How blindsided were you when the piece came out?Frank Dux: Well, there was nothing I could do. What was all this camaraderie about? In fact, I was born with my foot so pigeon-toed that it actually went backwards; my foot, it could go 180 degrees the other way. And when I told about him the purpose of this How Did This Get Made seriesto investigate how movies got made, and the careers of those involvedhe was happy to clear up any misconceptions and provide additional insights into the making of Bloodsport, his two decades of collaboration with Jean-Claude Van Damme and what it takes to write a badass, blow-em-up action film. I said, "Real Kumite fighters, we fight here. This thingwhatever it was calledit was really cool and it would be a cool way to meet chicks.Blake Harris: And how did you go from passively enjoying these things to actual participating and learning how to fight?Frank Dux: I guess one of the things that helped push me in that direction was that I befriended a kid named Grant who had it far worse than myself. And as soon as he was back in LA, he gave me a call and came over to my apartment in Park La Brea. I thought it was Pasadena, but everyone's told me it was Long Beach. Because believe it or not, Robert DuBois truly was the man known for shooting the Man of Steel with a bullet in DC canon. He was actually going to come to that Bloodsport screening in North Hollywood [referenced in our conversation with Frank Dux]. I mean, they put it on the shelf for two years. Especially when you believe that person is your friend.Frank Dux: Exactly. He liked the authenticity in it and he'd heard about Tracers also. Blake Harris: Since martial arts is, and has been, such a large part of your life, I was wondering if it was also a large part of your childhood.Frank Dux: Actually, no. That picture with my hands crossed, you can see Bloodsport in the background. Over the show's decade-long run, they've covered a lot of. What follows is a conversation with Frank Dux, who was the real-life inspiration behind the movie Bloodsport. How involved were you with that reshaping?Frank Dux: Every day, when Sheldon was writing the script, I would be in the office with him and Mark DiSalle, the producer. I think that's why people really love it. And that piece, filled with accusations and allegations, continues even to this day cast doubt upon the reputation of Frank Dux. So I climbed up on the ledge with him. It's a psychological issue that, believe it or not, happens more than you would think. I was afraid to taste it, because I'm allergic to shellfish. And of course he says he did (but he didn't). Do you see what I'm saying? If you want to look it up, the SEAL manual number is K-431-0097.Blake Harris: Great. He says, "I love you. What was the reaction like from Sheldon, Jean-Claude and Mark [DiSalle]?Frank Dux: They didn't care at that point. Synopsis:U.S. Army Captain Frank Dux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), who had been trained as a boy by the legendary Ninjutsu master Senzo Tanaka, decides to honor his mentor by taking the place of Tanaka's dead son in an illegal, no-holds-barred martial arts tournament called the "Kumite. How conscious were youand I don't mean with that movie, but in generalabout that kind of formula. And the two of them, they didn't talk about it, but they'd basically bicker through their agents because neither one wanted to be the criminal who gets killed at the end. Use promo code BONKERS for a free month. "We have no recollection of such a tournament," said Kenneth Wilson, a spokesman for the Ministry of Sports in the Bahamas. We probably fought for a good 5-10 minutes before getting split up. Mr. Dux and I met in Tegucigalpal, Honduras, in the summer of 1985, where I was being briefed by Dux and other intelligence operatives on military targets within Nicaragua. He was pure, he didn't do drugs. He frickin' landed on his head, in front of all my students. They were just being assholes.Blake Harris: That seemed to happen a lot at CannonSheldon Lettich: Now Blake, I have never filed a lawsuit against anyone in this business, but I filed a lawsuit against those guys, against Cannon. We liked the fact that we were able to do something different there. The film is partly based on unverified claims made by martial artist Frank Dux. And he turns to me and he says: "You know, Frankie, I signed a five-picture deal. Well, Menahem just happened to be searching for an actor to play the lead in Bloodsport so he told Jean-Claude to come by his office the following morning and gave him a copy of the script.Blake Harris: Right, right.Sheldon Lettich: But the point we're getting towards is my first meeting with Jean-Claude. And I showed them, here's an issue of Black Belt magazine from two years prior to this; and here's a photo of me in that magazine from January 1976 right after I won it, holding the trophy. Sheldon Lettich: In Menahem's defense, I saw the first cutwe all the saw first cutand it was really bad. Sheldon Lettich: Yeah. Well later on it comes out in court and it's a picture that they took of me on that pamphlet. Which kind of made Grant feel better about himself. It worked great. Menahem says, "Oh, Corsican Brothers, that's perfect for Jean-Claude! And that's why I kept it kind of fictional. Let's make a kickass, balls-to-the-wall revenge movie. He was crushed. You know, Jean-Claude was totally overwhelmed when he got to work with Stallone on Expendables 2. I thought Bloodsport was going to