What martial arts does Arnold Schwarzenegger know?

Arnold Schwarzenegger is an Austrian actor and bodybuilder who is best known for his roles in movies such as Terminator, Predator, and Commando. Although he is now a bit older and less physically active than during his peak, it’s still fair to say that during his peak – he was a true physical specimen. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of training and attention to detail of your body to become a Mr. Olympia champion. However, what about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s relationship with martial arts?

Although this is a different area of expertise compared to lifting weights, there’s still a lot of similarities between the two, such as dedication, consistency, and the idea of constantly pursuing perfection. Over the years, his Arnold classic expos have also hosted countless martial arts competitions and events spanning several decades now which further hints at his relationship with combat sports. Read on for more information about Arnold Schwarzenegger and his history with martial arts.

Arnold Schwarzenegger knows Karate

In the 90s, Arnold Schwarzenegger was photographed on the front of the Karate International magazine. According to the headlines of this book, he was interviewed on how to ‘terminate’ the fitness and martial arts barrier. Having said this, there’s actually very little evidence online that Arnold Schwarzenegger actually knows much Karate. He has trained with the black belt Kiyoshi Yamazaki though whilst filming in the past.

You would expect the bulk of his training to have been done during the 90s which is when he was at his peak, and arguably so was Karate. Obviously, the 90s was a different time where less stuff was publically available to the masses. Nonetheless, it’s fair to assume that he’s trained Karate a little simply by his association with the Japanese art. Whilst he may not be a black belt, he probably knows a bit.

Arnold Schwarzenegger knows Taekwondo

Technically, Arnold Schwarzenegger has a black belt in Taekwondo. Again, this comes from his association with the martial arts world and his good relationship with combat sports. Back in 2001 at the Arnold Fitness Expo 2001 in Columbus, Ohio – Arnie was awarded an honorary Taekwondo black belt by Grandmaster Joon Poi Choi for endorsing a TKD event at the expo. In the video below, you can see him get awarded the black belt, whilst wearing a customary dobok.

So, what is an honorary black belt exactly? An honorary black belt is different from a typical one – as it is given to an individual based on their merits outside of martial arts. In terms of Schwarzenegger’s, it was given to him as a thank you. Over the years, the likes of Barack Obama have also been given black belts in TKD when he visited South Korea – again as a thank you (in fairness, Obama did legitimately train TKD before he was famous and had a green belt in the art).

This means that although Arnie is a black belt, it’s not like he put in years of training into the art. Having said this, Hollywood stuntman Michael M. Vendrel once went on record saying that his skills were genuinely worthy of being a black belt whilst on set. So, perhaps Arnold Schwarzenegger genuinely is a Taekwondo black belt?

Arnold Schwarzenegger knows how to use martial arts weapons

Over the years, Schwarzenegger has also been trained in various martial arts weapons which aren’t too surprising considering the sheer amount of action movies that he’s featured in. It’s no secret that in these films, actors have to learn how to yield certain weapons to make it look realistic when filming. Again, back in the 90s, Arnie featured on the front of a Kung Fu magazine with sythes in his hands – however this may have been used for promotional purposes.

As for his weapons training, he’s clearly learned how to use firearms down the years so knows a bit of tactical shooting. It’s up to the individual though as to whether this is actually considered a martial art or just a practical skill. He has also trained in traditional sword fighting which happened on the set of the movie Conan The Barbarian.

In this photo, he can be seen trained by Kiyoshi Yamazaki. As seen, Schwarzenegger is wearing an Aikido hakama in this photo which may have been used as a way to improve his footwork. He’s also pictured in a different photo with Yamazaki actually carrying the sword used in Conan too. As you can imagine, he’s probably trained a number of other weapons and martial arts whilst on set during his many years of filming as well.

Conclusion

Firstly, it would be disrespectful to claim that Arnold Schwarzenegger is a true martial artist. At his peak, he was known as a bodybuilder and actor. However, based on the above evidence, it’s also undeniable that he does have a genuine love and respect for martial arts as well. For instance, he may not be the best Karateka in the world, but the fact he’s dabbled in training and has helped host various events for Karate is quite good of him.

It should also be noted that getting into a physical fight with him would not be wise. Even in his old age, he possesses great strength from years of hard weightlifting so the likelihood is that he could easy crush and out grapple most people due to his sheer size and weight. One thing worth noting is that certain martial arts such as Taekwondo do require fluidity and flexibility when performing certain kicks whereas Schwarzenegger would probably be quite stiff and slow, so although Arnie may not be the most technical fighter on the planet, it’s fair to say that due to his size alone, he would still be able to beat most people in a fight. When looking at him during his peak years as well, he would have obviously been even more dangerous too.