Action movie star Wesley Snipes is also an experienced martial artist who is skilled in multiple styles. His celebrated combat abilities supported his performance as one of the superhero genre’s founding fathers in the original Blade trilogy that kicked off in 1998. Before that, he starred opposite Sylvester Stallone in Demolition Man and became synonymous with exciting action.
Blade actor Wesley Snipes would not have had as successful an acting career without his passion and commitment to training in martial arts. Many of his most famous parts utilize his impressive martial arts prowess, with major projects opening the door for more black actors in action roles. Snipes reprised the legendary Blade in Deadpool and Wolverine, 20 years after his trilogy ended, merging the Fox Universe of Marvel characters into the MCU, and giving comic book movie audiences one last taste of his martial arts skills and highlighting his talent as a physical performer.
Wesley Snipes Has Been Training In Many Martial Arts Styles Since He Was 12
He Even Started A Company To Train Bodyguards In Martial Arts
Snipes has been featured in many fight scenes throughout his career, many of which were infused with the various martial arts styles and patterns that he is trained in. He started training when he was only 12 years old during the mid-1970s, and brought those skills to the Hollywood movie scene. Snipes is widely-respected for creating new perceptions of real martial arts in the action genre and is still known to train heavily.
Over the years, Snipes has practiced Shotokan Karate, Hapkido, kung fu, capoeira, eskrima, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Passenger 57, which Snipes leads as John Cutter, was one of the first action movies that allowed Snipes to fully embrace his training on screen. A mix of these styles can also be seen in Blade, Demolition Man, Money Train, and Murder at 1600. At the peak of his career, Wesley Snipes formed a security firm to provide VIPs with martial arts-trained law enforcement, and expressed interest in opening a bodyguard school.
Snipes Holds A Black Belt In Shotokan Karate & Hapkido
Blade Changed The Game For Martial Arts In Hollywood
Wesley Snipes has always been more than just an actor, and within his extensive list of martial arts styles that he’s trained in, two stand out as his specialties. He is a fifth dan black belt in Shotokan Karate, a style that focuses on inner and outer peace, and popularized karate training in the US. Impressively, Snipes is also a second degree black belt in Hapkido, a Korean form of self-defense that involves locks and grapples.
Shotokan is the style that influences most real karate in movies, and traces of it are infused into the style shown in Netflix’s
Cobra Kai
. Bruce Lee showcases Hapkido in multiple movies, including
Game of Death
, and the style is also heavily focused on in the
Billy Jack
westerns.
Blade dominated the box office and spawned a superhero franchise that revolutionized cinema and showcased how martial arts can be infused into combat sequences. Despite martial arts’ long association with cinema – courtesy of screen legends like Bruce Lee – Snipes arguably helped make the discipline even more mainstream. His impact on action and the blockbuster is highlighted by his reception of a Walk of Fame star in 1998. Wesley Snipes is still celebrated for his immense talent and rich martial arts background.
