Kadima (Hebrew: קדימה‎, lit. Forward) is a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely to support the issue of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan,^[1] and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians.^[2] With Ehud Olmert as party chairman following Sharon's stroke, it became the largest party in the Knesset after the 2006 elections, winning 29 of the 120 seats, and led a coalition government. Although Kadima also won the most seats in the 2009 elections under Tzipi Livni's leadership, it became an opposition party for the first time after a Likud-led government was formed. On May 8, 2012, the party joined the governing coalition under Benjamin Netanyahu. ^[3]

History[link]

Background[link]

Prior to Kadima's formation, the political tug-of-war between Ariel Sharon and his right-wing supporters, both within the Likud and outside of it, was an on-going subject of speculation in Israeli politics and in the Israeli media. The expectation that Sharon would quit his own party to form a new party composed of his Likud allies and open the door to politicians from other parties to switch to the new party was dubbed the "big bang" (HaMapatz HaGadol) because it would result in a radical realignment of Israel's political landscape.

A number of complex factors contributed to Sharon's decision to split from the Likud. After the official split from the party, Sharon claimed it was a decision made on a single night's thought, but at the press conference announcing the formation of the new party, Sharon adviser and Kadima's new Director General, Avigdor Yitzhaki, accidentally revealed that work on the project had been going on for several months.^[4] In the past Sharon had switched between left- and right-wing politics, having been a Mapai member, he joined Likud in the early 1970s, before leaving the party. After acting as a special advisor to Alignment PM Yitzhak Rabin in the mid 1970s, he established an economically left-wing Shlomtzion party, which later merged with Likud. On becoming Prime Minister in the 2000s, Sharon twice formed unity governments with the Labor Party.

In 2005 the implementation of the Gaza disengagement plan exposed enormous rifts inside the Likud and wider society in Israel. Binyamin Netanyahu capitalised on the split within the Likud by aligning himself with the rejectionist faction. While Sharon's popularity grew among the Israeli populace at large, it declined inside the Likud party structure. Netanyahu resigned as Finance Minister on 7 August 2005, saying the government's implementation of the disengagement plan endangered the safety of Israeli citizens. Sharon was then unable to get approval from the Likud Central Committee for his key ally Ehud Olmert to that position.

The final straw was the unexpected ousting of Sharon's ally Shimon Peres as leader of the Labor Party by the election of left-wing Histadrut union leader Amir Peretz in an internal ballot on 8 November 2005. Peretz demanded that all Labor Party ministers resign from the unity government and called for dissolution of the Knesset and for early elections which were to be held in March 2006. When all the Labor ministers had resigned, Sharon lost his safety net of supporters from the party for the implementation of his political agenda, which included continuing negotiations with the Palestinian Authority for "permanent borders" and a hoped-for final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.^{[citation needed]}

Foundation[link]

The party was founded by Sharon after he formally left Likud on 21 November 2005 to establish a new party which would grant him the freedom to carry out the disengagement plan - removing Israeli settlements from Palestinian territory and fixing Israel's borders with a prospective Palestinian state.

The name Kadima (literally: "Forward") emerged within the first days of the split and was favored by Sharon. However, it was not immediately adopted, and the party was initially named "National Responsibility" (Hebrew: אחריות לאומית, Ahrayaut Leumit),^[5] which was proposed by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and enthusiastically endorsed by Reuven Adler, Sharon's close confidante and strategy adviser. Although "National Responsibility" was regarded as provisional, subsequent tests conducted with focus groups proved it much more popular than Kadima. "National Responsibility" seemed certain to become permanent. Surprisingly, however, it was announced on 24 November 2005 that the party had finally registered under the name Kadima. The title Kadima has symbolic meaning for many Israelis who associate it with the battle-charge of army officers; Sharon may have attempted to highlight his military accomplishments ahead of the March 2006 elections. As a common Hebrew word, however, the term Kadima has been ubiquitous in Israeli political rhetoric and is likely not indicative of any specific ideological bias; indeed, it had been used as a name before by early Zionist leader Nathan Birnbaum, and was the motto of the Jewish Legion of World War I formed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky and Joseph Trumpeldor. The decision to name the party "Kadima" was criticised by Shinui leader Yosef Lapid, who remarked that it was too similar to Benito Mussolini's newspaper Avanti (Italian for "Forward").^[6]

Shimon Peres, former leader of the Labor Party, formally joined Kadima and before being elected President of Israel was in the second place in the Kadima Knesset list after the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and before the Foreign and Justice Minister, Tzipi Livni.

