By Albert Valentin | Published March 3, 2010

Throughout cinematic history, child stars have been a primary focus yet in some cases, have had their share of troubles off screen and well into adulthood. Thankfully, these child stars in martial arts films have seemed to have follow the right path and while some continued well into adulthood and still kicking, others have taken a backseat to pursue perhaps other opportunities.

This first part takes a look at the child martial arts action stars of Hollywood who have made the most impact in action films from the past to the present. While they have now grown up and perhaps either continued to act or are off working on other things, it is safe to say that these former child stars when it comes to action in Hollywood, have truly come a long way.

DISCLAIMER: This feature is a list of the child stars who have made quite an impact in martial arts action films from past to present. The list is based on the opinion of the author.  I would have added fellow XMA star Jake Strickland, but did not add him to this list because he made an impact in Asia with HOUSE OF FURY. Therefore, he will be featured in Part 2 of this feature.

KANE KOSUGI

The eldest son of Ninja actor and martial artist Sho Kosugi, Kane began his martial arts training from his dad at the age of 18 months. kane had won numerous trophies since his training began. After appearing in REVENGE OF THE NINJA, Kane would play his father’s son in a series of action films throughout the 80′s, inclduing 9 DEATHS OF THE NINJA (1985), PRAY FOR DEATH (1985), and BLACK EAGLE (1988).

After graduating high school, Kane moved to Japan in hopes to start a career there. Appearing on some television series from RYU NO KAZE and playing the Black Ranger in NINJA SENTAI KAKURANGER, Kane would star in two films directed by his father, titled THE FIGHTING KING. Both films featured Kane as a karate champion who took on various opponents.

Kane would appear in films such as ZERO WOMAN RETURNS (1995) and CAT’S EYE (1997) as well as showcase his talents as a voice actor with the lead role in STREET FIGHTER ZERO (1999). A chance meeting with Jackie Chan led Kane to a cameo appearance in WHO AM I? (1998). In 2002, Kane got a chance to lead an all-out action film titled MUSCLE HEAT, aka BLOOD HEAT. Jackie Chan loaned out stunt team members Ken Low, Chan Man-Ching, Sam Wong, and Antonio Carpio to help with the film. Low got a major role while Wong and Chan were credited as the action choreographers with Carpio assisting the duo.

Kane would appear in the final Godzilla film, GODZILLA: FINAL WARS in 2004 when he was offered a chance to return to Hollywood. The adult Kane would play ninja master Ryu Hayabusa in the live action adaptation of the video game DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE (2006) for director Corey Yuen. Kane would follow it up with a brief role in the Jet Li/Jason Statham film WAR (2006). Shortly after, Kane began to work on COWEB (2008), the directorial debut for Xiong Xin-Xin. In the film, Kane played a taekwondo expert who faces off against lead actress Jiang Lu-Xia.

Kane has recently worked with CITY OF VIOLENCE duo Jung Doo-Hong and Ryoo Seung-Wan on the short film TIMELESS for the MotoKlassic Phone. The film revolved around Kane playing an action star and former protege of Jung, who is extremely unhappy with Kane’s recent use of CGI and wire stunts. Working together on a new film, Jung and Kane go old school. It is rumored that Jung and Ryoo could be planning a feature length action film to feature Kane in the future. Meanwhile, Kane can be found online on his official website .

ERNIE REYES, JR.

Taekwondo expert Ernie Reyes Jr. trained in the art under his father, Ernie Reyes, at a young age. By the age of five, Ernie has won competitions in the adult division, hailing him as practically a child legend in the martial arts community. In 1985, a meeting with Motown founder Berry Gordy led Reyes Jr. to his first film role, a small role in THE LAST DRAGON. He followed it up with a major supporting role as a prince in the sword and sorcery flick RED SONJA (1985), alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Brigitte Nielsen.
Reyes Jr. would star in a Disney made-for TV film entitled THE LAST ELECTRIC KNIGHT. The movie’s ratings did so well that the movie became the pilot for the one-season series SIDEKICKS, which co-starred Buck Rogers himself, Gil Gerard, as a hard boiled detective and adopted father of Reyes Jr.’s martial arts warrior.

Reyes Jr. would go on to work as the fight double of Donatello in the first live-action TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES film in 1990, graduating to have a major lead role in the film’s 1991 sequel, THE SECRET OF THE OOZE. New Line Cinema, impressed with Reyes Jr., created the action comedy SURF NINJAS (1993) around him as he played a surfer who learns he is a prince who is destined to return to his kingdom.  After that, Reyes Jr. practically disappeared despite some television appearances and making his directorial debut, THE PROCESS (aka THE ULTIMATE FIGHT) in 1998.

A cameo appearance in RUSH HOUR 2 in 2001 led Ernie to work with Jackie Chan Stunt Team member Andy Cheng on the 2003 action comedy THE RUNDOWN (2003). Reyes Jr. played a rebel named Manolo, whose excellent martial arts skills nearly get the best of the film’s hero, played by former WWE wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Cheng and Reyes Jr. would reunite for Cheng’s second film as director, RED LINE (2006), in which Reyes Jr. has a brief fight scene against lead actor Nathan Phillips.

When he was not working in the entertainment industry, Reyes Jr.  nearly shocked all martial arts fans in the late 90′s, when he fought professional as a Muay Thai boxer. Reyes Jr. knocked out his opponent in the first round of his first bout. Now trained in Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, and Mixed Martial Arts, the 38-year old recently made a comeback with some rave for his lead role in the 2009 action drama THE RED CANVAS (2008).

