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Uniform of Roman legionaries wearing the lorica segmentata, 1st-3rd century.

The Roman legionary was a professional soldier of the Roman army after the Marian reforms of 107 BC. Legionaries had to be Roman citizens under the age of 45. They enlisted in a legion for twenty-five years of service, a change from the early practice of enlisting only for a campaign. The last five years were on veteran lighter duties.

On the march in unfriendly terrain, the legionary would be loaded down with armour commonly (lorica hamata), (lorica squamata), and 1st-3rd century (lorica segmentata), shield (scutum), helmet (galea), two javelins (one heavy pilum and one light verutum), a short sword (gladius), a dagger (pugio), a pair of heavy sandals (caligae), a sarcina (marching pack), about fourteen days worth of food, a waterskin (bladder for water), cooking equipment, two stakes (sudes murale) for the construction of palisades, and a shovel or wicker basket.

The Roman soldier underwent especially rigorous training; discipline was the base of the army's success, and the soldiers were relentlessly and constantly trained with weapons and especially with drill — forced marches with full load and in tight formation were frequent. Discipline was important and infractions were heavily punished by the centurions. However, honours, rewards and promotions were frequently awarded to legionaries who distinguished themselves in battle or through exemplary service.

Immunes[link]

Regular trained legionaries were known as milites and were the equivalent in rank of the modern private soldier. Included in the ranks, aside from the milites, were the immunes, specialist soldiers with secondary roles such as engineer, artilleryman, drill and weapons instructor, carpenter and medic. These men were still fully trained legionaries, however, and would fight in the ranks if called upon. They were excused from some of the more arduous tasks such as drill and fatigues and received better pay than their comrades in arms.

Other legionaries[link]

Legionary is also a term used for members of other legions, like French Foreign Legion, Spanish Foreign Legion or Polish Legions. Members of these modern legions are often called légionnaires, the French term for legionary. The term was also used by the Romanian far right paramilitary group known in English as the Iron Guard.

See also[link]

• Military history of ancient Rome
• Foreign Legion
• Roman camp
• Roman Republic
• Roman Empire
• Punic wars
• List of Roman legions

References[link]

General books[link]

• Sumner, G. and Raffaele D'Amato. Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Soldier. Frontline Books, 2009.
• Watson, G.R. The Roman Soldier. Cornell University Press, 1993.

Children's books[link]

• Matyszak, Philip. Legionary: the Roman soldier's (unofficial) manual. Thames & Hudson, 2009.
• Cowan, Ross, and Angus McBride. Roman Legionary: 58 BC - AD 69. Osprey Publishing, 2003.

External links[link]

• The Roman Recruit looks at the life, duties and equipment of a Roman legionary (c. 200AD)

Styles of Velasio de Paolis
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	none

Velasio de Paolis, CS JCD STL (born 19 September 1935) is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was president emeritus of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See and is Pontifical Delegate for the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ.^[1]

Early life[link]

De Paolis was born in Sonnino, and became a member of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles on 4 October 1958.^[2]

He was sent to Rome to complete his studies, he received his doctorate in canon law in the faculty of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University, a licentiate in theology at the faculty of theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas, and a law degree La Sapienza University in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood on 18 March 1961, and taught canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.^[3]

Since 1971 he served as professor of canon law in the faculty of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1980 as professor and since 1983. Since 1987 he is Professor at the Faculty of Canon Law at the Pontifical Urban University, where, after becoming a professor, dean since 1998 has the same option.

Curial service[link]

On 30 December 2003, De Paolis was appointed Secretary of the Apostolic Signatura and Titular Bishop of Thelepte [1] by Pope John Paul II.^[2] He received his episcopal consecration on 21 February 2004 from Cardinal Angelo Sodano, with Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi, CS, and Bishop Francesco Saverio Salerno serving as co-consecrators.^[2] In response to the murder of two priests in Turkey and Nigeria, he declared, "Enough now with this turning the other cheek! It's our duty to protect ourselves...The West has had relations with the Arab countries for half a century, mostly for oil, and has not been able to get the slightest concession on human rights."^[4]

De Paolis was later named President of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See by Pope Benedict XVI on 12 April 2008, also being promoted to Titular Archbishop of Thelepte.^[2] As President, he essentially serves as the chief auditor for the Vatican.

