100 Ultimate Martial Arts Quotes To Stay Zen

Martial arts are a form of fighting system practiced for self-defense, sport, discipline, fitness and meditation.

Commonly, the word martial arts apply to the systems of combat developed around the world. An individual who practices martial arts is known as a martial artist.

There are various schools and styles of martial arts but ultimately, they all have the same goal: self-defense. Not all martial arts originated in Asia. For example, Savate started in France and Capoeira came from Brazil. Martial arts are divided into two main categories: "hard martial arts" such as karate and kickboxing and "soft martial arts" such as Judo and Aikido.

For more related content like funny martial arts quotes or kickboxing quote, then take a look at these Karate quotes and Taekwondo quotes.

These martial quotes will help you learn the importance of the practice in daily life!

1. "If we overcome those enemies that attack us from within, we can attain a true victory over any attack from without."

— Morihei Ueshiba.

2. "Everyone must choose one of two pains: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret."

— Jim Rohn.

3. "Fighting – think of it as you need 100 answers to one question."

— Damien Trainor.

4. "The martial arts are non-combative because these martial artists think actual fighting doesn't express goodness or mystic insight."

— Keith Vargo.

5. "True martial arts is universal, simple and practical. Anything else is too complex to be used in combat."

— Soke Behzad Ahmadi.

6. "When I started training martial arts, I learned about respect."

— Anderson Silva.

7. "I so admire the discipline, the work ethic, and the sacrifices fighters make to master all aspects of mixed martial arts."

— Tami Hoag.

8. "In the martial arts, the relationship of Master and disciple is a peculiar one."

— Tri Thong Dang.

9. "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.

10. "Martial arts was really the first thing in my life that I followed through on and accomplished a degree of proficiency for."

— Chuck Norris.

Read and get motivated and inspired with these famous martial arts quotes.

11. "You should make it a habit of putting your all into every little thing you do."

—Koichi Tohei.

12. "There is no finish line. When you reach one goal, find a new one."

— Chuck Norris.

13. "Only after several years of training did I come to realize that the deepest purpose of the martial arts is to serve as a vehicle for personal spiritual development."

— Joe Hyams.

14. "When it comes to technique, work on it over and over again until you have mastered it."

— Saenchai.

15. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see."

— Muhammad Ali.

16. "Only a fool does something new and thinks it will work for sure. Only a failure refuses to try something that might not work."

— Seth Godin.

17. "The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat."

— Richard Marcinko.

18. "I don't count my sit-ups; I only start counting when it starts hurting because they're the only ones that count."

— Muhammad Ali.

19. "Imagine if every child learned the respect, courtesy, and discipline that martial arts teaches. The world would be a different place."

— Chris Wahmond.

20. "You don't have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great."

— Zig Ziglar.

21. "You must have a dragon hidden inside of you. When you need, you let that dragon out."

— Anderson Silva.

22. "If you're going through hell, keep going!"

— Winston Churchill.

23. "A student's mentality in learning martial arts is to overcome one's problems."

— Ip Chun.

These Martial arts quotes and sayings fit perfectly with life.

24. "If you think only of hitting, springing, striking, or touching the enemy, you will not be able actually to cut him."

― Miyamoto Musashi, 'The Book Of Five Rings'.

25. "Of old the expert in battle would first make himself invincible and then wait for his enemy to expose his vulnerability."

— Sun Tzu.

26. "The best fighter is never angry."

— Lao Tzu.

27. "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.

28. "The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried."

— Steven McCranie.

29. "Never depart from the way of martial arts."

— Miyamoto Musashi.

30. "A punch should stay like a treasure in the sleeve. It should not be used indiscriminately."

— Chotoku Kyan.

31. "Any martial art without proper training of the mind turns into beastly behavior."

— Shoshin Nagamine.

These great quotes resonate with the daily aspects of life.

32. "You can only fight the way you practice."

— Miyamoto Musashi.

33. "Animals and martial arts are kinda linked together, or humans took animals' strength and turned them into martial arts moves hundreds of years ago, thousands of years ago, however you want to say."

— Mike Perry.

34. "Martial arts is not about picking your fights and picking how things go; it's about adapting to the how things are."

— Gunnar Nelson.

35. "You are going to have to suffer – over a long time. There really is no such thing as a free lunch."

― Iain Armstrong.

36. "The fighter who give their all will be around next year. Don't save anything. Give it all you got."

— George Foreman.

Relax with these amazing martial arts inspirational quotes.

37. "I see martial arts as moving forms of meditation. When you're sparring or drilling techniques, you can't think of anything else."

— Joe Rogan.

38. "I am a shark, the ground is my ocean, and most people can't even swim."

— Rickson Gracie.

39. "One of the greatest gifts of the martial arts is that they ultimately guide us to new levels of spirituality."

— Joseph Cardillo.

40. "For me, the martial arts is a search for something inside. It's not just a physical discipline."

— Brandon Lee.

41. "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.

42. "There's a part of martial arts where we need humility and respect."

― Eddie Alvarez.

43. "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.

44. "The opposite of courage is conformity."

— Rickson Gracie.

45. "Do not fight with the strength, absorb it and it flows, use it."

— Ip Man.

46. "Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough."

— Og Mandino.

These great MMA quotes, Judo quotes will motivate you.

47. "I'm a street fighter. I'm ready for any kind of mixed martial arts that comes at me."

— Ricardo Mayorga.

