Best movies like The Sensei

The Courage to Fight. The Strength to Win.

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like The Sensei Starring Diana Lee Inosanto, Michael O'Laskey II, Keith David, Mark McGraw, and more. If you liked The Sensei then you may also like: 1985, Welcome Home, Bobby, Never Back Down, Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown, The Next Karate Kid and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

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Lonely gay teenager, McClain, struggles to fit in with his classmates in a small, conservative Colorado town. After he's severely beaten at school, Karen O'Neil, a martial arts Sensei, secretly trains him to defend himself. When the town discovers their secret, a series of catastrophic events unfolds.

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1985

Having been gone for three years, closeted advertising executive Adrian returns to his Texas hometown and struggles to reveal his dire circumstances to his conservative family.

Welcome Home, Bobby

When a Chicago teen is arrested for drug possession, the ensuing investigation reveals that he has had sexual contact with an older man. Discovering his sexual encounter, other students start shunning him and call for his expulsion from school. His father as his conservative blue-collar dad also rejects him, while his mother does try to offer support.

Never Back Down

Jake, full of anger after his father's death, is just starting to find a place for himself at his new Orlando high school - until Ryan, head of an underground MMA fight club, picks Jake out as a prime opponent. After being trounced by Ryan in front of the entire school, Jake begins training under the firm, moral guidance of a MMA master, where he learns how to fight... and how to avoid a fight. But it becomes obvious that a rematch will be inevitable if Jake wants to stop Ryan and his bullying, once and for all.

Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown

Four fighters from different backgrounds come together to train under an ex MMA rising star and then ultimately have to fight each other and the traitor in their midst.

The Next Karate Kid

Mr. Miyagi decides to take Julie, a troubled teenager, under his wing after he learns that she blames herself for her parents' demise and struggles to adjust with her grandmother and fellow pupils.

One Down, Two to Go

A pair of tough cops go after the mob who jinxed the martial arts tournament and injured their buddy.

6.9 / 10 1993 Action
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Only the Strong

Former Green Beret Louis Stevens returns to his hometown of Miami after completing military service in Brazil, only to learn that his old high school has become a haven for gangs and drug dealers. After Stevens uses his capoeira skills to kick several drug dealers off of the school property, Kerrigan, one of Stevens' old teachers, sees the impact that Stevens has on the students. Kerrigan gives him the task of teaching Capoeira to a handful of the worst at-risk students at the school.

The Karate Kid

Daniel, a fatherless teenager, arrives in Los Angeles and becomes the object of bullying by a gang of karate students when he strikes up a relationship with Ali, the gang leader’s ex-girlfriend, so Daniel asks Miyagi, a master of martial arts, to help him learn karate.

The Karate Kid Part III

Despondent over the closing of his karate school, Cobra Kai teacher John Kreese joins a ruthless businessman and martial artist to get revenge on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi.

Kickboxer 2: The Road Back

In this rousing sequel to Kickboxer, Tong Po broods about his defeat at the hands of Kurt Sloan. Po and his managers resort to drastic measures to goad Kurt into the ring for a rematch.

American Kickboxer

Kickboxing champion B.J. is jailed for an accidental murder thanks to the testimony of his arch-nemesis Denard. A year later, B.J. is released and then challenged by Denard for $100,000. Will B.J. accept and get even with Denard?

The Art of Self-Defense

Casey is attacked at random on the street and enlists in a local dojo led by a charismatic and mysterious Sensei in an effort to learn how to defend himself. What he uncovers is a sinister world of fraternity, violence and hypermasculinity and a woman fighting for her place in it.

Best of the Best

A team from the United States is going to compete against Korea in a Tae Kwon Do tournament. The team consists of fighters from all over the country--can they overcome their rivalry and work together to win?

Black Belt Jones

Jones is a secret agent who has gone into semi-retirement, concentrating instead on teaching the martial arts to inner city youths. The karate school is run by a kindly old coot named Pops ,played by Scatman Crothers. His gambling debts, however, bring the local thug, Pinky, down on him. To make matters worse, Pinky is then hired by some white thugs who want to get a hold of the property Pops' school occupies so they can build a shopping mall. When things get heavy, Black Belt Jones leaps into action. Only he's not alone. Pops' daughter, Sidney, shows up to lend a hand, proving herself every bit as agile and powerful a martial artist as Jones.

Bloodsport

U.S. soldier Frank Dux has come to Hong Kong to be accepted into the Kumite, a highly secret and extremely violent martial arts competition. While trying to gain access into the underground world of clandestine fighters, he also has to avoid military officers who consider him to be AWOL. After enduring a difficult training and beginning a romance with journalist Janice Kent, Frank is given the opportunity to fight. But can he survive?