According to Sharon supporters, on the first day after its founding, Kadima already had nearly 150 members, most of whom were defectors from Likud.^[7] Several Knesset members from Labour, Likud, and other parties immediately joined the new party, including cabinet ministers Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni, Meir Sheetrit, Gideon Ezra and Avraham Hirschson. Deputy ministers Ruhama Avraham, Majalli Wahabi, Eli Aflalo, Marina Solodkin, Ze'ev Boim and Yaakov Edri also joined the party, along with Likud MKs Roni Bar-On and Omri Sharon. Former Histadrut chairman Haim Ramon of Labour decided to join the party shortly thereafter. On 30 November 2005, Shimon Peres quit Labour after more than 60 years with the party, and announced he would help Sharon pursue peace with the Palestinians. In the immediate aftermath of the illnesses of Ariel Sharon, there was speculation that Peres might be chosen to take over as leader of Kadima. One poll suggested the party would win 42 seats in the March 2006 elections with Peres as leader compared to 40 if it were led by Ehud Olmert. Most senior Kadima leaders, however, were former members of Likud and indicated their support for (former Likud) Olmert as Sharon's successor.

Doubts following Sharon's medical problems[link]

The ramifications of Sharon's close identification with Kadima moved the party in an unexpected direction due to his mounting medical problems, which began only a few weeks after Kadima was formed. First, Sharon was hospitalized on 18 December 2005 after reportedly suffering a minor stroke.^[8] This introduced a serious element of uncertainty for Sharon's and Kadima's supporters.

During his hospital stay, Sharon was also diagnosed with a minor hole in his heart and was scheduled to undergo a cardiac catheterization to fill the hole in his atrial septum on January 5, 2006. However, on 4 January 2006, 22:50 Israel Time (GMT +0200) Sharon suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke, and was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem to undergo brain surgery.

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert succeeded him as Prime Ministerial candidate. Without Sharon, there was uncertainty about the future of the party. Nevertheless, three polls taken shortly after Sharon's illness showed that Kadima continued to lead its rivals by large margins.^[9] Later polls showed Kadima strengthening its power base further, particularly amongst left wing voters who had opposed Sharon in the past.

In government[link]

On 16 January 2006, party members chose Ehud Olmert as acting chairman for the March elections.^[10] Kadima won 29 seats, and was asked to form a government by president Moshe Katsav. Olmert formed a coalition with Labor, Shas and Gil, the government being sworn in on 4 May. Yisrael Beiteinu joined the coalition in October 2006, but left again in January 2008 in protest at negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

Olmert resigned as party leader in 2008, resulting in a leadership election, held on 17 September. The vote was won by Tzipi Livni, who beat Shaul Mofaz, Meir Sheetrit and Avi Dichter. Following her victory, Livni failed to form a coalition government, as she refused to agree to Shas' demands, resulting in early elections in February 2009. In the elections Kadima remained the largest party in the Knesset, winning 28 seats, one more than Likud. However, Likud's Netanyahu was asked to form a government by President Peres following talks with delegations from all parties represented in the Knesset.

Platform[link]

Israel's media reported that Kadima released the main points of its national agenda on 28 November 2005 as presented by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni in a drafted statement^{[citation needed]}:

• The Israeli nation has a national and historic right to the whole of Israel. However, in order to maintain a Jewish majority, part of the Land of Israel must be given up to maintain a Jewish and democratic state.
• Israel shall remain a Jewish state and homeland. Jewish majority in Israel will be preserved by territorial concessions to Palestinians.
• Jerusalem and large settlement blocks in the West Bank will be kept under Israeli control.
• The Israeli national agenda to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and achieve two states for two nations will be the road map. It will be carried out in stages: dismantling terror organizations, collecting firearms, implementing security reforms in the Palestinian Authority, and preventing incitement. At the end of the process, a demilitarized Palestinian state devoid of terror will be established.
• Israel's political system will be modified to ensure stability. One possibility to achieve this goal would be to hold primary, regional and personal elections to the Knesset and the Prime Minister's office.
• Kadima would not rule out a future coalition partnership with any Israeli political party or person.
• promoting equality for minorities
• negative income tax and national pension
• increasing social security benefits and national health insurance
• civil marriage
• reform of police

Political objectives and policies[link]

In the early stages, the policies of Kadima directly reflected the views of Ariel Sharon and his stated policies.

