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The Insane Story Of Frank Dux, Whose Life Allegedly Formed The Basis For 'Bloodsport'

Updated April 17, 2020 128.8k views11 items

If you thought Bloodsport was dramatic, wait until you hear about the story that inspired it. Bloodsport allegedly tells the true story of Frank Dux, a martial arts expert who claimed to participate in and win a Kumite, an underground secret fighting tournament. If the story behind Bloodsport sounds straight out of fiction, you might be onto something. You see, whether or not the events of Bloodsport are real, Dux has a tendency to exaggerate stories about his own career.

Dux claims to be a legendary fighter with several world records - but only he can verify them. He also says he worked as a covert operative in the '80s and was offered a contract to take out another famous fighter. The whole story, regardless of its validity, is just as engaging, if not more so, than Bloodsport itself.

  • Dux Claims He Was Offered $25,000 To Kill Steven Seagal

    Photo: Koichi Kamoshida / Getty Images

    According to Dux, someone offered him $25,000 to assassinate another noted martial artist: Steven Seagal.

    No records exist of Dux reporting this to the police or of him actually attempting to snuff out Seagal, however. 

  • Dux Claims He Sold His Prize Sword To Save Orphans In The Philippines

    Photo: officialfrankdux / Instagram

    Frank Dux reportedly won a sword for winning the Kumite, however, he no longer owns that sword. Apparently, he sold the sword to pay for a mission to rescue orphans from pirates in the Philippines.

    Dux says many of them now reside in the US and are loyal enough to take lives for Dux.

  • Dux Was Not Impressed By Van Damme's Athletic Abilities

    Photo: Bloodsport / Paramount

    In addition to his acting career, Jean-Claude Van Damme competed as a world-class kickboxer. During his career as a fighter, Van Damme had 18 knockouts to his record, but that didn't do him much good when it came to training for Bloodsport.

    When Dux met Van Damme, Dux realized Van Damme wasn't exactly flexible:

    He was very stiff. He had a karate background. But, I mean, he couldn’t do a forward roll when I first got him. He frickin’ landed on his head, in front of all my students. Are you kidding me? I mean, he couldn’t do a throw. You try to get him to do a judo throw and he couldn’t throw anybody. He was good at boxing. He was good at stiff karate moves, but that was it. 

    Dux trained Van Damme for three grueling months, but it paid off; the fight scenes in Bloodsport are incredible and Van Damme looks ready to fight to the end. 

  • Dux's Childhood Ninja Training Has Not Been Verified

     

    A post shared by Frank W. Dux (@officialfrankdux) on

    Dux grew up outside of Los Angeles and, until he was 16, had a typical suburban childhood. At age 16, he says Senzo "Tiger" Tanaka took him to Japan to train as a ninja. Shoto Tanemura, a well-known ninja trainer, says he's never heard of Tanaka.

    Yet the story of Tanaka remains key to the Dux legend, as he claims the master's last wish was for him to fight in the Kumite and become the first Westerner to win the contest. 

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