Refusing to allow the film adaption of Dan Brown's novel Angels & Demons to be filmed at churches in Rome, De Paolis said that Brown had "turned the gospels upside down to poison the faith...It would be unacceptable to transform churches into film sets so that his blasphemous novels can be made into films in the name of business."^[5] He also added that Brown's work "wounds common religious feelings."^[5]

On 25 January 2010 he was appointed as a member of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church's highest court, in addition to his duties at the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See.^[6] On 29 December 2010 he was appointed a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. He will hold these memberships until his 80th birthday.

He was created Cardinal-Deacon with the title of Gesù Buon Pastore alla Montagnola by Pope Benedict XVI in the consistory of 20 November 2010. On 4 May 2011 Pope Benedict appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The five year term will be renewed until his 80th birthday.

Cardinal de Paolis' resignation from his position as president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs was accepted on 21 September 2011, for the reasons of his age. He was succeeded by archbishop Giuseppe Versaldi, until then bishop of Alessandria.

Pontifical Delegate for the Legionaries of Christ[link]

On 9 July 2010, Pope Benedict appointed Archbishop de Paolis as Pontifical Delegate for the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ^[1], after the alleged abuses by its founder were public and admited by the congregation.

In October of the same year, De Paolis suggested that the Legion should redefine its mission and its governing structure. He acknowledged that questions remained about how much other Legion leaders knew about Father Maciel's abuses and that finding the truth is "not that simple". Plans for a renewal process could take three years or more. He and four advisers would work with Legion officials to revise the congregation’s constitution, and consideration was being given to appointing a committee to address complaints made against the Legion and another to address financial management issues in the congregation. The process would include an investigation, headed by Archbishop Ricardo Blazquez of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Valladolid in Valladolid, Spain, of the lay branch of the congregation, known as Regnum Christi.^[7]

On 20 October 2011 Cardinal De Paolis disclosed, in a letter^[8], that an investigation of Regnum Christi uncovered a series of concerns, which would require rewriting the group’s norms. Vatican officials expressed concern that the consecrated members of Regnum Christi were overly subject to the Legion and called for their own structure of authority while keeping close ties to the Legion. Cardinal De Paolis said that “the issues regarding personal and community life that have emerged from this same visitation on an institutional level initially appear to be many and challenging.” He indicated, however, that Regnum Christi would continue its affiliation with the Legion of Christ^[9], but that the lay group would be split from the Legion itself.

In a November 21, 2011 letter, Cardinal De Paolis asked the consecrated in Regnum Christi to edit their core set of norms, and took force away from a more extensive set of norms. The core set of norms (128 in number) were approved by the Vatican in 2004, not the more extensive ones (over 1,000 in number). He said a small commission would be formed soon to extract from the more extensive rules only those that are strictly necessary for their life and governance.^[10]

Handling[link]

On 26 October 2011 it was reported that disillusioned members are leaving the order as they lose faith that the Vatican will push through the necessary changes. Cardinal de Paolis said in an interview that Pope Benedict tasked him only with guiding the Legion and helping rewrite its norms — not "decapitating" its leadership or avenging wrongdoing. Cardinal de Paolis ruled out any further investigation into the crimes of Marciel Maciel. He added that "I don't see what good would be served" by further inquiry into a coverup,"Rather, we would run the risk of finding ourselves in an intrigue with no end. Because these are things that are too private for me to go investigating." Reports estimate 70 of the 890 Legion priests and upwards of a third of the movement's 900 consecrated women have left or are taking time away to ponder their future. De Paolis defended his commitment and approach to the reform, saying said he had "inserted" himself into the Legion's administration, expanded the Legion's governing council and shuffled some superiors around. He said he hasn't dismissed any superiors outright because he needs them to learn the complex details of the order's structure, culture and finances. He said his priority was to persuade the Legion's leaders to sow change from within.^[11]

