Greatest Martial Artists in the World

[apeters28]

Ok I want to know who are some of the greatest martial artists in the world. I don't mean like Jet Li who is a Wushu champion and admits that he's never been in a real fight, I'm talking about people who are great fighters who maybe teach their art, but aren't necessarily in movies. If there are some actors who are great martial artists offset don't be afraid to include them.

Thank You
Andrew

[Black Jack]

Chuck Norris-have to include him as he has real class with the added benefit of real skill

Otherwise are you talking about people who you think have a real grasp of knowledge and skill???

In that case the list can be very personal and not include the standard names which one may find, teachers who are personal to you and your past or current training.

There are a TON of good guys out there if you are willing to look hard enough.

[Merryprankster]

Alexander Karelin

Renzo Gracie

Rickson Gracie

Kazushi Sakuraba

Cung Le

Peter Aerts

Jimmy Pedro

Kurt Angle

Cael Sanderson

Ralek

[Ryu]

A Los Angeles Police officer.



:D

Ryu

[KungFuGuy!]

So in order to be a great martial artist you have to get in street fights all the time? Give me a break, you don't know what martial arts is about.
Jet Li "admitted" to never getting into a real fight? As if that's something to be ashamed of. Anyone can fight, but it takes intelligence to talk yourself out of a fight. To be a great martial artist is not to welcome a confrontation, nor is it to fear one.
Bruce Lee is one of the best martial artists in history. He's not very popular on these boards because he discredited some aspects of traditional chinese kung fu, but nonetheless, he was extremely knowledgable and trained harder than anyone you know. If you doubt his knowledge, just read the tao of jeet kune do.

[wushu chik]

ME!

[red_fists]

Hey Wushu-Chick.

No, it can't be you.

As I am the best there is. and none will ever come close. ;)

[wushu chik]

WHATEVER Red_fists....get over yourself. YOU WILL NEVER BE AS GOOD AS ME!!! mmmooooowwwaaAhhhhHHHH
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAH

[Qi dup]

Ryu or Harry Wong. I'm sure there are tons of great masters, Most of which I will never meet.

[Ryu]

"Ryu or Harry Wong."



Me?? Naaaaaah :D

Ryu

[rubthebuddha]

alex gong

[red_fists]

Hi.

I don't think that you can compile a List.

As the great and true Martial Artists will hardly ever be known or allow themselve to be made public.

Living in Asia I have seen Practicioners that blow my mind away, and they have no School, ask for no Students.

One Guy I like teaches 2 Students at his Ramen(Noodle) Shop.
Every day before he opens the Shop he and his 2 assistance workout in the backroom.

Seeya.

[respectmankind]

I disagree, if you were implying that 'all' great masters will not be known to the MA public, but I doubt you were. As for the topic, I have a number ofc choices, and really couldn't pick just one or two.

[Jeff Liboiron]

I just gotta say Yip Man.

[red_fists]

Originally posted by respectmankind
I disagree, if you were implying that 'all' great masters will not be known to the MA public, but I doubt you were. As for the topic, I have a number ofc choices, and really couldn't pick just one or two.

Of course I am not implying "all". But how many People give kudus to greats like Jiang Fa and similar.

Yes, there are a lot of well-known and famous "Masters" out there, at the same time I have to say that a lot of them did self-promotion.

Other become well-known because their students did self-promotion.

But if you look at a lot of the CMA lineages there are a lot of unsung heroes out there.

Where the any less great than the famous ones??

Or how about other Students of Yip-Man, whose skill might exceed Bruce Lee's but they simply studied and continued living their life without changes.

[respectmankind]

Haha, you may think I sound like a ignorant twelve year old child when I say this, I know I will, but I think Bruce Lee could take on every single Yip Man student and Yip Man himself all at once. What now? lol, I will understand if anyone wants to cut me.

[red_fists]

Why would I want to cut you for Opinion??

