Bloodsport is one of the most popular martial arts films. However, most people don’t know that the story of the “Kumite” didn’t start with fraudulent martial artist, Frank Dux. It began with the original martial arts bad boy, Count Dante. This is how we take out fake ass ninjas.
By Illmatical
My Lying Christian Friend
I used to know this kid named Roland. We went to the same church. The church didn’t have a cross, and there were no windows. And it was called a Kingdom Hall. And we were members of a cult.
This was back when Nasty Nas was on the scene and told MC’s they were better off stepping to Jehovah. Soon after, a Brooklyn rapper took my God’s name.
When I wasn’t hustling bible literature, I hung out with my Christian crew, and we often hooped. In between crossovers and jumpers, we built. Our ciphers involve sports, Christian women, and plans for the paradise earth.
Our conversations were level headed and consistent, everyone except for Roland. He would tell extravagant lies to augment his reality. We never believed him, but we just tolerated his stories because we were cool with him.
Our attitude was like — yeah son, whatever.
The BMW that his father had supposedly bought for him never showed up. He seemed to never have enough money, despite having a job as a stockbroker while in high school. The model he was dating never showed up. You ignored him, or you just kind of played along when he told his tales, so that you wouldn’t hurt his feelings. The stories were harmless, and Roland was a competitive ball player.
It has been over 20 years since I’ve seen Roland, and over the years, since I’ve grabbed the mic, in newspapers or articles, I often run into dudes who remind me of my lying Christian friend.
When I was new to martial arts journalism, I took a lying ass ninja at his word, and he used me to weave himself into martial arts history. Years later, I realized he had a history of doing this, and unlike my lying Christian friend, his stories weren’t harmless.
Black People Speak
Eleven years ago, that Obama unemployment money was coming in heavy, and my Dominican girlfriend’s tits were even heavier. When I wasn’t between her legs, I managed to squeeze in time to write for the original Kung Fu Cinema. After working on an article about the infamous martial artist John Keehan aka Count Dante, director Floyd Webb put me in contact with Bloodsport’s own Frank Dux.
I vividly remember Floyd saying, “I would be careful with him.”
It was safe Black people speak for ‘Frank Dux is a liar.’
Regardless, I was a bit starstruck. I wanted to believe Frank and all of his Dux. I wanted to believe that he was the underdog and that Hollywood took advantage of him.
We spoke.
He told me that he beat so and so. He said that when he was in high school, he was faster than this guy, or that guy, or how at 13, he was knocking grown men out. The wildest thing that Dux did during our conversation was weave himself into golden age martial arts history by suggesting that he fought and beat notable Black martial artist, Vic Moore.
“He never got the credit he deserved. He beat guys like Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis, Mike Stone… Vic Moore beat everybody, but the only person he will tell you that he never beat was me,” said Dux.
His journey also placed him in dojos with Benny “The Jet” Urquidez and Bruce Lee.
He claimed hush-hush military status.
When it came time to discuss the infamous “Kumite,” Dux said that the only reason he was invited to the underground tournament was due to his teacher, Tiger Tanaka, who was a former champion.
He also intimated that when he went to the Kumite, he replaced Count Dante as a representative of America. According to Dux, Dante was too flamboyant or too controversial.
The truth of the matter is Frank Dux co-opted Count Dante’s “Death Matches” story, and used elements of martial arts fantasy to create his fictional real-life story, which was portrayed in the movie Bloodsport.
The Bloodsport Kumite Starts with Count Dante
Over the last decade, I’ve written several articles on Count Dante. His legend first came to me while writing for Kung Fu Cinema. Readers would comment on my articles and ask me if I heard about the Count Dante doc coming out of Chicago.
The Internet(s) claim that Count Dante’s legacy is glittered with cubic zirconia. In actuality, he was a legit martial arts prodigy who was intricate to the early days of what is now mixed martial arts in America.
Along his journey, his ego got hold of him, and he started bugging out. In Marvel comics ads, he proclaimed that he was the “Deadliest Man Alive” and tried to hustle a lethal nerve strike known as Dim Mak — which was ostensibly displayed in the movie Bloodsport as well.
Floyd Webb has been working on his Count Dante documentary for well over a decade. Speaking of Frank Dux, he said, “Dux is like that high school kid, that will graft himself into anything exciting that ever happened. He puts himself in it and tells it from a first-person point of view. He got that Tanaka shit from the James Bond: You Only Live Twice movie. He goes for years, with an article about going to the death matches in China. This is the stuff Dante use to talk about. Basically, he read it Black Belt Magazine. He grabs onto it, and Dante is dead, and nobody wants to hear about it.”
