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Jean-Claude Van Damme

Jean-Claude Van Damme
Statistics
Realname	Jean-Claude Camille Francois Van Varenbergh
Nickname	The Muscles From Brussels
Height	5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m)
Weight	185 lbs (84 kg)
Nationality	Belgium
Birth date	October 18, 1960 (1960-10-18) (age 48)
Birth place	Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Brussels, Belgium
Style	Kickboxing, Shotokan Karate
Team	Team Goetz
Kickboxing Record
Total fights	19
Wins	18
Wins by KO	18
Losses	1
Draws	0
No contests	0

Jean-Claude Van Damme (born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg October 18, 1960) is a Belgian martial artist and actor who is best known for martial arts and action movies, the most successful being Bloodsport and Kickboxer, His Belgian background and his physique furnish his nickname The Muscles from Brussels.

Biography

Early life

Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg¹ (also spelled Varenburg)² in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe (Brussels), Belgium, the son of Eliana and Eugène Van Vaerenbergh, who was an accountant and owned a flower shop.³⁴ He began martial arts at the age of ten, enrolled by his father in a shotokan karate school.⁵ He eventually earned his black belt in karate,⁶ later winning the European Professional Karate Association's middleweight championship in a stunning upset vs. the former champion Michael J. Heming⁵ (although he has claimed that he was "twice world champion"⁷). He also started lifting weights to improve his physique, which eventually led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title.⁸ At the age of 16 he took up ballet, which he studied for five years. He says of ballet that it "is an art, but it's also one of the most difficult sports. If you can survive a ballet workout, you can survive a workout in any other sport."⁹

Fight career

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Van Damme's karate teacher and coach was Master Claude Goetz. According to an article written by Don Warrener for FIGHTINGARTS, Goetz is a pioneer of European karate and studied under Tsutomu Oshima, a disciple of Gichin Funakoshi. Jean-Claude studied in Goetz's dojo in Brussels, Belgium. Under Goetz's guidance, Van Damme developed an impressive array of kicks and strikes. Van Damme has also studied Taekwondo and Muay Thai.

In 1976, at the age of 16, Jean-Claude made his semi-contact debut under his birth name, Jean Claude Van Varenbergh. Fighting at an event sanctioned by the European Karate Union (EKU) in Brussels, Jean-Claude overcame a shaky start to stop fellow-countryman, Toon van Oostrum in 46 seconds. Knockouts were prohibited under the rules, however, van Oostrum quit and the result was listed as "stoppage 0:46". Master Goetz realized his young pupil needed more schooling before he was ready to compete again.

In 1978, after two years of training, 18 year old Jean-Claude entered his first EKU tournament in Antwerp, Belgium (under "full-Contact" rules) in the Beginner's Division. Equipped with more confidence and skill, Jean-Claude had little trouble in winning the tournament. He scored three victories; an 18 second knockout over German-born prospect Eric "Basel" Strauss, a 39 second stoppage over Michel Juvillier (Juvillier quit), and a 12 second stoppage of Orlando Lang.

Two months later at a tournament in Izegem, Belgium, sanctioned by the World-All Styles Karate Organization (WAKO), Van Damme won his first "Semi-Contact" championship in the Beginners Category. He scored stoppage victories over countrymen Emile Leibman and Cyrille Nollet. The WAKO was formed in Europe in 1975, under the leadership of Germany's George Bruckner and Mike Anderson of the United States. Bruckner was based in Berlin, Germany and was a tae-kwon-do and karate instructor. Officially the WAKO classified its full-contact promotions as amateur, competitors were given substantial "training fees". The WAKO held their world tournaments in both Long Beach, California and Tampa, Florida (some sources incorrectly list Orlando, Florida) in the 1970s.