[respectmankind]

Cause it is typical twelve year old boy opinion, **** you. Stop trying to sound noble. Well, Yip Man would be on the list, sop would Lee, but the list goes on and on. Lets see here. Can't leave out Van Damme, and that one guy who played Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat. My opinions are unchallengable.

[red_fists]

Originally posted by respectmankind
Stop trying to sound noble.

Hey, that is how I always sound, unless I play games with younger People on the Net. :p

But after 23 yrs of Training in a variety of MA, my Outlook has changed a wee bit.

Yep, now doing the old man's art of Tai Chi early mornings in the park.

(Boy am I gonna get it for this)

BTW, great MA:

Sho Kosugi
Ernie Reyes Jr.
Ueshiba Morihei

Seeya.

[respectmankind]

Tai Chi is a great complimentary 'Art'. It teaches, if you choose to learn, some great skills and attributes. I was hurt pretty bad by a Tai Cgi guy, but he has also been doing other arts and that for about 12 years and I was just starting out. What I wouldn't give to get back at his 50 year old ***. :)

[red_fists]

Hi.

Here a few more that some might consider great Artists:

Ron Collins
Ashida Kim
Steve Hunter
Gene Nelson

[Mr. Nemo]

Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogeuira (Pride HW Champ)
Vanderlei Silva (Pride MW Champ)
Randy Couture (UFC HW Champ)
Tito Ortiz (UFC LHW Champ)
Murilo Bustamente (UFC MW Champ)
Matt Hughes (UFC WW Champ)
Jens Pulver (UFC LW Champ)

An actor who is also a great martial artist: Oleg Taktarov.

[Nexus]

Anybody who studies Tae Kwon Do should be included on this list. Not to mention all practitioners of BJJ. Oh yah, and anyone who has competed in NHB UFC PRIDE type competitions. And lets not forget all of the members of the world wide wrestling federation and the WCW. And of course all of those guys from the backyard brawls videos, and of course every guest on the Jerry Springer show (lets not forget the bouncer steve). And last but not least it would not be a list of truly skilled martial artists without including the world famous Cyber-Chi Slinging Rich Mooney.

[myosimka]

Ashida Kim? ROTFLMAO. I love this place!!

[apeters28]

You're a moron KUNGFUGUY! why don't you chill out before you blow up. All i meant by that is people who are great martial artists and not just because they perform in the movies. Why don't you not jump to conclusions so fast next time!

[Jeff Liboiron]

Oh and let's not forget

John Wayne
Dwight Yokam
Clint Eastwood

Western style baby, YEAH!!!!!!

[DelicateSound]

Yip Man
Kyozo Mifune
Peter Consterdine
Geoff Thompson
Jackie Chan [Yes!!]
Rick Moneymaker
Ron Heimberger

[I Hate Ashida Kim]

red_fists said


Here a few more that some might consider great Artists:

Ron Collins
Ashida Kim
Steve Hunter
Gene Nelson



LOL!!! I hate Ron Collins, too!!!

Who is Steve Hunter? Do you mean Christopher Hunter?

Who is Gene Nelson, too?

IHAK

[Repulsive Monkey]

No way was he one of the greatest Martial Artists in the world like some one mentioned earlier, one of the most famous yes, but not one of the most best.

[red_fists]

Originally posted by I Hate Ashida Kim
red_fists said

LOL!!! I hate Ron Collins, too!!!

Who is Steve Hunter? Do you mean Christopher Hunter?

Who is Gene Nelson, too?

IHAK

Could be Chris Hunter the Guy that works with AK.

Gene Nelson, invented 2 Systems called:
EZ-TaiChi
Golden Tai Chi

While they may be valid and good, he made a lot of enemies on TC-Boards over the last Years by his behaviour.
And calling nearly all People Tai Chi wannabies.

Me and Ron had some good verbal fights.

Seeya.

[MIKSANSOO]

martial artist??!! is there any true martial artists anymore or was there any to begin with? there are many great fighters. there are also teachers who are good teachers but don't fight. is a martial artist someone who fights? or a good teacher? or someone who is in tune with themselves and their abilities? or combination of these things? had to define a martial artist, none the less picking one.

