Speaking with AALBC, Wesley Snipes shared that he’d been practicing martial arts from an early age. “I started training in the Japanese system, when I was 12, in Goju and Shotokan [karate],” he explained. However, what he didn’t mention is that he’d achieved a pretty high accolade in the discipline. Per the Hollywood Walk of Fame website, Snipes actually has a 5th Dan black belt in the latter style of karate (on top of trained in kung fu and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu!). According to The Sporting Blog, that means Snipes qualifies as an “Exceptional martial artist.”
Goju and shotokan karate aren’t the only martial arts disciplines Snipes has experience in, though. Far from it, as he told AALBC, that was just the beginning of his love for the sport. “From there, I was exposed to Grandmaster Moses Powell which is the Aiki-Jujutsu form. And after that, I got into capoeira, and I got ranking in three different systems: Indonesian, African and Japanese. And I’ve done Tae Kwon [Do],” he revealed. The actor added, “I’ve done pretty well.” We’ll call that an understatement!
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That said, even with all those skills under his (black) belt, Snipes is pretty humble about his accolades — and don’t expect him to inflate his accomplishments, any time soon. Far from it, he was quick to correct a Black Belt Television interviewer when they asked if he was a Grandmaster. “No! No, no … I’m not a Grandmaster. Not at all,” he laughed.
