Frank Dux
Frank William Dux ( born April 6, 1956) is a Canadian-American martial artist and fight choreographer. According to Dux, a ninjutsu expert named Senzo Tanaka trained him as a ninja when he was a teenager. He established his own school of ninjutsu called Dux Ryu Ninjutsu, and has said he won a secret martial arts tournament called the Kumite in 1975. His alleged victory at the Kumite served as the inspiration for the 1988 film Bloodsport starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Dux's victory at the Kumite has been disputed, as has the existence of both the Kumite he described and Senzo Tanaka.
Dux served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve from 1975 to 1981, and claims he was sent on covert missions to Southeast Asia and awarded the Medal of Honor. He also asserts he was recruited by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director William J. Casey to work as a covert agent. His military records, however, show he was never sent overseas and has not received any awards; Dux states the military sabotaged his records to discredit him. (Much like how bob Lazar claimed the US government white washed his records).
He has been accused of falsifying his military service by authors B. G. Burkett, Ralph Keyes and Nigel West, and his claim to have worked for the CIA has been dismissed by Director of Central Intelligence Robert Gates, General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., Major General John K. Singlaub, and Soldier of Fortune magazine.
Dux worked as a fight choreographer for Bloodsport, Lionheart (1990) and Only the Strong (1993). He detailed his alleged work for the CIA in the book The Secret Man in 1996, and that same year co-wrote the story for the film The Quest alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme. He sued Van Damme for breach of contract over the film, but lost the suit in 1998. He also lost a lawsuit against Soldier of Fortune for libel the following year, over their claims he had falsified his military and CIA service.
Early life
Dux was born on April 6, 1956 in Toronto, Canada. His family relocated from Canada to California when he was seven, and he later attended Grant High School. Dux states that he was introduced to and trained in ninjutsu by Senzo "Tiger" Tanaka, whom he described as a "world-famous" teacher and the descendant of 40 generations of warriors. Dux says that Tanaka brought him to Masuda, Japan, when he was 16, to train him as a ninja.
Career
Dux served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve from 1975 to 1981, and said he was sent on covert missions in Southeast Asia during this time and was awarded the Medal of Honor. Dux wrote articles for the September and October 1980 issues of Black Belt magazine, giving advice on martial arts techniques including knife fighting. He was described as being "decorated for his blade fighting techniques in actual combat in Southeast Asia" and as holding black belts in "Taekwondo and other arts". He also co-authored an article on knife fighting for Inside Kung Fu magazine in 1987.
Dux states that he participated in a 1975 martial arts competition in The Bahamas called the Kumite, describing the event as a 60-round single-elimination tournament held in secret every five years; his story was first covered in the November 1980 issue of Black Belt. According to Dux, he was the first person to be given permission to speak publicly about the event, and was the first Westerner to win the tournament, achieving several world records there including the most consecutive knock-outs (56) the fastest knockout (3.2 seconds) and the fastest punch (0.12 seconds).
By his own accounts, Dux knocked out 56 men consecutively during the secret kumite. Anyone who has watched or competed in any kind of martial arts should find this confusing, to say the least.
To put this in perspective, Derrick Lewis has the most knockouts in the UFC (13). LaMar Clark has the most consecutive knockouts in boxing (42). Clark fought against very limited opposition and was knocked out 3 times by professional opposition.
Nonetheless, these records were set over a long period of time and are probably true. There is no dispute over these records and all of the fights had a live audience.
Frank Dux claims 56 knockouts over a 3-day period, which is really quite an incredible claim. The fatigue alone would be difficult to overcome in order to knock out 56 men in a row. Not to mention, if you’re fighting full-contact MMA, you’re likely going to have taken a lot of hits to your own head too.
The 1988 film Bloodsport is based on his alleged Kumite victory. At the time of the film's release, he was operating martial arts schools in Woodland Hills and North Hollywood, Los Angeles, teaching his own martial art style, Dux Ryu ninjutsu, which is based on the Koga Ninja root principles of Ko-ryū, "adaptability and consistent change". Dux worked as the fight coordinator for Bloodsport and also for the 1990 film Lionheart and the 1993 film Only the Strong.
In 1993, Dux attended the 2nd annual Draka Martial Arts Trade Show in Los Angeles, where he had a confrontation with kickboxer Zane Frazier. Dux had previously hired Frazier to teach classes for him, though Frazier alleges that Dux never paid him. A fight ensued, with Frazier proving victorious. Rorion Gracie and Art Davie witnessed the fight and subsequently offered Frazier a position in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Dux states that Frazier sucker punched him while wearing brass knuckles, in contradiction to multiple sources, including mixed martial arts (MMA) referee John McCarthy, who make no mention of this in their accounts of the fight.
Dux released the book The Secret Man: An American Warrior's Uncensored Story in 1996. In the book, Dux states that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director William J. Casey arranged to meet him in a restroom, and recruited him to work on covert missions, including destroying a fuel depot in Nicaragua and a chemical weapons plant in Iraq.
Alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dux was a co-author of the 1996 film The Quest. Dux sued Van Damme after the film's release for breach of contract, on the grounds the finished film was too similar to the manuscript Enter The New Dragon, which the two had also written. In 1998, Dux lost the case, with the jury foreman stating jurors found Dux's testimony "less than credible", including his assertion that audiotapes of his agreement with Van Damme were destroyed in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Dux appealed the verdict, though his appeal was dismissed in 1999.
Disputed claims
Military service and Medal of Honor
Contrary to his claims, Dux's military records obtained through Freedom of information show that he never served overseas, that he has not been given the Medal of Honor or any other award, and that in January 1978 he was referred for psychiatric evaluation after he expressed "flighty and disconnected ideas". Dux states that the military sabotaged his service record to discredit him. A photograph of Dux in military uniform shows service ribbons being displayed in an incorrect order, and the Medal of Honor he is wearing is the version given to members of the United States Army, rather than the Marine Corps. Questioned about the photograph in 1988, Dux told John Johnson from the Los Angeles Times he was not able to get the military to explain why he was awarded a medal from the wrong service, though in later years he changed his story to say the uniform was just a Halloween costume.
In his book Stolen Valor, which won the Colby Award in 2000, B. G. Burkett says that Dux fabricated his military history and awards, and had not served in Vietnam, noting the war had ended before he enlisted. Dux responded to the allegations by saying he never claimed to have served in Vietnam, only in covert missions in Southeast Asia, though, in 1980, he was described in Black Belt as having "a distinguished military record during the Vietnam conflict", and an interview with him in a 1987 issue of Inside Kung Fu describes him as a Vietnam veteran. Authors Ralph Keyes and Nigel West have also disputed Dux's military service, as has Soldier of Fortune magazine. In 2012 Sheldon Lettich, co-writer of Bloodsport, said that Dux originally showed him a Medal of Honor he claimed to have been awarded, though years later, after people began questioning if he had "won" the medal, Dux then tried to convince him he had never made such a claim.
Kumite
By the own accounts of Dux, he claims that the kumite was 3 days long, with competitors having 20 fights per day. Not only this but the losers were sent home at the end of each day. A large 128-man tournament has 7 rounds if you reach the final. If a tournament had 10 rounds, it would have over 1000 participants. Bearing in mind that Dux claimed he was having 20 single-elimination fights per day, this would be a LOT of people in the Bahamas for a secret martial arts tournament and would require a huge amount of organization and staff to pull off. In fact, it would be by far the largest combat tournament the world has ever seen.
The logistics of a tournament would have been incredibly hard to pull off. As this tournament allegedly took place in the 1970s, even the brackets would be difficult to generate since it could not be done by the touch of a button and 10 lines of computer code. Then we have to factor in referees, medical staff, flights for the competitors, and even the venue itself. Obviously, this is a lot of money, time, and effort for a martial arts tournament that is so top secret nobody else has ever spoken about it.
John Stewart, the author of the 1980 Black Belt article that first described Dux's alleged Kumite victory, expressed regret for writing the article in 1988, describing himself as "naive" for believing Dux and saying after the story was published he received information that "raised questions about Dux's military career". In 1988 Jim Coleman, then editor of Black Belt, said that Dux's story was "based on false premises", adding that they could find no evidence of such a competition; he made a similar statement again in 1996. Kenneth Wilson from the Ministry of Sports in The Bahamas disputed the existence of the Kumite, saying that it was impossible that a martial arts tournament of that scale could have been kept a secret. According to John Johnson, an invoice for the organization that allegedly staged the Kumite listed Dux as its only point of contact, and the base of the trophy he claims to have won was bought by him at a local trophy store. Dux told Johnson to speak to a man named Richard Robinson, whom he said he had met at the Kumite. Robinson initially confirmed Dux's story, saying that he was invited to the Kumite as he was an undefeated wrestler at Lower Merion High School. Johnson later uncovered that Robinson had not attended that school, and had actually gone to school with Dux. Confronted with this information, Robinson responded "All right. I don't know what to say ... Frank was a buddy of mine when I was in L.A."
Sheldon Lettich said that he got the idea for Bloodsport after listening to Dux's "tall tales" regarding the Kumite. Dux introduced him to a man named Richard Bender who claimed to have been at the Kumite and verified the story, though a few years later confessed to Lettich that he had been lying and that Dux had instructed him on what to say. Lettich described Dux as a "delusional day-dreamer". Citing his Kumite claims, MMA website Fightland includes Dux among their list of martial arts frauds. Both John Johnson and Fightland believe Dux faked his story to help promote his martial arts schools
Frank Dux reportedly won a sword for winning the Kumite, however, he no longer owns that sword. Apparently, he sold the sword to pay for a mission to rescue orphans from pirates in the Philippines.
