200 Best Martial Arts Quotes Ever

The world of martial arts lends itself to great quotes. Whatever martial arts you love doing, you’ll need plenty of dedication and courage. If you’re looking for a little inspiration, then hopefully this list will help.

Here I’ve included plenty of general quotes, along with some specific lists for some of the most popular martial arts. Let’s get started with the list!

Best Martial Arts Quotes

Whether you’re looking for karate quotes inspirational sayings, or even funny martial arts quotes, I have it all here. I’ve put these 200 martial arts quotes into various categories to make this list easier to digest.

30 Best Martial Arts Motivational Quotes

1. “Where there is preparation, there is no fear.” – Hwang Lee

2. “Train with the energy of a warrior and soon you will have the heart of a warrior.” – Shifu Yan Lei

3. “Everyone must choose one of two pains: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.” – Jim Rohn

4. “There is no finish line. When you reach one goal, find a new one”. – Chuck Norris

5. “I only want to be known as the best ever. Is that too much to ask?” – B.J. Penn

6. “If size mattered then the elephant would be king of the jungle” – Rickson Gracie

7. “You have the power to fulfill your dreams!” – Dr. Tae Yun Kim

8. “A brave man, a real fighter, is not measured by how many times he falls, but how many times he stands up.” – Rickson Gracie

9. “You have to have fear in order to have courage. I’m a courageous person because I’m a scared person.” – Ronda Rousey

10. “You should make it a habit of putting your all into every little thing you do.” – Koichi Tohei

11. “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

12. “I’m not the best. I just believe I can do things other people think are impossible.” – Anderson Silva

13. “Loss is part of life. If you don’t have loss, you don’t grow.” – Dominick Cruz

14. “The truth is that I didn’t start as a winner. When I was a kid, I was just another reject. I started at the bottom. I think all winners do.” – Georges St. Pierre

15. “You don’t have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar

16. “You are going to have to suffer – over a long time. There really is no such thing as a free lunch.” – Iain Armstrong

17. “The opposite of courage is conformity.” – Rickson Gracie

18. “A fighter can always recover, and you never know what they’re going to come back with.” – Holly Holm

19. “You need a dragon hidden inside you. When you need, you let the dragon out.” – Anderson Silva

20. “Just do whatever you want to in life. One day tomorrow won’t be there.” – Donald Cerrone

21. “I look at obstacles as opportunities.” – Jon Jones

22. “Do not fight with the strength, absorb it and it flows, use it.” – Ip Man

23. “If you have a dream, don’t let anyone talk you out of it.” – Henry Cejudo

24. “Through adversity, we find our better self.” – Michelle Waterson

25. “Belief is a powerful thing.” – T.J. Dillashaw

26. “A Kung fu master is a practitioner of martial arts who keeps practicing.” – Kailin Gow

27. “No matter what comes your way, just don’t let it phase you. You can overcome anything.” – From Rose Namajunas

28. “We fall, but we get up because the ground is no place for a champion.” – Dustin Poirier

29. “Don’t limit yourself, and don’t let anyone put a limit on your potential.” – Randa Markos

30. “Dream big, stay positive, work hard, and enjoy the journey.” – Urijah Faber

20 Best Deep Martial Arts Quotes

1. “Martial arts is like a mountain. You see the top. And you hike and you climb, and you finally reach the peak, and you realize it was a false summit, and in front of you lies an entire new mountain range.” – Robert Owens

2. “Imagine if every child learned the respect, courtesy, and discipline that martial arts teaches. The world would be a different place.” – Chris Wahmond

3. “When you lose, say little. When you win, say less.” – Matt Hughes

4. “Bowing is an expression of gratitude and respect. In effect, you are thanking your opponent for giving you an opportunity to improve your technique.” – Jigaro Kano

5. “Every breath and movement in Muay Thai is a meditation of strength and grace, activating the warrior within you.” – Abhysheq Shukla

6 “Don’t be scared to look for help. Depression is real.” – Max Holloway

7. “You know what the true definition of hell is? It’s when you die; you get to meet the person you could have been.” – Frank Mir

8. “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

9. “A student’s mentality in learning martial arts is to overcome one’s problems.” – Ip Chun

10. “Never depart from the way of martial arts.” – Miyamoto Musashi

11. “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

12. “One of the greatest gifts of the martial arts is that they ultimately guide us to new levels of spirituality.” – Joseph Cardillo

13. “For me, martial arts is a search for something inside. It’s not just a physical discipline.” – Brandon Lee

14. “There’s a part of martial arts where we need humility and respect.” – Eddie Alvarez