Early statements from the Sharon camp reported by the Israeli media claimed that they were setting up a truly "centrist" and "liberal" party. It would appear that Sharon hoped to attract members of the Knesset from other parties and well-known politicians regardless of their prior beliefs provided they accepted Sharon's leadership and are willing to implement a "moderate" political agenda. It is known that Sharon believed strongly in the road map for peace and had a close alliance with then US President George W. Bush.^{[citation needed]}

On the domestic front, Sharon had shown a tendency to agree with his past political partner, the pro-secular and outspokenly anti-religious Shinui party (his allies in the 2003 government), which sought to promote a secular civil agenda as opposed to the strong influence of Israel's Orthodox and Haredi parties. One of the Haredi parties, United Torah Judaism, joined Sharon's last coalition at the same time as the Labour Party, after Shinui had left Sharon's original governing coalition. In the past, Shinui had also called itself a "centrist" party because it rejected both Labour's socialism (its economic policies were free-market) and the Likud's opposition to a Palestinian state (however, from an international context, Shinui may have actually been on the centre-right).

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni reportedly told Israel Army Radio that Kadima intended to help foster the desire for a separate Palestinian state, a move which was applauded by leftist Yossi Beilin.^{[citation needed]}

Sharon was one of the prime architects pushing for the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier that has been criticized by left-wing and right-wing Israeli politicians, but was a cornerstone of Sharon's determination to establish Israel's final borders, which he saw himself as uniquely suited to do in the so-called "Final Status" negotiations.

In a 22 November 2005 press conference, Sharon also mentioned that he favored withdrawing from untenable Israeli settlements in the West Bank, although he declined to give an actual timeline or specifics for the proposed action.^[11]

Kadima favors continuing a market-based economy with adequate welfare benefits.^[12][13]

Place in the political spectrum[link]

There has been some debate over where Kadima lies on the political spectrum. Many in the Western media use the terms centrist,^{[14][15][16][17][18][19]} (in that it is positioned between the Labor Party and Likud). Over the last thirty years, Israel has seen a movement by both the right and the left towards the center. Founder Ariel Sharon was for most of his life on the right of Israeli politics and most of its elected membership are former Likud party members, but it also has a number of notable ex-Labour MK's. The previous government of Ehud Olmert was considered center-leftist, collaborating with the Labor and two sector-socialist parties, Gil and Shas. Following the recent 2009 elections, with its subsequent political negotiations for a centerist coalition with the Likud and the Labor, it is suggested that the ideological differences of the center-left and center-right in Israel are fairly minor.

When Kadima was trying to form a coalition in 2006, the BBC reported that the new party leaned center-right in economic terms while its main coalition partner, Labor, leaned center-left. Labour wanted the Finance Ministry to push through some costly social reforms. It failed to get it, but still insists that the minimum wage, and pension and health benefits, be raised in Israel. At the time, Labor favored a negotiated land agreement with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and Kadima had so far refused to speak to any Palestinian leader since the Hamas election and has spoken openly of taking unilateral steps in the West Bank, which the Palestinians oppose. Since then, however, Kadima has directly negotiated with the Palestinian Authority.^[20]

Following the 2009 elections, Kadima leads the opposition in the Knesset. During the elections, Kadima successfully attracted left-of-center voters, to the dismay of Labor and Meretz leaders, who discouraged their supporters from doing so.^[21][22] Neither Labor nor Meretz, who were initially expected to be Kadima's natural allies, recommended Livni as prime minister to Peres, reportedly due to Livni's courting of Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party.^[23][24] Shimon Peres told Ynet in 2006 that "there is no difference" between Kadima and Labor, and suggested that the two groups unite. He added that neither he nor Kadima founder Ariel Sharon liked the economic policy of Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu.^[25] The Haaretz diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn suggested in November, 2009, that Kadima does not have any ideological differences with the Labor Party that would prevent a merger.^[26]

Leaders of Kadima[link]

• Ariel Sharon (2005–2006)
• Ehud Olmert (2006–2008)
• Tzipi Livni (2008–2012)
• Shaul Mofaz (2012-)

Knesset members[link]

The party currently has 28 MKs:

Former Knesset members[link]

See also[link]

• Kadima leadership election, 2008
• Kadima leadership election, 2012

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website (Hebrew) (Russian)
• Kadima Knesset website (English)
• Kadima hoping to hold onto power CNN
• Kadima's Big Bang By Matt Plen
• Sharon shakes up Israeli politics CNN November 22, 2005
• Peres Hails Sharon's Leadership as He Supports New Party
• Sharon quits Likud Interview with Ariel Sharon
• Sharon's New Party Shuffles the Political Deck, Setting Off a Scramble for Israeli Elections
• Kadima on Facebook
• Kadima on Twitter

v t e Parliamentary political parties in Israel Kadima Likud Yisrael Beiteinu Shas Labor Independence United Torah Judaism Agudat Yisrael Degel HaTorah United Arab List-Ta'al National Union Eretz Yisrael Shelanu Moledet Hatikva Tkuma Hadash Maki Meretz The Jewish Home Balad Whole Nation Portal:Politics List of political parties Politics of Israel