Fighting under the WAKO sanctioning body, Van Damme scored stoppages over Andre Robaeys, Jacques Piniarski, and Rolf Risberg; under WAKO rules which differed from those in the United States. Judo throws, footsweeps were permitted, although thigh kicks were not. There were no minimum kick requirements, and bouts were sometimes held on an open mat, instead of a roped ring. World Title bouts lasted six rounds, while contender bouts lasted five. Once a year, top competitors were required to participate in two-round, tournament-style eliminations to determine the year's top ten in each division.

In November, 1979, Jean-Claude Van Damme took his 10-0 record to Tampa, Florida to compete in the 2nd WAKO World Championships at Hillsborough Community College (promoted by Mike Anderson). Competing in the Men's Fighting Category, Jean-Claude entered the 69 kg. division. On November 3rd,in his first tournament match (scheduled for 2-2 minute rounds)he met Sherman Bergman from Miami Beach, Florida (USA). After being knocked down early in the match, Van Damme scored a 1st round victory when Bergman was unable to continue. In his next match, Van Damme defeated Portugal's Gilberto (Gil) Dias in the first round after Diaz quit due to injury. In the quarter-finals, Van Damme lost a 2-round decision to fellow countryman, Patrick Teugels.

Returning to Europe, Van Damme fought in a two independent events sanctioned by the European Professional Karate Association (EPKA), in which he knocked out Algeria's Mustapha Ahmad Benamou and Bekim Moussa Muhammad. According to a April 2, 1989 article in the San Francisco Chronicle by John Stanley, Van Damme scored an upset victory over former European Middeweight Full-Contact Champion Michael J. Heming of England in 1980.

Van Damme's big break came on March 8, 1980 in Brussels, Belgium, on a Professional Karate Association (PKA) event, in which France's Dominique Valera met the United States, Dan Macaruso for the PKA World Heavyweight Kickboxing Title. After Macaruso defeated Valera by 6th round knockout, Van Damme knocked out France's Georges Verlugels in 2 rounds to win the "Professional" European Middleweight Kickboxing Championship.

According to an article written by Mike Anders, founder of Professional Karate Magazine, based on his victory over Verlugels, " Van Damme was definitely an upcoming prospect." Multiple European Full-Contact Champion Geet Lemmens supported Anders opinion.

By now, Van Damme had his sights on a motion-picture career. Before he retired from active competition, he requested a rematch with Patrick Teugels, the only man to defeat him. Teugels was now rated 2nd in the world in the middleweight division by the WAKO. The rematch in Brussels was scheduled for 5 two-minute rounds. At the bell, Van Damme came out punching and kicking. His overwhelming aggression was too much for Teugels and the match was halted in under the 2-minute mark (A video of this fight now appears on aol.videos). Following the victory, Jean-Claude retired from active competition with a 18-1 (18 knockouts) record.

Once his film stardom took off, controversy arose regarding Van Damme's fight career. Researchers were unable to uncover any of Van Damme's matches. Van Damme had spent his entire full-contact career under his birth name of Van Varenberg.

An "abstract thinker"

In the French-speaking world, Van Damme is well known for the picturesque aphorisms that he delivers on a wide range of topics (personal well-being, the environment, etc.) in a sort of Zen franglais. ¹⁰ Most iconic and often quoted was his repeated use of the English word aware during an interview for a French channel, to convey the notion of self-awareness as a key to success.

Personal life

Van Damme has been married five times, including two marriages with his current wife, bodybuilder and fitness competitor Gladys Portuguese. Van Damme has 3 children: Kristopher born 1987, Nicholas born 1995, and Bianca born 1990.