15. “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

16. “The path of Martial Arts begins and ends with courtesy. So be genuinely polite on every occasion.” – Mas Oyama

17. “No matter how bad things get, eventually the sun is going to shine.” – Daniel Cormier

18. “We fail but we get up, because the ground is no place for a champ.” – Dustin Poirier

19. “The very essence of martial arts is the thirst for knowledge and the truth about ourselves.” – Frank Shamrock

20. “Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to go to his class.” – Choi Hong Hi

20 Best Wise Martial Arts Quotes

1. “Force has no place where there is need of skill.” – Herodotus

2. “If your temper rises, withdraw your hand. If your hand rises, withdraw your temper.” – Chojun Miyagi

3. “Failure is a bruise, not a tattoo.” – John Sinclair

4. “Tomorrow’s battle is won during today’s practice”. – Samurai Maxim

5. “A black belt is more than a belt that goes around your waist. Being a black belt is a state of mind and attitude”. – Rick English

6. “The best fighter is never angry.” – Lao Tzu

7. “I can show you the path but I can not walk it for you.” – Master Iain Armstrong

8. “If we overcome those enemies that attack us from within, we can attain a true victory over any attack from without.” – Morihei Ueshiba

9. “Fighting – think of it as you need 100 answers to one question.” – Damien Trainor

10. “True martial arts is universal, simple, and practical. Anything else is too complex to be used in combat.” – Soke Behzad Ahmadi

11. “I so admire the discipline, the work ethic, and the sacrifices fighters make to master all aspects of mixed martial arts.” – Tami Hoag

12. “When it comes to technique, work on it over and over again until you have mastered it.” – Saenchai

13. “A student’s mentality in learning martial arts is to overcome one’s problems.” – Ip Chun

14. “Any martial art without proper training of the mind turns into beastly behavior.” – Shoshin Nagamine

15. “Martial arts is not about picking your fights and picking how things go; it’s about adapting to how things are.” – Gunnar Nelson

16. “Do not fight with the strength, absorb it and it flows, use it.” – Ip Man

17. “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

18. “Martial art is a form of expression, an expression from your inner self to your hands and legs.” – Donnie Yen.

19. “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” – Ken Blanchard

20. “One of the greatest gifts of the martial arts is that they ultimately guide us to new levels of spirituality.” – Joseph Cardillo

25 Great Inspirational Quotes from Non-Martial Artists

1. “It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

2. “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

3. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

4. “If you’re afraid to fail, then you’re probably going to fail.” – Kobe Bryant

5. “Act like a man of thought – Think like a man of action.” – Thomas Mann

6 “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit”. – Aristotle

7. “The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become of it.” – John Ruskin

8. “Power is not revealed by striking hard or often, but by striking true.” – Balzac

9. “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison

10. “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them”. – Michael Jordan

11. “When you say “I will” with conviction, magic begins to happen”. – Wally Amos

12. “Good judgement is the result of experience, and experience the result of bad judgement” – Mark Twain

13. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

14. “In the struggle between the stone and water, in time, the water wins” – Japanese Proverb

15. “Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second” – William James

16. “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde

17. “Always go with your passions. Never ask yourself if it’s realistic or not.” – Deepak Chopra

18. “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Elliot

19. “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” – Aristotle

20. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller

21. “You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.” – Maya Angelou

22. “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X

23. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky

24. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”- Arthur Ashe

25. “Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” – Bill Bradley

25 Best Anonymous Martial Arts Quotes

1. “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right”.

2. “A black belt is just the beginning, not the end, of martial arts training.”

3. “In martial arts, it’s not the size of the fighter that matters, but the size of the fight in them.”

4. “There is no losing in martial arts. Either you win or you learn.”

5. “A black belt is just a white belt who never quit.”

6. “Martial arts is not just about fighting, it’s about building character.”

7. “Success in martial arts is a journey, not a destination.”

8. “Martial arts is not just about physical strength, it’s about mental and emotional strength as well.”

9. “The greatest weapon in martial arts is not the fist or the foot, but the mind.”

10. “The only way to improve in martial arts is to consistently push yourself out of your comfort zone.”

11. “The more you sweat the less you bleed”.

12. “Martial arts training is about finding balance in all aspects of life.”

13. “Martial arts is the perfect combination of mind, body, and spirit.”

14. “Martial arts is a way of life, not just a sport.”

15. “A true martial artist never fights for personal gain, but to protect others.”

16. “Martial arts is a journey that never ends, as there is always room for growth and improvement.”

17. “The true essence of martial arts lies in the ability to control one’s own mind and body.”

