90 Inspirational Martial Arts Quotes From The World’s Favorite Martial Artists

These martial arts quotes from the world’s favorite martial artists will inspire you to know when to fight and when to choose peace instead.

These quotes from Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Chuck Norris, Miyamoto Musashi and others highlight these famous martial artists’ philosophies on life, fighting, and peace.

While Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Chuck Norris are all well-known for their movie careers as martial artists on the silver screen, they were and are all great martial artists off set as well.

Bruce Lee was a master in Chinese martial arts, boxing, Jeet Kune Do, and Wing Chun.

Jackie Chan is also a master in Chinese martial arts and Jeet Kune Do, as well as Taekwondo, Judo, and Hapkido.

Chuck Norris founded a karate style called Chun Kuk Do which is based in Tang Soo Do.

He also has a 3rd-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has practiced in karate, Judo, and Taekwondo.

Miyamoto Musashi was a Japanese fighter in the 17th century whose philosophy of fighting and of life is still studied today.

If you enjoy this article, check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily motivation. 

Browse our entire collection of inspirational quotes for more motivating ideas and concepts.

Taekwondo and martial arts quotes from Bruce Lee

1. “If you truly love life, don’t waste time because time is what life is made of.” – Bruce Lee

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2. “Don’t fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.” – Bruce Lee

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3. “The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment.”- Bruce Lee

4. “Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.” – Bruce Lee

5. “It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.” – Bruce Lee

6. “Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind for they are the weeds that strangle confidence.” – Bruce Lee

7. “I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.” – Bruce Lee

8. “‎The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” – Bruce Lee

9. “In order to control myself I must first accept myself by going with and not against my nature.” – Bruce Lee

10. “In the middle of chaos lies opportunity” – Bruce Lee

Martial arts quotes from Chuck Norris

11. “I don’t initiate violence; I retaliate.” — Chuck Norris

12. “Whatever luck I had, I made. I was never a natural athlete, but I paid my dues in sweat and concentration and took the time necessary to learn karate and become world champion.” — Chuck Norris

13. “From 1964 to 1968, I won many state, national, and international amateur karate titles.” — Chuck Norris

14. “I’ve got a bulletin for you, folks. I am no superman. I realize that now, but I didn’t always.” — Chuck Norris

15. “As a six-time world karate champion and then a movie star, I put too much trust in who I was, what I could do, and what I acquired. I forgot how much I needed others, and especially God.” — Chuck Norris

16. “In 1968, I fought and won the world middleweight karate championship by defeating the world’s top fighters. I then held that title until 1974, when I retired undefeated.” — Chuck Norris

17. “Martial arts was really the first thing in my life that I followed through on and accomplished a degree of proficiency for.” — Chuck Norris

18. “It wasn’t until I went to Korea out of high school and got exposed to the martial arts for the first time and was just completely enamored with the physical ability of the martial arts and making my black belt.” — Chuck Norris

19. “Anytime you get action legends together, it has to be a classic.” — Chuck Norris

20. “What was Bruce Lee like? How did you meet? What was it like to choreograph the fight scene in Rome with him? Did you spend much time together off-screen? Those are a small sampling of the inquiries I’m asked often wherever I go around the world.” — Chuck Norris

If you enjoy this article, check out our collection of Jiu-Jitsu quotes for the fighter in you.

Martial arts quotes from Jackie Chan

21. “Do not let circumstances control you. You change your circumstances.” – Jackie Chan

22. “I do small things. I try to do good things every day.” – Jackie Chan

23. “The ads all call me fearless, but that’s just publicity. Anyone who thinks I’m not scared out of my mind whenever I do one of my stunts is crazier than I am.” – Jackie Chan

24. “When you are learning about a martial art, it is about respect.” – Jackie Chan

25. “The best fights are the ones we avoid.” – Jackie Chan

26. “Kung fu lives in everything we do. It lives in how we put on a jacket and how we take off a jacket. It lives in how we treat people. Everything is kung fu.” – Jackie Chan

27. “We learn martial arts as helping weakness. You never fight for people to get hurt. You’re always helping people.” – Jackie Chan

28. “I hate violence, yes I do. It’s kind of a dilemma, huh?” – Jackie Chan

29. “I’m tired of fighting. I’ve always known that I can’t be an action star all my life.” – Jackie Chan

30. “Bruce Lee brought the martial arts movie to the attention of the world – and without him, I don’t think that anyone would have ever heard of Jackie Chan.” – Jackie Chan

Martial arts quotes from Miyamoto Musashi

31. “I have trained in the way of strategy since my youth, and at the age of thirteen, I fought a duel for the first time. My opponent was called Arima Kihei, a sword adept of the Shinto ryū, and I defeated him.” — Miyamoto Musashi

32. “At the age of sixteen, I defeated a powerful adept by the name of Akiyama, who came from Tajima Province. At the age of twenty-one, I went up to Kyōtō and fought duels with several adepts of the sword from famous schools, but I never lost.” — Miyamoto Musashi

33. “From one thing, know ten thousand things.” ― Miyamoto Musashi

34. “In battle, if you make your opponent flinch, you have already won.” ― Miyamoto Musashi

35. “You can only fight the way you practice.” ― Miyamoto Musashi

36. “If you do not control the enemy, the enemy will control you.” ― Miyamoto Musashi

37. “The important thing in strategy is to suppress the enemy’s useful actions but allow his useless actions.” ― Miyamoto Musashi

38. “The only reason a warrior is alive is to fight, and the only reason a warrior fights is to win.” ― Miyamoto Musashi

39. “To become the enemy, see yourself as the enemy of the enemy.” ― Miyamoto Musashi

40. “Know your enemy, know his sword.” ― Miyamoto Musashi

Motivational martial arts quotes

41. “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” — Winston Churchill

42. “You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.” — Napoleon Bonaparte

43. “A good battle plan that you act on today can be better than a perfect one tomorrow.” — General George S. Patton

44. “The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat.” — Richard Marcinko

45. “On the day of victory no fatigue is felt.” — German Proverb

46. “Good judgement is the result of experience, and experience the result of bad judgement.” — Mark Twain

47. “Call no man happy till he is dead.” — Aeschylus

48. “Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.” — Gautama Buddha

49. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius

50. “Overnight success feels great after playing 10 years in honky-tonks behind chicken wire.” — Willie Nelson

Inspiring Martial Arts Quotes For Martial Artist and Coaches

51. “True martial arts is universal, simple, and practical. Anything else is too complex to be used in combat.” — Soke Behzad Ahmadi.

