These 10 action shows are must-watch series formartial artsfans.Martial arts and movieshave long had a close relationship, with stars like Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Donnie Yen, and Jean-Claude Van Damme being staples of the industry and the art. However, television is no slouch when it comes to martial arts series.
It’s a bit more difficult an endeavor to make a good martial arts TV show than a martial arts film. Martial arts productions require choreographed stunts, huge set pieces, and often, the actors themselves are placed in dangerous situations. These TV shows manage to mix martial arts and drama into one coherent and engaging story.
A show titledKung Fuhad better have some good martial arts choreography, and on that front, the three-season CW series succeeds.Kung Fufollows Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang), a Harvard dropout who travels to a monastery in China to learn Kung Fu. She returns to San Francisco to protect her family from Triads who have popped up there.
A re-imagining of the 1972 TV series starring David Carradine and Kwai Chang Caine,Kung Furetains the spirit of the original but updates the setting. The fight choreography is strong, though a little reliant on slow-motion, and the likeable cast makes up for some clunky exposition and storytelling.
Jeffrey Meek stars as the eponymous Jonathon Raven inRaven, a former Special Forces agent who was trained by ninjas. Raven retires to Hawaii in order to track down his long-lost son, but is instead constantly plagued by assassins and former associates hell-bent on killing him.
He’s aided by his eccentric military buddy, Herman Jablonski (Lee Majors).
The series combines detective stories, buddy-cop aspects, and plenty of martial artsfor something fun, exciting, and intriguing. It is a classic of the genre and is the exact type of martial arts TV show storytelling that inspired a generation of young kids to get interested in martial arts in the first place.
Science fiction and martial arts come together inInto the Badlands. The series is set 500 years from the present, where constant war has left the world in ruins. Some technologies remain, but guns are shunned and reviled, forcing people to rely on melee weapons and martial arts to settle their differences.
Between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi lies a wasteland known as the Badlands, where the majority of the story takes place between feuding feudal gangs.A lot is left on the table when it comes to storytelling, with three seasons not able to cover the intricate plot, but the martial arts on display are colorful and worthwhile.
House of Ninjasis a Japanese action series developed for Netflix that revolves around the Tawaras, a shinobi family who live in a “house of ninjas” in present-day Japan. After a tragedy occurred during a mission six years ago, the Tawaras left the ninja business, but the start of the series finds them dragged back in.
The series definitely veers more toward drama and story, but there’s plenty of excellent martial artistry on display that bridges the captivating moments of the story.House of Ninjasproduction is also excellent, and looks better than most other Netflix originals. It’s nothing novel, but it does everything well.
The Brothers Sunstars Sam Song Li as Bruce Sun, an average Californian whose life is turned upside-down when his older brother, Charles Sun (Justin Chien), arrives in Los Angeles with some revelations. Bruce is the heir to a powerful Taipei gang, a fact his mother Eileen (Michelle Yeoh) has kept secret.
The series only lasted for one season before it was canceled, but the inspired action and excellent cast ensure that the first season is eminently watchable. There’s heavy violence, sweet charm, and a lot of humor, and while that may seem like a recipe for tonal disaster, it actually ends up working well.
WMAC Mastersfeatures choreographed martial arts fights but sets them within a fantasy setting, with episodic stories that don’t necessarily follow a plot. Each episode features a life lesson, as well as an elaborate set, health bars, and an omniscient narrator. It’s likeTekkenbrought to life.
It’s an odd show, with no series like it, and it’s completely steeped in the 1990s, with sets that could have been pulled right fromPower Rangers. However,whatWMAC Masterslacks in story and characters, it makes up for with its strict adherence to showing real martial arts fights, even providing lessons about martial arts while it does so.
Based on a concept by Bruce Lee,Warrioris set in San Francisco in the late 1870s, during a period known as the “Tong Wars”, a series of violent disputes between warring Chinese gangs in the city. A martial arts prodigy from China, Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji), arrives in the city to find his sister, but instead finds a war.
The electric and kinetic energy of the fight scenes alone makes the series worth watching.
There is a lot going on inWarrior, and the writing, dialogue, and acting are not always enough to carry the lofty ambitions and high philosophical points the show wants to make, but they’re strong enough to make the show watchable. The electric and kinetic energy of the fight scenes alone makes the series worth watching.
Wu Assassinsis a supernatural martial arts series starring Iko Uwais as Kai Jin, a Chinese-Indonesian chef who lives in San Francisco and learns that he is the last of the Wu Assassins, a figure imbued with the skills of 1000 monks. With these powers,he takes on the five Wu Warlords to stop them from unleashing deadly ancient powers.
A standalone follow-up film was released on Netflix in February 2022, titledFistful of Vengeance.
Uwais is best known for his incredible martial arts masteryin theRaidmovies, and he brings all his ferocity and know-how to this series.Wu Assassinsis a “rule of cool” show, where style and choreography trump plot and character, but that’s OK because watching Uwais fight is worth ten seasons of story.
One of thebest Korean TV shows on Netflixcurrently,My Nameis a miniseries that follows Yoon Ji-woo (Han So-hee), who seeks to take revenge on those responsible for her father’s death. Willing to do whatever it takes in her quest, Ji-woo joins a criminal gang and becomes their mole in the local police force.
The series carefully balances the vulnerability of Ji-woo and her deep sadness for her loss, with her intense rage and hate that she uses to propel herself through he criminal underworld. You can feel for her, but at the same time, you fear for her as she loses herself to hate, doing so in some fantastic fight scenes.
Cobra Kaiwas a big surprise when it first premiered on YouTube in 2018. This was one of the first successful instances of a TV show sequel to a popular movie series. A show following the villain of the original series, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), did not seem like a recipe for success, but it was.
Oversix seasons ofCobra Kai, all the memorable villains and heroes from theKarate Kidfranchise make appearances, bringing a charming, homegrown feeling to themartial artsseries. The martial arts choreography on display is also fantastic, andwhile the series has always been more focused on the drama, the fights are excellent.