[norther practitioner]

http://www.eztaichi.com/certification.htm
any of these great tai chi masters...in reference to Gene Nelson
go check this out....pretty funny

[Chang Style Novice]

Lobo Fuerte (http://www.foxkids.com/tvshows/losluchadores/character_lobo1_losluch.asp) is the greatest martial artist in the world.

Ah thaw choo noo, foo!

[taijiquan_student]

That EZ Taichi better be a joke!:mad:

It's cause of crap like that that most modern-day taiji is so debased and useless. What bull$hit:mad:

(sorry--I get a little sensitive about this sort of thing)

[rubthebuddha]

<pats tjqstudent on the back>

there there. :(

[[Censored]]

All the world's greatest martial artists are in the movies. But all the martial artists in hit movies are phonies and frauds. Therefore, by a simple process of deduction, the world's greatest martial artist is: Troy Nicolo Ashford.

[Tae Li]

Hey Nexus.....you forgot to add yourself to that list.

And I dont care what anyone says, Jet Li is at the top of my list alog with Bruce Lee and some unfamous 'others'.:)

Tae Li;)

[prana]

Steve Urwin aka crocodile hunter :D

[KungFuGuy!]

Wow, what a Jack@ss.
You even said in your post that jet li is a wushu champion, not just a hollywood martial artist. You were obvious in your belief that in order to be a great martial artist you have to go around getting in fights. Thus, you are the moron.

Now, the other guy. Bruce Lee was an exceptional martial artist. So what if he did a lot of movies, it made him money. He had a great deal of knowledge on martial arts, the body, and the mind. Again, read the tao of jeet kune do if you doubt this. If you've seen any footage of him training, you wouldn't doubt for a second of his excellence. He could do spinning back kicks faster than most of you can punch, he could do more one fingered push-ups than most of you can do with both your hands.

[red_fists]

There are a few types of MA.

1.) Famous ones
2.) Famous and good ones
3.) Good ones
4.) Bad ones
5.) the great unwashed that consists of the rest of the MA Population..

[I Hate Ashida Kim]

Originally posted by red_fists


Could be Chris Hunter the Guy that works with AK.

...

Me and Ron had some good verbal fights.




I would be willing to bet that Chris Hunter is Ashida Kim. I've posted all the evidence here in the past, but I think it's gone with the old board.

Here are the main reasons for support:

1. The first book from these people was in 1980, "The Book of the Ninja" by Christopher Hunter. It had pics of Chris in it.

2. All subsequent books, released at a later date, are by "Ashida Kim." They feature the same person in them (Chris Hunter).

3. www.ashidakim.com is registered to a Christopher Hunter. This is verified by www.betterwhois.com .

4. The name "Ashida Kim" by itself is strange. "Ashida" is a Japanese name, "Kim" is a Korean last name. Not many people have mixed Korean and Japanese names. When asked about this, Ashida has replied to me that "there are many men named Kim." Which both a) doesn't answer my question and b) isn't relevent.

The most likely theory? Sales from his first book sucked, so he decided to publish them under a more "asian" sounding name to fool people in to thinking he was legit.

5. He's a white guy. Of all the people in the world with mixed Japanese and Korean names, how many of them do you think are caucasion?. Exactly.

6. His own student, Danny Sainty (see my signature), has admitted that Ashida Kim is not his real name.

So, according to the reflexive property in math, x = x. Therefore: Ashida Kim = Christopher Hunter = Fraud.

hehe :D

IHAK

[I Hate Ashida Kim]

red_fists

Oops I forgot to comment on the Ron Collins thing :)

Ron Collins is definately a weird guy. Did you know he now has books published with dojo press (Ashida's main publisher)? I remember looking through their online catalog and his book were all stupid. Same thing with Ashida's. Come on, The Amorous Adventures of Ashida Kim (http://www.ashidakim.com/dojopress/catalogbk41.htm)? Give me a break.

