Martial arts movies are their own brand of fun.
Whether you're into well-choreographed action, or just like watching chiseled warriors beat
each other up, your viewing choices are better than ever.
To help you stock up your kung fu queue, here some lesser-known martial arts movie stars
from around the world who deserve way more recognition.
Ilram Choi
Described as one of Hollywood's "go-to stuntmen," Ilram Choi has been working behind the scenes
in the industry for over a decade.
Formally trained in taekwondo and a self-taught master of gymnastics, Choi is responsible
for countless movie stunts you've seen since 2002.
Choi was one of Spider-Man's stunt doubles in the Amazing Spider-Man movies.
In fact, he was so good at being Spider-Man, he became the fight coordinator for Spider-Man:
Homecoming.
Choi has done stunt work for a bunch of video games, too, most notably serving as the basis
of Albert Wesker's fighting style in Resident Evil 5 as well as doing some of the stunts
from Devil May Cry 3.
Scott Adkins
This British actor is seemingly unable to avoid being typecast as a Russian thug.
Trained mostly in kickboxing with a background in taekwondo and gymnastics, Scott Adkins'
skills have recently been showcased during his numerous fight scenes as Yuri Boyka, the
straight-to-DVD hero of the Undisputed movies.
All in all, Adkins seems to feel most at home making cheesy direct-to-video movies with
even cheesier names like Ninja: Shadow of a Tear.
Marko Zaror
Before he became an action star, Chilean actor Marko Zaror initially made his foray into
the entertainment industry as a model.
Standing around pouting in a pair of jeans didn't cut it, so he decided to try his hands
at punching people in Spanish B-movies.
From this his transitioned to bit parts in Hollywood and Bollywood movies before finally
returning to his native Chile to become the country's first real action star.
Vidyut Jammwal
The big break for Vidyut Jammwal came courtesy of Commando: A One Man Army, in which he performed
all of his own stunts and choreographed his own fights specifically to show off his martial
arts prowess.
Most critics considered Jamwal to be the film's only real saving grace.
It was enough to get a sequel greenlit, which looks even more ridiculous than the first
movie.
In addition to being recognized as a phenomenal martial artist, Jammwal was declared PETA's
sexiest vegetarian in 2014.
Lateef Crowder
For anyone with a passing familiarity with the Tekken franchise, Lateef Crowder is basically
Eddy Gordo.
In fact, Crowder's physical resemblance to the character was so uncanny that he was the
only real choice to play him in the live-action Tekken movie.
"Bring it on boy.
Come on!"
Along with appearing in terrible film adaptations of popular video games, Crowder is a prolific
extra in movies when they need a thug who can can do cool spin kicks.
As a result, footage exists of Crowder getting beat up by everyone from Michael Jai White
to CGI wolves in the Twilight movies.
Sadly for such a capable martial artist, Crowder is criminally under-utilized in most of his
film roles.
His greatest fight scene might just be his earliest credited role in The Protector, which
saw him fighting against Tony Jaa.
Wu Jing
Even though he's never gotten the same recognition as guys like Donnie Yen or Jackie Chan, Wu
Jing is an astonishingly accomplished martial artist.
Known for his acrobatic fighting style, Jing has mostly starred in Chinese action movies
with fun names like Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg.
Wu Jing's bread and butter seems to be taking kicks and punches for a few minutes before
ending his opponent with a 40-hit combo.
As an OG of the martial arts world, Wu Jing has appeared in everything from cheesy '90s
action movies to gritty war films, and he always delivers.
Johnny Nguyen
While Vietnamese martial artist Johnny Nguyen has sporadically done stunt work in the U.S.
on projects like the original Spider-Man trilogy, a live-action Mortal Kombat TV show, and X-Men:
First Class, most of his appearances come from Vietnamese action movies.
If you've never heard of the guy and want to ease into his kick-centric world, you could
do worse than 2009's Clash, in which he kicks three people in the face at the same time,
all while wearing mom jeans.
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