18. “Martial arts is not just about fighting, it’s about learning how to control your emotions and reactions.”

19. “The greatest lesson of martial arts is to respect others, as well as oneself.”

20. “Martial arts training is about becoming the best version of yourself, both physically and mentally.”

21. “The only way to truly understand martial arts is to consistently practice and experience it for yourself.”

22. “Failure is only temporary. Quitting makes it permanent”.

23. “What the mind can perceive, the heart can believe, the body can achieve”.

24. “Martial arts is not just about winning, it’s about learning and growing from every experience.”

25. “The true measure of a martial artist is not the number of victories, but the number of battles they have fought with honor.”

15 Best Bruce Lee Quotes

1. “If you anticipate the result of an engagement it is a great mistake. You should not be thinking if it results in defeat or victory. Let nature play its role. Your performance will decide your result.” – Bruce Lee

2. “You should never fear failures but your low aim. It’s a crime. Even if you fail in great aims it is honorable.” – Bruce Lee

3. “Don’t waste your time if you love your life because your life is composed of time.” – Bruce Lee

4. “Opportunity lies in the midst of chaos.” – Bruce Lee

5. “To control myself, I have to accept myself first as I am and not fight against my true nature.” – Bruce Lee

6. “He is a successful warrior who has laser-like concentration.” – Bruce Lee

7. “Remember… you are expressing the technique, not doing the technique”. – Bruce Lee

8. “Boards don’t hit back”. – Bruce Lee

9. “In this world, I am not to satisfy your expectations as well as you are not to satisfy mine in this world.” – Bruce Lee

10. “Keep your mind away from negative thoughts. Your negative thoughts are like weeds that will strangle your confidence completely.” – Bruce Lee

11. “It is not the everyday increase but everyday decrease. You should hack the unessential away.” – Bruce Lee

12. “Defeat is actually a mindset. None is defeated unless defeat is acknowledged as the reality.” – Bruce Lee

13. “Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them.” – Bruce Lee

14. “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

15. “Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.” – Bruce Lee

15 Best Boxing Quotes

1. “I’m scared every time I go into the ring, but it’s how you handle it. What you have to do is plant your feet, bite down on your mouthpiece and say: ‘Let’s go!’” – Mike Tyson

2. “The world is full of people who like to play it safe, people who have tremendous potential, but they never use it. Somewhere deep inside them, they know they could do more in life, be more, and have more.” – George Foreman

3. “It is not the size of a man, but the size of his heart that matters.” – Evander Holyfield

4. “The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It’s the same thing, fear, but it’s what you do with it that matters.” – Cus D’Amato

5. “A champion doesn’t become a champion in the ring, he’s merely recognized in the ring. His ‘becoming’ happens during his daily routine.” – Joe Louis

6. “As long as you have discipline, you can be a success. Discipline is what makes you do everything you need to do.” – Anthony Joshua

7. “That’s my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck’s back. If it’s not positive, I didn’t hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy.” – George Foreman

8. “In life and in a boxing ring, the defeat is not declared when you fall down. It is declared only when you refuse to get up.” – Manoj Arora

9. “To be a champ you have to believe in yourself when nobody else will.” – ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson

10. “Many people fail not so much for their mistakes. They fail because they are afraid to try!” – George Foreman

11. “To see a man beaten not by a better opponent but by himself is a tragedy.” – Cus D’Amato

12. “If you cheat on your road work in the dark of the morning, you will be found out in the big fight under the bright lights.” – Joe Louis

13. “Boxing gyms are more than training facilities. They are sanctuaries in bad neighborhoods for troubled kids and shrines to the traditions of the sport. The gym is home. For many, it’s the safest place they know.” – Katherine Dunn

14. “Rhythm is everything in boxing. Every move you make starts with your heart, and that’s in rhythm or you’re in trouble.” – “Sugar” Ray Robinson

15. “Take the time to train your mind.” – Floyd Mayweather Jr.