Bloodsport III

Bloodsport III brings us back to the world of Alex Cardo. This time he must battle in a fight to end all fights - The Kumite, the most vicious warrior alive - Beast. He must not only battle for his own honor, but also avenge the death of Sun, his mentor, teacher, and spiritual "father", when Sun is spitefully killed by crime boss Duvalier. In order to defeat Beast, destroy Duvalier, and avenge Sun's death, Alex turns to Leung to whom he was indebted in Bloodsport II. Leung directs him to the great shaman, Makato "the Judge", to whom Alex must turn for guidance. The judge teaches him to fully channel the energy in his mind and body in order to rout the Beast in the Kumite...

Brothers

David and Monty, estranged half-brothers, train in mixed martial arts to earn a livelihood. However, things change when the two are forced to compete against each other in the final tournament.

Prayers for Bobby

Bobby Griffith was his mother's favorite son, the perfect all-American boy growing up under deeply religious influences in Walnut Creek, California. Bobby was also gay. Struggling with a conflict no one knew of, much less understood, Bobby finally came out to his family.

Common Ground

This movie contains three short stories dealing with the theme of homosexuality. In "A Friend of Dorothy", a woman joins the Navy during the 1950's and discovers lesbianism. In "Mr. Roberts", a teacher in a 1970's classroom struggles with his closeted gay status. Finally in "Amos and Andy", a father wrestles with his own emotional acceptance of a present day wedding between his son and another man.

5.7 / 10 1991 Action Drama
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Ring of Fire

Johnny Woo (Wilson) is a Chinese doctor who has given up fighting in the ring. His brother is a teacher at a kickboxing club. When Johnny falls in love with Julie (Ford), whose brother is a teacher in a rival kickboxing club, tension begins to build...

6.2 / 10 2000 Drama
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Girlfight

Diana Guzman begins to train as a boxer and achieves impressive success, blazing new trails for female boxers, all while keeping it a secret from her father.

6.7 / 10 2010 Drama
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Legendary

A book-smart teenager joins his school's wrestling team as a way to reunite his surviving family members, who split apart after the death of his father, a college wrestling legend, 10 years ago.

1:54

Tim, a shy 16-year-old athlete with a natural gift for running, is dealing with the loss of his mother, as well as his sexuality. After a personal video is posted to social media, Tim's private life is about to explode into the public eye.

Angel Town

A graduate student and martial-arts expert rents a room in a house owned by a single mother who lives there with her son. A local street gang is trying to recruit the son, but the new tenant tries to help the boy's mother keep him out of the gang. When they learn of this, they target both the mother and her new tenant.

Born a Champion

After a blood- soaked jujitsu match in Dubai, fighting legend Mickey Kelley falls to superstar Blaine. But years later, an online video proves that Blaine cheated, and the world demands a rematch. Can the aging underdog get back into shape in time to vanquish his foe, get revenge, and claim his prize?

Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine

An intimate portrait of Matthew Shepard, the gay young man murdered in one of the most notorious hate crimes in U.S. history. Framed through a personal lens, it's the story of loss, love, and courage in the face of unspeakable tragedy.

Fist 2 Fist

Still haunted by his failure to prevent the murder of a young couple years earlier, a mixed martial arts teacher must confront the skeleton in his closet when the boy who was orphaned by the killing shows up at his door.

Sidekicks

An otherwise rejected or ignored boy creates a fantasy pal from his martial arts movie hero.

Final Impact

A former kick-boxing world champion discovers a young fighter, and believes together they can win back the world crown.

The Matthew Shepard Story

In a senseless act of hatred, openly gay college student Matthew Shepard was murdered in 1998. This critically-acclaimed, moving film recounts the final days of Matthew's killers' trial—and the weeks leading to Matthew's death—with unnerving detail. Stockard Channing delivers an unforgettable, Emmy® Award-winning performance as Matthew's grieving mother, Judy, in a story of a murder that moved a nation to action. Also starring Law & Order's Sam Waterston.

The Circuit

Years ago, Dirk Longstreet walked away from The Circuit, the merciless underground fight club with no rules, where money changes hands as men are killed. But now gangsters have got his brother, and only one more journey inside the ring will save his life.

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Unrivaled

On these streets everyone is fighting for a way out, but after a lifetime of hard knocks, a down-on-his-luck cage fighter gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is chosen to compete against the MMA world champion during a massive competition. The stakes are high and the reward great...but should he lose, it will cost him his life.

Balance of Power

A martial arts expert who runs a dojo for under-privileged kids from a dilapidated warehouse is shaken down by gangsters demanding protection money. Then when one of his students is gunned down in the street by the gang, he swears revenge. Meanwhile the gang leader is setting up a death match between the best fighters and is forcing a former trainer to find a new champion by threatening his granddaughter.

Street Warrior

An Iraqi war vet returns home to find that his brother is in a coma from participating in an illegal underground fight club.

Undisputed III: Redemption

Russian inmate Boyka, now severely hobbled by the knee injury suffered at the end of Undisputed 2. No longer the feared prison fighter he was, he has declined so far that he is now good only for cleaning toilets. But when a new prison fight tournament begins - an international affair, matching the best fighters from prisons around the globe, enticing them with the promise of freedom for the winner - Boyka must reclaim his dignity and fight for his position in the tournament.

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