The Movies That Defined Martial Arts Styles

Introduction

While some action movies mix all manner of martial arts styles, there are others that highlight one and become the definitive cinematic portrait of this art form. Martial arts is used as a catch-all term to refer to a wide variety of combat sports and self-defense practices, but many of their styles encompass much more than this. A lot of martial arts schools teach entire philosophical lifestyles to their adherents, and displaying skills during fights is only a small part of their practices. Understandably, many martial arts movies are more interested in getting to the bone-breaking action.

Tony Jaa jumping through a ring of barbed wire during Ong Bak's foot chase

Bruce Lee and the Western Audience

While the influential martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was one of the first action heroes to introduce the art to a Western audience, he was far from the last. Stars like Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, and Donnie Yen have all wowed audiences with their acrobatic athleticism and their bruising fighting prowess. Each of these stars is adept at different forms of martial arts, although Lee offered what remains the definitive cinematic portrait of Kung Fu with his 1973 hit Enter The Dragon. Since that landmark film, the quintessential movie for many other major martial arts styles has been released.

Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon

Defining Movies for Major Martial Arts Styles

Muay Thai - Ong Bak (2004) Ong Bak is not a perfect movie, thanks to its predictable story and unnecessary comic relief. However, star Tony Jaa’s staggering Muay Thai skills ensure that the entire Ong Bak movie franchise is still well worth watching. Ong Bak’s plot follows a humble martial artist who ventures to the big city to retrieve the stolen head of his village’s statue. However, this is all filler. The entire appeal of Ong Bak is watching Jaa’s masterful grasp of Muay Thai, a brutally intense martial arts style that facilitates a lot of elbow and knee jabs, plenty of real impacts, and some incredible stunts.

Ip Man wins the final fight scene in Ip Man 4

Wing Chun - Ip Man (2008) Ip Man is a dramatization of the eponymous real-life Wing Chun master's life story. A master at the age of 20, Ip Man was most famous for teaching Bruce Lee much of what he knew about martial arts. A highly acclaimed biopic, Ip Man features numerous sequences that highlight the efficiency of Wing Chun. A close-quarters combat style, Ip Man’s Wing Chun was a welcome reprieve from both the balletic wire-fu that was popular in the early 2000s and the cartoony action of Stephen Chow’s movies.

Kung Fu - Enter the Dragon (1973) Just as Bruce Lee remains the most famous martial arts movie star, kung fu is still the most well-known style of martial arts for mainstream audiences. Enter the Dragon couldn’t have been a more accessible introduction to the art form, with Lee playing a 007-style secret agent who must infiltrate an island lair to take on a campy villain. Lee’s formidable martial arts skills meant he was a master in numerous styles, but kung fu became his calling card thanks to Enter the Dragon.

Karate - The Karate Kid (1984) While karate has a long and storied history, there is only one movie that most viewers associate with this martial art. The teen classic The Karate Kid used the titular martial art style as the central focus of an inspirational underdog story. Ralph Macchio’s titular hero learns karate from his elderly neighbor, Mr. Miyagi, and uses it to defeat a local neighborhood bully in this iconic yet dated ‘80s hit.

Daniel in a karate tournament in The Karate Kid

Taekwondo - The Kick (2011) While director Prachya Pinkaew is best known for his collaborations with Tony Jaa, including the aforementioned Ong Bak, he also gave Taekwondo some solid cinematic representation with 2011’s The Kick. Where Ong Bak focused on a lone martial artist, The Kick centers on an entire family of Taekwondo practitioners who become both celebrities and targets when their son foils an attempt to steal an artifact. While some American action movies utilized Taekwondo too, The Kick remains the best cinematic advertisement for the martial arts style.

The hero and heroine face down their attackers in The Kick 2011

Hapkido - The Young Master (1980) Long before Jackie Chan became an American movie star, the actor appeared in countless major Hong Kong action movies. One of these was his first movie with Golden Harvest, The Young Master. This 1980 action comedy saw Chan play a young martial arts student who must make up for his brother’s betrayal by going on an epic quest. The story allowed Chan to display impressive hapkido skills in the process.

Jackie Chan in Young Master

Capoeira - Only the Strong (1993) Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art style that mixes dance and combat in jaw-dropping displays of physical prowess. Although capoeira has been seen in plenty of specific martial arts movie sequences, including one of Jaa’s best fights, it has rarely been the subject of an entire movie. However, 1993’s cult classic Only the Strong remedied this. One of the most underrated martial arts movies, it sees a soldier return to his hometown and take the law into his own hands to fight back against drug dealers who have taken over his high school.

The villain and his henchmen size up the hero in Only the Strong 1993

Silat - The Raid (2011) While Ong Bak might have brought the brutality of Sonny Chiba’s movies back to the multiplex, viewers still weren't ready for their grisly cinematic introduction to the Indonesian martial art Pencak Silat. The ultra-violent action movie The Raid sees its rookie cop hero take part in a bloody siege on a high-rise run by a crime syndicate. The entire movie acts as one long, incredibly well-choreographed set piece wherein Iko Uwais uses the martial art style to put himself and the villains through a world of pain.

Iko Uwais pointing a gun and looking angry in the The Raid: Redemption.

Tai Chi - Man of Tai Chi (2013) Man of Tai Chi marked the directional debut of Keanu Reeves, a long-time martial arts enthusiast. While tai chi isn’t always seen as the most glamorous of martial arts styles, Man of Tai Chi proved in its propulsive story that the school was as cinematic as any. Man of Tai Chi’s action sequences were praised, as was Reeves’s turn as the movie’s main villain, but the actor’s first movie proved an unexpected flop upon release.

Keanu Reeves in Man of Tai Chi

Arnis - Kamagong (1987) Arnis is the national martial art of the Philippines, and it is notable for incorporating more weaponry than other traditional styles. Although arnis has rarely been showcased onscreen, both Dune and The Equalizer relied on arnis during their action sequences. However, Kamagong remains the best screen depiction of the fighting style. A pedestrian action drama in terms of story, Kamagong can’t be faulted for the movie’s many memorably brutal fight sequences and impressive displays of their under-seen martial arts style.

The hero trains in Kamagong 1987