Martial arts movies are pretty much every action movie fan’s guilty pleasure, aren’t they? It’s so hard to take them seriously, but they’re so entertaining to watch. There’s a plethora of martial arts out there and most actors tend to stick to one of them because it’s pretty much impossible to learn them all and bring them to the silver screen in a convincing matter.
Some martial arts actors however, didn’t even manage to get a black belt in either discipline. That sounds like cheating, but it isn’t really. Let’s take a look.
David Carradine
Despite starring in quite a few kung fu projects like Kill Bill, David doesn’t know any kung fu at all. All he knows is dance and gymnastics. Chuck Norris once said that David is as good a martial artist as Chuck is an actor, which probably says all that needs to be said.
Paul Walker
Paul Walker was an avid practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but he never got his belt while he was alive. Due to his prowess in the sport, he was granted a black belt after his death. Considering how he’d been training for over a decade with great success, it was deserved.
Jet Li
We all know Jet Li can’t act and plays in loads of action movies, so we can assume he knows how to fight, right? He does – he’s in fact quite talented (a prodigy even) in Wushu, but this form of martial art doesn’t use a belt system.
Keanu Reeves
Also a practitioner of BJJ like Paul Walker, Keanu has only recently started working himself up the belt system. Despite him not being quite at black levels yet, we have no doubt that he’ll manage to snag a black belt sooner or later. Probably for John Wick 6 or something.
Bruce Lee
Yup, Bruce didn’t get a single black belt in his life. Of course, he did practice wing chun, which doesn’t have a belt system. I’m pretty sure he would’ve gotten a black belt otherwise. I mean, Bruce studied under the legendary Ip Man.
Michelle Yeoh
Despite playing in most martial arts movies in the 90’s, Michelle has zero martial arts training. She was only formally practiced ballet and has zero belts to account for.
