Let's have a fun topic. Van Damme's mysterious ring career is something some people swear was real. I've read some funny reports that claim Van Damme was this and that and everything else. Others (including me) laugh. Opinions? I've got more stuff to add but I'm curious to what some of you guys think and what you've heard.

I think he would not last one round in the ring.

I have a godo interview withhim at home, ill try and copy it here at some point. He was a Karate practitioner in Belgium and won a karate title with an assocation there.

When he first got into films he claimed he was a
champion - which angered Don Wilson because he knew it wasn`t true because he was the Light-Heavy weight Champ of the years in question, Wilsons movie producer Roger Corman afforded up $100,000 to the winner of Van Damme vs. Wilson but of course Van Damme never answered the Challenge.

Black Belt mgazine did a investigation of Van Damme and only found a couple of amateur fights in his homeland under his real name, I think it was Vandenberg.

This reminds me of a Challenge Don Wilson got from a Boxer in Florida - Wilson accepted and then at the last minute the Boxing community put in Art Jimmerson a Top contender but Wilson did not back down and Ko`d Jimmerson. Jimmersons next fight was for Dennis Andries World Boxing Title but lost his bid for the throne.

I got into Tae Kwon Do when I was a kid after watching Bloodsport and Kickboxer. I really thought Thaiboxing used all those flashy kicks.

Now I learn that Vandamme was a ballet dancer and a gay porn actor.

what are the claims?

oops. you guys jumped on before me.

gay porn, huh?

Yep, at least that is what Kirk told me...he knows about gay porn

i heard he got his arse kicked in a bar fight with a biker,problally got butt probed.

Here's what Dennis Alexio had to say when asked about it. Unless you've been living under a rock, Dennis was in the film Kickboxer with Van Damme.

"Jean Claude is not and never was a kickboxer. Jean Claude told me he had one fight and his trainer was Dominic Valera. I spoke to Dominic and he told me Jean Claude never fought full contact and never trained to fight in the ring. On the set of Kickboxer we tapped around and played tag and he has good flexibility but is not a fighter by any sense of the word. He is capable to a degree but not on a world class level or even a competitive professional level"

I also have an article where Van Damme claims he fought for the world middleweight kickboxing title (in the FC days) and knocked out the world champion in 30 seconds with a head kick. News to me!

From Van Damme:

"I am a real fighter, I can kick like a buffalo. If a fighter comes to me and puts his guard on I'll kick him three feet in the air. You don't have to believe me, but bring me someone to tell me I'm full of shit. They are all scared of me. They all talk because they are pussycats"

Ooooohhh!!! LOL!

When did he say that?
You know how many mean motherfuckers in MMA would love to beat his ass!!!

I have an interview here with him saying this. There's more quotes from other dudes, makes for an entertaining read at least. I'll post more soon.

i beleive he has martial arts trainoing karate etc: non contact poss: semi and he was and is "ballet" trained dancer ! thats real ! also how many of you spotted him in his first film hollywood style ????......................................................................................................................................................WELL HE WAS IN "BREAKDANCE" ! HE WAS DANCING IN THE BACKGROUND ! ON THE BEACH ! "MINCING" ! HIS HIPS AND WIGGLING AWAY ! HAHA
TA SANDY MAN U.K.MUAY-THAI-BOXING-ASSOC:
http://ukmuaythai.netfirms.com

Hehe, you must have an eye for men's hip wiggle.

not really ! i like my bums boobs and hips wiggling in a "FEMALE" ! how about you ??? hehehe ahha lol ! did you see the movie ! its a long time ago ! but someone pointed it out to me 1 also he does that strange stupid dance in "kickboxer" film ( ironic its that name eh ??? when hes protrayinm muay-thai ! >? ) yep in that film its when hes had a `few` too many in that bar room fight etc:
ta sandy man
http://ukmuaythai.netfirms.com

The only kickboxing van damme ever did was in the shifty film kickboxer
which by the way was oringinaly going to be called Thai boxer but thai bo'
was almost not v'well known in america and uk so they called it KICKBOXER!!

Van Damme's real name is Jean Claude Van Varenberg. He got decked with one punch by Chuck Zito, a Hell's Angel biker who I think used to be Van Damme's bodyguard.

Where was this?

I heard about him getting one punched in Vancouver, B.C., Canada at a bar.

Who knows, as far as I can tell though there is nothing to say he's a fighter. Certainly got some talent on the moves but as we all know that doesn't make one a fighter.

Hey Guys,
Yeah, I read an article about that little bar fight he had with Chuck Zito... man, that Zito is one bad ass dude... he's a really big guy, and i guess the story goes that van damme was kinda drunk, and was starting to talk shit to zito, then zito just jacked him in the face with a huge punch. Guess van damme isn't much of a fighter after all!

No way, Zito is a small guy...but still a bad ass.

