Shaz Khan couldn’t be more invested in his latest movie, The Martial Artist. The Pakistani-American actor took on acting, directing, producing, and screenwriting duties. That’s in addition to the matter of transforming his body to look like a believable fighter. As the movie nears its release, Khan sat down with M&F to reflect on how he transformed his physique. He also talks about how he threw himself completely into the role.
The athletic actor was beginning to build a respectable on-screen reputation before he directed his first short film Say it Ain’t So, which centered around boxing, in 2016. It would serve as inspiration for the self-professed Rocky obsessive to direct his latest full length feature film, The Martial Artist.
At the heart of the story is a journey of self-discovery. Khan’s character, Ibby “The Prince” Bakran, is an MMA fighter who puts his potential on the line when he gives in to self-sabotage. With his career slipping between his fingers, Bakran travels to Pakistan to bond with his grandfather and face up to his demons.
Shaz Khan Became an MMA Method Actor
Already an MMA fan, Khan knew that portraying a realistic-looking combat athlete would require him to completely immerse himself in the sport. He’d seen how Sylvester Stallone was able to write, box, and direct in the Rocky movies, and decided to go all-in with his own project.
“That was No. 1,” Khan tells M&F. “It’s called The Martial Artist, it’s about MMA fighters, and with martial arts you can’t really hide the techniques. I knew that they had to be completely believable.”
The actor figured that if he could earn the respect of genuine fighters, he’d be able to pass himself off as an MMA athlete to his movie audience. “I didn’t see myself as separate,” he explains. “A lot of times I didn’t even tell them I was doing a movie. I just did it. I went in like a new student and then I would tell them later on. They’d be like, ‘okay, okay.’”
One of Khan’s proving grounds was King’s MMA gym under the tutelage of the highly respected Master Rafael Cordiero. Khan also trained under Jacob Cho and Grant Collins. “There was jujitsu, there was Muay Thai, there was boxing, wrestling, and then I was studying all the others like Taekwondo, because I figured; take all of the martial arts and know the techniques to then create the choreography that can be the most exciting. So, the more you have in your arsenal the better. I got obsessed. That’s really what it came down to.”
Shaz Khan Trained Hardcore to Look Like an MMA Star
From concept to completion, Khan says his training was “pretty hardcore” for four years. In terms of choreography, Khan worked with Ryan Spadafore and Jason Bukich to painstakingly put together some of the action sequences. The actor says they were conscious not to fall into making the Hollywood style of fighting. Instead, they drew from the well of “Western Kung Fu, Hong Kong inspired action,”
Khan relied heavily on the expertise of his martial arts brothers. At the same time the actor had to go it alone in terms of getting in shape and being accepted by the public as someone who looks like a legitimate fighter. “I really tried my best to lean myself down, drop as much weight as possible, but still have that sort of tone, and the physical cuts that are needed to make you look good, too,” explains Khan. “A lot of MMA fighters aren’t really ripped, but they’re incredibly strong, and they’re incredibly agile and flexible. So, I wanted all of that, but I wanted to add the (defined) lines as well.”
The movie starts with Khan as his youth and progresses to him becoming an adult. For this Khan had to wrestle with changing his physique within the movie. Besides his work in the gym, the actor made presentational changes such as being clean shaven at the beginning of the film and then appearing more rugged toward the end.
With an insatiable sweet tooth, Khan says that he had to cut down on donuts and croissants. He was able to further drop his calorie intake by reducing his portion sizes at mealtimes and spreading out his meals to avoid crashing into temptation.
Since he was also running around as the movie’s director, maintaining his weight actually became a challenge. The constant moving during the shoot was causing Khan to burn more fat than he was consuming. To counter this, he made sure to eat plenty of eggs and consumed healthy fats from foods like avocados. He also supplemented with protein shakes between takes. In the evenings, Khan ate steak or salmon. This helped his body recover from the grueling physical action on screen, and the mental gymnastics required behind the camera.
“I think it’s amazing when you’re just pushed against the fence, and you just have to deliver,” says the star of rising to the challenge. “You just go, you know, and I didn’t have a choice. Yeah, it was very tiring nights, and especially in (an extremely cold) Death Valley. We lost half a day due to a bunch of circumstances. So, we were making up a lot of the schedule in that final day, which was really, really, tough. But you just get it done and I think when the desire is strong enough, it happens. I can’t say enough about the actors, too, because in the end this is a dramatic piece. You have the fighting, but there really is a story about these characters and some of these performances I’m so proud of. I think people will connect.”
The film is beautifully shot. It also marks a milestone as the first international, English-speaking film to feature four lead actors from Pakistan. The Martial Artist hits hard in theaters from April 4, 2025.