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)

Kickboxing record[link]

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Date	Round	Time	Event	Location	Notes
		Somluck Kamsing[52]		December 2012[21]				Las Vegas[21]	Kickboxing
Win	18-1-0	Nedjad Gharbi	KKO	1982	1			Brussels, Belgium	Kickboxing
Win	17-1-0	Daniel Le Jaouen	KKO	1982	1	1:05		Brussels, Belgium	Kickboxing
Win	16-1-0	Lenny Leikman[14]	KKO	1982	3		1st Journée Des Arts Martiaux	Brussels, Belgium	Kickboxing
Win	15-1-0	Ajom Mahmud Uddin	KO	1981	1	0:19		Brussels, Belgium	Kickboxing
Win	14-1-0	Mustapha-Ahmad Benamou	KKO	1981	1			Brussels, Belgium	Kickboxing
Win	13-1-0	Henk Besselman	KO	1981	1			Brussels, Belgium	Kickboxing
Win	12-1-0	Michael J. Heming	KKO	1980	1	0:46		Brussels, Belgium	Kickboxing[53]
Win	11-1-0	Georges Verlugels	KO	1980	2		P.K.A.	Brussels, Belgium	Kickboxing[19]
Win	10-1-0	Sherman Bergman[54]	KKO	1974 Nov 04	1	0:56		Tampa, Florida, USA	Full-Contact (Van Damme climbs off floor to win.)
Win	9-1-0	Rolf Risberg	KKO	1979	1			Ingelmunster, Belgium	Kickboxing[16]
Win	8-1-0	Emile Leibman	KKO	1979	1			Iseghem, Belgium	Kickboxing[16]
Win	7-1-0	Cyrille Nollet	KKO	1978	1			Iseghem, Belgium	Kickboxing
Win	6-1-0	Orlando Lang	KO	1978	1	0:26		Antwerp, Belgium	Kickboxing
Win	5-1-0	Jacques Piniarski	KKO	1978	1			Belgium	Kickboxing[16]
Win	4-1-0	Eric "Basel" Strauss	KKO	1978	1	0:18		Antwerp, Belgium	Kickboxing[16]
Win	3-1-0	Andre "Robar" Robaeys	KKO	1978	1			Mulhouse, Belgium	Kickboxing[16]
Win	2-1-0	Michel Juvillier	KO	1978	1	0:39		Antwerp, Belgium	Full-Contact[16]
Loss	1-1-0	Etienne "Tuf" Aubry	Disq	7 March 1977	1	1:02		Marseilles, France	Full-Contact(Magazine "boxe francise"(Karate))
Win	1-0-0	Toon Van Oostrum	KKO	1976	1	0:46		Brussels, Belgium	Full-Contact

Notes[link]

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2012)

• Corcoran, John; Farkas, Emil (1988). Martial Arts: Traditions, History, People. New York City: Gallery Books. pp. 60, 265. ISBN 978-0-8317-5805-9.  (Wako)
• Corcoran, John; Farkas, Emil (1988). Martial Arts: Traditions, History, People. New York City: Gallery Books. pp. 285–286. ISBN 978-0-8317-5805-9.  (PKA World Heavyweight Title)
• Corcoran, John; Farkas, Emil (1988). Martial Arts: Traditions, History, People. New York City: Gallery Books. pp. 210, 393. ISBN 978-0-8317-5805-9.  (Eku)
• Soet, John Steven (March 1990). "Jean-Claude Van Damme". Inside Kung-Fu Presents: Martial Artists One on One: pp. 16–25. 

Further reading[link]

• Vandehey, Tim (April 1991). "Gunning for Van Damme". Karate Kung-Fu Illustrated. 
• Xuat Tinh Som (31 December 2007). "Jean-Claude Van Damme". Tre Today News. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jean-Claude Van Damme

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jean-Claude Van Damme

• Official website
• Jean-Claude Van Damme on Facebook
• Jean-Claude Van Damme on Twitter
• Jean-Claude Van Damme at the Internet Movie Database
• Rodin Entertainment