Movie Star Martial Artist, what Style and Rank are they?

[Dragon Fist]

Hi guys,
I need your help in this matter.

I always get asked about curtain Martial Artist/Movie stars.
Mostly they want to know what style and rank.
Here is what I have gathered so far.

If there is anyone out there that knows different please let me know.


Chuck Norris –
6th Degree Black Belt in Tang So Doo
8th Degree Black Belt Grand Master recognition in the Tae Kwon Do system
Founder of Chun Kuk Do ("Universal Way").
Also practiced Judo, Shito-Ryu Karate, and Brazilian Jujutsu


Jean-Claude Van Damme –
1st Degree Black Belt in Shotokan Karate

Jeff Speakman –
6th degree black belt in American Kenpo Karate
7th degree black belt in Goju-ryu Karate

Steven Seagal –
7th Dan in Aikido


Wesley Snipes –
5th Degree Black Belt in Capoeira


Dolph Lungren –
2nd Degree Black Belt in Karate (I don’t know what kind of Karate)


Jet Li –
Shaolin Wushu
Tai Chi

Jackie Chan –
ChinaDramaAcademy


Bruce Lee –
Wing Chun
Jeet Kune Do

 

[Hand Sword]

I remeber a BlackBelt Mag. article about dolph lundgren, his style was Kyokushinkai karate.

 

[Dragon Fist]

I remeber a BlackBelt Mag. article about dolph lundgren, his style was Kyokushinkai karate.

Thank You, Thank You

 

[MA-Caver]

Like wise you can say about Bruce Lee as being the Grand Master of JKD as he developed the style on his own. He studied Wing Chun under Master Yip Man but I do not know what ranking he may have held. Then while living in Seattle he founded/created Jun Fan Gung Fu and from that came Jeet Kun Do.

(if I put my foot in my mouth here with the above... it won't be the first time...err foot in mouth that is.. )

Check out ( and have your friends check out) this site as it gives good brief bios of celebrities and their individual martial arts.

Jackie Chan by the way I believe is also a Wing Chun artist.

 

[BlackCatBonz]

as far as i have read in magazines.....wesley snipes major martial art is hapkido.

shawn

 

[loki09789]

as far as i have read in magazines.....wesley snipes major martial art is hapkido.

shawn

His root/base is more in kickboxing/TKD/Hapkido arts...the Caporiea stuff came later and, honestly, seems to have been an attempt to bring in his Afro/cultural heritage into his action scenes to increase interest in a Black action hero for a Black audience. I think it is a good motive considering what he is doing with his marital arts. Anyone remember his martial arts special on FOX a while ago? Majority of featured artists were either black/asian and/or working to use martial arts to improve the character/quality of peoples lives....

Snipes has a good goal for how he uses/promotes his art image.

 

[Dragon Fist]

Like wise you can say about Bruce Lee as being the Grand Master of JKD as he developed the style on his own. He studied Wing Chun under Master Yip Man but I do not know what ranking he may have held. Then while living in Seattle he founded/created Jun Fan Gung Fu and from that came Jeet Kun Do.

(if I put my foot in my mouth here with the above... it won't be the first time...err foot in mouth that is.. )

Check out ( and have your friends check out) this site as it gives good brief bios of celebrities and their individual martial arts.

Jackie Chan by the way I believe is also a Wing Chun artist.

Thank You for reminding about Jun Fan Gung Fu, actually, from what I read, Bruce Lee’s Birth Name was Lee Jun Fan.



And thank You very much for the link to the site, it was very informative.

 

[MichiganTKD]

I was unaware that Chuck Norris ever studied Tae Kwon Do. As far as I knew, he was a primarily a Tang Soo Do stylist.

Jackie Chan also studied Hapkido to improve his movie kicks. Interesting Hapkido site that says that many Chinese action stars studied Korean arts because their on-screen kicking was not good. Jackie Chan was no exception. Also, Angela Mao Ying studied Hapkido for the same reason.

Bruce Lee studied under Jhoon Rhee to better his kicks, although I doubt he ever earned rank. The scene where he does a sliding side kick to fell Bob Wall in Enter the Dragon is classic Tae Kwon Do. In fact, much of the kicking he does in his films derived from Tae Kwon Do.

 

[John Bishop]

I was unaware that Chuck Norris ever studied Tae Kwon Do. As far as I knew, he was a primarily a Tang Soo Do stylist.

In the 70's Chuck took some of his black belts to Korea to test at the Kukkiwon because he wanted them to have international recognition and certification.

 

[Dr. Flem]

Just some info on Jackie Chan which was taken from some Faq a while ago. Sorry, but I can't remember where it came from... anyway...

---

In Jackie's early films, he almost exclusively uses Sil Lum (Shaolin) styles of the type he learned at the Peking Opera School. He especially uses the Snake, the Crane, and the Dragon styles. He also utilizes the "Drunken Fist" technique in Drunken Master I and II.

Jackie's later work emphasizes his speed and acrobatic abilities. His flashy high kicks come from his study of Hapkido, and his quick blocks and punches are characteristic of Wing Chun. Jackie also has stated that he has studied Karate, Judo, boxing and even fencing. Ultimately, all of these are combined and improvised into a very unique and personal style. Jackie reportedly has said that, if he wanted to, he could develop his own unique fighting system, as Bruce Lee did with Jeet Kun Do.

---

 

[OULobo]

[

Wesley Snipes-5th Degree Black Belt in Capoeira

I don't think that Capoeira uses a belt system.

 

[Dragon Fist]

I don't think that Capoeira uses a belt system.

I got this information from an article I read on the internet about him.
I do not know myself if Capoeira uses a belt system.

 

[Dragon Fist]

In the 70's Chuck took some of his black belts to Korea to test at the Kukkiwon because he wanted them to have international recognition and certification.

Hi John,
Do you happen to know anything about Chuck's Chun Kuk Do?

Sid

 

[chinto01]

We are all inquiring about their rank however the bigger question I have is do they still train? Holding rank is one thing. Continuing their training is different.

 

[Dragon Fist]

We are all inquiring about their rank however the bigger question I have is do they still train? Holding rank is one thing. Continuing their training is different.

This was actually going to be my follow up question, thanks chinto01

 

[bignick]

Bruce Lee studied under Jhoon Rhee to better his kicks, although I doubt he ever earned rank. The scene where he does a sliding side kick to fell Bob Wall in Enter the Dragon is classic Tae Kwon Do. In fact, much of the kicking he does in his films derived from Tae Kwon Do.

I believe Bruce also worked with Chuck on his kicks. I saw an interview with Chuck Norris once about a discussion he had with Bruce and kicking. I think it was on Enter the Dragon: Special Edition DVD.

 

[Dragon Fist]

I almost forgot to add Lucy Lui, she is a Filipino Martial Arts practitioner (Eskrima), though I don't know for sure if she is ranked or not.

 

[Ceicei]

I got this information from an article I read on the internet about him.
I do not know myself if Capoeira uses a belt system.

They do have colored rope "belts", but their system of measuring skill is rather different than the way of other martial arts.

- Ceicei

 

[Danjo]

William Shatner- Supreme Grand Master of Kirk-Fu. Seriously though, he did study karate for a long time, though I don't know what it was. Same with Robert Conrad, and Robert Culp.

 

[pete]

fat albert did sumo, hey-hey-hey