Bloodsport

Bloodsport Movie Poster

"The secret contest where the world's greatest warriors fight in a battle to the death."

Bloodsport, released in 1988, was not the first movie starring Jean Claude Van Damme as Frank Dux, but it started his career as a martial arts action hero.  The movie was partially based on the stories told by the real life Frank Dux.  Although the movie was a financial success, it was not a critical success.  Nevertheless, several sequels were released throughout the 1990's (none of which starred Van Damme).

In the movie, US Army Captain Frank Dux is trained in the art of Japanese Ninjutsu by master Senzo Tanaka.  Tanaka agrees to train Dux when he was very young, after Dux had tried to return a stolen katana from Senzo's home that Dux had stolen with some friends.  Dux is invited to participate in the full-contact, and occasionally deadly, Kumite tournament in Hong Kong.  When Frank's Army superiors will not allow him to attend, so he decides to go AWOL.  The Army then decides to send a couple of officers after Dux.

During the tournament, Dux befriends some of the other fighters at the tournament, while puts his sights on others (such as the vicious Chong Li).  As Dux continues to move forward in the tournament, the Army Police finally catch up with him, but he outwits them, promising to give himself up once the tournament is over.  The final match is between Dux and Chong Li.  After Li blinds Dux with a handful of dust, Dux uses "the force" to feel his surroundings and ultimately defeat Li.  At the end of the movie, as promised, Dux returns with the Army Police.