Francis Kadima is a lawyer based in Kenya, Africa.^[1] He is a Human Rights advocate best known (outside of Africa) for his defending captured Somali pirates in the Kenya Justice System.^[2] Kenya is emerging as the venue of choice for Piracy in Somalia cases and an important piece of the worldwide crackdown on piracy. Mr. Kadima was interviewed and asked why he defends the Somali pirates: "On why (I) defend pirates despite international community condemnation, the issue for a lawyer is not piracy as an offence per se but the higher issue of the due process (fair trial), which is a prerequisite for the Rule of Law which we all defend as lawyers and the international community to jealously safe guards. Whether a pirate is convicted or acquitted is not the issue, provided due process is followed. You should remember under the commonwealth (of which Kenya is a member), it ultimately states that an accused person is presumed innocent until proved guilty."^[3]

Mr. Kadima's formative years were spent in Judiciary. He is a managing partner of Kadima & Co. Advocates a successor firm of Omwitsa Wasuna Kadima Advocates which succeeded Omwitsa and Co., Advocates, with the latter having been established in the year 1970 as the first African Legal Practice in Mombasa.^[4] One of Mr. Kadima's offices in Mombasa is in one of Africa's oldest courthouse, a colonial building with bars still fixed over the office windows. The room is stuffed with legal volumes dating from the British colonial era and yellowing cardboard files. On the wall next to his oak desk, an Obama calendar is prominently displayed.^[5] Kadima & Co. Advocates specialize in Business, Civil Litigation and Criminal Law.

On September 12, 2011 Philip Muyanga, a Money Markets columnist with Business Daily reported how sea piracy is driving up the cost of insurance for importers. Mr. Kadima said commercial interests could not replace the fundamental rights of individuals. Mr. Kadima was quoted as saying: “There are no statistics that piracy trials have reduced piracy”.^[6].

Mr. Kadima has been admitted to the International Criminal Court list of counsels and is also a member of the Kituo Cha Sheria, a NGO formed by Mombasa lawyers that represents poor people in court free of charge. ^[7]

References[link]

Jean-Claude Van Damme
Van Damme at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (1960-10-18) 18 October 1960 (age 51) Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium
Other names	The Muscles from Brussels, JCVD, Van Damage
Nationality	Belgian
Height	1.76 metres (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Weight	80 kg (180 lb) (currently)[2] 73 kg (160 lb) (fighting weight)
Division	Middleweight
Style	Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Shotokan Karate
Fighting out of	Brussels, Belgium
Team	Team Goetz
Trainer	Claude Goetz Dominique Valera
Rank	black belt in Shotokan
Years active	1976–1982 (martial arts), 1984–present (acting)
Kickboxing record
Total	19
Wins	18
By knockout	18
Losses	1
Amateur career
Total	48
Wins	44
Losses	4
Other information
Occupation	Actor, martial artist, director
Spouse	Maria Rodriguez (m. 1980–1984) «start: (1980)–end+1: (1985)»"Marriage: Maria Rodriguez to Jean-Claude Van Damme" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme) Cynthia Derderian (m. 1985–1986) «start: (1985)–end+1: (1987)»"Marriage: Cynthia Derderian to Jean-Claude Van Damme" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme) Darcy LaPier (m. 1994–1997) «start: (1994)–end+1: (1998)»"Marriage: Darcy LaPier to Jean-Claude Van Damme" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme) Gladys Portugues (m. 1987–1992) «start: (1987)–end+1: (1993)»"Marriage: Gladys Portugues to Jean-Claude Van Damme" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme)and (1999–present)
Children	Kristopher Van Varenberg Bianca Bree Nicholas Van Varenberg

Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (born 18 October 1960), professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme,^[3] is a Belgian martial artist, actor, and director^[4] best known for his martial arts action films.^[5] The most successful of these films include Bloodsport (1988), Kickboxer (1989), Universal Soldier (1992), Hard Target (1993), Timecop (1994), Sudden Death (1995) and JCVD (2008).^[6] He is known as "The Muscles from Brussels".