15 Best Karate Quotes

1. “Karate may be referred to as the conflict within yourself, or a life-long marathon which can be won only through self-discipline, hard training, and your own creative efforts.” – Shoshin Nagamine

2. “Karate is like boiling water, if you do not heat it constantly, it will cool.” – Gichin Funakoshi

3. “Karate is not about techniques and their execution, but about boldness, integrity and fight for justice and the common good.” – Soke Behzad Ahmadi

4. “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

5. “You may train for a long time, but if you merely move your hands and feet and jump up and down like a puppet, learning Karate is not very different from learning a dance. You will never have reached the heart of the matter; you will have failed to grasp the quintessence of Karate.” – Gichin Funakoshi

6. “A student well versed in even one technique will naturally see corresponding points in other techniques. An upper level punch, a lower punch, a front punch and a reverse punch are all essentially the same. Looking over thirty-odd kata, he should be able to see that they are essentially variations on just a handful.” – Gichin Funakoshi

7. “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

8. “A kata is not fixed or immoveable. Like water, it’s ever changing and fits itself to the shape of the vessel containing it. However, kata are not some kind of beautiful competitive dance, but a grand martial art of self-defense – which determines life and death.” – Kenwa Mabuni

9. “Once a kata has been learned, it must be practiced repeatedly until it can be applied in an emergency, for knowledge of just the sequence of a form in Karate is useless.” – Gichin Funakoshi

10. “Karate aims to build character, improve human behavior, and cultivate modesty; it does not, however, guarantee it.” – Yasuhiro Konishi

11. “The more understanding you have about Karate, the less you need to change or modify it.” – Tsuguo Sakumoto

12. “Karate has no philosophy. Some people think that the tradition of Karate came from Buddhism and Karate has a connection with the absolute, space and universe, but I don’t believe in that. My philosophy is to knock my opponent out, due to the use of only one technique. One finishing blow!” – Mikio Yahara

13. “In the past, it was expected that about three years were required to learn a single kata, and usually even an expert of considerable skill would only know three, or at most five, kata.” – Gichin Funakoshi

14. “The ultimate goal in Karate is to defeat opponents in a real-life-or-death situation.” – Teruyuki Higa

15. “The heart of our karate is real fighting. There can be no proof without real fighting.” – Mas Oyama

10 Best Muhammad Ali Quotes

1. “Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali

2. “I never thought of losing, but now that it’s happened, the only thing is to do it right. That’s my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life.” – Muhammad Ali

3. “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” – Muhammad Ali

4. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali

5. “Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them. A desire, a dream, a vision.” – Muhammad Ali

6. “I hated every minute of training. But I said, ‘don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion!’” – Muhammad Ali

7. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can’t hit what the eyes can’t see.” – Muhammad Ali

8. “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

9. “If my mind can conceive it, if my heart can believe it–then I can achieve it.” – Muhammad Ali

10. “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” – Muhammad Ali

15 Best Jackie Chan Quotes

1. “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.” – Jackie Chan

2. “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

3. “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

4. “Do not let circumstances control you. You change your circumstances.” – Jackie Chan

5. “I want to build up my philosophy…my philosophy with kung fu is to respect people.” – Jackie Chan

6. “Martial arts is for defense. It’s not for attacking. So when people are fighting, always, always, defend.” – Jackie Chan

7. “We learn martial arts as helping weakness. You never fight for people to get hurt. You’re always helping people.” – Jackie Chan

8. “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

9. “Being still and doing nothing are two completely different things.” – Jackie Chan

10. “Martial arts is not for hurting people, it’s for protecting people.” – Jackie Chan

11. “When you are learning about martial art, it is about respect.” – Jackie Chan

12. “It is best to execute small things. I keep doing good things daily.” – Jackie Chan

13. “The fights we avoid are the best ones.” – Jackie Chan

14. “I’m bored of fighting. I always came to know that being an action hero is not possible in my life.” – Jackie Chan

15. “I never wanted to be the next Bruce Lee. I just wanted to be the first Jackie Chan.” – Jackie Chan

10 Funny Martial Arts Quotes

1. “There are three things in life that excite me. A woman, of course. Dinosaurs, and the violence of the octagon.” – Georges St. Pierre

2. “Fifteen referees! I want fifteen referees to be at this fight because there ain’t no man who can keep up with the pace I’m gonna set, except me! There’s not a man alive who can whoop me. I’m too fast, I’m too smart, I’m too pretty! I should be a postage stamp; that’s the only way I’ll ever get licked!” – Muhammad Ali

3. “Sounds like the worst self-help book I’ve ever read. Conceive, believe, achieve. Shut the f**k up!” – Michael Bisping

4. “90% of the game is half mental.” – Tim Sylvia

5. “I want to f**k . . . I want to fight with Chuck; f**k Chuck!” – Wanderlei Silva getting his English words mixed up!

6. “I have a full toolbox full of tools.” – Raquel Pennington

7. “When I started, I used to go off just instincts. Then they took headbutts away, so I had to learn some skills.” – Mark Coleman

8. “I want to outlive my children.” – Tito Ortiz

9. “For the choke, there are no ‘tough guys’.” – Helio Gracie

10. “I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and I was in bed before the room was dark.” – Muhammad Ali