After Count Dante’s “death,” and the three-part 1976 Black Belt Magazine articles, written by Mas Ayoob, his name was tarnished in the martial arts community. He had been involved in the death of a well respected martial artist, his name was associated with organized crime and he was also one of the few martial artists who questioned Bruce Lee’s fighting ability, bluntly stating that Joe Lewis and Mike Stone had beat him. This was a ‘no-no’ considering that so much money was being made from Bruce Lee’s burgeoning myth.
In the January 1976 Black Belt Magazine article Count Dante’s Inferno, Count Dante provides Ayoob with his martial arts coming of age story. He also suggested that he was the victor of over 50 “Death Matches” while traveling in Asia. In these tournaments, fighters of various styles would participate.
Dux reached out to Webb when he heard about the Count Dante documentary. Floyd recalls their conversation saying, “He gets in touch with me. He’s telling me he went to Dante’s school. A few weeks later, he’s taken everything I told him about Dante and put himself in the story. I had to tell him to take my name off their website.
First of all, the dude is a mediocre martial artist. After the Death Match stuff and Bloodsport goes away, he suddenly becomes a ninja. When he first told the story about the Death Matches, he said nothing about ninjas. When does he become a ninja?”
The Original Bamboozle
In the wake of my Kung Fu Cinema article on Dux, then-editor Mark Pollard said that Bloodsport writer Sheldon Lettich had seen the article and suggested that Dux was mentally disturbed on some message boards.
It took a decade, and a pandemic, but I finally got in contact with Lettich.
Lettich, admits that he wasn’t a big fan of the genre when he ventured into martial arts filmmaking after starting out as a cinematographer. “I was not a fan at all. I had not even seen Enter the Dragon. It was after I wrote Bloodsport, the producer said they were considering the director of Enter The dragon to direct Bloodsport, that I finally took a look at Enter The Dragon. Martial arts movies were not part of my world prior to Bloodsport.”
An agent asked Lettich to review Dux’s Vietnam novel since Lettich himself was a veteran. Dux also invested and starred in Lettich’s indy film Firefight. He didn’t realize that his relationship with Dux would become one of the most prominent cases of stolen valor.
“I didn’t imagine that people would lie about stuff that. I took him by his word. From there, that led to other things. He had this resume at the time, that talked about all of this martial arts training that he had, that he was an instructor for ‘The Royal Korean Marine Core.’ There’s no king in Korea!
I didn’t think that people would lie so extensively about this. Around the time Black Belt Magazine published this article about Frank, I bought into this because I didn’t know shit about martial arts. Black Belt Magazine, which was pretty much the premier site for martial artists at the time, if they’re publishing an article about Frank Dux and saying he won the Kumite or participated in this Kumite, who am I to say it is bullshit? There was no internet at the time and a way to check up on this without hiring a private investigator.”
The Black Belt Magazine article, Kumite: A Learning Experience, was the original bamboozle. In 1980, Dux recycled Count Dante’s story, remixed it with Bond and other fantasy elements, placing himself into martial arts history.
His lies became myth.
Ironically, in the article, Dux stumbles himself. He doesn’t mention that the Kumite participants call it “Bloodsport.” He mentions this to Lettich years later.
Just like Dante’s 1976 Black Belt Magazine article, he says that the sumo wrestlers were the toughest opponents.
For whatever reason, Dux was allowed to speak about the event because someone from the secret fighting agency, the IFAA, decided that it was not so secret anymore. Incidentally, former Black Belt magazine writer Mas Ayoob suggested that Dante’s story was a possibility and couldn’t confirm it.
What is alarming about the Frank Dux articles, is the way then-editor John Stewart wrote them, suggesting that it had to be fact and then even going as far as writing a letter of recommendation for Dux, which leads me to believe that there was some financial agreement between Black Belt Magazine and Frank Dux.
Why would an editor, state that all of Dux’s claims were true without verifying it, when four years earlier, when Dante’s story got published, although had been a legit martial artist, Black Belt Magazine writer, Mas Ayoob, finishes the article suggesting that the events possibly happened, but leaving reasonable doubt?
Dux would tell Lettich that the nickname the fighters gave the Kumite was ‘Bloodsport.’ Lettich realized that it was a brilliant name for a film. “I said, you know what Frank, not only is Bloodsport a great title for a movie, but the story you’ve been telling me about the Kumite sounds like a great idea for a movie also.”