Hey look, here it is again!!! A Caucasion trying to pass herself off as Asian, again by Ashida's publishing company:"Kunoichi: Deadly Sisterhood of the Ninja" (http://www.ashidakim.com/dojopress/catalogbk4.html)

I know it's kind of hard to see, so go here (http://www.ashidakim.com/dojopress/cvr-Kunoichi.gif) to see the picture up close. Terri Shimura? She doesn't look like a Shimura to me. What do you think? She looks like some f-ed up goth chick who was taught to pose in that way... it doesn't even look natural.

****, Ashida keeps cranking out the cra ppy books doesn't he?
Some other things you might enjoy: Ninja Qi!!!!! (note the chinese spelling of Japanese 'ki') (http://www.ashidakim.com/dojopress/catalogbk16.html) Also note his caucasionness. "Ashida Kim," huh?

Ashida Kim with a Deer Pelvis on his head (http://www.ashidakim.com/dojopress/catalogbk1.html)

Here's a book by your favorite guy, "Black Dragon Ninjitsu by 5th Dan Koga Ryu Ninja Ron Collins" (http://www.ashidakim.com/dojopress/catalogbk20.html)

Unbelievable.

IHAK

[qeySuS]

Well Silva and Minotauro are great but i wouldnt put them in the "best of all times" category. They havent even defended their titles yet (the Otsuka fight was a non title fight and so will the Enson Inoue fight be).

Picking one is hard, but MY all time favourite fighter (and that's just what i mean, a fighter), is Igor Vovchanchyn, he VERY seldomly looses (he's in a slump now though) he's very humble, never badmouths others and always plays fair. Plus he's ALWAYS fighting and doesnt pick'n'choose his fights. Yes he lost to Coleman, Telligman and Sperry. But look at who he's beat. First guy to take out Sakuraba for one (big weight difference i know, but if you enter a no-weight tournement you dont make excuses, you know what your getting itno and beleave you can win).

Also to pick one of the Gracies i'd pick Royce for being the one stepping up to the plate showing the world that grappling is nothing to be neglected. Also he could have capitalized of his legend status but he risked it all and went into Pride GP and fought Sakuraba for hours and ended up throwing in the towell from a fractured shin, rumor has it he'll be attending the middleweight grand prix this year as well.

[Merryprankster]

Yeah, I should have added Royce, but figured that'd just be way over the top with Rickson and Renzo on the list. I put Renzo because he fights and doesn't make excuses, and stands up for what he believes in, even if he's wrong sometimes, and Rickson because even the best who roll with him flat out say he's THAT **** good :)

[Tae Li]

KungfuGuy!! I couldnt have said it better myself!;)

Tae Li;)

[wushu chik]

I still say ME!

~Wen~

[apeters28]

Kung Fu guy quit being so stupid...Jet Li says he never trained to fight...he trained to be a wushu champion which he is awesome at...and if does study a style i apolgize. I didn't mean movie stars had to be excludedd, i was more looking for people who were more underground or more discrete. Also I never put down Bruce Lee, or claimed that just because you were in a movie meant that you weren't a real martial artists. Try reading the message before you decide to snap next time...

[lordabu]

Black

hmm we all seem to have forgotten the guys with the names. By this i mean the original monks and masters of each art.

Forget all these random names you guys are spitting out, those people who own arms of martial arts orginizations.

The best guys will always be those who haev dedicated their lives towards Martial arts, those are living a life of their own.

What about the monks in the chinese retreats? The indian yogis, masters of kalariyapit etc..

These hidden people are the best martial artists, they are the only true martial artists.

Lordabu

[MonkeySlap Too]

John C "Iron" Kim
Sin Kwang The'

[Mr. Nemo]

QeySus: I was just listing the current champs in the two major MMA promotions. If I had to name the greatest martial artists of all time, it might look something like:

Lee Su-Wen
Dong Hai-Chuan
Liu Yun-Chiao
Yang Lu-Chan
Royce Gracie
Kazushi Sakuraba
Igor Vovchanchyn
Randy Couture

[red_fists]

Quicky Question.:

Why do so many People list YL.F,
He was not the creator of Tai Chi.

