Let’s talk about violence. We love to watch it on screen, but hate to see it anywhere near us. You would be worried if you saw a sequence of round kicks down the street. But if you saw the same in your living room… via your TV screen… you’d sit down comfortably and order some pizza. You might even be sad if it all ended too quickly. Thankfully, there are ways to watch that violence for more than 10 hours, and that’s via some of the best martial arts TV shows.
The creators of the following shows put a lot of work into the choreography, ensuring that various martial arts techniques look as cool as they do in a big-budget John Wick movie. And the action isn’t the only thing that these shows have to offer. The plots are compelling, too, and so is the characterization. Even better, the bad guys are the ones who mostly get harmed. So… which one will you watch first?
‘House of Ninjas’ (2024)
“We are just a normal family!” Soichi, the patriarch of the Tawaras family, insists when members of the Bureau of Ninja Management show up at his doorstep with an offer to help stop a dangerous faction. You guessed right! He’s lying. His family might have settled for running a sake brewery, but they are actually the last shinobi (ninja) clan in their ancestry. You know how the story usually goes. The hero is unwilling to participate at first, only to be persuaded by some form of recompense. Welcome to House of Ninjas.
Regarding quality, House of Ninjas has healthy doses of politics, history, and religion, but the action is its strongest pillar. If you care about authenticity, you can actually see the kicks and the punches landing. There are no fake WWE and AEW hits (I love AEW). And despite this being director Dave Boyle’s first-ever action project, he appears to have a painterly eye for blood stains and a profligate sense of fun. At times, the camera barely moves, and the warring parties simply inhabit the frame like fish in an aquarium. Pure brilliance!
‘Black Sash’ (2003)
Black Sash is the kind of show that takes you to school. The hero, Tom Chang, is a former undercover narcotics cop who was wrongly imprisoned (and yada yada yada). However, the fun begins once the sob story is over. While many martial arts stories tend to focus on Tai Chai when it comes to the three main techniques of the Chinese Wudang school, this particular series focuses on Baguazhang (Eight Diagram Palm), where open palm strikes are used instead of closed fists.
The plot of Black Sash, another forgotten CW series, mainly revolves around the Chinese martial arts kwoon that Tom now runs, and, at the end of it all, you’ll feel like you can fight (but don’t!). Elaborate costumes and colorful sets add to the discreet sexiness. And, borrowing heavily from The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, the musical flourishes help reinforce the urban atmosphere. While one casting choice is a bit of a puzzler (you’ll wonder what Ray J is doing here), this engrossing martial arts riddle revels in arty intelligence and visual enchantment.
‘Into the Badlands’ (2015 – 2019)
Remember Smallville? The creator of the CW superhero story, Alfred Gough, also made Into the Badlands, and I can’t help but wonder why he didn’t make Lex Luthor fight like Sunny. Well, Sunny is a warrior who works for one of a few offbeat and carefree barons in a dystopian future. In this society, guns have become obsolete, and everyone relies on melee weaponry.
In this gritty action thriller, the protagonist exudes a wary vulnerability, but he inflicts so much physical pain on enemies that it sometimes doesn’t seem fair. Remember the “Stop! He’s already dead!” meme from The Simpsons? You can see a similar absence of empathy here on several occasions. Nonetheless, you’ll be addicted to it all, especially after the rain fight in the pilot episode, where the camera zooms in on water droplets interacting with blades. Beyond that, Into the Badlands excels as a penetrating character study of physically and emotionally wounded people, each doing their best to survive in a harsh world where everything is stacked against them.
‘Wu Assassins’ (2019)
Iko Uwais quite become the next Jet Li after his impressive showing in The Raid, but he has done plenty of great work ever since. In Wu Assassins, he played a San Francisco chef who encounters a mystical spirit that grants him the skill and power of 1,000 monks. He might have preferred the power of 1000 Gordon Ramsays, but he gets to work, aiming to depower five criminal masterminds who are threatening to destroy the world.
Sometimes martial arts fights look too good to be true, but here, we learn early on that the characters have superpowers, so viewers aren’t surprised when people walk on walls. The incredible Uwais proves, yet again, why he is one of the most underrated action stars, but he doesn’t shine alone. Lee Jun Li and Celia Au also put their best foot forward. The visuals are excellent, too. Once you’re done, check out the sequel movie, A Fistful of Vengeance.
‘Kung Fu: The Legend Continues’ (1993 – 1997)
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues is a sequel to the ‘70s show, Kung Fu. When compared to the original show, the storylines are a bit generic, but it has superior production values and better fight choreography. Somewhat of a cross between an action thriller and a crime drama, it focuses on a father-son protagonist duo, the former a shaolin monk and the latter a police detective.