48. "Everybody's beatable. Mixed martial arts, there's many ways to win, and that also means there are many ways to lose, as well."

— Bas Rutten.

49. "When I go to bed at night, I'm a better martial artist than when I woke up this morning."

— Georges St. Pierre.

50. "I've been in martial arts more than 20 years; I've seen fighters who barely have a professional fight say they're the best in the world."

— Valentina Shevchenko.

51. "A good instructor teaches students how to fight, a great instructor teaches students how to survive."

— Ricardo Almeida.

52. "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.

Check out the quotations below.

53. "Learning Kung fu has only one purpose: To train one's reaction into a natural response. Such reaction is essential."

— Yuan Xiu Gang.

54. "A Kung fu master is a practitioner of martial arts who keeps practicing."

— Kailin Gow.

55. "I use Kung Fu. That really helps my flexibility and coordination."

— Robert Parish.

56. "The old Oriental shamans had a much different view when they recalled the movements of kung fu."

— Lujan Matus.

57. "The Chinese words' Kung fu' translate more or less as 'a man hard at work over a long time'."

— Iain Armstrong.

Check out Japanese martial arts quotes below.

58. "The ultimate goal in Karate is to defeat opponents in a real life-or-death situation."

— Teruyuki Higa.

59. "The heart of our karate is real fighting. There can be no proof without real fighting."

— Mas Oyama.

60. "Karate is like boiling water, if you do not heat it constantly, it will cool."

— Gichin Funakoshi.

61. "Karate is not about techniques and their execution, but about boldness, integrity and fight for justice and common good."

— Soke Behzad Ahmadi.

62. "In the old days we trained Karate as a martial art, but now they train Karate as a gymnastic sport. I think we must avoid treating Karate as a sport – it must be a martial art at all times!"

— Choshin Chibana.

63. "Karate training soon teaches that real strength is facing oneself strictly with severe eyes. This is the first condition of martial arts training."

— Tsutomu Ohshima.

64. "Since karate is a martial art, you must practice with the utmost seriousness from the very beginning."

— Gichin Funakoshi.

Here are wise quotes on the importance of martial arts and its practice around the world.

65. "Rewards for good service should not be deferred a single day."

— Sun Tzu.

66. "The path of Martial Arts begins and ends with courtesy. So be genuinely polite on every occasion."

— Mas Oyama.

67. "The very essence of martial arts is the thirst for knowledge and the truth about ourselves."

— Frank Shamrock.

68. "The teaching of one virtuous person can influence many; that which has been learned well by one generation can be passed on to a hundred."

— Kano Jigoro.

69. "Martial art is a form of expression, an expression from your inner self to your hands and legs."

— Donnie Yen.

70. "Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat."

— Sun Tzu.

71. "Seeing much, suffering much, and studying much are the three pillars of learning."

— Benjamin Disraeli.

72. "What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first step to something better."

— Wendell Phillips.

Check out great Bruce Lee Martial arts quotes. Bruce Lee is an important man in the world of martial arts.

73. "Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick."

— Bruce Lee.

74. "What you habitually think largely determines what you will ultimately become."

— Bruce Lee.

75. "A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough."

— Bruce Lee.

76. "A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer."

— Bruce Lee.

77. "The moment we stop analyzing and let go, we can start really seeing, feeling – as one whole."

— Bruce Lee.

78. "Never take your eyes off your opponent...even when you're bowing!"

— Bruce Lee, 'Enter The Dragon'.

79. "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

— Bruce Lee.

80. "Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend."

— Bruce Lee.

81. "The martial arts are based upon understanding, hard work and a total comprehension of skills."

— Bruce Lee.

82. "Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves."

— Bruce Lee.

83. "The easy way is also the right way, and martial arts is nothing at all special; the closer to the true way of martial arts, the less wastage of expression there is."

— Bruce Lee.

84. "Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it."

— Bruce Lee.

85. "A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come."

— Bruce Lee.

86. "If you want to learn to swim, jump into the water. On dry land, no frame of mind is ever going to help you."

— Bruce Lee.

87. "Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them."

— Bruce Lee.

88. "Fear comes from uncertainty; we can eliminate the fear within us when we know ourselves better."

— Bruce Lee.

Here are some of the best martial arts training quotes.

89. "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.

90. "The children right now, the young children, everybody should go to a martial arts school. Why? Because as soon as they go to a martial arts school, they learn discipline."

— Jackie Chan.

91. "I think every young child can learn through any martial art. They would then learn to respect their life, respect their parents, respect their country, and respect the whole world."

— Jackie Chan.

92. "In my view, Zhang Lanxin is one of our best female martial artists, and I can't rate her highly enough."

— Jackie Chan.

93. "Do not let circumstances control you. You change your circumstances."

—Jackie Chan.

94. "I want to build up my philosophy...my philosophy with kung fu is to respect people."

— Jackie Chan.

95. "Martial arts is for defense. It's not for attacking. So when people are fighting, always, always, defend."

― Jackie Chan.

96. "We learn martial arts as helping weakness. You never fight for people to get hurt. You're always helping people."

― Jackie Chan.

97. "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.

98. "Being still and doing nothing are two completely different things."

― Jackie Chan.

99. "Martial arts is not for hurting people, it's for protecting people."

― Jackie Chan.

100. "When you are learning about martial art, it is about respect."

― Jackie Chan.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for martial arts quotes then why not take a look at Yogi quotes, or Yin Yang quotes.