Martial Artist Quotes

The best martial artist doesn't win fights, but avoids fights. Martial arts is a way of gaining basic self-mastery of your mind, body and emotions. It can also be very useful in combat situations. ~ Frederick Lenz

My mentality is that when I go to sleep at night, I'm a better martial artist than when I woke up in the morning. ~ Georges St-Pierre

I was a martial artist. So, for me to be able to do all of the fights is a blast. It's so fun. It's like dancing, but more bad-ass. I really enjoy doing it. ~ Caity Lotz

I don't think I'm in any position to call myself a martial artist. I'm a student of the martial arts. ~ Lou Reed

The true martial artist yields to the weak, while withstanding the strong. ~ Neil Young

Kyo: ...I can't help it. I'm...not made for interacting with people.

Shigure: People aren't born social. Sure it comes easier to some people...but most people, like you, need to work at it. Some more than others. You're just inexperienced. For example, as a martial artist, you have the strength to break the table with your first. But you also have the self-control to stop your fist right before it hits the table. You weren't born with that control, were you? You had to refine it. That's the result of fighting bears in the mountains.

Kyo: I DIDN'T FIGHT BEARS!

Shigure: You're missing my point. It's the same as interacting with people. But training for that isn't in the mountains--it has to be in town where people live. Mingling with people, hurting them, getting hurt by them...that's how you learn about others...and about yourself. If you don't, you'll never be able to care about anyone but yourself. You may be a black belt fighter, but you're still a white belt in dealing with people. For the sake of the girl who will one day tell you she loves you...don't run away, keep training.

Kyo: As if someone would ever tell me that.

Shigure: And if someone did, what would you do?

Kyo: I can't even imagine. I guess...I'd ask her if she was sane. ~ Natsuki Takaya

A quality martial artist is always ready for any move, and trains oneself invincible. ~ Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee only played himself. Chuck Norris is a martial artist that does acting. I want to be an actor that does martial arts. ~ Leo Howard

Obey the principles without being bound by them. ~ Bruce Lee

Being a martial artist for many years, it has become a bit of an obsession of mine to bring that part of my life to the screen. ~ Sundra Oakley

I'm a martial artist, and I don't train because I have a fight; I train because it's my lifestyle, and I'll train every day if I'm not hurt. ~ Georges St-Pierre

I have always been a martial artist by choice, an actor by profession, but above all, am actualising myself to be an artist of life. ~ Bruce Lee

Of course we've been fighting against stereotypes from Day One at East West. That's the reason we formed: to combat that, and to show we are capable of more than just fulfilling the stereotypes - waiter, laundryman, gardener, martial artist, villain. ~ Mako

Actually, for me, I really love to do action movie. You know, most people, they know, they thought that I am a martial artist. I don't know why, but I love to do kung fu movie, you know? ~ Li Bingbing

The perfect Librarian is calm, cool, collected, intelligent, multilingual, a crack shot, a martial artist, an Olympic-level runner (at both the sprint and marathon), a good swimmer, an expert thief, and a genius con artist. They can steal a dozen books from a top-security strongbox in the morning, discuss literature all afternoon, have dinner with the cream of society in the evening, and then stay up until midnight dancing, before stealing some more interesting tomes at three a.m. That's what a perfect Librarian would do. In practice, most Librarians would rather spend their time reading a good book. ~ Genevieve Cogman

I'm still a martial artist at heart. I believe in controlling yourself ... I think that's huge in life-to be a good man. ~ Cub Swanson

I'm not really the author, the entrepreneur, the DJ, the martial artist, the teacher, the lecturer, the music producer, or even the person you can talk to when you need. I'm the guy that does what is necessary when everyone is busy talking about it and expressing opinions. ~ Robin Sacredfire

There is a difference between a fighter and a martial artist. A fighter is training for a purpose: He has a fight. I'm a martial artist. I don't train for a fight. I train for myself. I'm training all the time. My goal is perfection. But I will never reach perfection. ~ Georges St-Pierre

The true Martial Artist is not the one who fears change, but the one who causes it to happen. ~ Ed Parker

The biggest gift I received as a martial artist is without a question the capacity to be in peace. ~ Rickson Gracie

I want to use every second of my life, every time that I have in my life, to make me a better fighter. That's why I'm a martial artist. For me, it's more than a job - it's a way of living ~ Georges St-Pierre

