20+ Actors Who, In Real Life, Are Formidable Martial Artists

Published on 10/21/2022
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Jean Claude Van Damme

It should come as no surprise that Jean-Claude Van Damme is a skilled martial artist. At the age of ten, he started learning Shotokan karate, and at the age of 18, he received his black belt. Van Damme began practicing for the national karate team when he was 12 years old. At the age of 15, he started a competitive career in semi-contact karate, where he amassed an astonishing 44 victories. To enhance his physique, he also started bodybuilding, which allowed him to become ‘Mr. Belgium Bodybuilding’. He started dancing when he was 16 to develop his general physicality and balance. Although he also studied taekwondo and Muay Thai, the most of his moves are a fusion of karate and kickboxing.

Jean Claude Van Damme

Jean Claude Van Damme

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Dolph Lundgren

Lundgren has frequently asserted that the tense nature of his relationship with his father motivated him to continuously push himself to do better. He has a degree and master’s in chemical engineering, but he wasn’t just content to stick to academics; he also decided to learn karate and became a 3rd dan black belt in Kyokushin karate. Following his transformation into Grace Jones’ bodyguard, the two started dating and eventually moved to New York. Lundgren was given a small part as a KGB operative when Jones, Roger Moore, and Christopher Walken were cast in the James Bond film A View to a Kill.

Dolph Lundgren

Dolph Lundgren

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