52. “In the martial arts, the relationship of Master and disciple is a peculiar one.” — Tri Thong Dang.

53. “The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.” — Steven McCranie.

54. “Never depart from the way of martial arts.” — Miyamoto Musashi.

55. “Any martial art without proper training of the mind turns into beastly behavior.” — Shoshin Nagamine.

56. “Martial arts is not about picking your fights and picking how things go; it’s about adapting to how things are.” — Gunnar Nelson.

57. “The fighter who give their all will be around next year. Don’t save anything. Give it all you got.” — George Foreman.

58. “One of the greatest gifts of the martial arts is that they ultimately guide us to new levels of spirituality.” — Joseph Cardillo.

59. “There’s a part of martial arts where we need humility and respect.” ― Eddie Alvarez.

60. “To practice Zen or the Martial Arts, you must live intensely, wholeheartedly, without reserve – as if you might die in the next instant.” — Taisen Deshimaru

Favorite Martial Art Quotes for Inspiration.

61. “The martial arts are non-combative because these martial artists think actual fighting doesn’t express goodness or mystic insight.” — Keith Vargo

62. “When I started training martial arts, I learned about respect.” — Anderson Silva

63. “I so admire the discipline, the work ethic, and the sacrifices fighters make to master all aspects of mixed martial arts.” — Tami Hoag

64. “I had a really long and great career, and I believe I left a deep mark in the martial arts. I have no regrets.” — Mirko Cro Cop.

65. “Imagine if every child learned the respect, courtesy, and discipline that martial arts teaches. The world would be a different place.” — Chris Wahmond.

66. “A student’s mentality in learning martial arts is to overcome one’s problems.” — Ip Chun

67. “The practice of a martial art should be a practice of love – for the preservation of life, for the preservation of body, and for the preservation of family and friends.” — Dan Inosanto.

68. “For me, the martial arts is a search for something inside. It’s not just a physical discipline.” — Brandon Lee.

69. “You need balance. That’s why I like martial arts: it always tells you how to control your body, your mind, your heart.” — Jet Li.

70. “I’m a street fighter. I’m ready for any kind of mixed martial arts that comes at me.” — Ricardo Mayorga

Martial Arts Quotes To Inspire Your Growth

71. “A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.” — Bruce Lee

72. “Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own.” — Bruce Lee

73. “Martial art is ultimately an athletic expression of the dynamic human body. More important yet, is the person who is expressing his own soul.” — Bruce Lee

74.  “Act like a man of thought – Think like a man of action.” —  Thomas Mann

75.  “The best fighter is never angry.”— Lao Tzu

76.”A punch should stay like a treasure in the sleeve. It should not be used indiscriminately.” — Chotoku Kyan

77. “Never respond to an angry person with a fiery comeback, even if he deserves it…Don’t allow his anger to become your anger.” —  Bohdi Sanders

78. “The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become of it.” —John Ruskin

79. “Martial arts are just as much about building character as about learning to fight.”—DAN ROBERTS

80. “Given enough time, any man may master the physical. With enough knowledge, any man may become wise. It is the true warrior who can master both… and surpass the result.”  — Tien T’ai

Martial Arts Quotes To Build Character

81. “The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things.” — Miyamoto Musashi

82. “Martial art is a form of expression, an expression from your inner self to your hands and legs.” — Donnie Yen

83. “As a lifelong practitioner of martial arts, I’m trained to remain calm in the face of adversity and danger.” — Steven Seagal

84. “The path of Martial Arts begins and ends with courtesy. So be genuinely polite on every occasion.” — Mas Oyama

85. “Martial arts is not about fighting; it’s about building character.” — Robert Foster Bennett

86. “The very essence of martial arts is the thirst for knowledge and the truth about ourselves.” — Frank Shamrock

87. “Martial arts should be part of every girl’s education.” — Esha Gupta

88. “The real purpose of the martial arts must be to purge oneself of petty ambitions and desire, to obtain control of one’s own character.” — Morihei Ueshiba

89. “A good martial artist does not become tend but ready, not thinking but jet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come.” — Bruce Lee

90. “The true martial artist yields to the weak while withstanding the strong.” — Neil Young

Who is your favorite martial artist?

While Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Chuck Norris are famous for their many roles in Hollywood films, Miyamoto Musashi might be a little less known.

Musashi grew up on a farm in Japan during the late 1500s.

He is well-known for being an accomplished sword-fighter, and he fought his first duel at the age of 13 where he won against a grown man.

However, Musashi was also an incredibly accomplished martial artist.

Check out these Bloodsport Quotes Celebrating The Marital Arts Film before you go!

He wrote two documents in his lifetime, The Book of Five Rings, which describes in detail his martial arts style, and The Path of Aloneness, which covers the philosophy behind his fighting technique as well as his ideas on life.

We hope you enjoyed these martial arts quotes and sayings.

Let us know your favorite quote in the comment below!