Anchored by two outstanding lead performances, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues is a fun and sometimes poignant poem about the life of crime-fighters. The show makes heavy use of slow-motion, so every strike and dodge feels more special. Beyond the action, mental health is addressed, a topic that other popular action shows rarely care about. As the protagonists bask in the glow of hoodlum-free streets, they’re often seen crumbling within. Sadly, there is no one to help (and no Dr. Melfi from The Sopranos).
‘The Brothers Sun’ (2024)
Nowadays, Michelle Yeoh is in everything… everywhere… all at once. But who’s complaining? She’s one of the world’s best actors, and The Brothers Sun remains one of her best small-screen projects. Here, she played an immigrant L.A. mom who struggles with physical and mental collapse as she works with her two sons to fight off the people who tried to kill her ex-husband, a Taipei crime boss.
Well, a family that punches together, sticks together. The Brothers Sun is no Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It’s too funny… perhaps too funny for its own good. However, it’s a lot of fun. You won’t get over that opening fight sequence inside a penthouse. It’s so good, action star Jackie Chan might wish he were in it. There’s another one, too, where one of the sons fights highly trained assassins dressed in giant, inflatable T. rex costumes. How did the stuntmen manage to perform Wushu and Silat techniques while wearing that?
‘Daredevil’ (2015 – 2018)
There is nothing more fun than fights where the opponents are so well-matched that neither can really finish the other off quickly. Daredevil has plenty of those scenes, and the pattern recurs anytime our hero, Matt Murdock, steps into the streets. By day, he’s a respected lawyer, but at night, he is a vigilante who fights crime in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen.
From a tense, three-minute, single-take hallway fight to a 10-minute prison fight, Daredevil delivers many unforgettable moments. The ravishing, addictive series rises above superhero tropes, buoyed by fabulous cinematography and applause-worthy effort from the cast. Charlie Cox wins top laurels, as he imbues his superhero with a truly frightening sense of vengeance and malevolence. However, the real star here is the sumptuous filming style, which helps us understand Matt’s emotions (he is blind) and tells a compassionate story.
‘Cobra Kai’ (2018 – 2025)
Cobra Kai picks up where Robert Mark Kamen’s The Karate Kid movies left off. The Netflix show is packed with many moments where a mercurial character throws down the gauntlet, and the opponent has no recourse but to accept the duel. But the main (or at least the initial) story centers on the tense rivalry between two fighters who once competed in the famous 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament from the movies.
Like The Brothers Sun, Cobra Kai uses the action-comedy template (without overindulgence). The series is more sporty than violent, but the fight choreography is much better than what’s available in many big-budget movies. Taekwondo, Tang Soo Do, and several MMA elements are blended to create one flawless action offering. To make sure everything sticks in your mind, the team behind the show also packs in plenty of standout moments. A 10-minute high school fight that unfolds in the Cobra Kai Season 2 finale is one for the martial arts hall of fame. Besides that, the characters are all easy to relate to.
‘Last Samurai Standing’ (2025)
Have you ever seen a martial arts TV show featuring over 300 actors, each with their own costume? The coordination required in such a scenario is indescribable, and that’s what makes Last Samurai Standing so awesome. The series takes us to the Meiji era, where 292 fighters are presented with a chance to win a grand prize of ¥100,000. The winner will have to travel all the way to Tokyo from the iconic Tenryū-ji Temple in Kyoto and arrive there in one piece without being harmed by the rest.
Last Samurai Standing entertains by relying on a Mortal Kombat template. There are plenty of gimmick fighters, each bringing with them a special skill and weapon. All this triggers unmatched euphoria. The stunning photography in the harsh yet picturesque Japanese landscapes also highlights the mission’s fierce exquisiteness. Fueled by some logic-defying stunts, Last Samurai Standing turns a dramatic slice of every-man-for-himself competition into an awe-inspiring, suspense-filled narrative.
‘Warrior’ (2019 – 2023)
Based on a concept that the late Bruce Lee originally developed for a television series titled Ah Sahm, Warrior follows Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji), a martial arts prodigy who arrives in America during the Tong Wars in search of his missing sister, only to find himself caught up in gang wars. Accordingly, the show’s fights are mostly centered on Jeet Kune Do, or Way of the Intercepting Fist, the martial arts discipline founded by Lee.
Warrior impresses further by combining martial arts with Western elements. There are plenty of Mexican standoffs, with close-ups of eyes and hands before the violence begins. Everything is made better by crisp cinematography, which has a Peaky Blinders feeling. Fun fact: According to Brice Lee’s widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, Warner Bros. initially retooled and renamed the legendary actor’s concept into Kung Fu, the show which would later birth Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. Thankfully, we eventually got something closer to Lee’s vision.
Did I miss any kicks and punches? What martial arts TV show would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments!
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