Jean-Claude Van Damme
Belgian actor and former competitive karateka and kickboxer with a 2nd dan in Shotokan karate, who rose to fame with the films Bloodsport (1988) and Kickboxer (1989).
Quick Facts
Biography
Jean-Claude Van Damme, born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg, was born on October 18, 1960 in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe in Brussels. In martial arts he is known as a competitive karateka and kickboxer who made his name as an action film actor; his breakthrough role came in 1988 with the film Bloodsport.
At the age of ten his father enrolled him in Shotokan karate; from age twelve he trained under Claude Goetz at the Centre National de Karaté, and at eighteen he earned his black belt and reached 2nd dan. He later trained full-contact karate and kickboxing under Dominique Valera, and also studied taekwondo and muay thai. For five years, between the ages of 16 and 21, he practiced ballet.
In amateur karate, between 1976 and 1980, his record was 44 wins and 4 losses in 48 matches. In full-contact kickboxing, between 1977 and 1982, his record was 18 wins, all by knockout, and one loss.
In 1982 he moved to the United States to pursue acting. After Bloodsport, in 1989 he starred in Cyborg and Kickboxer. The 1991 film Double Impact earned over 30 million dollars in the U.S., and Timecop (1994), with worldwide earnings of over 100 million dollars, became his most commercially successful leading film. In 2008 he returned to the spotlight with the critically acclaimed film JCVD.
Associated Martial Arts
An Okinawan striking art reshaped in the 20th century into Japanese budo and an Olympic sport. Built on kata and hand and foot techniques.
KickboxingNotable figure→A striking sport joining boxing hands with kicks. It appeared in the 1960s and 1970s in Japan and the United States at once, from a wish to give karate full contact.
Filmography
A screen role does not mean the person actually practises the art — that is listed above.