What martial arts does Scott Adkins know?

Scott Adkins is a British actor who was previously a martial artist before he became famous. Even after he found fame, Adkins has continued to train during his free time and there’s plenty of footage showing off his skills. As a result of his martial arts talents, he has often been cast as a martial arts specialist in various movies and has made a Hollywood career out of it.

Perhaps his best role was the Russian prison fighter, Yuri Boyka who he played in the Undisputed II movie. Since then, there has been a lot of speculation about his fighting skills online which this article will hopefully address. Read on for more information.

Scott Adkins is a Karate black belt

From a young age, Adkins has trained Karate and even taught it for a while in his home city. He is a recognized black belt in Karate and this isn’t too surprising. In short, you could argue that Adkins’s biggest talent is his kicking and he seems to have a real love of using kicks. Remember, Adkins was born in 1976 and would have grown up in an era when Karate and similar disciplines were massively popular. As a result, this may have influenced his venture into learning Karate.

Whilst Karate may not be as cool these days, make no mistake about it – Adkins is a very legit black belt. In fact, Adkins has trained Karate for years so it’s not too surprising that he knows his stuff.

Scott Adkins knows Taekwondo and Kickboxing

Before Karate, Scott Adkins first trained Taekwondo. Obviously, the two arts have a lot of similarities and TKD is best known for its athletic, powerful kicks. In the movie Accident Man, Adkins shows off some of these kicks in particular which show athletic jumps, spins, and supreme knockout power. Of course, there’s also an element of Hollywood choreography too but the point remains, Adkins knows how to throw Taekwondo kicks.

In fact, the video below shows him doing an incredibly powerful TKD kick. However, it’s not just Karate and TKD that Adkins uses. In his younger days, he also trained kickboxing which also makes sense. As you can imagine, blending these three disciplines together means that Adkins is incredibly versatile and skilled when it comes to throwing kicks. In terms of technique and different styles to call on, it’s fair to say that he knows a lot when it comes to kicking people.

Scott Adkins knows Judo and Japanese Ju Jitsu

Whilst learning striking and kicks is great, this is obviously not a comprehensive system when it comes to fighting. Arguably, every good fighter should be able to mix up striking with grappling. Thankfully for Scott Adkins, he can also grapple. Again, going back to his earlier days, Adkins trained a mixture of Judo and Japanese Ju Jitsu. Both these arts are based on standing and throwing the opponent.

For instance, Judo has some pretty big throws and trips, whilst Japanese Ju Jitsu has a bigger emphasis on standing joint locks and submissions. Ultimately, both disciplines eventually led to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu which expanded on these arts on the ground. As Adkins has used BJJ in some films, it’s fair to say his ground game isn’t too shabby either. Again, this makes sense considering he’s trained Judo which also involves submissions on the ground such as armbars and chokes with the gi.

In other words, if Adkins couldn’t put you down with his dangerous kicks then there’s a good chance he could throw you. Again, these arts were popular when he was growing up even if Japanese Ju Jitsu’s popularity has declined in recent years.

Scott Adkins knows Ninjutsu and Krav Maga

Over the years, Scott Adkins has done a number of martial arts movies so it makes sense that he’s learned the likes of Ninjutsu and Krav Maga along the way. Krav Maga in particular is largely used in films as it has elements of hand-to-hand combat and deadly moves such as neck breaks and other brutal attacks. According to Mens Health magazine, Adkins is trained in both these disciplines.

It’s actually quite interesting that he’s trained in Ninjutsu, seeing as it’s largely a defunct martial art these days. For the most part, Ninjutsu is used to describe fighting tactics used by Ninjas in feudal Japan. Although there are still some techniques that can be used in modern society, it’s mostly about stuff such as espionage techniques and throwing stars. Whether Adkins learned this for fun or for certain movie roles is unclear, but if he was open minded during his training then he may have picked up a few cool moves.

Is Scott Adkins a real MMA fighter?

In Undisputed II, Scott Adkins played Yuri Boyka who was a notorious Russian prison fighter. Here, he fought in bouts that roughly followed MMA rules. Because of this, many people put two and two together and thought that Adkins was an MMA fighter. However, this is incorrect information. Whilst it’s fair to say that Adkins is definitely a well-rounded martial artist, calling him an MMA fighter is unfair.

MMA fighters are generally well trained in MMA and know the certain styles that reflect the rules. For instance, you won’t really find Japanese Ju Jitsu or Krav Maga in MMA. Having said this, there’s definitely Karate, kickboxing, and TKD used in MMA as well as Judo. With this in mind, Adkins is certainly a skilled fighter and would easily be able to do well in amateur MMA. However, especially due to his age and his skill set, he probably wouldn’t fare too well in professional MMA, at least in the higher levels. This isn’t to take anything away from him though and he could still blitz 99% of the population.

Conclusion

Overall, it would be best to describe the fighting style of Scott Adkins as a fighter that specializes in kicks. Kicking has proved a valuable asset over the years and a head kick can easily knock out an opponent. Combining both Karate, kickboxing, and Taekwondo has meant that Adkins is extremely well versed in this area and is definitely an expert. He is also solid when it comes to grappling and has dabbled in other martial arts too.

As a result, it’s a safe bet to say that Scott Adkins is not a man to be messed with. To top this off, he’s also very strong and conditioned which goes in line with his old school, traditional martial arts background. The verdict is that Adkins is a legit martial artist who knows his stuff and is a solid fighter.

If you’d like to see more of Scott Adkins in Undisputed II then check out the DVD which highlights his martial arts skills.