former WAMMA Lightweight Champion and former Shooto Welterweight Champion. Aoki is an A-class Shootist and BJJ black belt, both under his long-term mentor Yuki Nakai, as well as a Black Belt Judoka. As of 2008, Aoki, along with DEEP champion Masakazu Imanari, and Sengoku champion Satoru Kitaoka have founded the “Nippon Top Team” as a group of elite Japanese grapplers competing in MMA.
61. Frank Mir
Francisco Santos Mir III (/ˈmɪər/; born May 24, 1979), is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed for Bellator MMA in the Heavyweight division. He formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for sixteen years. A former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, he holds the record for the most finishes and the most submission victories in UFC Heavyweight history. Mir possessed the longest uninterrupted tenure of any fighter in UFC history, competing for the company from 2001 to 2016. He was the first man to knock out and the first to submit Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.