After studying martial arts intensively from the age of ten, Van Damme achieved national success in Belgium as a martial artist and bodybuilder, earning the "Mr. Belgium" bodybuilding title.^[7] He emigrated to the United States in 1982 to pursue a career in film, and achieved success with Bloodsport (1988), based on a story written by Frank Dux. He attained subsequent box office success with Timecop (1994), which was his highest grossing film with over $100 million, until 2011's Kung Fu Panda 2, which grossed over $665 million.

Early life[link]

Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium, the son of Eliana and Eugène Van Varenberg, who was an accountant.^[8][9] He began martial arts at the age of ten, enrolled by his father in a Shotokan karate school.^[10] His styles consist of kickboxing, Shotokan karate, Muay Thai and Taekwondo.^[11] He eventually earned his black belt in karate.^[12] He started lifting weights to improve his physique, which eventually led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title.^[7]

Martial arts career[link]

Semi-contact karate career[link]

At the age of 11,^[13] Van Damme joined the Centre National De Karaté (National Center of Karate) under the guidance of Claude Goetz in Belgium. Van Damme trained for four years and he earned a spot on the Belgian Karate Team; later training in full-contact karate and kickboxing by Dominique Valera.^[14]

In 1976, Jean-Claude is reported to have started his competitive career in Ingelmunster, Belgium, in a semi-contact match which was sanctioned by the European Karate Union. He defeated fellow Belgian Roland Vedani. The following year, Van Damme remained undefeated with victories over Maurice Devos, Andre LeMaire and fellow team-mate Patrick Teugels in non-tournament matches sanctioned by the World All-Styles Karate Organization. In his first tournament competition, Van Damme placed second at the Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials). Jean-Claude defeated 25 opponents in the three day tournament before losing in the finals to fellow team-mate Angelo Spataro.^[14]

In Europe, Jean-Claude was a member of the Belgium Team when it won the European Championship on 26 December 1979 at La Coupe Francois Persoons Karate Tournament in Brussels, Belgium. His team won the championship.^[14][15]

1980 Forest National match[link]

On 8 March 1980, in Brussels, Belgium, Van Damme competed against his one-time stablemate Patrick Teugels at the Forest National arena on the amateur undercard of the Dan Macaruso-Dominique Valera PKA Light-Heavyweight World Championship bout.^[14] Prior to this match, Teugels had defeated Van Damme at least twice by decision, including a match for the Belgium Lightweight Championship. Van Damme had a 1977 win over Teugels. Teugels was coming off this latter impressive showing at the WAKO World Championships four months earlier, and was favored by some to win this match. According to reports, and Patrick Teugels' own interview (with photos), Teugels lost by TKO in the 1st round. Teugels was kicked in the nose and was unable to continue due to that injury.^[14]

Kickboxing and full-contact karate career[link]

Van Damme's martial arts record consists mostly of light and semi-contact matches. However, from 1976 to 1982, Van Damme fought in 19 full-contact matches, and compiled a record of 18 wins, 18 knockouts and 1 defeat.^[16]

Van Damme had his first full-contact match against Toon Van Oostrum in Brussels, Belgium in 1976. The 16 year old Van Damme knocked out Oostrum in 46 seconds of the first round.

Jean-Claude's biggest victories were over the United Kingdom's Michael J. Heming-British and European Middleweight Karate Champion, the United States of America's Sherman Bergman, Turkey's Ajom Mahmud Uddin, and Belgium's Lenny Leikman.

Van Damme's only defeat was early in his career, when he lost to France's Etienne "Tuf" Aubry by 1st round disqualification. Van Damme accidentally kicked and knocked out Aubry when he was down. Aubry was unable to continue and was awarded a victory.

Jean-Claude was only knocked down once in his entire 8-year career. Facing Sherman Bergman, Van Damme was knocked to the canvas after absorbing a powerful left hook,^[17][18] and it was the only knock-down suffered by Van Damme in his fighting career. However, Van Damme got up, and with an axe-kick, knocked Bergman out in 56 seconds of the first round. This match was fought in Tampa, Florida.^[17][18]

Following a knockout victory over France's Georges Verlugels on a Professional Karate Association promotion in 1980(source:FightingArts.com), Van Damme caught the attention of Professional Karate Magazine publisher and editor Mike Anderson, and multiple European champion Geet Lemmens. Both men tabbed Van Damme as an upcoming prospect.^[19]

Jean-Claude Van Damme ended his full-contact career in 1982 following a knockout victory over India's Nedjad Gharbi.

