MARTIAL ARTS from China

Top 6

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Chinese Martial Arts of all time. This list of famous Chinese Martial Arts is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Ip Man (1893 - 1972)

With an HPI of 75.18, Ip Man is the most famous Chinese Martial Arts.  His biography has been translated into 50 different languages on wikipedia.

Ip Man (born Ip Kai-man; 1 October 1893 – 2 December 1972), also known as Yip Man, was a Chinese martial arts grandmaster. He became a teacher of the martial art of Wing Chun when he was 20. He had several students who later became martial arts masters in their own right, the most famous among them being Bruce Lee.

2. Huo Yuanjia (1868 - 1910)

With an HPI of 65.91, Huo Yuanjia is the 2nd most famous Chinese Martial Arts.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Huo Yuanjia (18 January 1868 – 14 September 1910), courtesy name Junqing, was a Chinese martial artist and co-founder of the Chin Woo Athletic Association, a martial arts school in Shanghai. A practitioner of the martial art mizongyi, Huo is considered a hero in China for defeating foreign fighters in highly publicised matches at a time when Chinese sovereignty was being eroded by foreign imperialism, concessions and spheres of influence. Due to his heroic status, the legends and myths surrounding the events in his life are difficult to distinguish from facts.

3. Wong Fei-hung (1925 - 1925)

With an HPI of 63.90, Wong Fei-hung is the 3rd most famous Chinese Martial Arts.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Wong Fei-hung (born Wong Sek-cheung with the courtesy name Tat-wun; 19 August 1847 – 17 April 1925) was a Chinese martial artist, physician, and folk hero. His recent fame was due to becoming the protagonist of numerous martial arts films and television series. The role of Wong Fei-hung has been played by numerous well-known stars of Hong Kong and Chinese cinema, including Gordon Liu, Jackie Chan, Kwan Tak-hing, Jet Li, Vincent Zhao, and Sammo Hung. Even though he was considered an expert in the Hung Ga style of Chinese martial arts, his real public fame was as a physician who practiced and taught acupuncture, Dit Da (Chinese chiropractics) and other forms of traditional Chinese medicine in the now famous Po Chi Lam (寶芝林; 宝芝林; Bǎozhīlín; Bou2-zi1-lam4), a medical clinic in Canton (Guangzhou), Guangdong Province. A museum dedicated to him was built in his birthplace in Foshan, Guangdong.

4. Zhang Weili (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 35.01, Zhang Weili is the 4th most famous Chinese Martial Arts.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Zhang Weili (Chinese: 张伟丽; pinyin: Zhāng Wěilì; born August 13, 1990) is a Chinese professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the women's Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the current and two-time UFC Women's Strawweight Champion and the first Chinese fighter to win a UFC championship and the first Asian champion. A professional competitor since 2013, Zhang formerly competed for Kunlun Fight (KLF), where she was the KLF Women's Strawweight Champion. She is the first Asian UFC champion among women. As of September 5, 2023, she is #2 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.

5. Chen Zhong (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 30.59, Chen Zhong is the 5th most famous Chinese Martial Arts.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Chen Zhong (simplified Chinese: 陈中; traditional Chinese: 陳中; pinyin: Chén Zhōng; born November 22, 1982) is a retired Chinese taekwondo competitor who represented her country at international level for more than 10 years, including three consecutive Summer Olympic Games. She won China's first Olympic gold medal in taekwondo at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and successfully defended her title at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but did not make it past the quarter-final round.

6. Cheng Xunzhao (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 27.39, Cheng Xunzhao is the 6th most famous Chinese Martial Arts.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Cheng Xunzhao (born 9 February 1991) is a Chinese judoka. He represented his country at the 2016 Summer Olympics.