Jean-Claude Van Damme is a Belgian martial artist and actor who is best known for his large catalogue of action movies. His Belgian background combined with his physique gave rise to his nickname The Muscles from Brussels. Van Damme has also been called the "King of the Belgians" due to his international superstardom.
Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenbergh in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Belgium, to Eliana and Eugène Van Varenberg, an accountant and owner of a flower shop. Van Damme's father was of Jewish descent.He began martial arts at the age of ten, enrolled by his father in a shotokan karate school.He eventually earned his black belt in karate,later winning the European Professional Karate Association's middleweight championship although he has claimed that he was "twice world champion". He also started lifting weights to improve his physique, which eventually led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title.[6] At the age of 16 he took up ballet, which he studied for five years. He says of ballet that it "is an art, but it's also one of the most difficult sports. If you can survive a ballet workout, you can survive a workout in any other sport.
At the age of 18, Van Damme opened up the California Gym in Brussels, which one article claimed brought in $15,000 a month.At this gym, he taught advanced breathing techniques as well as ballet. Van Damme was first seen on screen in the French-made Rue Barbare, released in 1984, followed in the same year with Monaco Forever. This gave Van Damme the impetus to give up his profitable fitness business in favor of acting. He sold his gym business and left for America in the early 1980s (having first tried Hong Kong), initially sleeping in a rented car and doing odd jobs until he broke into film.
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