Not just for the cameras: Five action stars who have black belts
There’s no rule that says an action hero is obligated to be able to kick anybody’s ass in real life, but it certainly helps in adding an air of authenticity.
That being said, nobody finds Tom Cruise or Harrison Ford any less believable because they haven’t spent years learning how to roundhouse kick an innocent stuntman square in the jaw, although on the other side of the coin, maybe Jason Statham wouldn’t have spent more than 20 years as a staple of the genre were he not so clearly proficient in the art of hand-to-hand combat.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was so muscular that it was a miracle he could even turn his head without having to rotate his entire upper body, and he’s arguably the most iconic action star of them all. The point is that there are a lot of intangibles required to make it a convincing lead in the world of intense, demanding, and explosive cinema, but a black belt certainly comes in handy on occasion.
It definitely did for Steven Seagal, largely because he doesn’t possess any acting chops whatsoever. That being said, his ex-wife was adamant the only reason her former spouse was awarded his black belt was because the person overseeing his demonstration fell asleep and decided to hand it over for shits and giggles. Of course, Seagal would deny that to the grave, but he’s also very fond of some bullshittery.
Seagal once broke the wrist of Sean Connery after the former James Bond star got a little cocky as a first-degree black belt in Kyokushin, which did admittedly come in handy when a furious lover pulled a gun on him during production of one of his earliest movies, necessitating a swift disarm to try and diffuse the situation.
Cut from the Seagal cloth of ‘knows martial arts but finds it impossible to emote’ is Jean-Claude Van Damme, who earned a second-dan black belt in Shōtōkan Karate before becoming famous largely for his ability to do the splits. He’s also skilled in kickboxing, taekwondo, and muay thai as well, even if his ‘Muscles from Brussels’ nickname was largely born from his bodybuilding title of Mr. Belgium before he turned his attention to acting.
Wesley Snipes is so lightning-quick that he was instructed to slow down when shooting the fight sequences of comic book trailblazer Blade, with his punches and kicks so rapid they were nothing but blurs on-camera. He’s a fifth-degree black belt in Shōtōkan and a second-degree in Hapkido, which helps explain why action heroism became one of his first post-stardom ports of call.
Not only is Dolph Lundgren a fourth-dan black belt in Kyokushin karate, but he won the European championships in 1980 and 1981 while still finding the time to earn two degrees in chemical engineering, earn a scholarship to the prestigious MIT, and become a bouncer and Grace Jones’ bodyguard/lover within the span of several years. Not only could he break someone in half, but he could educate them on science and deny them nightclub entry, too.
Five actors who have black belts:
- Wesley Snipes
- Sean Connery
- Jean-Claude Van Damme
- Dolph Lundgren
- Steven Seagal
