Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg, known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate school at the age of ten, which led Van Damme to hold the rank of 2nd-dan black belt in karate, and compete in several karate and kickboxing competitions. With the desire of becoming an actor, he moved to the United States in 1982, where he did odd jobs and worked on several films, until he got his break as the lead in the martial arts film Bloodsport (1988).
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to martial arts:
Tatchakorn Yeerum, better known internationally as Tony Jaa and in Thailand as Jaa Phanom, is a Thai martial artist, actor, action choreographer, stuntman, director, and traceur.
Kickboxer is a 1989 American martial arts film directed by David Worth and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Former world kickboxing champion Dennis Alexio is also featured. It spawned several sequels.
Jean-Yves Thériault is a Canadian kickboxer, kickboxing trainer, and author.
Richard Norton is an Australian martial artist, actor, stunt performer, stunt coordinator, security consultant, and fight choreographer. He holds a 5th dan black belt in Gōjū-ryū karate, a 6th dan black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, an 8th dan black belt in Chun Kuk Do, and a level 6 ranking in American kickboxing. After high school, Norton worked as a bodyguard in the entertainment business before pursuing an acting career.
Scott Edward Adkins is a British actor and martial artist. He gained prominence with his villainous portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the American martial arts film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006), a role he reprised in its sequels Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Boyka: Undisputed (2017). He has since made films in a variety of genres, such as crime dramas, martial arts movies, war films, action thrillers, sci-fi actioners and action comedies, mostly as the lead.
Erik Paulson is an American mixed martial artist. He is the first American to win the World Light Heavyweight Shooto Championship in Japan.
Jess Liaudin is a French mixed martial artist, kickboxer and film actor. A professional MMA competitor from 1990 until 2014, he competed for UFC, Pancrase, Cage Rage, and King of the Cage.
Kickboxer 2 is a 1991 American martial arts film directed by Albert Pyun and written by David S. Goyer. The film is the second entry into the Kickboxer film series, and stars Sasha Mitchell in the role of David Sloan, the brother of Kickboxer's lead character Kurt, portrayed by Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Kathy Long is an American kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and actress. She has held various kickboxing championships, including two KICK World Kickboxing titles and the WKA and ISKA world titles.
Darren Majian Shahlavi was an English actor, martial artist and stuntman.
Michel Qissi is a Belgian Moroccan actor, best known for his role as Tong Po in the 1989 martial arts film Kickboxer.
Dimitri Logothetis is a Greek-American filmmaker and actor.
Christian Howard is a British actor, model, martial artist, and filmmaker. He is best known for his performance as Ken Masters in the short film Street Fighter: Legacy, the 2014 web series Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist and its follow-up Street Fighter: Resurrection.
Kickboxer: Vengeance is a 2016 American martial arts film directed by John Stockwell, and starring Dave Bautista, Alain Moussi, Gina Carano, Georges St-Pierre, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. It is the sixth film in the Kickboxer franchise and also serves as a reboot. The film has a similar premise as the first film in the franchise. The film was released in select theaters and on VOD by RLJ Entertainment on September 2, 2016.
Kickboxer is an American action film franchise that totals seven films. The first installment revolves around a character named Kurt Sloane, played by Jean-Claude Van Damme. Due to opting out of Kickboxer 2 to do the film Double Impact, the second through fourth installments focus on the character David Sloane, younger brother to Van Damme's character from the original. Redemption: Kickboxer 5 focuses on Matt Reeves, a friend of the Sloan family. After a long hiatus, a sixth entry was eventually made as Kickboxer: Vengeance, which also serves as a reboot to the storyline, with Alain Moussi portraying Kurt Sloane and original actor Van Damme playing his trainer. The seventh entry, titled Kickboxer: Retaliation, serves as a direct sequel to Kickboxer: Vengeance.
Kickboxer: Retaliation is an American martial arts film directed and written by Dimitri Logothetis. It is the seventh in the Kickboxer film series and a direct sequel to the 2016 film Kickboxer: Vengeance, also written by Logothetis. The film stars Alain Moussi, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Christopher Lambert, Ronaldinho, Mike Tyson, Rico Verhoeven and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. Aside from Moussi and Van Damme, Sara Malakul Lane and Sam Medina reprised their roles from the previous film.
Street Fighter: Resurrection is a live-action web mini series developed by director, fight choreographer, writer, actor and martial artist Joey Ansah. The series is based on the Street Fighter video game series by Capcom, its release coinciding with that of Street Fighter V to serve as a promotion. Resurrection is set ten years after Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist web series.
Jiu Jitsu is a 2020 American science fiction martial arts film directed and co-written by Dimitri Logothetis and starring Alain Moussi, Frank Grillo, JuJu Chan, Tony Jaa and Nicolas Cage. The film is based on the 2017 comic book of the same name by Dimitri Logothetis and Jim McGrath. The film was a box office bomb, grossing less than $100,000 against a budget of $25 million, and was critically panned.
