Martial arts are about honor, which makes lying about one’s education, prowess, or accomplishments an unforgivable sin. Real martial artists detest this kind of behavior, and actively condemn it. So what motivates anyone to attempt it? Especially in our Google-able times?
With this in mind, we took a look back at some of the most famous embellishers, frauds, and nutjobs in martial arts history. It didn’t give us many answers, but it at least offered us plenty of stories of no-touch knockouts, mail order black belts, fake Russian boxing matches, and melting babies.
Frank Dux rose to fame as the real-life inspiration (and choreographer) for the Jean-Claude Van Damme classic Bloodsport, but a Los Angeles Times story published in 1988 revealed that the film wasn’t exactly based on a true story. Dux never made it to Southeast Asia while in the military, and the closest that he came to being injured in the line of duty was falling off a truck that he happened to be painting at the time.
The Ministry of Sports in the Bahamas, where the tournament immortalized in Bloodsport allegedly took place, has no record of any such competition. And at least one of his many martial arts trophies was purchased by him at a trophy shop in California. The owner of the store has the receipt to prove it, but Dux claims it’s a forgery.
