ACTORS BY DAY, MARTIAL ARTISTS BY NIGHT

We all know the heavyweights — Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, Jean-Claude Van Damme and a few others who established themselves as martial artists before they were discovered by Hollywood. We also are well aware of the action stars, the martial artists who regularly display their skills on the silver screen — people like Wesley Snipes, Jason Statham and Michelle Yeoh. But many of us are not aware of a third group of actors, men and women who practice martial arts on their own but rarely use them at work. Let’s take a closer look at a few of them.

ED O’NEILL America’s favorite sitcom dad, Ed O’Neill defined the word “grumpy” when he played Al Bundy in Married … With Children and Jay Pritchett in Modern Family. If you’re old enough to remember his stint as the miserable middle-aged shoe salesman in Married, you may recall how he often bragged about his prowess on the highschool football field: “Four touchdowns in one game!” He really should have been talking about his skill on the mat.

In real life, the 6-foot-1-inch southpaw studies Brazilian under Rorion