I'm a martial artist. I've boxed all my life. I work out. I studied Hwarangdo, which is a Korean style. ~ Laz Alonso

I consider myself a martial artist and an actor. They can work together or individually. I love to do action. I love having a good role in which I can act and fight. That's double happiness. ~ Mark Dacascos

Katana is a trained, disciplined martial artist. She removes herself from Birds of Prey to go on a personal journey in Japantown, San Francisco, and pursue a quest for vengeance against the Sword Clan, the men that killed her husband. ~ Ann Nocenti

I'm a traditional martial artist and I'm always going to carry myself in the most respectful way I can. ~ Cung Le

As I became older, I was given many masks to wear. I could be a laborer laying railroad tracks across the continent, with long hair in a queue to be pulled by pranksters; a gardener trimming the shrubs while secretly planting a bomb; a saboteur before the day of infamy at Pearl Harbor, signaling the Imperial Fleet; a kamikaze pilot donning his headband somberly, screaming 'Banzai' on my way to my death; a peasant with a broad-brimmed straw hat in a rice paddy on the other side of the world, stooped over to toil in the water; an obedient servant in the parlor, a houseboy too dignified for my own good; a washerman in the basement laundry, removing stains using an ancient secret; a tyrant intent on imposing my despotism on the democratic world, opposed by the free and the brave; a party cadre alongside many others, all of us clad in coordinated Mao jackets; a sniper camouflaged in the trees of the jungle, training my gunsights on G.I. Joe; a child running with a body burning from napalm, captured in an unforgettable photo; an enemy shot in the head or slaughtered by the villageful; one of the grooms in a mass wedding of couples, having met my mate the day before through our cult leader; an orphan in the last airlift out of a collapsed capital, ready to be adopted into the good life; a black belt martial artist breaking cinderblocks with his head, in an advertisement for Ginsu brand knives with the slogan 'but wait--there's more' as the commercial segued to show another free gift ~ Frank H. Wu

I'm a little greedy for action scenes. I'm a martial artist, and any time I get to show off some of that art is great. ~ David Ramsey

I don't know if many people realize that Dolph Lundgren is a chemical engineer. He's not a dumb blond guy. This guy is smart and he's a martial artist. ~ Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

I was writing a scene where a guy was choking another guy to death. You can go online and type 'chokeholds' and watch scenes where martial artists choke each other out. You can hear what noises they make when they go unconscious, see how their bodies flop and everything. YouTube is amazing for the more detailed stuff. ~ Daniel H. Wilson

Presumably, as a Martial artist, I do not fight for gain or loss, am not concerned with strength or weakness, and neither advance a step nor retreat a step. The enemy does not see me. I do not see the enemy. Penetrating to a place where heaven and earth have not yet divided, where yin and yang have not yet arrived, I quickly and necessarily gain effect. ~ Takuan Soho

Some people think a martial artist has to be tough against everybody - that's not true at all. A martial artist has to be strong against bad people. But we must also be able to know and understand the feelings, moods and mentalities of good and bad individuals before we can comprehend when to be strong and when to be gentle. ~ Tsutomu Ohshima

All right, here's a limerick: A young martial artist called Dave Was fearless and handsome and brave He saved me from thugs When I nearly got mugged So now I'm forever Dave's slave." There was a short silence. I cringed. "Um, sorry. Came out a bit gay, that one." Bugger, bugger, bugger. ~ J.L. Merrow

I'm a trained martial artist. My parents were both martial artists. ~ Lynn Collins

I hope martial artists are more interested in the root of martial arts and not the different decorative branches, flowers or leaves. It is futile to argue as to which leaf, which design of branches, or which attractive flower you like; when you understand the root, you understand all its blossoming. ~ Bruce Lee

I am the world's most appalling martial artist. I am so bad. I've studied jujitsu, kickboxing, t'ai chi. Once, I was sparring with someone, made a mistake, and managed to knock them down. I was so shocked that I dropped to my knees to see if they were all right, and then they knocked me out cold. From the floor. ~ Nick Harkaway

If mere mechanical efficiency can make everyone a martial artist, then all is well. Unfortunately, combat, like freedom, is something that can not be preconceived. ~ Bruce Lee

The great artist is a formulation of the greatest intelligence: he is the recipient of sensations which are the most delicate and consequently the most invisible expressions of the brain. ~ Paul Gauguin

Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price. ~ Sun Tzu

I am a horrible visual artist. I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do. ~ Carrie Brownstein

I would never have done what I'd done if I'd considered my father as somebody I wanted to please. ~ Robert Mapplethorpe

Scott has to be one of the most talented artists I've ever seen. He really captures his subjects in a unique way. He is extremely generous as well. How many artists are willing to donate some of their best works to charity? The Texas Sports Hall of Fame has benefited greatly from Medlock's donated paintings, which are the cornerstones of our auction! ~ Bob Lilly

No nation can be really great unless it is great in peace, in industry, integrity, honesty. Skilled intelligence in civic affairs and industrial enterprises alike; the special ability of the artist, the man of letters, the man of science, and the man of business; the rigid determination to wrong no man, and to stand for righteousness-all these are necessary in a great nation. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

I can obviously relate to a character who is an artist, because the creative process is a big part of my life. ~ Paul Dano

The idea that a poem was a made thing stayed with me, and I decided then that I wanted to be an artist, not just a diarist. So I put myself through a kind of apprenticeship in writing poetry, and I understood even then that my practice as a poet was deeply related to my reading. ~ Edward Hirsch

After being taught sets and reps and working at it for a length of time you can't paint by numbers anymore. It must come from within. Any artist has an emotional contact with their work. A true bodybuilder doesn't just build muscle he creates muscle. You can't be a robot. ~ Tom Platz

I consider myself an artist. God granted me some gifts so that I could express myself artistically. ~ Don Johnson

I see that happening with hip hop purists now. Where you have an artist like a Kendrick [Lamar] or a Drake, who are really trying different things emotionally, different things musically, and on a mainstream level. And you have underground hip hop fans dissing it, for the simple fact that it's mainstream - not because what they're doing is whack, or what they're doing is not sincere. ~ Talib Kweli

The project that I did between 'Boxer & Saints' was 'The Shadow Hero,' which is illustrated by Sonny Liew, an artist who lives in Singapore. ~ Gene Luen Yang

However my mother had once said, 'When you go to art school, you'll find everybody sitting around practicing how to do their signature'; and sure enough, there they were, some of them doing just that. ~ Richard Williams

How many times in life have I been advised to "toe the line," to "tone it down," to stop "pushing the envelope"? As a journalist, I had to keep my opinions to myself for 30 years. I thought that, as an artist, I'd have the liberty to express my views. Now I'm told that doing so might hurt my readership.
I'm so idealistic, as I said elsewhere on FB today, that I think people ought to read my books because they're good. Period. ~ Sherry Jones

I understand that music is a business, but for people who have control of their stuff, like little Taylor and other artists, I think you'll find them standing up for their music every chance they get. ~ Garth Brooks

That Kierkegaard was a stimulating and pioneering force precisely because of his neurosis is not surprising since he started out with a conception of God that had a peculiar Protestant bias which he shares with a great many Protestants. To such people his problems and his grizzling are entirely acceptable because to them it serves the same purpose as it served him, you can settle everything in the study and need not do it in life. Out there things are apt to get unpleasant. Neurosis does not produce art. It is uncreative and inimical to life. It is failure and bungling. But the moderns mistake morbidity for creative birth - part of the general lunacy of our time. It is, of course, an unanswerable question what an artist would have created if he had not been neurotic. ~ C.G. Jung

The job of the artist is to point at things. ~ Miranda July

The purpose of art is to give the traveling human race an improved map that shows the way to itself. If art isn't for *that*, what is it for? ~ William, Saroyan

My great longing is to learn to make those very incorrectnesses, those deviations, remodellings, changes of reality, so that they may become, yes, untruth if you like - but more true than the literal truth. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

You have to be an artist and a madman... ~ Vladimir Nabokov

When I began competing with the other artists in New York, I discovered classical North Indian music. ~ Henry Flynt

The poet, the artist, the sleuth - whoever sharpens our perception tends to be antisocial; rarely "well-adjusted", he cannot go along with currents and trends. A strange bond often exists between antisocial types in their power to see environments as they really are. This need to interface, to confront environments with a certain antisocial power is manifest in the famous story "The Emperor's New Clothes". ~ Marshall McLuhan

It wasn't until school that we realised that we were abnormal. ~ Gilbert Hernandez

I always wanted to be an artist, whatever that was, like other chicks want to be stewardesses. I read. I painted. I thought. ~ Janis Joplin

