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).
Van Damme in 2012
Van Damme at the Cannes Film Festival in 1993
Van Damme in 2007
Van Damme on the set of JCVD in October 2007
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preservation of a nation's intangible cultural heritage.
United States Marine practicing martial arts, 2008
Strikes: punching and kicking techniques displayed at the Banteay Srei (967 A.D.) in Cambodia.
Grappling: bas-relief of grappling techniques at Prambanan (9th century) in Indonesia.
Detail of the wrestling fresco in tomb 15 at Beni Hasan