I suppose there's a silver lining to everything, in that Bloodsport is still a great movie. It probably contributed to my own interest in martial arts, which has been life-changing (for the better).
And despite it being based on one guy's made-up nonsense, the movie itself does a superb job, especially by the standards of the time, of showing a variety of martial arts done by people who actually knew them. Compare the choreography in it to that in Kickboxer, which actually came out later, and you'll see what I mean. There's better muai thai in Bloodsport than in the movie about muai thai.
Of course, the problem of charlatanry in martial arts remains an issue (and I don't accept the sadly-common belief that UFC is the ultimate arbiter of this), but that's always been the case and always will be. I'm more surprised that a movie studio did so little due diligence.
But even more than this is the fact that someone would be willing to to such lengths to create a facade. I know people do it all the time, don't misunderstand, but I simply don't get it. To me, the fact that I would know that I'm a fraud, even if no one else did, would be crushing. But I guess that's the whole thing with delusion, and perhaps people somehow stop feeling that sense of shame, or at least can bury it? (And of course I'm only referring to those who can conceive reality but just don't, not someone with an actual mental illness that alters their perceptions.)
I agree that there will always be some charlatanry in martial arts. It seems like it’s an inseparable part of combat itself. The dude that conquers foes through fear, even if via deception, has expended zero extra resources. I was a huge Bruce Lee fan in grade school. I didn’t have any sense of which part of his art was for show or for whooping ass, but man did I walk taller after seeing Bruce lay the smack down a platoon of henchmen. Real, or just facade, there’s always going to be folks that flock to perceived badasses. As I type this, I think I’m getting at the core of the popularity of Donald Trump.Of course, the problem of charlatanry in martial arts remains an issue (and I don't accept the sadly-common belief that UFC is the ultimate arbiter of this), but that's always been the case and always will be.
JCVD was pretty serious back in the day, at least in the competition circuit. Bruce Lee is an interesting case. He actually started training Ving Tsun (the art that I train) when he lived in Hong Kong, and developed his own art later. But there's still plenty of VT in what he did.
I loved the video, Bloodsport was a favorite film of mine when I was a kid. When I was a kid in the mid 80's to early 90's I trained for about ten years under Kerry Roop who was a two time US kickboxing champion. He fought or sparred with Van Damme and said that he was a really good fghter. I never thought to look up any of Roops fights until this thread brought him to mind and I thank you for the inspiration. I saw him win a belt late in his career but I never saw any of his early fights. People may not have much respect for kickboxing in the MMA era but back then it was the big time. Here's a pretty good fight where Roop gets whipped but puts up a good fight. He is a great guy who taught us kids many lessons having little to do with standard martial arts. He always tried to instil a sense of mental and physical discipline and cultivate a love of learning. He taught us all how to fight dirty and then taught us that getting into a fight should be the absolute last resort. If you've never seen the Jean Claude film JVCD you should. It's without a doubt his best film. It isn't a martial arts film. I've seen several people cry while watching it. It's strange that it wasn't brought up in the video. It gets a a solid 84% on the tomato meter from rotten tomatoes which is way better than the 0% earned by many of his films.
Agreed on JCVD, it was really surprising how good that movie is. I find the best fighters are usually the ones who don't relish it, and it's why I'm skeptical of competition (one of the reasons, that is). Still, it seems like you found a good teacher back then, which is great. It's especially fortunate since you were a kid; my experience is that too many schools teaching martial arts to kids don't teach them squat, and are glorified after-school programs. That's all fine if they're honest about it, but they're often not. I knew a kid growing up who was a couple years older than me, but was smaller (I was always tall for my age). He'd won some tae kwon do tournaments and what-not. Unfortunately he never got that sense of discipline, and was really quick to put his hands up. I never actually fought him, but I can remember the odd little scuffle and he could not handle himself. Of course we were kids, but the point was that it made him overconfident. There was a sign my sigung (teacher's teacher) had painted on one of his old schools, which I've seen in pictures: One of many reasons I'm glad I found the people that I have.First your teacher will show you how to fight, then he will show you how not to fight.