I'm not really much of a fan of Van Damme, but I do know he played a character billed as "The Homosexual" in a really rare, and stupid short called Monaco Forever. Ebay on occasion has sellers selling a French film where Van Damme (I believe under his orignal last name as a gang member)
As for Zito, yeah he's a bad mutha (shush my mouth) but he also may have suckered punched Van Damme in the bathroom of an upscale strip club in New York along Van Damme was with Mickey Rourke. Zito has been living off that now for quite some time

VanDamme was overheard saying in the bathroom "Zido had no heart." The word got back to Zito and he called VanDamme on it. Van Damme stood up and started to take off his glasses all dramatic-movie-style like...Zito blasted him in the face and VanDamme sat the fuck back down.

Both Mickey and Zito would beat VanDamme's ass 10 out of 10 times...they are both boxers.

zito may not be tall but he's big. just watch OZ.

Zito with a mullet...Karate Mullet!










Disclaimer: In no way am I making fun of Mr. Zito.

there are a lot of wacky mullets in the martial arts world!

what about dolf was he a real kickboxer or ever claimed to be one?

Do you mean Dolph Lungren?

err, I mean Dolph Lundgren.

I think he was. Maybe a 3rd rate fighter.

haha

Thats my big(I mean big too) Greek buddies move. The guy starts to take off his jacket and 'SMACK'.

mind you he doesn't start them..

he dropped to fighters after some fights that where starting to fight outside the ring...he's a funny guy

Is Zito a fighter or martial arts expert or something ? What's that belt he's wearing ?

i've heard that Chuck Zito has several black belts in various forms of martial arts. i heard the same about story about Zito knocking out Van Damne in a new york strip club called "Scores". this Chuck Zito is no joke either. my understanding is that he is also a former leader of the Hell's Angel motorcycle gang.

He won the Kyokushin Karate championship when he was living in Australia and occasionally made an appearance at the Japanese championships,so he must have been half O.K. in his day.Didn't he also give Sly Stallone abit of a briusing while filming Rocky?!

As for Van Dumd,my kid sister knows more about fighting than that chump,I'd have loved to have seen his face when Vito dropped him.

The above post is inreference to Dolph Lundgren.

Dolpf Lundgren is a 3rd Dan kyokushin Karateka

Many years ago he lived in Sydney while attenting University there
he compete and placed first in the 1989 (Not sure of date) Australian Full Contact Kyokushin Championships and I beleive he beat Sam Greco to win the tourney

Don't get me wrong Same Greco has improve in leaps & bounds since 1989
but for those of you who know Sam he has always been a awesome fighter.

So Dolph must have been an above average fighter, I have seen videos of him
doing many demonstations like breaking Ice & Tiles

I also heard he was either the Swedish or European Kyokushin Champion
back then too..

Van Damm was challenged to a fight by Steve Quartermain, a television sports reporter in Australia (big guy but never trained), after Van Damm tried to crack onto his wife at an industry party. Van Damm backed down.

Dolph was European Kyokushin champion at one time i believe shortly before he met and lived with Grace Jones. He trained Grace for her martial arts training scene in a View To A Kill.

Van Dammit is a fake. He is not good at all and is very slow. There is a reason all of his fights have the slow-motion effect, it's to hide the fact that he really does move in slow motion. Him and Seagal hate each other, but I dunno why, they are BOTH fakes that need to either shut up or put up. Have you heard that Seagal can command the divine forces? LOL
These 2 guys are really destroying the reputation of martial arts. The general public is really believing that these guys are great martial artists.

well rob kaman has said that van damme has very good tech. and those two guys helped fuel the fires of ma back in the 80's.

sorry to go bit of topic,but i have an important question.
has anyone seen double team(van damme and rodman)do you remember the russian at the camp he looks so like Rob kaman and man i did believe that it was but when i saw the names at the end it turn out to be somebody else.but i still can't believe cause he really looks to me like rob kaman!
what do you guys think?
by the way go easy on van damme he's only an actor!( although once i rad in a martial arts magazine here in the UK few months ago,this is what van damme said:
first of all the magazine reporter greeted van damme as one really respected martial artist.also van damme said that he use to train karate, and that he had won something.and then went to USA to try his luck on acting.also van damme said that bloodsport has been filmed twice,but the first version was never released beacuse it was VERY CRAP!that's what van damme said! also he said that in the move kickboxer when he trained alone in the movie he used the exercises that he used to train while he was a karate guy.(the set ups or something else i don't remember) and at the end he also stated that every time he goes back to belgium(or wherever he's from) that he spares regularly in his old club!
either he is a good respected martial artist or a very big liar! if he is lying i really don't know why and what does he want to acomplish because sonner or later we will find out.

