How much influence did Jean Claude Van Damme have on your Martial Arts?

Question

Alright, please try not to bash him too badly, I know there's a lot of haters out there.

Yeah he got beat up by a bouncer (cheapshot) when he was drunk, the bouncer is a bad m**o to begin with, look it up Chuck Zito. Anyway, Im a huge fan of his older movies, and some of his newest ones that have a half a%$ story. I never did martial arts, but I am 25 and he was the Bruce Lee of my youth. I think he has the best most beautiful kicks there are in film though he may not be some ufc champion, he was a black belt cahmp in shadokan karate people will still hate. Anyway to me he has the best fight scenes in movie history next to bruce lee, noone can come close to his 360 roundhouse spin kick, the c**p in movies now is so fake with cables and wushu jet li hidden tiger c**p that it's pathetic, I would rather watch "Walker Texas Ranger". People might hate his acting which is a lot better now, much better than stallone and arnolds for sure, Anyway, what do you think?

Answer 1

no influence what so ever.

even I "beat" jean claude once

during the days that I worked at the Brussels airport, me and a few colleagues decided to have a drink after work.

mr Van Damme was sitting at the bar of the airport Sheraton and obviously had too much scotch, and for no particular reason he was really mouthing off at the girl behind the bar.

at one moment he got so rude that I got up and kindly asked him to cut it out,

he got up from his chair and started yelling that he would kick my a s s

he tried his best to swing a punch at me which I avoided and I got to his back and pulled him to the floor.

I requested him to leave and that was that.

true story believe it or not.

the guy is a pompous a hole that would need to get back down to earth

Answer 2

asking how much claude van damme had on martial arts is like asking how much influence elton jhon or liberache had in teaching you how to hit on girls.

Answer 3

LMAO at Bluto and Bushido. Well said gentlemen. he had absolutly no influence on my martial arts training

Answer 4

Before the MMA phenomena, Jean Claude Van Damme appeared to be a tough guy. I'm sure he can still beat up the average couch potato. The Van Damme movie that most influenced me in the martial arts would have to be Blood Sport because it was based on a true story about the Black Dragon Society Kumite which indeed is more dangerous than the sanctioned, regulated UFC and other MMA organizations that are not hidden from the general population. Because we are civilized in the U.S. we would never allow a Kumite like the one that the Chinese allow in Hong Kong.

Answer 5

really none but I loved most of his movies.  I tend to separate stage martial artists from combat personnel, although Jet Li did have a tremendous influence on me, I still desire to be as smooth and fast as he is.

In the movie "The One" he did some amazing Xing Yi and Bagua Zhang.

The flying tiger c**p is all about legend, but Jet is a legit, pedigreed wushu artist.

Answer 6

Van damme influenced and influences me still too this day in martial arts!

Tae kwon do

Kickboxing

Shotokon karate!

It isnt just about his movies, it's about his personal life also.

He was european karate champion at the age of 19.

And much much more!

d**n I MISS HIS MOVIES SOO BAD!

I own every single one, (Kind of g*y you could say)

He didnt make enough.

Answer 7

none at all,jcvd is a g*y ballet dancer.

Answer 8

None I am afraid.  Being more a basic kind of fighter I don't go much for jump spinning kicks that take all day to get there and what looks good and works in the movies is not what generally works in real life.  I used to fight a guy on the national circuit  a lot because we were in the same division that fought like him.  He spent more time picking himself up off the floor because opponents would jamb or blitz him or get their leg up first over his kick than he would actually fighting and that's how you could beat him.  Not only that most average people don't possess that kind of athletic ability and skill to do those things and use them effectively but I can see where the kids all loved him.

Answer 9

He did not influence me at all. I do not like very many of his movies. I own only 3 of them: "Cyborg" and "Universal Soldier" 1 & 2. I do own 100 Chinese movies and 57 Japanese films. I have seen martial arts films from these countries that are better than any from Europe or the USA. Ti Lung and Chen Kuan-Tai had more influence upon me than Jean-Claude did.

Answer 10

He didn't influence my 'martial arts' career. Watching MMA really drove me to sign up with a club.

But, like you(22 yr old), in my youth. He was huge. Every kid loved his movies. He was so bad a#@. He did influence us all to fight alot and practise the moves he was doing in film in our basements and on the playgrounds(early 90s). Just like the Power Rangers, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee did for us. Best times of my life to be honest. I miss the early 90's!