Actually neither was the Chen Village,
It was Jiang Fa that internalised the moves and taught BOTH the Chen Village and YLC.

Some say that YLC got more than the Chen Village hence his style is softer than Chen TCC.

Also YLC was one of many teachers at the Court, the courts always looked for new styles to make their fighter more unpredicable.

Ok, back to your scheduled programming.

[qeySuS]

hhe k, i like your list too.

Although i feel that Sakuraba has had sooo many controversial and "could have gone either way" matches, like when he fought Royce (i had them pretty even but he did win), the Guy Mezger fight (draw that got changed into a win), Newton fight which was a greaaaat fight, man that was a ground war and both guys were doing great and i was expecting either one to win. Same with Tiger (i was impressed with Tigers escapes).

Only guys i remember him winning decisively (sp?) are the Gracies, and well that's not a small accomplishment but they have kinda lost their legend status (well to be honest they lost that BECAUSE of him but nontheless :). He's always great fun to watch though.

And i dont watch UFC so i cant comment on Couture, the others i dont know (chinese names that is).

[King T]

I agree, some of the greatest and dedicated trainers are not known. I was in folken province( sorry pronounced in Cantonese), China and watched some of the greatest display of training and dedication, those people had to the art. The Shoalin monks would literately train in their sleep to eating dinner( Ma bu stance while eating). And they trained "beating" on each other to get used to the pain of fighting. There are " sleepers" out there. Besides what is known, is whom decides to be known.

[KungFuGuy!]

Heh, you call me stupid and then go on to make about 20 spelling mistakes. Good call.
Wushu may not be made for war or street fighting in mind, but nonetheless it's combat effective. Plus, wushu isn't the only thing jet has studied. You are still displaying that "martial artists is all about street fighting" mind set. Get off it, there's more to martial arts than fighting. Performing is one of the many aspects of martial arts, so if he chooses to specialize on that aspect, that makes him a lesser martial artist? Give me a break. You need to gain some perspective.
Why are you so self centered? I wasn't even talking to you about Bruce Lee, I made that clear in my posts.

[apeters28]

Whatever Jet can and can't do is completely fine because he is great at what he does. However, i was looking for traditional martial artists who train because of wanting to be a pure martial artist not because they want to be in movies. I think you need to gain some perspective because it was supposed to be an innocent question before you decided you wanted to shoot your mouth about something that wasn't supposed to cause conflict. Get a life!

[Colin]

Duh!
Jet Li is an ACTOR......
Bruce Lee was an ACTOR.
Van Damme is an Actor.
Dolf Lungren is an ACTOR (but he also fought and won)
hello!!!!!!!!!!
Actors act.
Next you'll be saying Mr Miyagi is a martial artist!

Real martial artists worth a mention would be:

Sun Lu Tang.

Gichin Funakoshi.

To put a label like "The greatest Martial artist" on anyone from BJJ is laughable! These guys are good at what they do, but really what do they do?
A handful of ground techniques and thats it!
Yes they are good at them, but theres a lot more to the complete package.

Surely to be a great martial artist, the person should have risen above the necessity to beat up another person for money and glory.

They should have achieved a state of peace and harmony within themselves.

They should hav given something positive to society, and helped those less fortunate then themselves.

And yes they should be able to kick ass.

please feel free to disagree with me, even though deep down inside, behind where your fragile ego lies, you know i'm speaking the truth!

kindest regards
Colin..........

[Highlander]

Why doesn't anyone ever mention Myomoto Masushi. I probably spelled that wrong, but I mean the guy that wrote the Book of Five Rings. He fought real life and death fights with a wooden sword against a blade and won them all. His writing is still considered a must read about combat.

Oh yea, and Conar McCloud - several fights a year for over 400 years without loosing his head. (I mean the real one, not the one you see in movies and on T.V.)