Van Damme was scheduled to fight former boxing Olympic gold-medalist Somluck Kamsing in November 2011.^[20] Early reports have named Las Vegas, USA, Moscow, Russia and Macau, China, Thailand as locations for the bout but it now fight will take place in Dubai, Moscow^[21] or Grozny.^[22] At the prospect of being the first man over the age of 50 to kickbox professionally, Van Damme stated that "it's kind of dangerous, but life is short."^{[dead link][23]} The fight was postponed to May or June 2012.^[21]

Film career[link]

In 1982, Van Damme and childhood friend, Michel Qissi, moved to America in the hope of becoming action stars. They both were cast as extras in the film, Breakin'. Van Damme also had a non-speaking part as a Secret Service agent who carries a polio-crippled President Franklin Roosevelt (Ralph Bellamy) out of a pool in the 1988 TV miniseries War and Remembrance. After a small part in Missing In Action, Van Damme was next cast in the film No Retreat, No Surrender, as the role of the villain, Ivan the Russian. Van Damme worked for director John McTiernan for the 1987 film Predator as an early (eventually abandoned) version of the titular alien, before being removed and replaced by Kevin Peter Hall.^[24] His breakout film was Bloodsport, based on the alleged true story of Frank Dux. Shot on a 1.5 million dollar budget, it became a U.S. box-office hit in the spring of 1988. He then starred in the smaller budgeted film Cyborg. His last role for 1989 was Kurt Sloane in the successful Kickboxer. In this film, his character fights to avenge his brother who has been paralyzed by a Thai kickboxing champion (Qissi).^[25]

Double Impact featured Van Damme in the dual role of Alex and Chad Wagner, two brothers fighting to avenge the deaths of their parents. This film reunited him with his former Bloodsport co-star, Bolo Yeung. He then starred opposite Dolph Lundgren in the action film Universal Soldier. While it grossed $36,299,898 in the U.S., it was an even bigger success overseas, making over $65 million, well over its modest $23 million budget, making it Van Damme's highest grossing film at the time. Van Damme followed Nowhere To Run and Hard Target with Timecop in 1994. The film was a huge success, grossing over $100 million worldwide. In the film, Van Damme played a time traveling cop, who tries to prevent the death of his wife. It remains his highest grossing film in a lead role to date.

After his role in the poorly received Street Fighter, his projects started to fail at the box office. The Quest (1996), which he directed; Maximum Risk (1996), Double Team (1997) and Knock Off (1998) were box-office flops. The 1999 film Universal Soldier: The Return, also a box-office flop, was Van Damme's last theatrically released film until 2008. In 2003, Van Damme employed his dancing training in the music video for Bob Sinclar's "Kiss My Eyes."

Van Damme returned to the mainstream with the limited theatrical release of the 2008 film JCVD, which received positive reviews. Time Magazine named Van Damme's performance in the film the second best of the year (after Heath Ledger's The Joker in The Dark Knight),^[26] having previously stated that Van Damme "deserves not a black belt, but an Oscar."^[27] Van Damme indicated while promoting the film, he experienced a period of homelessness "sleeping on the street and starving in L.A."^[28]

Van Damme reprised his role as Luc Deveraux in the 2009 film Universal Soldier: Regeneration. Subsequently he voiced "Master Croc" in the 2011 animated vilm Kung Fu Panda 2. Also in 2011, Van Damme participated in various commercials for Coors Light beer, in which he is located on a snow-covered mountain wearing a sleeveless denim jacket, and for washing powder "Dash".

He was offered a lead role in Sylvester Stallone's latest film The Expendables. Stallone called Van Damme personally to offer him the role, but Van Damme turned it down. He scheduled a series of film projects for 2011, including another Universal Soldier movie. On 30 June 2011, Van Damme confirmed his participation in The Expendables 2.^[29]

Van Damme's latest project is starring in an upcoming (2013) feature Welcome To The Jungle directed by Rob Meltzer, in a role as a workplace team building trainer opposite Adam Brody, Rob Huebel, Kristen Schaal, Megan Boone, and Dennis Haysbert.^[30]

Controversies[link]

Fight record[link]

In an interview on his website, Van Damme rival, Patrick Teugels states that Van Damme never fought at the 1979 WAKO World Championships in Tampa, Florida, and posts a Dutch-language Samurai magazine report on the tournament in which Van Damme (Van Varenberg) is not mentioned.^[31] On Van Damme's imdb page, as well as his official webpage, Van Damme makes no claims of having fought at the 1979 or 1980 WAKO World Championships. Van Damme's fight with Bergman in Tampa, Florida^[32] was always billed as a non-tournament match, and was not under the sanction of the WAKO World Championships and was not recorded as a championship bout.

