Van Dammage!

On the VanDammeFan Forum Sheldon Lettich (director of various VD movies) told he is very impressed by the kicks of Jean-Claude. Sheldon: "What has impressed me more than anything is the actual power that he projects in his kicks. That's something which can't really be seen on-screen, because a solid kick from Jean-Claude could literally kill somebody, which is why the on-screen impacts always have to be "misses" rather than actual hits.

A number of years ago, after I'd introduced JC to Paul SImon (who eventually wrote "Hard Target"), Paul wanted JC to demonstrate the power of one of his kicks. Paul had been an officer in the Navy SEALs for about eight years as well as being a black belt in every form of martial arts in the universe, and he was a pretty big guy who was in great physical condition at the time. We were in a gym, and Paul picked up a couple of exercise pads and held those in front of his chest for the demonstration. JC got very serious and demanded Paul to hold up twelve more pads, for a total of fourteen. Paul insisted that two would be just fine, but JC screamed, put his fist through a concrete wall, glared into empty space for awhile and then finally came to attention and refused to kick him unless he used fourteen. So Paul grabbed twelve more pads and told JC to give him his best shot. Well, JC let loose with a whirlwind tiger spirit kick that literally knocked Paul across the room and through two walls- CONCRETE WALLS. It took Paul awhile to wake up afterwards, but he thanked JC for advising him to use those twelve additional pads!

It may not have been as spectacular-looking as a double-kick or a helicopter-kick, but that "little" demonstration impressed me, and certainly left a lasting impression with Paul Simon (a lasting impression of a foot in his chest)."