Bloodsport

Bloodsport is a 1988 American action film directed by Newt Arnold and produced by Cannon Films. The lead role of Frank Dux is played by Jean-Claude Van Damme. American captain Frank Dux, trained in ninjutsu from boyhood by sensei Senzo Tanaka, receives an invitation to the Kumite, an illegal martial arts tournament in Hong Kong. To take part, he deserts the army and travels to Hong Kong. Ninjutsu is the main character's training in the film, and one of the tournament participants, Ray Jackson, played by Donald Gibb, is presented as a vale tudo fighter. The fight scenes were choreographed by the real Frank Dux and Hong Kong stuntman Lee Ka-ting. Van Damme himself began Shotokan karate at the age of ten, from the age of twelve trained under Claude Goetz at the Centre National de Karaté, earned his black belt at eighteen and holds the rank of 2nd dan. As an amateur he also fought in full-contact kickboxing. The character of Chong Li is played by Bolo Yeung, who began kung-fu at the age of ten in Canton. According to English Wikipedia, the film is often cited as one of the influences on the development of MMA and as an inspiration for the game Mortal Kombat, in which the character Johnny Cage is a tribute to Van Damme. According to the same source, the fighter Mirko Cro Cop began training after watching the film. The sequels were Bloodsport II (1996), Bloodsport III (1997), Bloodsport 4 (1999) and Lady Bloodfight (2016), in which Van Damme does not appear.

Martial arts in this work

Origin

The screenplay is based on claims by Frank Dux, first printed by Black Belt magazine in its November 1980 issue, and the film was promoted as based on a true story. It was Jean-Claude Van Damme's first leading role. Before that he had worked as an extra and stuntman in Cannon films, and he convinced the producers with a villain role in No Retreat, No Surrender (1985). Filming began on 17 October 1986 and took place entirely in Hong Kong, making it the first American feature film shot entirely in that city since 1969.

Fact and fiction

According to Dux, the Kumite is a sixty-round knockout tournament held in secret every five years in the Bahamas, where by his own account he set a record of 56 consecutive knockouts. In 1980 he gave his record in Black Belt magazine as 321 wins, 1 loss and 7 draws, and in 2014 on AXS TV as 329 wins and no losses. The Los Angeles Times found no evidence that Dux's teacher Senzo Tanaka existed. Journalist John Johnson pointed out that the name matches a character in Ian Fleming's novel You Only Live Twice, and stated that Dux was the only contact of the organizing body and that he bought the trophy's pedestal in a local shop. Screenwriter Sheldon Lettich said that witness Richard Bender admitted lying and that Dux taught him what to say. According to both Lettich and the Los Angeles Times, Dux invented the record and the existence of the Kumite. Dux lost a lawsuit against Van Damme over the film The Quest and a defamation suit against Soldier of Fortune magazine.

People and martial arts

• Newt ArnoldDirector
• Frank DuxFight choreographer
• Lee Ka-tingFight choreographer
• Jean-Claude Van DammeActor — as Frank Dux· Ninjutsu (portrays the art on screen)
• Donald GibbActor — as Ray Jackson· Vale Tudo (portrays the art on screen)