Celebrities Who Know Martial Arts

The link between martial arts and celebrities is much stronger than most of us would ever think. In action movies, an actor must know how to throw punches and kicks the right way so that the movie could look authentic. To prepare for this, actors must spend months training in martial arts schools with some of the best coaches.

Some other celebrities attend the classes to stay in shape and keep their bodies strong. And there is the last group of famous people who simply has a passion for martial arts and the excitement behind it.

In the end, celebrities are humans too and there are no differences between us when it comes to training. As we are about to see below, many of them are black belts as well.

Ashton Kutcher

Ok, this one was a bit of a surprise for me since I would never guess Ashton is a serious martial artist. I mean, don’t let his love and comedy movies fool you as he really knows how to fight.

Ashton is a combat sports fan and you can often see him attending the UFC and wrestling events. In fact, Ashton was a wrestler himself, and he once rolled with the famous UFC fighter, Cub Swanson.

Ashton started his martial arts journey in BJJ classes a few years ago. He surprised us all when he posted on social media that he is now the proud owner of the BJJ purple belt. He earned it by training under the Rigan Machado, who is a prominent name in the BJJ world.

Ashton didn’t get into martial arts because he needed to prepare for a movie and stuff like that. Instead, he has a real passion for combat sports and is a very dedicated student. I mean, you really have to spend years rolling on the mats to receive anything from Rigan Machado.

Vladimir Putin

Putin is not your regular type of celebrity but he certainly deserves a spot on our list. You see, many people see the president of Russia as the macho guy who simply doesn’t play around. I mean, that’s not a huge surprise since he is a former KGB agent and a man who grew up in a military family.

Putin has been into martial arts all his life. He is a black belt in Judo and many people believe he has been training it for over 40 years. Further, there are many videos out there showing Putin in a gi, performing Judo moves. And giving to some experts, Putin is legit and his technique is very good.

Putin is also a huge fan of martial arts, and he often goes to the Olympic games to support Russian Judo competitors.

Wesley Snipes

Snipes is an action movie star who has a really strong background in martial arts. He set on his martial arts journey at the age of 12 and he, in fact, never stopped training. Even at the peak of his acting fame, Snipes always managed to find some time to train.

What’s more, Snipes is a master in various combat styles. He is the 5th-degree black belt in Shotokan Karate and a 2nd-degree black belt in Hapkido. Further, he also trained capoeira, kung fu as well as Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Ed O’Neill

The American actor and comedian is largely known for his roles of Al Bundy in “Married With Children” TV show. However, as a martial arts black belt, Ed is also highly respected and loved in the martial arts world as well.

Photo by Walt Disney Television found on Flickr

Ed has been into BJJ for over two decades and is a black belt under none other than Rorion Gracie. Receiving a black belt from the Gracie family is like winning an Oscar in acting. I really think this is a fair comparison.

Despite the fact he is deep into his 70s, Ed is still going strong. He still attends the classes and roles with the pioneers of BJJ from the Gracie family almost every day. Without a doubt, he is the most capable 70-year-old man in the world.

“Receiving a black belt was the greatest achievement of my life, apart from my children.” — Ed O’Neill

Wiz Khalifa

Wiz is largely known for his wild and unhealthy lifestyle. According to the rap legend Snoop Dog, Wiz is the only man who can smoke more weed than him. I mean, that’s perhaps the ultimate achievement of every smoker, right?

So it was a big surprise when we realized that Wiz decided to slow his life down by training Muay Thai. And trust us, he has shown us some great skills after a short period of time and is a true workaholic. On top of that, he transformed his physique by gaining 40lbs of muscles!

Before joining Muay Thai, Wiz spent two months training BJJ with Rigan Machado first. But he found out that Muay Thai suits him better and that he can always come back to BJJ later.

Wiz is a true workaholic when it comes to training. He sometimes trains up to 3 hours a day and really enjoys hitting the pads and improving his cardio levels. (source)

Guy Ritchie

Ritchie is a famous movie director and producer who shares a huge passion for martial arts. He started training Karate very early at the age of seven and went on to later earn a black belt in both karate and Judo.

Later, Guy would shift to BJJ and train under the close eye of the master himself, Renzo Gracie. He quickly got hooked to it and after spending years rolling on the mats, Renzo provided him with the black belt. I mean, that is one of the biggest achievements of any BJJ fighter.

Guy has an amazing talent for martial arts as he is a legit black belt in three separate combat styles. That’s very rare even among the martial arts pros.

Robert Downey Junior

Robert is one of the highest-paid actors and a huge movie star. But like many of us, he also had to deal with some personal demons at one point in his life. He managed to find his inner peace in the martial arts academy, where he started training Wing Chun.

According to Robert, martial arts classes really help him to overcome all the issues and to improve the quality of his life.

“It’s really not that difficult to overcome these seemingly ghastly problems. What’s hard is to decide to do it.”

Katheryn Winnick

Katheryn stands for an ideal mix of beauty and badass. The Canadian actress took part in many famous movies and TV series like Vikings and 50 First dates. But what many of her fans don’t know is that she owns a legit martial art black belt.

Katheryn started her martial arts journey at the age of seven, and she was very talented. In fact, she went on to earn a black belt in Taekwondo just five years later at the age of 13. Later, she would go on to start three Taekwondo schools and teach the classes while attending the University.

Joe Rogan

Ok, Joe has a lot more to do with martial arts compared with the others from this list. But he is a celebrity in his own right and we just can’t go down without mentioning his name. For the ones who don’t know (if there are any), Joe is a famous UFC commentator, stand up comedian, and the biggest podcaster in the world.

Joe started training Taekwondo at a very young age and mastering the skills was the only thing he cared about during the childhood days. He went on to learn a black belt and win several state championships. He then shifted to BJJ later to train with his close friend and BJJ legend, Eddie Bravo.

Giving to Rogan, he wanted to become a well rounded martial artist and BJJ and he quickly fell in love with BJJ. Today, Joe is a black belt in BJJ and one of the biggest voices of the MMA sport.

Paul Walker

Paul was the “Fast and Furious” biggest star and a man who simply couldn’t live without the adrenalin. While alive, Paul took part in all that was dangerous enough to give him that much-needed adrenalin boost. Of course, fast cars and racing are the first things we all think of when thinking about Paul.

However, few people remember Paul was also a passionate and martial artist. He trained in the art of Muay Thai for many years and he wore a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Yet, his BJJ master had provided Paul with a black belt at his funeral. A really sad and heartbreaking gesture.

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