Robert Downey Jr is prominently known for his role as the Iron Man, in the legendary Marvel franchise. Downey’s career path has been quite unprecedented after him being succumbed to substance abuse and eventually ended up in prison. But when he recovered and established a well-suited acting career, all thanks to Martial Arts.
During an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Downey revealed that Wing Chun has been one of the most dominating aspects of his life, that he has been mastering for years. He elaborated that this marital art form helps him maintain discipline, in order to maintain his sobriety.
He said, “It absolutely coincided with my recovery, and the two things just somehow or other seem to lock in.” This art form helped Downey to reconnect with his artistic self and regain control to achieve what he deserved. It majorly helped him in his work on the sets of Iron Man and Sherlock Homes, especially while performing the stunts on camera.
How did Robert Downey Jr. train for Iron Man roles?
While learning mixed martial arts, the Iron Man trained alongside Eric Oram, an American Wing Chun Master who had previously trained Jake Gyllenhall and Christian Bale. Downey revealed that due to his infamous past, at first Oram was hesitant to train him, saying that if Downey didn’t show up on time, he would “chop off his toes and feed them back to him.”
MMA majorly helped Downey while shooting for his role as Tony Stark ‘Iron Man,’ as he trained to have the appearance of a trained MMA fighter, instead of a superhero. It was Oram who trained him for his fight scenes in Sherlock Homes and Caption America: Civil War.
He trained Downey using the philosophy of applying the minimum force needed to win the fight. “I got my a** kicked by a wooden dummy for about three years and then I finally understood the principle of ‘Don’t fight force with force,” Iron Man shared.
View this post on Instagram
In addition to his Wing Chun training, Downey was also forced to join the gym, under trainer Brad Bose. They focused on cutting down cardio and increasing the weight he was lifting. His lower body workout routine included four sets of hamstring curls, band squat, and leg press1 each. Then he had three sets of suspension trainer lunges, sandbag squats, and an ab circuit, each.
Coming to his upper body, he performed three sets of weighted pullups, swiss ball bench press, low row, weighted dip, bosu ball pushup, continuous tension DB shoulder press, and many more. After several months of hard-hitting training and consuming 5,000 calories a day, Downey built 25 pounds of muscle and a remarkable physique for Iron Man.
If it wasn’t for Wing Chun’s disciplined and consistent training, Robert Downey Jr. may have not been where he is now. It helped him become determined and keep his sobriety, as he thanks mixed marital arts for all he has today.