Is Keanu Reeves trained in MMA? Here are all the combat styles he learnt for 'John Wick'

Hollywood action hero Keanu Reeves is trained in various forms of martial arts. While he doesn't claim to be an expert in any discipline, Reeves has trained in various forms for his roles in movies like Man of Tai Chi and The Matrix.

The 58-year-old is perhaps best known for his role in the neo-noir action thriller franchise John Wick which recently crossed $1 billion worldwide. For these movies alone, he had to undergo rigorous training in multiple martial arts disciplines.

According to the fight coordinator and choreographer of John Wick Jonathan Eusebio, Keanu Reeves trained in Judo, jiu-jitsu, shoot wrestling, sambo, and a Filipino style called Kali which uses hard bamboo sticks.

Eusebio said in an interview with Maxim:

"As for the martial arts training, we made judo and jiu-jitsu his base styles. For his empty-hand stuff, we used a lot of karate-based blocks and strikes. We were also using sambo and shoot wrestling, and then the knife stuff—and the pencil stuff—was from our training in kali, a Filipino style."

He added:

"In this new movie, John is fighting many different types of opponents. Chad [Stahelski] wanted to see his judo and jiu-jitsu versus kung fu, versus karate, and versus silat. So the [question] was always, how does someone with that skill set deal with these other, equally lethal skill sets?"

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How did Keanu Reeves get hooked on martial arts?

While Keanu Reeves had established himself as an action hero pretty early in his career, it wasn't until the making of The Matrix (1999) that he got hooked on martial arts.

As per screenrant.com, Reeves had to train in jiu-jitsu, wushu, boxing, and krav maga to play the role of a post-apocalyptic savior. He also formed a bond with stuntman Tiger Chen which led to the making of Man of Tai Chi (2013).

The Hollywood star has also reportedly trained in Aikido for John Wick 4 where he uses evasive movements and lots of wrist locking.

Catch Keanu Reeves' training video below:

Considering his wide range of experience in multiple forms, Reeves likely possesses a decent MMA skillset too.