What martial arts style does Jean-Claude Van Damme practice? The 59-year-old actor, known for appearing in a number of action films throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, has a strong background in martial arts, which is made clear by the fight sequences in many of his movies.
Most of the Belgian star’s movies have allowed him to showcase his fighting ability, include the Die Hard-esque Sudden Death, the time travel thriller Timecop, Universal Soldier, and Cyborg. However, some of his films are centered around martial arts, particularly his biggest film, Frank Dux, a real-life fighter who supposedly participated in an underground tournament. Van Damme also starred in films that followed similar plots such as The Quest, Lionheart, and Kickboxer, which saw him play competitive martial artists who engaged in heated matches with several highly skilled opponents.
Jean-Claude Van Damme has practiced several forms of martial arts over the years, but his foundation is built on Shotokan karate, which he started learning at the age of 10 at a karate school that his father enrolled him in. He had a black belt by the time he was 18. At some point in his teenage years, Van Damme developed an interest in kickboxing and trained in that area as well. Starting in the late 1970s, Van Damme competed in several semi- and full- matches in both karate and kickboxing, and finished with an impressive record that only consists of less than a handful of losses.
After becoming a karate champion in Europe, Van Damme opened a gym in the United States, where he began practicing two more styles of martial arts, Tae Kwon Do and Muay Thai. Tae Kwon Do is Korean fighting style associated with a lot of powerful, high-kicking techniques whereas Muay Thai is a form of kickboxing that originated in Thailand. Van Damme’s training in Muay Thai was on full display in Kickboxer when it served as the fighting style used by his character.
Van Damme’s experience with karate, kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do, and Muay Thai have all helped the actor craft a unique and distinguished fighting style that’s easily recognized by fans for its focus on signature spinning kicks, the splits, roundhouse kicks, and more. His fight scenes were often filmed in ways that best captured his talents. It’s important to note that he keeps up with his training today, as made apparent by some of Van Damme's more recent movie appearances. While he’s evolved into different kinds of roles, such as playing the martial arts master rather than the student in Kickboxer: Vengeance, he still gets top-billing in action movies as well as opportunities to break into the splits and unleash his martial arts moves on his opponents.
