Martial art is a special kind of fighting that involves a number of different styles.
Most of the styles are focussed on providing the practitioner an advanced form of defence against would-be attackers, although some do instead offer offence-based training for the majority of the fight style.
There have been numerous famous martial artists from over the years; people that were able to devote much of their lives perfecting the particular fighting style that they studied and practised. With that in mind, these are some of the best martial artists that ever lived.
Yip Man
Yip Man wasn’t only a martial artist himself, but a great teacher, with many of his most devout students going on to teach others. In fact, his influence can still be felt in much of China, where martial arts still have a strong presence.
One of his students went on to become a famous movie star: Bruce Lee, but he also taught William Cheung, a grandmaster. Yip Man was highly proficient in Wing Chun and was a master of Wushu.
Chuck Norris
Most people have heard of Chuck Norris, an American film and movie start that would often perform his own stunts.
Many might also believe that Norris’ characters on screen were almost like caricatures of real martial artists, but, in fact, Norris was an extremely well-trained fighter and one of the best in the world.
During the course of his career, he won around 30 tournaments, and currently holds a black belt in Tang Soo Do. Much of his success as a martial artist was achieved before he became a film star, which is why many are not aware of his background in the art of fighting.
Mas Oyama
Oyama was a very well-known karate expert who spent much of his life fighting. He was also the inventor of full contact Kyokushin karate, and would go on to teach it to his many students. Over the course of his long and successful career.
Oyama would become known for taking on full grown balls, attending various demonstrations of his skill while in the United States, and for creating the 100-man kumite, where a fighter needs to face an unending stream of opponents over a two minute time frame. He was able to complete this three times over a course of three days, something that no other fighter has been able to achieve.
He was also known to be skilled in both boxing and judo, and his likeness can be found everywhere from pop culture to bingo games for real money.
Masahiko Kimura
Kimura’s rise to fame came after he was able to win against Helio Gracie during a judo match that was played in Brazil. In fact, he was able to beat his adversary by breaking his arm. The move that he used for it would later be known as the Kimura.
By the time he was 15, he was already a talented fighter that had earned the title of yondan and would go on to be declared as a godan in 1935 after a series of battles against 8 opponents.