Spouses:

• Darcy LaPier: 3 February 1994 - November 1997 (divorced, 1 child)
• Gladys Portuguese: 3 January 1987 - 1992 (divorced); 25 June 1999 - present (2 children)
• Cynthia Derderian: 24 August 1985 - 1986 (divorced)
• Maria Rodriguez: 25 August 1980 - 1984 (divorced)

Kickboxing/Full-Contact/Semi-Contact Record: 20-0 (20 Knockouts)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)

Year	Opponent	Event	Result	Method	Location
1977	Toon Van Oostrum	European Karate Union(EKU) Event (semi-contact)	won	stoppage 1 round	Brussels, Belgium
1977	Maurice Devos	Netherlands Kickboxing Federation (NKBB)	won	knockout 1 round	Antwerp, Belgium
1978	Eric Bruno Strauss	European Karate Union (EKU)Tournament	won	stoppage 1 round	Antwerp, Belgium
1978	Michel Juvillier	European Karate Union(EKU) Tournament	won	stoppage 1 round	Antwerp, Belgium
1978	Orlando Lang	European Karate Union(EKU) Open Tournament	won	technical knockout 1 round	Antwerp, Belgium
1978	Emile Leibman	World All-Style Karate Organization (WAKO)Tournament(semi-contact)	won	stoppage 1 round	Iseghem, Belgium
1978	Cyrille Nollet	World All-Style Karate Organization(WAKO) Tournament(semi-contact)	won	stoppage 1 round	Iseghem, Belgium
1979	Andre Robaeys	World All-Style Karate Organization((WAKO) promotion (semi-contact)	won	stoppage 1 round	Brussels, Belgium
1979	Jacques Piniarski	World All-Style Karate Organization (WAKO)promotion (semi-contact)	won	stoppage 1 round	Brussels, Belgium
1979	Rolf Risberg	World-All Style Karate Organization (WAKO) promotion (semi-contact)	won	stoppage 1 round	Brussels, Belgium
1979	Sherman Bergman	2nd WAKO World Championships(Men's Semi-Contact 69kg)	won	stoppage 1 round	Tampa, Florida
1979	Gilberto (Gil) Diaz	2nd WAKO World Championships(Men's Semi-Contact 69kg)	won	stoppage 1 round	Tampa, Florida
1979	Patrick Teugels	2nd WAKO World Championships(Men's Semi-Contact 69kg)	won	knockout 2 rounds	Tampa, Florida
1980	Mustapha-Ahmad Benamou	European Professional Karate Association (EPKA) promotion	won	knockout 1 round	Brussels, Belgium
1980	Bekim-Moussa Muhammad	European Professional Karate Association (EPKA) promotion	won	technical knockout 1 round	Brussels, Belgium
1980	Micheal J. Heming	European Professional Karate Association (EPKA) promotion	won	technical knockout 2 rounds	Brussels, Belgium
1980(03/08)	Georges Verlugels	Professional Karate Association (PKA) promotion	won	knockout 2 rounds	Brussels, Belgium
1980	Andres Kovac	European Professional Karate Association (EPKA)	won	knockout 2 rounds	Brussels, Belgium
1980	Patrick Teugels	WAKO Tournament	won	stoppage 1 round	Brussels, Belgium

Filmography

Van Damme also had a guest appearance on the NBC show Friends, in the Emmy-award winning second season episode 'The One After the Superbowl'. Van Damme played himself and was the center of conflict between friends Rachel and Monica, who were arguing over who got to date him.

Further reading

• WAKO: MARTIAL ARTS (Traditions, History, People, by John Corcoran & Emil Farkas. Gallery Books, W.H. Smith Publishers, Inc. 112 Madison, New York City 10016. 1988. Pages: 60, 265.
• PKA World Heavyweight Title: MARTIAL ARTS, by John Corcoran & Emil Farkas. 1988. Pages: 285-286.
• EKU: MARTIAL ARTS, by John Corcoran & Emil Farkas. 1988. Pages: 210, 393.
• Inside Kung-Fu Presents: Martial Artists One on One, March 1990: Jean-Claude Van Damme, pages 16-25, by John Steven Soet.
• KarateKung-Fu Illustrated:April, 1991, Gunning for Van Damme, by Tim Vandehey.
• Xuat Tinh Som (Tre Today News), December 31, 2007: Jean-Claude Van Damme.

See also

• List of male kickboxers

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Jean-Claude Van Damme

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Jean-Claude Van Damme

• Official site (English)
• Jean-Claude Van Damme at the Internet Movie Database