What martial arts does Doctor Strange know?

Doctor Strange is a Marvel Superhero who is known for his use of magic and great intelligence. Also known as Stephen Strange, he is a literal doctor that is best known for bending the rules of physics, creating visuals, and generally using weird magic to baffle his enemies and fight evil. What’s quite interesting about Doctor Strange though, is his use of martial arts. Yes, that’s right – like many other superheroes it turns out that Doctor Strange has a background in martial arts. Although his backstory isn’t the most detailed ever, it is quite interesting when you delve into it.

In short, Doctor Strange learned most of his fighting skills in the Himalayas which is where he also learned how to use magic. Here, he learned how to grapple, strike, and even swordsmanship amongst other things. As a result, whilst he may not be the greatest martial artist that superheroes have ever seen, he’s surprisingly more skilled than you may first think. Read on for more information.

Doctor Strange knows Judo

In one comic book sketch, Doctor Strange can be seen using a Russian Tie type move on an opponent. In this scene, his enemy tries to punch Doctor Strange in the face, whereby he manages to dodge the punch by stepping to the side. This creates an angle where he manages to isolate the opponent’s arm and threatens to break it at the elbow. The resulting tension leads to a takedown on his attacker.

The Russian Tie was a move used by Russian Judoka’s where its name was from before being used more recently in Sambo. It relies on grabbing the arm from the side and shows all the hallmarks that Doctor Strange is skilled at grappling and Judo. Having said this, over the years – Doctor Strange has rarely relied on his Judo and it certainly isn’t his first port of call.

Doctor Strange knows Wing Chun

Perhaps Doctor Strange’s best martial art is his Wing Chun, which he seems to know quite a lot about. This can be seen during various fight scenes where he manages to block and deflect punches with his arms from up close. After deflecting these strikes, he’s able to retaliate with punches of his own. Overall, he uses his Wing Chun to defeat multiple attackers and survive without getting a scratch.

This shows that he’s very well skilled in Wing Chun and this may have been taught during his time in the Himalayan mountains. Although Doctor Strange rarely has to use his Wing Chun, it’s still a great skill set to rely on if he ever did become powerless and have to resort to physical fighting.

Doctor Strange knows Kenjutsu

Against Thanos in Marvel Infinity War, Doctor Strange manages to conjure up a magical orange sword. Obviously, this is magic, but then again Thanos uses a space version of magic for his powers, so it seems like a level playing field. During this fight, Doctor Strange more than holds his own and manages to fend off Thanos which is a testament to his sword fighting skills.

He probably learned this whilst in the Himalayas which is where Doctor Strange practiced various martial arts for years. For the record, it may not have been technically Kenjutsu that he learned, but if not it was at least something very similar. He also used his magic to craft a temporary shield from the same materials too.

Doctor Strange knows Tai Chi

One of Doctor Strange’s best attacks when fighting is his use of ‘magic’, which looks similar to Tai Chi energy balls. Basically, he is capable of creating physical forces from nothing. Apparently, this is what certain Tai Chi practitioners believe in; that if knowledgable enough, a Tai Chi master is capable of creating energy that can be used in combat.

Of course, this is nonsense and no one really believes in it these days, but it still makes for good fight sequences on the big screen. Whilst some may argue that Doctor Strange’s skills aren’t from Tai Chi and they’re from some kind of other magical realms. Arguably, this is Doctor Strange’s coolest martial art and sets him apart from other superheroes that typically use more generic martial arts.

Conclusion

Whilst Doctor Strange isn’t the best martial artist in the world, he is certainly more skilled than many would take him for at face value. Basically, he is capable of using a few martial arts and importantly can combine his magic powers with martial arts to become a very skilled fighter. This actually shows real creativity from the writers of Doctor Strange who aren’t lazy with his character and don’t use martial arts separately with his powers, instead they work in unison which is cool to see.

As a result, Doctor Strange is more than capable of handling himself. Even if you take away his magical powers, he would still be more than capable of beating a regular person in a fight due to his background in Judo and Wing Chun which complement each other and combine to make him a solid enough martial artist. Remember, he did train in the Himalayas after all, so he likely picked up skills from Shaolin monks and perhaps even Indian martial artists whilst out there.