What martial arts does Mario Lopez know?

Although he’s best known for playing A.C Slater in the Saved By The Bell TV show, it turns out that the actor Mario Lopez is actually a skilled martial artist. Whilst it would be unfair to claim he’s an expert, it is still fair to say that he knows his stuff. As a result of this, it would be unwise to pick a fight with Lopez.

Despite his successful acting career and Hollywood looks, this doesn’t mean that Mario Lopez can’t fight. As seen with footage of his martial arts endeavors, he has great heart and isn’t afraid to get stuck in. He’s also pretty athletic and has preached about the physical and mental benefits of training martial arts. Here, we shall look deeper at the martial arts that Mario Lopez has trained over his life.

Martial arts trained by Mario Lopez

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

These days, Mario Lopez is best known for his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Although he got into BJJ well into his 40s, he has since excelled at his training and is clearly decent. Right now, he is currently a blue belt and has won various competitions at his level.

By watching his competition footage, it is clear that Lopez knows his stuff and often goes for takedowns which then lead to his passing, top game. As he has trained BJJ now for several years and seems to take it seriously, it’s not too surprising that he’s good and he also seems like a natural competitor.

For those wondering, the blue belt is the second rank after white and usually takes around two years to achieve. However, the fact that Lopez is beating his competition at this level suggests that he may be promoted to purple belt soon which makes sense. In other words, Lopez won’t be the best BJJ practitioner in his gym but he certainly won’t be the worst either and could easily dominate an untrained man of his own size where grappling is concerned.

Wrestling

Speaking of grappling, it’s no coincidence that Mario Lopez is good at BJJ. This is because he was a high school wrestler during his earlier years and looking at the photos, it’s clear that he won quite a few tournaments as well.

When looking at his BJJ as an older man, he often goes for low single-leg takedowns, which he then finishes as a single leg or turns it into a double leg. For his age, his takedowns shots are surprisingly quick and powerful.

Because of this, it’s quite obvious to see that he has a background in wrestling and still has some of his athleticism from his younger days. This actually makes for quite an interesting point, that despite not training wrestling for many years – he still clearly remembers the required technique. Similarly, Lopez is also pretty athletic which is another indicator that he’s wrestled before.

Boxing

Aside from grappling, Mario Lopez is also a boxer who also practiced during his younger years before he was famous. Like grappling, he also got back into boxing as an older man and hasn’t taken it lightly either. Apparently, Lopez would use boxing as a workout to stay fit and added “nothing wakes you up like getting punched in the face.” As seen, Lopez is far from the cliché of a pretentious actor who is wrapped in cotton wool.

Looking at his boxing, it’s clear that Lopez knows a bit and has good natural movements. Even in his 40s, he’s still in good shape which is also an indicator that his martial arts lifestyle is legit. The addition of boxing also makes him much more rounded.

For instance, it’s nice to be able to wrestle and submit people. However, from a self-defense standpoint it’s also important to know how to strike. As boxing is one of the best striking martial arts to learn, this makes Lopez just as dangerous on his feet.

Conclusion

Despite being a busy actor, Mario Lopez is clearly deeply connected to martial arts and trains quite a lot. So, even though he is approaching 50 years old, it still shows what is possible and that you’re never too old to learn a martial art.

This is very much the philosophy of any good martial artist. Obviously, Mario Lopez will never be a champion or elite-level athlete. Nonetheless, he is living proof that if you train hard enough you can still make progress.