Lettich came in contact with Mark Disalle who had a theory about martial arts films and their popularity cycles, which led to the production of Bloodsport.
Lettich explained saying “His [Disalle] theory was that different film genres have cycles. There had been a number of martial arts movies a few years back. People stopped making them. He thought it was time for the cycle to be renewed. He had an idea for a martial arts movie that he wanted me to write. The title of that movie was Kickboxer.”
Lettich pitched Bloodsport instead, and Disalle loved the title, that and the fact that the story was ostensibly based on a real-life story.
The Greatest Movie Ever
Real-life Frank Dux and his lies aside, Bloodsport is probably one of the best modern martial arts films. Jean Claude Van Damme found a way to deliver martial arts action as no one had in cinema, since Bruce Lee.
J.R. is a martial artist from Texas, who also happens to be the biggest Bloodsport fan.
Real-life Frank Dux claims that he was never defeated in the Kumite. I doubt it.
J.R. claims that he has watched Bloodsport over 300 times. I believe it.
He explained what makes the film so special, and why it connected with fans in the 80s and still holds up today. “It’s the greatest movie of all time! The thing about Bloodsport that I thought was awesome was that you got to see all the styles in the beginning. It was cool to see different styles in different countries. As you get older and develop your martial arts skills, you realize, hey, this guy was doing Muay Thai, or you can see Bolo doing Taekwondo with the strong kicking.”
Lettich has mentioned that he has seen Van Damm sparring against other professionals, and speaking of his skills, he says, “He’s the real deal. You would not want to mess with Jean Claude.”
Van Damme’s screen performance in Bloodsport would make him one of the most iconic martial arts starts, a performance he would replicate in Kickboxer and The Quest. Eventually, the video game world needed its version of the Belgian martial artist.
The Rise of Johnny Cage and a Real Kumite Master
In the wake of Bloodsport and the release of the tournament fighter game Street Fighter which made its debut in 1987, a programmer teamed up with a group of friends to pitch a martial arts game to video game developer Midway. The company wanted Van Damme. The programmer and martial arts friends wanted a fighting game mixed with fantasy and fatalities.
Master Daniel Pesina started his journey in martial arts in 1969, with Judo, Karate, and Jiujitsu. In 1973, he moved into Kung Fu. You all know Master Daniel. In the original Mortal Kombat, he played Johnny Cage.
After performing stunts in the film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, a friend reached out to get him involved in the project.
“I had just gotten off doing stunts for TMNT 2. I did martial arts stunts there, 30 percent of the fighting in that movie. We got off that, my friend John Tobias, called me up and said, ‘You gotta help me out with my project!’” explained Master Daniel.
Johnny Cage’s character wasn’t initially inspired by Van Damme, by definitely pays homage to him. Master Daniel describes how the project came about saying “We wanted more fantasy. Real people with a lot of fantasy stuff. When we pitched the game, Midway didn’t think the game would make any money. In the end, they were like, we don’t know if this is going to really work. They liked the idea of a fighting game, and then they pursued Jean Claude Van Damme for a fighting game. They wanted to pay him, but not outright. They wanted to give him a percentage. I think the deal didn’t sound good to him.”
Many people think that Johnny Cage’s character is based on Van Damme in Bloodsport. Master Daniel provided the backstory on the iconic character, saying, “In the beginning we wanted him to be like Daniel Rand. That’s how we pitched the game to Midway. They were like ’No we’re going to go to Van Damme.’
When Van Dame wouldn’t do the game with them, they were like, ‘Okay, you can do your game.’
The programmer, Ed Boone, really wanted Van Damme In the game. We were all fans of Van Damme, but I was like “It won’t really fit because Van Damme is like’ a street fighter, he did Bloodsport. He’s a kickboxer, street fighter guy and this is more of a fantasy movie. So John and Ed said ‘Let’s do some moves that Van Damme did. Just pay a tribute,’ When I do the split punch, that is a tribute to Van Damme.”
Master Daniel also plays many of the iconic mysterious characters in the game; this includes Scorpion, Sub Zero, Smoke, Reptile, and Noob Saibot.
Ironically, one of Master Daniel’s main kung fu teachers was involved in real underground fights in Hong Kong, and what would have been a real-life version of a Kumite. Master Daniel explained saying, “In 1973, I moved into Chinese martial arts, Wu Shu, with a grandmaster named Wai Lun Choi. He’s very famous because Dan Inosanto use to take lessons from him.