I am intrigued with scriptural mythology that tells us that God created a divine feminine presence to dwell amongst humanity. This concept has had a constant influence on the work. I have imagined her as ubiquitous, watchful, and often in motion. This work is, in effect, the photographic image of the invisible. ~ Leonard Nimoy

An artist must be pure of heart," said Gerdes, "for true art is the expression of the artist's innermost being. To create beauty, one must be beautiful" - she pressed her hands to her bosom - "in here, in your heart of hearts. ~ Stephen R. Lawhead

An artist has got to be constantly in a state of becoming. ~ Bob Dylan

I have for many years endeavored to make this vital truth clear; and still people marvel when I tell them that I am happy. They imagine that my limitations weigh heavily upon my spirit, and chain me to the rock of despair. Yet, it seems to me, happiness has very little to do with the senses. If we make up our minds that this is a drab and purposeless universe, it will be that, and nothing else. On the other hand, if we believe that the earth is ours, and that the sun and moon hang in the sky for our delight, there will be joy upon the hills and gladness in the fields because the Artist in our souls glorifies creation. Surely, it gives dignity to life to believe that we are born into this world for noble ends, and that we have a higher destiny than can be accomplished within the narrow limits of this physical life. ~ Helen Keller

The artist, like the God of creation, remains within or behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence, indifferent, paring his fingernails ~ James Joyce

It occurs to me that artists go forward by going backward, something which I have nothing against intrinsically when it is a reproduced retreat - as is the case with the better artists. ~ Soren Kierkegaard

Putting our art out there is one of the biggest risks we can take. It's a special kind of vulnerability. It takes guts to be an artist. ~ Teresa R. Funke, Bursts Of Brilliance For A Creative Life Blog

In an artist's life, death is perhaps not the most difficult thing. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

I am part man, and I notice women's breasts and thighs with the calculation of a man choosing a mistress ... but that is the artist and the analytical attitude toward the female body ... for I am more a woman; even as I long for full breasts and a beautiful body, so do I abhor the sensuousness which they bring ... I desire the things which will destroy me in the end... ~ Sylvia Plath

To know the whole world is nothing when it is compared to knowing your own inner mystery of life. ~ Rajneesh

The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths. ~ Bruce Nauman

Christ alone, of all the philosophers, magicians, etc., has affirmed eternal life as the most important certainty, the infinity of time, the futility of death, the necessity and purpose of serenity and devotion. He lived serenely, as an artist greater than all other artists, scorning marble and clay and paint, working in the living flesh. In other words, this peerless artist, scarcely conceivable with the blunt instrument of our modern, nervous and obtuse brains, made neither statues nor paintings nor books. He maintained in no uncertain terms that he made ... living men, immortals. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

An artist has got to get acquainted with himself just as much as he can. It is no easy job, for it is not a present-day habit of humanity. ~ Chaim Potok

I would be nowhere without martial arts. It's a passion. ~ Leo Howard

I hope my work has inspired young artists. I have always tried to maintain my freedom as an artist and I feel it is one of the main reasons I have been successful. ~ Frank Frazetta

Many artists who sign deals in the US and UK get the benefit of worldwide promotion and have a better shot at breaking globally. ~ Wendy Starland

It's not about how you are when things go well, what defines you is how you are when you fail from an obstacle. ~ Georges St-Pierre

The look that one directs at things, both outward and inward, as an artist, is not the same as that with which one would regard the same as a man, but at once colder and more passionate. As a man, you might be well-disposed, patient, loving, positive, and have a wholly uncritical inclination to look upon everything as all right, but as an artist your daemon constrains you to "observe", to take note, lightning fast and with hurtful malice, of every detail that in the literary sense would be characteristic, distinctive, significant, opening insights, typifying the race, the social or the psychological mode, recording all as mercilessly as though you had no human relationship to the observed object whatever. ~ Joseph Campbell

The '20s ended in an era of extravagance, sort of like the one we're in now. There was a big crash, but then the country picked itself up again, and we had some great years. Those were the days when American believed in itself. I was happy and proud to be painting it. ~ Norman Rockwell

The Nazis hated culture itself, because it is essentially international and therefore subversive of nationalism. What they called Nazi culture was a local, perverted, nationalistic cult, by which a few major artists and many minor ones were honored for their Germanness, not their talent. ~ Christopher Isherwood