At the same time, while Teugels takes credit for two victories over Van Damme (one for the Belgium light-contact Championship), records show that Van Damme defeated Teugels in at least two matches, including one at the Forest National arena in which Van Damme broke Teugels's nose.^[33] At the STAR System World Kickboxing Ratings^[14] website, event coverages and results are posted from France's Karate Magazine and from the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO) that show Van Damme was an active semi-contact fighter in Europe between 1978–1980, but that he never placed at the 1979 WAKO World Championships. Newspaper clippings do provide information that Van Damme fought in various tournaments from 1978-1980, but internet photos show that Van Damme competed from 1976-1982.

When Van Damme became an action film star a controversy arose because leading martial arts magazines could not find any fights listed for Jean-Claude Van Damme. Jean-Claude had competed under his birth name of Jean-Claude Van Varenberg. Van Damme's office supplied a list of four European karate trophies that he earned under his real name, Van Varenberg, between 1978 and 1981: the Hope Cup; the Cup of Antwerp; World Championship, WAKO; and the Gala International. Van Damme's lawyer, Martin Singer, made a public statement defending his client: "There are records to document his martial-arts acclaim. He's the one who does those splits on chairs. He doesn't have a stunt man do that."^[34]

Paul Maslak of the STAR System World Kickboxing Ratings, who was also the casting director who helped cast Van Damme in his first theatrical role, No Retreat No Surrender, and who was therefore always aware of Van Damme's legal name, researched Van Damme's competitive history and came up with documentation that showed most fights were in tournament karate and that there was no verifiable evidence Van Damme had ever competed as a professional kickboxer.^[14] The term "professional" fighter is open to debate, because many WAKO fighters in Europe were paid money to train.^[35]

Kadyrov event[link]

In October 2011, Van Damme, along with other celebrities including Hilary Swank, Vanessa-Mae and Seal attracted criticism from human rights groups for attending an event in Russian federal subject Chechnya's capital Grozny on the 35th birthday of Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov on October 5.^[36] Human rights groups, who had urged the celebrities to cancel their appearances because of abuses carried out under Kadyrov, criticised the celebrities for attending the event.^[37] Human Rights Watch released a statement which said, "Ramzan Kadyrov is linked to a litany of horrific human rights abuses. It's inappropriate for stars to get paid to party with him. It bolsters his image and legitimizes a brutal leader and his regime. And getting paid to be part of such a lavish show in Chechnya trivializes the suffering of countless victims of human rights abuses there."^[38][39][40]

Personal life[link]

At the age of 16 he took up ballet, which he studied for five years. According to Van Damme, ballet "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."^[41] In the French-speaking world, Van Damme is well known for the picturesque aphorisms that he delivers on a wide range of topics (personal well-being, the environment, etc.) in a sort of Zen franglais.^[42]

Health and addiction[link]

Van Damme used to have a substance abuse issues that started during 1995.^[43] He entered a month-long rehabilitation program in 1996 but left it after only one week.^[43][44] In 1996, he spent up to $10,000 a week on cocaine.^[45] He is also reported to have experienced bipolar disorder. After the filming of the 1998 film Knock Off, Van Damme was diagnosed with rapid cycling bipolar disorder after becoming suicidal and started treatment on the mood stabilizer, sodium valproate. A turning point toward improvement of his health came from late 1997 onwards, after having finished divorce procedures.^[43]

Mortal Kombat[link]

The original video game Mortal Kombat was conceived as a fighting game based on the actor and martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme.^[46] Creators Ed Boon and John Tobias originally had desired to author the game starring Van Damme himself. That fell through as Van Damme had a prior deal for another game under the auspices of the Sega Genesis platform. Ed Boon and John Tobias eventually decided to create Mortal Kombat featuring a character named Johnny Cage, who is modeled after Jean-Claude Van Damme, primarily from Van Damme's appearance and outfit in the martial arts film Bloodsport.^[47][48]

Filmography[link]

Semi-contact/light-contact record[link]