sorry to go bit of topic,but i have an important question.
has anyone seen double team(van damme and rodman)do you remember the russian at the camp he looks so like Rob kaman and man i did believe that it was but when i saw the names at the end it turn out to be somebody else.but i still can't believe cause he really looks to me like rob kaman!
what do you guys think?
by the way go easy on van damme he's only an actor!( although once i rad in a martial arts magazine here in the UK few months ago,this is what van damme said:
first of all the magazine reporter greeted van damme as one really respected martial artist.also van damme said that he use to train karate, and that he had won something.and then went to USA to try his luck on acting.also van damme said that bloodsport has been filmed twice,but the first version was never released beacuse it was VERY CRAP!that's what van damme said! also he said that in the move kickboxer when he trained alone in the movie he used the exercises that he used to train while he was a karate guy.(the set ups or something else i don't remember) and at the end he also stated that every time he goes back to belgium(or wherever he's from) that he spares regularly in his old club!
either he is a good respected martial artist or a very big liar! if he is lying i really don't know why and what does he want to acomplish because sonner or later we will find out.

Yes he's an actor, and he needs to acknowledge that he is just an actor and not a fighter. Jackie Chan was asked if he was a good fighter and Jackie replied "I'm just an actor". I believe Jackie could handle himself in a real fight, but I respect him very much for not making arrogant claims about his fighting ability.

I saw an interview with Stevan Seagal when he talked about Van Damme and said he was never a fighter, although I believe Seagal has held titles in whatever martial arts he trained in. While I'm on the topic, I personally think Seagal has been one of the few fighters to actually make an acting career out of it. Although Dolpf is ok if he doesn't speak.

"I must break you"
Classic cinematic line.

Dolph is a pretty good actor for what he does. He's done a variety of roles qutie well. You must be thinking of Ralph Mueller, the body builder in Gladiator.

that was indeed rob kaman. i think rob is using a different name for acting

i came across a pretty cheesy 1989 movie called bloodfist. it stars
don wilson as someone who gets involved in a tournament in the phillipines.
it also features rob kaman and billy blanks as fighters, although their
acting is limited to psychotic glares and grunts.

Seagal isn't a great fighter or a great person either. He's gotten himself into scuffles with Gene LeBell and that WWF wrestler "Mr Perfect" and paid the price.

While trying to set up an appointment for a script spec, I was talking to a person "in the know" about Hollywood and it's *ahem* stars. Steven Segal was brought up and he had said "Segal got caught lying about his credentials. At the time he was the only American in Japan w/ a Dojo, Steve was living in a suburb outside Gardenia California" So apparantly, Segal may be a bigger phony than Van Damme.
Mike

Actually I forgot my favorite Jackie Chan. I was only thinking of the US and Canadian actors, so there are a few out there who are really good. In Jackie Chan's movie Legand of the Drunken Master, the main bad guy is/was a really good Thai Boxer. But I think Jackie Chan is in a different class than someone like Jean.

totally different class! like he can act, and is not in films just cause he is goodlooking! (which JCVD and dulph are !)

What about Jet Li, he is pretty awesome is he not?
The SHOULIN films : APPARENTLY everyone in those three movies are all genuine kung foo fighters, with no choriography, just them doing their stuff!? if that's true, i am impressed!

Any more dodgey OZ actors pictures???
It is my all time favourite tv show! and it is on a break here (we will get series 3 in august) so i am missing my weekly hit!

jackie chan is a lot of fun to watch, he always says the best fighters
have to relearn to make a fight look good and flashy on film.
that guy that fights him at the end of drunken master 2 is ken lo, who
was supposed to be some kind of thai kickboxing champ. he started out as
chan's body guard, and now stars in some minor hong kong movies of his
own.
jet li is amazing, although most of his modern movies use so much
camera trickery you cant really see his skills to well. his early movies
show off how talented he is.

Guys, c'mon, this is like asking if a western actor is a real cowboy or is Arnold Schwartzenegger a true Terminator ... lol
As for Jackie Chan he goes so far as to add at the end of his movies scenes of how he messed things by doing his own stunts and got broken bones (a tremendous fun I had at those from "Shaolin cowboy" - would Van Damme do his own stunts and smash his beautiful closet boy face - the answer is obvious, he is a Hollywood idol as much as David Carradine was and he was worth-f^*^%g-less compared to Bruce Lee guess still who took the main role in "Kung Fu" ...

Btw I was asked by an actor whos my ex sparring partner to do some applications to a producer to play with him and a wushu guy in a local movie. For the first time in the movie's history karate guys (us) will be the baddies and Thais (actually kungfu's) the goodies. Hope I will get the role, this means $4000 for a poor unicorn. Keep fingers crossed.

Unicorn watching Van Damme movies and hoping to be able to buy his ax buddies a beer from acting :)

Lol I still think this thread should concentrate on Van Dammes gay porn roles. I'm sure he was in one with Steve Seagul.

the actor of the film you said,his name is Stefanos Miltsakakis he also playd in the quest with van damm, the greek fighter. he lives in the states, he is greek and he is doing pagratio.he is a true fighter i.84 102 kilos and he beat joe charles in vale tudo fight in aruba.you can get the tape from nikko in holland.also he is training with the gracies.