The 8 best martial arts TV shows of all time

Han So-hee stars in ‘My Name’. she sits in front of a laptop in a dark room — Han So-hee plays the centerpiece of the action in ‘My Name’

(Image credit: Min Jeehee / Netflix)

Jump to category:

‘Kung Fu’ (1972-1975)
‘Into the Badlands’ (2015-2019)
‘Wu Assassins’ (2019)
‘Warrior’ (2019-2023)
‘My Name’ (2021)
‘House of Ninjas’ (2024)
‘Last Samurai Standing’ (2025)
‘Song of the Samurai’ (2026)

Martial arts remains one of the few subgenres without much presence in the sprawling prestige TV universe. But as streamers have diversified and internationalized their offerings, there are now more options than there were, including these eight standout shows. For our list we have excluded animated offerings, foreign language series that aren’t available in the U.S. and shows like the network dramedy “Martial Law” that currently have no streaming home.

‘Kung Fu’ (1972-1975)

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Latest Videos FromThe Week

Watch full video here:

While fending off attacks from a rival warlord, The Widow (Emily Beecham), Sunny meets M.K. (Aramis Knight), a mysterious boy who may hold the key to a more prosperous future beyond the confines of the badlands. A show that “sort of looks like 1886 but also sort of looks like the future,” it features the “absolute best fighting you’ve seen on TV.” Every fight is a “dramatic tableau set in a picturesque location,” said Brian Moylan at The Guardian. (AMC+)

Indonesian superstar Iko Uwais (“The Raid”) plays Kai Jin, a San Francisco chef based in Chinatown who learns that he is the last in a long line of mystical warriors who must use powers called wu xing to fight the Wu Warlords and prevent them from taking over the city. Kai’s father figure, Uncle Six (Byron Mann), is one of the warlords bent on domination, setting up a Star Wars-esque clash between father and son. A “true treat for any action fan,” the series “grabs you with its flesh-and-blood energy and ambition, offering a spectacle that has become all too rare in action stories these days,” said Nick Allen at Roger Ebert. (Netflix)

In a script based on Bruce Lee’s original (and reportedly stolen) vision, Andrew Koji (“Gangs of London”) is Ah Sahm, a renowned martial artist who arrives in 1870s San Francisco and is immediately plunged into the so-called Tong Wars, mostly street violence between rival gangs in different American Chinatowns. He becomes an enforcer for the Hop Wei tong, a crime family managing smoldering tensions with other clans.

Dylan Leary (Dean S. Jagger) is an Irish labor leader negotiating rising tensions between the two immigrant communities, and Christian McKay is San Francisco’s mayor, Samuel Blake. Both a propulsive action thriller and a fascinating piece of historical fiction, “Warrior” offers three full seasons of fighting and intrigue. It’s both “gratifying as a platform for representation” of Chinese Americans and “delivers all the adrenaline-pumping martial arts smackdowns one would expect,” said Hanh Nguyen at IndieWire. (HBO Max)

After losing their son, Gaku (Kengo Kora), in battle, the Tawara family blends back into modern Japanese life and abandons their nights-and-weekends ninja mayhem. Soichi (Yosuke Eguchi), and Yoko (Tae Kimura) are the family leaders who call their children Haru (Kento Kaku) and Nagi (Aju Makita) back into action years later while trying to keep their 8-year-old, Riku (Tenta Banka), in the dark about the family’s true identity. An “unalloyed delight,” the series offers a “marvelous mix of stealthy ninja action, family drama and gentle comedy,” said Peter Martin at Screen Anarchy. (Netflix)

There, he joins Kondo Isami (Nobuyuki Suzuki) and Okita Soji (Kanata Hosoda) to form the famed Shinsengumi samurai, which protects the embattled shogunate of Japan against pressure from the U.S. and other Western powers seeking to open the country to international trade and development. It’s a “sweeping epic that examines a fascinating part of Japanese history and takes the time to delve into the psyches of its characters,” said Sarah Osman at The Arts Fuse. (HBO Max)

David Faris is a professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of "It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics." He's a frequent contributor to Newsweek and Slate, and his work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Republic and The Nation, among others.