What different martial arts disciplines does Ethan Hunt use in the Mission Impossible franchise? The current iteration of Mission Impossible is directed by Tom Cruise, but it is based on the 1960s spy TV series of the same name and jumped to the big screen in 1996, at which point Tom Cruise took the reins as leading spy Ethan Hunt. The film would spawn an ongoing franchise that stands as one of the longest-running action movie series ever produced, with the seventh installment, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Onearriving in the summer of 2023.
the Mission Impossible The franchise has also been a critical vehicle for making Tom Cruise an action star, with Cruise’s famous drive to pull off the most spine-tingling stunts possible underpinning each film to stunning effect. In addition to the series’ impressive stunt work, Cruise also engages in exciting fight scenes during each Mission Impossible movie. These combat sequences have consistently shown that Ethan Hunt is a very well trained martial artist.
Throughout the hand-to-hand takedowns in the Mission Impossible films, Tom Cruise’s super spy Ethan Hunt He employs techniques from a variety of martial arts disciplines. Weather Mission: Impossible 2, Mission: Impossible 3Y Mission: Impossible – Fallout showcased Ethan’s fighting skills to their full extent, he has held his own during incredible fight scenes in every Mission Impossible movie. Here are the different martial arts that Ethan Hunt knows in the Mission Impossible films.
taekwondo
Ethan Hunt’s kicking skills are on full display in the climactic beach brawl between Ethan and Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) in Mission: Impossible 2. Here, Ethan shows off his skills in Korean Tae Kwon Do, a martial art famous for its kicks. The uneven, sandy terrain of the beaches also lends itself to Tae Kwon Do training as a method of developing kicking strength and coordination. with exalted action film director John Woo Applying his trademark bombast to the fight, Ethan springs into action. Mission: Impossible 2Fighting on the beach is strong and fast, and he even catches his opponent’s arm for a few roundhouse kicks to the head. While the fights in later Mission Impossible The movies don’t emphasize Ethan’s kicking technique as much, he knows how to put Tae Kwon Do kicks to effective use in a fight.
Boxing
In addition to his world-class kicking talent, Ethan Hunt also regularly displays his ability to throw punches during Mission Impossible films. Ethan boasts formidable boxing talents as part of his fighting skill set, delivering hooks, uppercuts and crosses in every fight scene he dominates. Bruce Lee recognized the value of boxing’s footwork and striking methodology, incorporating both with elements of many different Asian martial arts in his creation of Jeet Kune Do, an adaptive “be like water” mentality that Bond-level spy Ethan Hunt clearly share. Fast-forward decades and boxing has effortlessly merged with other martial arts for millions of fighters around the world, Ethan Hunt among them.
capoeira
Originating in Brazil and based on traditional African dance, capoeira is a unique martial art that fuses dance with combat techniques. Capoeira practitioners adopt a rhythmic movement known as “ginga,“Using a variety of instruments in Capoeira training that add a literal musical element to the dance-like exchange of kicks, somersaults and dodges of Capoeiristras. In Mission: Impossible 2In the beach fight, Ethan implements a series of kicks that the Capoeira exponents execute with ease. Ethan’s opening kick in the fight, in particular, resembles an inverted version of the capoeira technique “Martelo do Chão,” a variation of a roundhouse kick in which the kicker executes the movement from the ground with his arm as the kick. support, but the death hoax of ethan hunt, non-conformist that he is, moves in the opposite direction to a typical Martelo do Chão kick. Like his skills in Tae Kwon Do, Mission: Impossible 2 it’s the only place in the franchise where Ethan’s capoeira skills come to the fore, but they contribute greatly to the movie’s excellent beach brawl.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
In addition to his kicking and punching skills, Ethan Hunt is also an expert in grappling, with his grappling skills primarily drawn from Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Consistently seen in the MMA world, Brazilian jiu-jitsu focuses on pinning opponents to the ground using a variety of different techniques, such as chokes and joint manipulations. Ethan’s fight in Mission: Impossible 2 to emit a light on the slippery nature of BJJ, taking both fighters to the ground as often as they are on their feet. Ethan executes numerous chokes and takedowns, even deploying both at once to escape a chokehold and use a “key lock” on Ambrose’s arm as a takedown. Ethan’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu grappling skills greatly expand and diversify his fighting arsenal while adding playful elements to his fight scenes that will be instantly recognizable to martial arts enthusiasts.
Keysi fighting method
One of the more modern forms of martial arts used by Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible the franchise is seen in JJ Abrams’ directorial debut Mission: Impossible 3, with Ethan using Keysi fighting method techniques in his fight with Owen Davian (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). While Keysi has appeared in a number of action movies, she was primarily used as Batman’s primary fighting style in The dark knight trilogy. Originally created in Spain by Justo Dieguez in the early 1980’s, Keysi practitioners fight from the “Thinker” position, facilitating Keysi’s defensive maneuvers as well as his unique approach to striking with his fists, elbows and head. Ethan unleashes some hard-hitting Keysi-derived elbow strikes against Davian in their fight, while Cruise himself would go on to perform some Keysi-based fight scenes in jack reacherbringing out his transferable abilities to lethal effect.
the Mission Impossible the franchise has become both Tom Cruise stunts and fighting skills like Ethan Hunt’s espionage work, and the show’s fight scenes have helped solidify its current status as an action movie titan. Ethan Hunt’s deployment of different martial arts has been instrumental in the ever-increasing success of the Mission Impossible Serie. For every impossible mission, Ethan Hunt comes fully prepared for action, especially when it comes to throwing hands, legs, elbows and everything in between.
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)Release date: July 14, 2023
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