[Nichiren]

I will probably break the rules by choosing someone who is dead since long ago. I choose Miyamoto Musashi who lived in the feodal Japan. He won in over 60 sword duels and lived to tell the story. He also wrote the book Go Rin No Sho, The book of five rings. :p

D.a.m.n it Highlander! You and me must be connected or something. You beat me by seconds on that one... Amazing. :D

[KungFuGuy!]

Right apeters, I don't agree with you so I must have no life. Another good call :rolleyes:
Even if I didn't have a life, I'd choose that over being an imature, ignorant little POS like yourself :D
So now in addition to being a great street fighter, you have to be traditional too? I guess that eliminates the gracies, bruce lee, and just about everyone else alive. Think about what you're saying, you look even more like an @ss now.

Colin, so what if they're actors? They were still trained in martial arts, and continue to train. Bruce Lee had 19 years of wing chun and developed his own martial art, but he's just an actor? So I guess none of you are actualy martial artists since you have a job on the side. Nope, Colin says you're all students, business men, computer programers, etc. Colin doesn't care if you've been taking northern mantis for 30 years, you're not a martial artist because you have a job that makes you money.

Come on guys, lighten up. There seems to be an extreme predjudice against martial artists who use their training to make money. They're doing what they love to do and make money for it, just be happy of their success and life will be a little easer. It sounds to me that all this spite is based on jealousy.

[apeters28]

Alright Kung Fu Guy i really don't feel like making enemies on a forum nobody will get anywhere. I do think you misunderstood what I meant in my post and I agree with about everything you've said so far. All I was doing was really trying to find biographys on people I may not have heard of. So good look with your kung fu training and thanks for you input.

Andrew

[King T]

Bruce Lee

[respectmankind]

So, i am tired, and feeling bored. Anyone have anything interestig to talk with me about.

[Mr. Nemo]

Red_fists: I list Yang Lu-Chan because he was, as far as I know, the most famous fighter tai chi has ever had. You gotta respect a guy that fought 80 some matches and never lost, and who went around with a banner proclaiming himself to be invincible.

QeySuS: When you fight people like sak has fought, you can't expect to hand out endless beatdowns. As for the Royce fight, I had sak clearly winning that fight every round except the first - and anyway, it shouldn't matter. Royce's corner threw in the towel, it didn't go to the judges.

Anyway, the list of fighters sakuraba has submitted is impressive in itself: Marcus "Conan" Silviera (BJJ black belt with 40 some pounds on sak), Vernon "Tiger" White (IFC and KOTC Champion), Carlos Newton (UFC lightweight champion), Ebenezer Braga (K-1 kickboxer AND BJJ black belt), and Renzo Gracie (first Gracie to ever be submitted in MMA, unless you count Royler, which many don't).

Add this to his historical significance (first to ever beat a Gracie in MMA....his fight with Royce is one of the most important in the sport's history)

[Colin]

Highlander,
Surely it's spelt "MacLeod" not McCloud.:p

KFG,
"Bruce Lee had 19 years of wing chun" really?

I thought we were talking about the greatest Martial artist ever, not just your favorite fighter or film actor.

Therefore I stick by my last comments, except that i'd add Miyamoto Musashi to the list.

" So I guess none of you are actually martial artists since you have a job on the side. Nope, Colin says you're all students, business men, computer programers, etc. Colin doesn't care if you've been taking northern mantis for 30 years, you're not a martial artist because you have a job that makes you money."

I take it that English is not your first language, because you clearly do not understand what I have written.
At no point have I said that these people are not martial artists, only that as they are actors or as you put it: "students, business men, computer programmers" (2 m's in programmers by the way!)
None of these people, and that includes most of us could be considered as the "greatest martial Artist" because we have not had the opportunity to utilise our skills to the same extent as the people i have mentioned.

I appreciate that you are probably a Bruce Lee fan, and that it's offends you if someone derides him, but that was not my intention.
I was only stating that although Bruce lee was a good martial artist, and a good actor. He does not fall in to the same category as the ones I mentioned.

regards
Colin...........

NB: I've just had a peek at your profile KFG, now that I see you practice Wing Chun I understand so much more!