8 Most Inspirational Martial Arts Movies

The sacred game of martial arts has been practiced and studied since centuries. It ties its origin back to the Japanese; martial arts are one of the finest and famous forms of self-defense which covers multiple subgenres. Martials arts have its practitioner distributed fairly all across the world. The ancient practice is entrenched in contemporary culture, with so much cinematic work on this practice it can be categorized as a separate genre.

Being a student, you always look up to a role model for drawing the incredible story which might inspire you. World these days relies too much on the entertainment industry, mostly it’s the cinematic world from where we get most of our inspiration and motivations. No matter whether there are documentaries, video films based on real events, or a fictional piece of art no one can deny the degree and extent to which films inspire us.

In this article we will cover the most inspirational and motivational martial arts movies of all the time. For knowing more about this sort click here. 

1) Facing Ali

In this film, Muhammad Ali’s ten former opponents and legendary heavyweight lifters discuss their careers, lives, lessons & experiences they shared with Ali in and outside the boxing world. A lot documentaries has been filmed that covers the life and career of the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali but this one is remarkable. This documentary tells the narratives about Ali from perspectives of most notable and worthy opponents which includes George Chuvalo, Ron Lyle, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Leon Spinks, and others. In this piece of cinematography these boxers talk about their lives, fighting training, careers against Ali. How he influenced and changed the world, the heart touching inspirational stories that helped them in different areas of life. 

2) Fist of Fury

China was left as a fractured country, after the war of Sino-Japanese (1894-1895). Its multiple pieces were handed over to Japan and different European powers. Japanese played a negative role in the history of Chinese followed by that period. During the era of post-World War II defeat, the economic fear and backlash towards the Chinese held Hong Kong and China mum regarding Japanese atrocities against Chinese. This moves Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury altered this all. The lead character definitely defeats the Japanese fighters in 1909 Shanghai, while the city was under brutal Japanese rule. Bruce Lee handled and crashed through the silent barrier, by giving Chinese an identity and pride.

3) Once Upon a Time in China

This film kick-started the Hong Kong cinemas towards the futuristic western action movies. The subject was totally native to the local audiences. Wong Fei-hung, a real-life character, a martial artist & a healer who became the folk hero. This film featured Jackie Chan as the Drunken Master. It’s the story Chinese rebel fighting a colonialist. The film offers a dazzling, kinetic, colorful, epic and pre-CGI spectacle. It’s wire-assisted fighting scenes are ingeniously filmed. 

Li is incredible. He's a fine actor, but his action really got the beating. He did it all: the fights with hands, sticks, feet, poles, and umbrellas. He himself is a gymnast, which made him depict the agility of a cat across the screen. 

4) Kuro-obi

This fine piece of cinematography was directed by Shunichi Nagasaki. It shows the karate era prior to World War II in the occupied regions of Manchuria, located in Japan. This film features a corrupt Japanese army that attempts to disturb the peaceful life in the mountain region of Karate dojos who use training sites for doing the military work. Prior to the peaceful death of the classical master Eiken Shibahara ' passes his Kurobe black belt to his 3 students. Beside assigning them the mission of defending their homeland & wisely decided who is the worthiest heir of this precious belt. The martial arts techniques used in the movie are executed amazingly. 

5) Zatoichi

One of the famous fictional characters produced by Kan Shimozawa (which was portrayed in other movies as well), but it’s the only version that allows movie director Takeshi Kitano to play the key part as well. Movie starts with portraying the story of a blind swordsman who comes to the small town which was actively involved in the fierce war of Yakuza. There he gets to meet with two geishas, whose parents were killed in a robbery that further escalated into a massacre and offers help. After figuring out who is responsible for the Yakuza, three of them join the forces for the sake of vengeance and make the town criminal free. Zatoichi is a samurai drama which was awarded a lot.

6) Rocky

Rocky Balboa, who was a small-time combatant, gets into a supremely rare fighting opportunity with a popularly known heavy-weight combat athlete named Apollo Creed. He struggles for going far beyond for the sake of his self-esteem.

It’s almost impossible that you haven't heard about this movie. Up until today’s date, there’s no boxing movie as popular as Rocky has been made. Rocky is flooded with inspiration words and quotations. The film features an inspirational story of some underdog who rises up to the top of the occasion, by battling loads of doubts & fears & proving his haters wrong. It’s a must watch movie for iron motivation and inspiration. 

7) The Raid 

It’s a story of a breathless and brutal martial artist that was shot in the city of Jakarta, in the direction of a Welshman. This list would be incomplete if we don't include this movie. This film features the story of precision and inventiveness, fighting sequences taking place. In the master realm of thrill, slapstick comedy, horror and the musical touch, which guarantees it to be an exceptional action-movie of the history. Plot of this feature film is not that complicated but the choreography is. A police unit who sets out on a fine morning to seize control of some tower in Jakarta who has been captured by some gang in the city of Jakarta. The mob isn’t a random one but kitted with the sophisticated CCTV and public addressing systems. The action scenes in this movie are filmed very finely. 

8) The Matrix 

Cocteau imagined it as the mirror which serves the purpose of a gateway to some other world in the era of 1930 film. The cinematography further clocks up in the debt of its critical plot. It proposes that what we see of feal reality is, is actually the cosmetic facade structured for concealing the terrible truth regarding our very own existence. Neo, is a computer bowfin featuring Keanu Reeves, who bears this burden of enlightenment. Reeves's blank emotions play the perfect role, as his character is expected to showcase such skills & qualities which are downloaded and crafted in his brain. For mastering the art of ju-jitsu, he installs a computer programmer. And pull all the martial art trick perfectly and swiftly. 

This film's concept is harnessed into the X-Files-style paranoia, but the martial art it shows is remarkable and inspirational. This movie is a fine source of motivation for combatants for so many reasons.  It teaches that violence does not come with the redemptive overtones; but played in the lap of thrill. Not just the anticipation of injuries. Secondly, this movie introduced some strange effect, which is copied and parodied as everything from Charlie's Angels to Shrek: A model which freezes in the midair with the camera floating in the circles.