The Best Martial Artists of All Time

This article will forgo including fighters from the modern era, but of course honorable mentions go out to George St. Pierre, Randy Couture and Anderson Silva. All three great pioneers in their given martial arts styles being ground and pound, wrestling, and Muay Thai/BJJ respectively. I wouldn’t include Fedor here, because he is for the most part a brawler who knows how to hit the sweet spot again and again. With that said, I wouldn’t want to meet him in a cold dark alley of Russia on even one of my better days.

Moving away from the modern warriors, this list is going to look at innovators, thinkers, movers and shakers from the history of martial arts. These folks were the impetus and inspiration for great changes in the martial arts, and a few were seemingly unstoppable forces in their time.

Bodhidharma (Da Mo)

This legendary monk is attributed as being the founder of many things including Ch’an Buddhism, tea and the Martial Arts system of the Shaolin Monastery. Believed to be of Persian or possibly Southern Indian descent, he came to ancient China as a wondering ascetic who was thought to be in the lineage of Gautama Buddha himself. Many scholars debate about the validity of him passing through Shaolin, and endowing the monks of the temple with sacred training manuscripts. However, the legend goes like this. When Da Mo happened upon the monks of the Shaolin temple, he found them to be weak, and unable to practice their meditations long enough to focus the mind to the point of attaining nirvana. There were also many bandits and thieves in the surrounding community who would steal the monks possessions and food making it even more difficult for them to concentrate. Because of this, Da Mo began teaching them various qi gong meditation exercises. One of which was the Xi Sui or Marrow Washing chi kung, and the other was Yi Jin or Muscle/Tendon Washing Chi Kung. The latter text is said to have been lost.

Musashi Miyamoto

Miyamoto was not only a renowned swordsman, but he was also a philosopher of strategy. “The Book of Five Rings,” is a major treatise on sword fighting, and, like Sun Tzu, has been applied to various other areas of strategy including business and politics. Miyamoto was merely concerned with the most effective manner of winning a sword fight, and his experience was a testament to his knowledge of the subject.

Theogenes of Thasos

Theogenes was an ancient boxing and pankration champion from Greece. Pankration was more or less the earliest version of what is now mixed martial arts, and it is said that Theogenes was a champion of both boxing and pankration numerous times. According to legend, Theogenes won as many as 1300 victories in various sports, was a courageous competitor, and an exceptional athlete overall.

Sun Lu Tang

The fighters have their place, but the philosophers, thinkers and innovators take precedence. Sun Lu Tang was just such an innovator. He took Tai Chi and offered it up for academic evaluation. Sun was a weak lad as a child who suffered from various impediments. He used to Tai Chi as a way to cure himself, and then developed his own system for others to utilize. His devotion to the art and the intellectual pursuit of the art is one of the more important contributions to Taijiquan and martial arts as a whole. 

Miyagi Chojun

One of the first masters to combine hard and soft styles, Miyagi Chojun took Karate and Neijia to a new level. He is the creator of Goju Ryu Karate, and his style has stood out among the many different karate schools of Japan for a few reasons. The pinnacle of the Goju Ryu style surely is found in the San Chin kata which applies special breathing patterns and stances to kinetic and isokinetic exercises. In many ways, Chojun Miyagi was far ahead of his time when he created the San Chin Kata, but then again maybe not.

Sonny Chiba

The last two entrants in this best of list are actors, and this might come be scorned by some. Sonny Chiba held and still holds great influence for many martial arts practitioners. His films were not only great for martial artists, but for film enthusiasts in general. He also played tribute to the history of Japan’s Bushido culture in many of his films, and aided in educating people in and outside of Japan as to the culture.

Bruce Lee

The list would simply be incomplete without the Dragon. He not only influenced film, but his “Tao of Jeet Kune Do,” is more than certainly the basis for the new trend of MMA. His onscreen exploits are highly regarded in the martial arts community. Is he the best that ever was? Very debatable.

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