The History of Martial Arts in Arlington 1990-2005

Despite the family-friendly image of martial arts on popular kids shows, there was a more aggressive, competitive side of martial arts emerging that was about to change everything. Founded by Rorion Gracie of the legendary Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu family, Ultimate Fighting Championship debuted in 1993, pitting an international roster of different martial arts practitioners against each other in a tournament to determine who was the best in an essentially no holds barred competition.

The early years of Ultimate Fighting Championship with its anything-goes cage matches attracted strong interest from a young male audience, while others were horrified by the brutality of the fights. UFC provided spectacle and sport. With that, a new crop of martial arts stars became well-known to the public. Fighters like Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, and Tito Ortiz thrilled pay-per-view crowds and showed how pulling strategies and techniques from multiple traditional martial arts could lead to an effective new form of fighting: Mixed Martial Arts.

In Arlington, while studios offered classes in multiple disciplines, mixed martial arts as a practice hadn’t arrived on the scene just yet. Master Kang’s US Taekwondo College, Jhoon Rhee’s Taekwondo schools, White Birch Kung Fu, and Aikido of Arlington all remained strong businesses and important leaders in the local community, but there was still an appetite for more.

In 1996, the Arlington Judo Club was formed by Sensei Michael Landstreet, who is the current Head Instructor to this day. The Arlington Judo Club operates out of the Dawson Terrace Community Center in North Arlington and offers classes through the County’s Parks and Recreation Department. In the summer of 1999, Jim Sorrentino-sensei established Aikido of Northern Virginia, offering classes at the Central United Methodist Church of Arlington. In 2002, Sifu Maiky Tran began Shaloin-Do of Arlington teaching Kung Fu and Tai Chi. Originally operating out of a Pilates and dance studio in Clarendon, the club moved to South Four Mile Run Drive in West Shirlington in 2005 and added a kids program and Hatha Yoga to their classes.

Culturally, a new age of Hong Kong Martial Arts Cinema was popular among moviegoers as new films by Jackie Chan, including Rumble in the Bronx (1995) and Rush Hour (1999) mixed martial arts action and comedy, and Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000), starring Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh brought fantasy, romance, and adventure to the big screen.

History of Martial Arts in Arlington 1950-1980

History of Martial Arts in Arlington 1980-1990

History of Martial Arts in Arlington 2005-2025