there's nothing quite like a good fight scene who doesn't love seeing cinemas greatest martial artists do get out on the big screen but while they might look awesome throwing those high kicks some of the most iconic martial arts actors don't even have a black belt it's probably important to get a handle on how the belt system works it's also worth knowing that the term martial arts is plural for a reason there are hundreds of different schools of fighting across the globe and as much as movies like to simplify things down to either karate or kung-fu those are only two of the most popular styles they're certainly not the only ones practiced by martial arts actors in fact most of these disciplines don't follow a belt system at all and many of the most revered martial arts actors have no belt simply because none were offered by their discipline many martial arts actors also come from a dance background instead of a fighting one this tracks because the main attribute for a movie star is performance not victory fight scenes in any movie especially martial arts movies are about cooperation and telling a story rather than defeating an opponent the best comparison is professional wrestling where many wrestlers show off their skills by fighting invisible men to demonstrate how to take bumps and tell stories at the same time there's also a trend in martial arts now known as black belt factories or McDo [ __ ] schools that teach watered-down fast-paced martial arts lessons with a goal of pumping out as many black belts as possible this is done just so people can have the prestige of having a black belt without putting in the work many martial arts websites now offer warnings about black belt factories and how to spot them in other words in today's age black belts can be highly overrated and just because an actor doesn't have one that doesn't mean they don't know what they're doing Bruce Lee is the name most associated with martial arts movies and too many people martial arts in general the old single-handedly started the martial arts revolution in the West his movies are bedrocks of the martial arts movie genre and he never had a black belt in any discipline Lee's primary martial arts background was in Wing Chun which he studied directly under the famous hit man he excelled at this art but it just so happened that Wing Chun offered no belts to its students when we moved to America he's studied acting at the University of Washington he soon began teaching his own variation of Wing Chun which eventually morphed into jeet kune do– he described this as a hybrid style rather than an organised institution and it's this philosophy that shines throughout all of these movies as an actor as a martial artist as a human being all these I have learned from Marshall David Carradine was best known for starring as the titular villain in Kill Bill and in the TV show kung fu is Caine a Shaolin monk wandering the American Old West kung-fu was the first exposure many Americans had to come foo or to any other kind of martial arts and in many ways Carradine was the face of American martial arts but not only did Carradine have no black belt ER in the height of the show's popularity he also lacked any kind of formal martial arts training whatsoever Carradine originally relied on his experience and dance gymnastics and fencing through the early stages of the show's run he later developed a deeper interest in kung foo and while he never became a master he nonetheless saw himself as something of an ambassador for the style Carradine later learned enough martial arts to produce his own instructional videos on tight cheap but aspera skill as a fighter as Chuck Norris who faced him in lone wolf McQuade once quipped David Carradine is about as good a martial artist as I am an actor gina carano is the most recognizable name in women's MMA for years and she since gone on to enjoy a solid career in acting in addition to a series of direct-to-video martial arts movies for the diehards she has also appeared in Fast & Furious 6 Deadpool and the mandalorian despite all these accomplishments however she doesn't have a black belt at least not yet Carano got her start in Muay Thai which doesn't follow traditional belt rankings she compiled a 12-1 in one record before getting involved in MMA where she found even more success Khurana was often labeled the face of women's MMA where she compiled the seven and one MMA record her final match was a loss against Chris cyborg and the first ever women's match to headline a major MMA event not long after her Carano went into acting but she never left martial arts behind in 2014 she started practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu working her way up from a white belt gently is one of the most recognizable martial arts stars out there American fans will know impre movies such as hero fearless unleashed and more commercial fares such as The Expendables and lead the weapon for all of this is backed with genuine skill too manly is a champion in at least one field of martial arts that said he's never acquired a black belt this is because ly studies wushu our martial art with no belt ranking system from a young age he was a martial arts prodigy competing against adults before he was even a teenager and winning the number of medals in the process at one point his wushu team made a visit to the White House and met Richard Nixon the president humorously offered the young Lee a role as a bodyguard Lee responded I don't want to protect any individual when I grow up I want to defend my 1 billion Chinese