He [Choi] actually did that Bloodsport tournament in the 70s. In the end, no one would fight him because he was breaking everyone’s arms and legs. Although Fran Dux’s story is exaggerated, there were really tournaments like that in Hong Kong. They would have it every four years. The only thing not allowed was killing someone.
Wai Lun Choi, he was really known in the Chinese martial arts world because of that.
With MMA, there a set of rules that are larger than this [tournament] had. This was, you can’t bite anybody, and you can’t kill anybody. Grappling is not recommend in that tournament because as soon as you try and grapple, the guy will break your arm, your fist.”
Wai Lun Choi is noted as being the champion of the 1973 Southeast Asian, full-contact kung fu tournament, in the book The Kenpo Karate Compendium.
So, there is a possibility that a tournament that was depicted in the film Bloodsport possibly existed.
Frank Dux’s Last Chapter
“There were underground fights, there have always been fights. You and I wouldn’t know about it. There are real people who can tell you about the death matches, but they won’t talk to you about that stuff,” explained Floyd Webb, who has continually learned a great deal about martial arts history while working on his Count Dante documentary.
In a previous interview with martial artist Sifu Carl Albright, who was a confirmed war Veteran, he mentions that he participated in underground fights in Asia, but doesn’t go into detail about them.
In the 1988 Los Angeles Times article NINJA: Hero or Master Fake?, it makes mentions that then Black Belt Magazine editor John Stewart believes he made a mistake with Dux, however, no there was no public retraction from the magazine.
Dux also trips up, with his lies placing the Kumite in the Bahamas of all places. In the March 1976 article, Count Dante tells Black Belt Magazine writer Mas Ayoob that he was set to move to the Bahamas.
What separates Frank Dux and Count Dante is that the latter was a legitimate martial artist. Writer Mas Ayoob spoke of Keehan saying that he “did indeed, pioneer open, full-contact karate tournaments in the United States.”
Frank Dux co-opted many elements of Count Dante’s story. The vague military history, the Death Matches in Southeast Asia. Just like the man whose story he stole, Dux has become a pariah in martial arts and martial arts entertainment.
According to Lettich, it was Dux’s behavior that caused his downfall.
“Frank has gone on in interviews to say that Jean Claude and I just kind of used him and spit him out and left him laying in our wake. Which is not true. The only work that Frank Dux has done in the movie business, at all, is with movies that Jean Claude were involved in.
We were all friends. Jean Claude and I got him hired to be fight choreographer on Lionheart, which is the first feature film I directed. After that, I did a movie called Only The Strong. Again, I got Frank hired to work as fight choreographer. He pretty much ended up doing nothing. That was the first lead film of Marc Dacascos. He [Dacascos] was pretty much disappointed in him [Dux], and we ended up sending him home early.”
After that, Jean Claude came up with the idea for The Quest, which was called The New Dragon. Lettich had a full plate and suggested Dux, to create the story. They both believed Dux was creative and had a good imagination; however, Frank Dux would try and sue Jean Claude Van Damme over a verbal contract, and that would damage his entertainment career.
“Frank lost that case. That was a case of Frank biting the hand that feeds him because nobody else was going to hire Frank to do anything,” explained Lettich.
No More Fake Ninjas
It wasn’t until a year or so ago when working on another article that involved Count Dante when I was able to connect the dots and realize where the Dux story originated. The deathmatches, the obscure military background, the claims of beating countless opponents, it came from Count Dante, the man the martial arts world tried to forget.
Despite Frank Dux’s lies and damaging his relationships, he’s a creative storyteller. If he had just mellowed out a bit, he could have ridden off into the martial arts entertainment sunset.
Fortunately, the martial arts world was blessed with Bloodsport and an iconic character.
But whatever.
It’s been twenty years since I’ve seen Roland. I left the Christian cult and got knowledge of self. Nas ain’t nasty no more, Queens still gets the money, and I claimed the borough’s greatest name.
Last I heard about my lying Christian friend, he had left the cult too. I ran into my ex Dominican girlfriend last summer, and her looks left her too.
Hopefully, the martial arts world will get a real Count Dante “Death Matches” movie in the future.
Until then, keep an eye out for fake ass ninjas.
Clarke Illmatical is a writer from Queens, New York. His writing has been featured in The Amsterdam News, The Norwood News, The Brooklyn Eagle, Harlem Community News, Queens Community Politics, The Final Call, Baltimore African American Newspaper, South China Morning Post, China Global Daily, TimeOut Hong Kong, The Phnom Penh Post, and E-China Cities.
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