In the early days of his career, before he became a martial arts action star, Jean-Claude Van Damme was holding pads for Chuck Norris, helping the martial arts legend practice his kicks.
This surprising revelation came during a recent episode of the JAXXON PODCAST featuring Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Rigan Machado, who shared this little-known piece of martial arts history.
“Do you know before he became famous? He used to hold pads for Chuck Norris,” Machado revealed when discussing Van Damme. “He used to come to Chuck Norris, hold pads, and Chuck Norris practice the kicks.”
The relationship between these martial arts icons dates back to the early 1980s, with footage from 1984 showing Van Damme holding pads for Norris during training sessions in Germany. This mentorship occurred years before Van Damme would break through in Hollywood with films like “Bloodsport.”
Machado explained that this relationship fostered mutual respect between the two actors as their careers progressed.
“Even the respect got from each other because to be a guy who hold pads to come a big success movie star like Chuck Norris was kind of create a respect to each other in the industry,” Machado noted.
Chuck Norris himself has been instrumental in promoting martial arts in America. According to Machado, Norris played a pivotal role in helping establish the Machado family’s jiu-jitsu legacy in the United States.
“Chuck Norris was the one who opened my first school,” Machado explained. “He not only opened my school, he got his lawyers to get all my paperwork… We have 100 letters from celebrities, friends of Chuck who signed for us, and we got the citizenship in one year.”
The podcast revealed how interconnected the martial arts community has been over the decades, with legends like Norris helping to mentor and support upcoming martial artists who would later become stars in their own right.
Recently, Jean-Claude Van Damme, the 64-year-old action movie star, has been named in a criminal complaint accusing him of knowingly engaging in relations with women allegedly trafficked by a criminal group. The incident reportedly occurred in Cannes, France, where Van Damme was said to have received five Romanian women as a “gift,” fully aware of their status. Van Damme has yet to comment on the allegations. The complaint surfaces amid unrelated controversies, including Van Damme’s recent claim that he didn’t perform the iconic Volvo truck split, which some suspect may be an attempt to distract from or deny involvement in these serious accusations.