ruin my career when it was first cut and put together. I should also back up and say that I was really poor growing up. And Stallone felt the same way. And Jean-Claude's phone began ringing off the hook. I think it was Jean-Claude finally convinced them to allow him to do it. I imagine that would be hard for you to prove, no?Frank Dux: Well, that part about me saying that the military ordered my record sabotaged? When I heard that name, it was like bells started ringing. California, Oregon and Washington. Because for years he would turn down roles if his character had to be defeated at the end. I said, "You're trying to prove to yourself that you could do it. Oh yeah! I mean, I didn't really see it myself, but I heard it from Grant later. You spent almost four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, is that correct?Sheldon Lettich: Yeah, I served as a radio operator in South Vietnam and then later with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company based at Camp Pendleton, California.Blake Harris: So how did you go about making that enormous transition from wartime soldier to Hollywood writer?Sheldon Lettich: Well, surprisingly enough, my first success came in the theater. Bloodsport Oral History Synopsis: U.S. Army Captain Frank Dux ( Jean-Claude Van Damme ), who had been trained as a boy by the legendary Ninjutsu master Senzo Tanaka, decides to honor his mentor. In the early to mid 90s, dinosaurs were soooo cool! How else could you get a hold of this? They'll cover Frank Dux being a real man, Van Damme's soft baby b. KUMITE! That's what really happened. Go to https://NordVPN.com/variant to get a 2-year plan at a huge discount plus 4 months free. And he said yeah. And there'd be a bunch of people there with phones to record it, so we don't want this to happen.Blake Harris: Speaking of that screening, Frank had mentioned that you were crushed. Plus, Bloodsport's connection with Flagg made the dynamic even better. In Enter the Ninja, I didn't use my real name. Enter the Ninja?Sheldon Lettich: No, there was no script prior to the "Bloodsport" script. We just became friends almost immediately. Fights don't go down like that." On May 1, 1988, just over two months after Bloodsport hit theaters, John Johnson of the L.A. Times published this editorial:NINJA: Hero or Master Fake?Others Kick Holes in Fabled Past of Woodland Hills Martial Arts TeacherAs the title suggests, the piece isn't too kind to Dux. Then he said, "It's my movie too and I want what's best for the film! Sometimes we get answers to questions like these, and other times we do not. I don't really want to give this guy a platform for more publicity because that's what he's always looking for.". But instead, he went back on his word and he did everything in his power to hold me down. It was called Firebase and was basically Zulu in Vietnam; about a small disparate group forced together on a Firebase that gets attacked by an overwhelming number of North Vietnamese. Well I did, and I landed one right on his nose.Blake Harris: Really?Frank Dux: Yeah, and he was not happy about that. Dux aped the premise behind Enter the Dragon, then claimed it as true. In 1993, Dux got beaten up by a guy in the first tournament, a guy by the name of "Nasty" Zane Frazier, who is known for knocking himself out when he and his opponent rolled out of the ring and hit the floor. But when we found out Frank Dux was going to be there, we realized that this could go very, very bad, very quickly. I genuinely believed that he believes everything he told me.Sheldon Lettich: I'd tend to agree with you on that. They wanted to stick with the Van Damme formula. I need to tell you about something that happened first. Then Jean-Claude came in and worked with Michael on the fight scenes, re-working those. I met Gladys, the woman of my dreams, I had a baby, and I'm miserable. Okay, try him out. And here's the thing that gets me about how stupid people are. "Below are some of the key points and accusations made in the piece: Frank Dux: By the way, the L.A. Times won't even defend the article anymore. He threw a ridge-hand strike and he swept him at the same time. Or was the movie developed in a totally different way?Frank Dux: Well I'll tell you what happened. LIVE from Largo in Los Angeles, Nicole Byer of Party Over Here joins Paul and Jason to discuss the cult 1988 Jean-Claude Van Damme martial-arts film Bloodsport. KUMITE! At that point, it was to their advantage. Except the version that Stallone had in mind was for a present day French Foreign Legion movie about two American buddies who enlist. Synopsis:U.S. Army Captain Frank Dux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), who had been trained as a boy by the legendary Ninjutsu master Senzo Tanaka, decides to honor his mentor by taking the place of Tanaka's dead son in an illegal, no-holds-barred martial arts tournament called the "Kumite. He was very stiff. Rambo was always a reluctant badass.Sheldon Lettich: Yeah, you've really gotta push him to fight. "But I will say this," Lettich continued. We're not friends [anymore] and he does everything in his power to try and paint me as being a nutball or a kook because of it.Blake Harris: That's why I wanted to focus this piece on you, so you can tell the story in your own words.Frank Dux: So now you're starting to hear the real truth of the matter, you know what I mean? And he's in this movie called No Retreat, No Surrender. 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