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Date	Round	Time	Event	Location	Notes
Win	44-4-0	Jonny Wellum	Decision	7 May 1980	3		W.A.K.O.	Brussels, Belgium	Light-Contact(Van Damme avenges early career defeat)
Win	43-4-0	Jordy Claes	Decision	1980	3		Gala InternationalW.A.K.O.	Brussels, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	42-4-0	Patrick Teugels[14]	l'abandon (TKO)	8 March 1980	1		Forest Nationals	Brussels, Belgium	Light-Contact:Teugels suffers a broken nose and is unable to continue.)
Win	41-4-0	Andres Kovac	Decision	1980	3		W.A.K.O.	Brussels, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	40-4-0	Bekim-Moussa Muhammad	Decision	1980	3		W.A.K.O.	Brussels, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	39-4-0	Mustapha-Ahmad Benamou	Decision	1980	3		WAKO	Brussels, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	38-4-0	Reinhard Krass	Disq.	26 December 1979	2		Karate Tournament: Belgium Team vs. German Team	Woluwe, Brussels, Belgium	Light-Contact[14]
Win	37-4-0	Gilberto Dias	l'abandon	November 1979	1		World-All Styles Karate Organization	Brussels, Belgium	Light-Contact (Dias suffers ankle injury and is unable to continue.)
Win	36-4-0	Hans Kohler	Decision	1979	3		World-All Styles Karate Organization	Ingelmunster, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Loss	35-4-0	Patrick Teugels	Decision	1979	3		Cup of AntwerpWorld-All Styles Karate Organization	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact(Both men fight in karate gi uniforms, no pads or gloves)
Win	35-3-0	Matthias Evrard	Decision	1979	3		Cup of AntwerpWorld-All Styles Karate Organization	Antwerp, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	34-3-0	Paul Sperati	Decision	1979	3		World-All Styles Karate Organization	Opprebais, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	33-3-0	Lucus Reinfeld	Decision	1979	3		World-All Styles Karate Organization, Europe Interland Cup	Mulhouse, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	32-3-0	Robbe Bogaerts	Decision	1978	3		Hope CupWorld-All Styles Karate Organization	Brussels, Belgium	Semi-Contact[51]
Win	31-3-0	Leonard Baptiste	Decision	1978	3		World-All Styles Karate Organization	Izegem, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	30-3-0	Fernando Cabanela	Decision	1978	3		World-All Styles Karate Organization	Izegem, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Loss	29-3-0	Angelo Spataro[14]	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	29-2-0	Gabriel Van Der Driessche	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	28-2-0	Farid Muhammad Mousseau	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	27-2-0	Jacques van Laere	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	26-2-0	Christian Hedin	Decsion	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	25-2-0	Gerard Charon	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	24-2-0	David Arranz	Decsion	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	23-2-0	Bernard Redden	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	22-2-0	Antoine Redi	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	21-2-0	Ben Salah Ellah	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	20-2-0	Gaston Airey	Foul	1978	1		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	19-2-0	Abdembi Hassan Ali	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	18-2-0	Jonas "Marcel" Cohen	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	17-2-0	Christian Van Tieghem	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	16-2-0	Max Roelandt	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	15-2-0	Andre Verbon	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	14-2-0	Michel Juvillier	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	13-2-0	Joel Maoreau	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	12-2-0	Ronald Duivenbode	Decision	1978	3		Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials)	Antwerp, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Loss	11-2-0	Patrick Teugels	Decision	1978	3		Belgium Lightweight Championship	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact
Win	11-1-0	Gris Lubbers	Decision	1976	3		European Karate Union	Ingelmunster, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	10-1-0	Andre Lemaire	Decision	1977	3		World Association of Kickboxing Organizations Open International	Izegem, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	9-1-0	Patrick Teugels	Decision	1977	3		Antwerp Open International Competition W.A.K.O.	Antwerp, Belgium	Light-Contact(source:YouTube Video)
Win	8-1-0	Maurice Devos	Decision	1977	3		World Allstyles Kickboxing Organization	Antwerp, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	7-1-0	Jacques Berri	Decision	1976	3		Antwerp Open WAKO	Antwerp, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	6-1-0	Johannes Binding	Decision	1976	3		Antwerp Open WAKO	Antwerp, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	5-1-0	Jean-Morin Devigne	Decision	1976	3		Antwerp Open WAKO	Antwerp, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	4-1-0	Roland Vedani	Decision	1976	3		European Karate Union	Ingelmunster, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Win	3-1-0	Jean-Paul Gaston	Decision	1976	3		European Karate Union	Brussels, Belgium	Semi-Contact
Loss	2-1-0	Jonny Wellum	Decision	22 January 1976	3		La Federation Europeene de Karate (European Karate Federation)	Brussels, Belgium	Semi-Contact(J.Vandenberg credit with Defaite (loss)
Win	2-0-0	Bernard Briers	Decision	22 January 1976	3		La Federation Europeene de Karate(European Karate Federation)	Brussels, Belgium	Semi-Contact(J.Vandenberg credit with victoire (win)
Win	1-0-0	Robin Lomard	Decision	22 January 1976	3		La Federation Europeene de Karate (European Karate Federation)	Brussels, Belgium	Semi-Contact(J.Vandenberg credit with victoire (win))-Magazine "boxe francise" (Karate)