TAYLOR LAUTNER

Hailing from Michigan, Taylor Lautner is one of the biggest names in young talent today in Hollywood due to his appearance as werewolf Jacob Black in the TWILIGHT series of films, based on the novels by Stephenie Meyer. Before hitting it big with TWILIGHT, Lautner proved to be a potential force as he showcased his martial arts skills in a few films.

Born in 1992, Lautner began his martial arts training in karate at the tender age of six.  He would eventually become one of the first exponents of Extreme Martial Arts (XMA), founded by world champion martial artist Mike Chaturantabut, or Mike Chat. Taylor would go on to win numerous titles, including Junior Black Belt Forms and Weapons with the staff his choice of weapon.

His training led him to audition for a Burger King commercial and while he lost the role, he wanted to become an actor. Lautner would make his film debut at the age of nine, playing the child version of Bas Rutten’s character in the action film SHADOW FURY (2001). This would lead to his first lead role, one of the titular characters in Robert Rodriguez’s THE ADVENTURES OF SHARKBOY AND LAVA GIRL (2004). In the film, Lautner got to showcase his XMA skills.

However, Lautner didn’t want to be typecast as a martial arts action star (perhaps quite yet) and attempted to work with other genres. He would appear in CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN 2 (2005) as the love interest for one of Steve Martin’s teen children as well as appear mainly in television. TWILIGHT (2008) can be pretty much considered Lautner’s biggest role in which it was rumored he might not have returned for the second chapter, NEW MOON, because he was too skinny at the time. Lautner worked out and packed on nearly 30 pounds of muscle to return for NEW MOON and his new look gained him instant attention.

Lautner has recently worked on the ensemble romantic comedy VALENTINE’S DAY and has projects lined up including CANCUN, described as a “teen DIE HARD” where Lautner will get to show he still has not lost a step in the martial arts department (which he showed when he hosted Saturday Night Live); STRETCH ARMSTRONG, an adaptation of the famous toy line; and ABDUCTION, a thriller about a teen who learns his parents may not be who they seem to be.

TED JAN “T.J.” ROBERTS

A former Junior national martial arts champion, Ted Jan Roberts, or T.J., made his debut on an episode of the hit sitcom MARRIED WITH CHILDREN in 1992. The 13-year old would soon sign with PM Entertainment, best known for churning out some of the most underrated B-movies in the 1990′s with the likes of Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Gary Daniels, and even Cynthia Rothrock leading the way. This led to Roberts’ debut film, MAGIC KID (1992), in which he played a martial artist who goes to Hollywood to visit his uncle and hopes to meet his idol, Don “The Dragon” Wilson.

The film did well on the straight to video circuit and a sequel was released in 1994. In 1995, Roberts played the lead in the action drama A DANGEROUS PLACE (1994), in which he takes on 1980′s teen idol Corey Feldman in the climatic fight sequence. His work in these films would lead Roberts to star in the short-lived television series MASKED RIDER, Haim Saban’s adaptation of the 1989 Japanese series KAMEN RIDER BLACK RX.  Roberts would go on to star in two more teen martial arts flicks for PM, THE POWER WITHIN (1995) and TIGER HEART (1996) before practically disappearing.

In 2005, he re-emerged with a role in the film IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE and began to learn filmmaking from well-known Hollywood director Gus Van Sant. Roberts was last seen in a non-action role in Van Sant’s critically acclaimed biopic MILK (2009), starring Sean Penn.

MICHAEL TREANOR

A search for a young martial artist led to the discovery of California native Michael Treanor in 1991. The karateka and taekwondo black belt would earn the lead role of Samuel “Rocky” Douglas in the film 3 NINJAS, released in 1992. Alongside Max Elliott Slade and Chad Power, Treanor had the necessary skills to play the eldest brother of the ninjas and the one with all the brains.

While he opted to work on the first sequel, 3 NINJAS KNUCKLE UP (1992, released in 1995) and have an uncredited role as a karate student in BEST OF THE BEST 2 (1992), Treanor ultimately decided to stop acting and go back to living a normal life.  Whereabouts of what happened to Michael since leaving his acting days behind were a mystery until recently. According to some sources, including a MySpace fan page dedicated to him, Michael went on to study at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he is working on his Master’s degree in Psychology. While he was still a teen working in Hollywood, Michael opts not to talk about his action star days. However, he will be best known for playing the oldest of the 3 Ninjas and was quite the martial artist at the time. One only wonders if he still practices while working on his Ph.D.

BLAKE FOSTER

A nationwide search led to the discovery of 11-year old Blake Foster in 1997 when he accepted the role of the new Blue Ranger in the film TURBO: A POWER RANGERS MOVIE and its subsequent series, POWER RANGERS TURBO. Before POWER RANGERS, Foster had already had some acting experience as a child actor in various films and television series. At the time of his casting, Foster had a blue belt in tang soo do under Tom Bloom. However, Foster would continue his martial arts training, only to leave the Power Rangers universe when Turbo ended.

Meanwhile, Foster tried his hands at other roles in more non-martial arts capacity. He appeared in CASPER MEETS WENDY (1997) opposite a young Hilary Duff as well as play Bobby Brady in the made for TV movie sequel THE BRADY BUNCH GOES TO WASHINGTON (2003). After that, Blake worked on a few other projects, notably the 2008 independent action film DRIFTER TKD with director/actor/martial artist Ron Pohnel (NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER). The film would take advantage of the now adult Blake still kicking butt with his second-degree black belt in American Tang Soo Do.

Part 2 of this feature will highlight the child action stars in Asian martial arts action films, from former real Shaolin monks to wushu practicioners and much more.

Related Topics:
Blake Foster  •  children  •  Ernie Reyes Jr.  •  Hollywood  •  Kane Kosugi  •  martial arts films  •  Michael Treanor  •  Taylor Lautner  •  Ted Jan Roberts