countrymen Lee retired at age 19 to pursue a career in film Michelle Yeoh is one of the most famous martial arts actresses of her era most known to Western audiences for her turn is Wei Lin and Tomorrow Never Dies and you shoot Leon and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon yo also has a long history of starring in major Hong Kong action flicks she performs many of her own stunts too despite having no formal martial arts training and no belt of any kind yo is a natural athlete growing up but her true passion was ballet she attended the Royal Academy of Dance in London before her mother entered her in a beauty pageant which she won that victory landed her and offered a star in a commercial with Jackie Chan and this snowballed into her acting career in Hong Kong and eventually Hollywood as for martial arts yo once said I don't profess to be I can't profess to be a martial artist because I've never been formally trained I've never gone through the belt system because I never had the time in that way Ching Pepe has often considered the first female martial arts star she had a long and successful career and was at one time one of the biggest stars of the Hong Kong martial arts genre her role in come drink with me is considered one of the iconic appearances within the kung fu movie genre but Western audiences might recognize her from return as Jade Fox and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon of course Chang accomplished all of this without a black belt of her own Chang started her career as a dancer she came to the attention of wushu film director Qing foo who was convinced that her skills and dance could translate to combat she had her doubts but accepted the challenge head-on as she later said I wanted to beat all the boys if the boys could do it I could too Chang's willingness to get physical take a punch and do her own stunts got her far in the industry and cemented her legacy is one of the all-time it's greats Eve Torres made her name in the WWE where she won the 2007 Diva Search and went on to hold the WWE Divas Championship three times after retiring from wrestling in 2013 she took on acting work playing chancara in the Scorpion King 4 and facing off against Jackie Chan and skiptrace she also appeared in an episode of Supergirl as the villainous maximum because Torres comes from a dance background however she has no black belt to speak up she was co-captain of the fly girls USC's hip-hop dance crew and also danced for the NBA Summer League she won the a / mentioned 2007 WWE Diva Search and worked full time as a wrestler for six years during her time as a wrestler Torres started practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2014 she married henna gracie of the famous gracie BJJ family who she met while training at the gracie academy she was awarded the purple belt in 2016 after nearly nine years of study and now teaches the gracie women empowerment self-defense program Robin Shu was one of the most notable martial arts actors of the 90s best known for playing Liu Kang in both Mortal Kombat's and Mortal Kombat annihilation he also starred in Beverly Hills ninja opposite Chris Farley on top of that Shu appeared in all three of Paul WS Anderson s death race movies choose studied karate and college but disliked it so he left the martial arts world behind to become a civil engineer but while on vacation in Hong Kong he was recruited to be in a martial arts movie because of his noticeable large shoe size he performed his stunts so well that it quickly snowballed into a movie career Chiu later studied wushu a martial art with no belt ranking and has since used that as a basis for all of his fighting scenes even before the Keano sauce brought on by John wick Keanu Reeves has enjoyed a long and illustrious career as an action movie star you wanted me back his turns in speed and Point Break first demonstrated his big-screen combat skills before the matrix put him on the martial-arts map and his recent movies has shown off even more of the actors fighting skills but despite battling Agent Smith and facing down the Russian mob Reeves has never actually earned a black belt Reeves has a bit of a sporty background as he was a successful hockey goalie during his school years but for the titular role of John wick he had to learn both judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu since many of the action sequences in the movies feature moves that are very common at BJJ since he started from the bottom he earned a white belt and has been steadily working his way up in 2017 he was awarded an honorary black belt but he has yet to earn the real thing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is one of the most popular forms of martial arts for actors one such practitioner was the late Paul Walker who loved BJJ but never got his black belt at least while he was alive Walker was an enthusiastic student of BJJ he even made sure his movies included action scenes that highlighted his skills instead of simple punches and kicks and techniques from his training sessions were included throughout the Fast and Furious franchise Walker trained for almost 10 years under Ricardo Miller of Paragon Brazilian jiu-jitsu in Los Angeles and wanted more than anything to be a black belt he knew he'd have to earn it however and once said I will get my black belt even if I need to get it in my coffin tragically Walker fell shy of his goal before he died in a car accident – 2013 Miller posthumously awarded Walker of 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