Best martial arts documentaries [Boxing, BJJ, MMA, etc.]

Martial arts have a long history to tell and today thanks to modern technologies we can tell this history in pictures, movies, and documentaries. Our goal for this article is to find the best martial arts documentaries.

When we have just started our research we realized, that our list will be not complete and we will miss some best documentaries anyway.

We strive to make this list as complete as possible. So write us a message if you know a martial art documentary that is not listed here.

We have split the best martial arts documentaries into different parts each related to a specific martial art style and combat sport.

Table of Contents

Best Martial arts documentaries (in general)

In this part of the best Martial arts documentaries, we will share our findings about martial arts movies in general.

Further, we share the results of our research on documentary movies and not only related to specific combat sports.

Let’s see what the best martial arts documentaries on Netflix are to find.

The picked films can be also referred to as the history of martial arts documentary as almost every episode mentions a short origin story behind each martial art.

Human Weapon

Human Weapon is a TV show that was hosted on the American channel The History Channel.

What happened to the show Human Weapon?

The show was released in 2007 and lasted 15 episodes and was canceled in 2008.

FightWorld

American documentary series about the variaty of fighting techniques around the world. The series were released in 2018 with the goal to explore the local fight culture in different countries – wrestling, Lethwei, Muay Thai, etc.

Fight Quest

The idea behind the Fight Quest series is very similar to Human Weapon and all other mentioned here martial arts documentaries.

The first episode was shown in 2007 and the next series were released in 2008.

Fight Quest: Pencak Silat episode

Fight Science

Fight Science is a National Geographic martial arts documentary. This TV series was released in 2007.

Best jiu jitsu documentaries

Gracie Jiu Jitsu documentary

What movie is Rickson Gracie in?

Choke

There is a documentary about Rickson Gracie – a jiu jitsu red belt, former MMA fighter, and jiu jitsu legend. The film is called Choke and it follows Rickson Gracie while he prepares for a Vale Tudo fight in Tokyo in 1995.

Rickson Gracie documentary Netflix release

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu documentary popularity will be on time all the way that exists jiu jitsu. Which counts almost 100 years, by the way.

The release date of the new Rickson Gracie documentary Netflix film is still to be announced. It has the name Dead or Alive.

Gracie documentary Netflix film is about exploring the origin of Brazilian Jiu jitsu and focuses on the two legends of martial arts – Rickson Gracie and Mitsuyo Maeda.

The director of the announced jiu jitsu documentary Netflix project will be Brazilian director Jose Padilha (Narcos, Elite Squad).

Rickson Gracie vs Nobuhiko Takada on Pride 1 in 1997

Best jiu jitsu documentaries

The Gracies and the Birth of Vale Tudo

One more Gracie Jiu Jitsu movie about “the legendary Gracie family and the remarkable creation and expansion of the UFC “Ultimate Fighting Championship” around the world”.

Roll: Jiu-Jitsu in SoCal

The Roll documentary is a jiu jitsu documentary film about a 7-day journey by Progress Jiu JItsu from the UK to California, USA, in 2014.

It’s a “slight glimpse into the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu lifestyle in Southern California”.

Best Brazilian jiu jitsu documentary

Jiu-Jitsu vs The World

And of course the Jiu Jitsu vs The World film. This documentary you will find this in all the best BJJ documentary Reddit recommendations.

Since 2016 the Jiu-Jitsu vs The World video on YouTube collected almost 2M views and over a thousand comments.

The film is telling and shows the positive impact of Brazilian jiu jitsu on lives everywhere around the world.

1.5 hours of time to enjoy.

Best BJJ documentaries

Arte Suave documentary

The Arte Suave documentary may be underestimated by the reason that it is not well-known in the jiu jitsu and grappling community.

Best BJJ documentary that consists of two parts almost 2 hours each. The old documentary shows jiu jitsu training in the best academies and the coexistence of the best fighters and champions of jiu jitsu looking for their true virtue.

Jiu Jitsu Lifestyle: Arte Suave: Part 1