“We took arms up and fought boat pirates and we got these kids free,” said Dux. “I’m in touch with some of them, and they love me to death. And, I’ll tell you, I’ve got one kid who’s about 15 years old. All I have to do is look cross-eyed at one guy, and he’ll kill for me.”
John Johnson first threw into question the existence of the Kumite tournament in the Bahamas in 1975, quoting a spokesman for the Ministry of Sports who said the event never took place there. As for the trophy that Dux was pictured with in the Black Belt piece, Johnson said he spoke to a trophy shop owner who claims the award was partially made in his shop in the San Fernando Valley, close to Dux’s home.
However there was quite some contention about this claim because In court, a photocopied receipt that John Johnson claims was proof Dux purchased the 1975 Kumite trophy himself was entered as evidence but withdrawn by the judge when several inconsistencies emerged. On the receipt copy, Dux’s name was misspelled, his address was wrong, the dimensions and details of the trophy were off, the purchase date was three years after Dux had possession of the trophy, and it looked as if his signature was cut and copied onto the document. If personal vendettas contributed to the attacks, then what were they?
According to Dux, Johnson’s L.A. Times editorial was an attack from two sides. Richard Bender was also an associate of Johnson’s who allegedly had an affair with Dux’s wife as the couple were going through a nasty divorce. Following a bout with cancer, Bender was on his death bed when he supposedly told Dux that he paid $5000 to Johnson to tarnish his name in the paper. Bender also said that Steven K. Hayes helped pay another $5000 for the Johnson piece. This may sound like the delusions of a suspicious man, but there may be some truth to it, which surprisingly comes in the form of Johnson’s article. While Dux has long maintained that Hayes — one of the leading authorities of Ninjutsu training in the U.S. — was one of the men behind the crusade against him, Hayes is quoted in the Johnson editorial as having paranoia of his own: “There’s quite an extensive security system that operates around me.” Johnson also quoted the editor of Ninja magazine who says, “Paranoia abounds in the field.
”The Organization That Holds Kumite Seems To Have Disappeared
The Kumite, the mysterious tournament at the center of Bloodsport, takes place every five years. Dux says his trophy and records in the tournament show proof of his fighting prowess. However, the organization that puts on the fights is extremely difficult to track down.
At some point, the International Fighting Arts Association, which Dux claimed held the Kumite, ceased to exist, and any traces of the organization only led back to Dux's door. More strangely, the organization now claiming to hold the event, the Black Dragon Fighting Society, recognizes Dux as one of its "10 Patriarchs.”
It should be noted that a structured kumite for karate tournaments did actually happen during this time period. Such tournaments however were not international, nor secret. During these tournaments, there would be a time-limited bout in a round-robin format. Therefore it was possible to have 20 fights in a single day, but many of these would end in a draw. This kind of kumite happened almost exclusively in Japan and is still used to a lesser degree when grading students to higher belts.
It should go without saying however, that there would not be over 100 competitors in a karate kumite, let alone several thousand, or million as Dux claimed.
”Senzo "Tiger" Tanaka
John Johnson reported he could find no evidence of Dux's alleged teacher Senzo "Tiger" Tanaka in history books or from other martial arts experts. Pressed in an interview for details, Dux said he did not know where Tanaka’s family is and said he is not even sure if Tanaka is dead or alive. The manuscript of dux’s book states that Dux’s teacher was found dead on July 30, 1975, and was buried by a Ninja clan in California. No trace of Tanaka could be found in historical texts or from independent martial arts experts. California state death records show no Tanaka dying on July 30 of any year in the ’70s. Told of the findings, Dux said the man was living under an assumed name.
though in later years changed his story to say it was Tanaka's dying wish for him to compete in the Kumite. When Johnson pointed out that Dux's teacher has the same name as a ninja commander from Ian Fleming's James Bond novel You Only Live Twice, Dux responded by saying that Fleming "used to base his characters on real people".
In March 2017, Dux wrote an article saying he had found Tanaka's death certificate, which showed he had died in Los Angeles in 1975, though as of 2016 Dux's website said that Tanaka died in Japan.
Fight record
In 1980, Dux told Black Belt that his fight record so far was 321 wins, 1 loss and 7 draws, though in 2014 he told AXS TV that he had retired with a fight record of 329 wins, 0 losses. Curtis Wong, an editor of Inside Kung Fu, doubted whether Dux's alleged 56 consecutive knockout record was possible. Others observe the difficulty in proving or disproving Dux's "impossibly impressive" records, as "the only person able to verify any of this information is Dux himself".
CIA work and The Secret Man
Several notable figures have refuted Dux's claims, in his book The Secret Man, to have worked for the CIA. Robert Gates, William J. Casey's deputy and successor, said he had never heard of Dux, nor had anyone else he knew in the CIA. Dux named General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. and Major-General John K. Singlaub as other people he had worked for, both of whom denied Dux's assertions. Singlaub called the book, "virtually a complete fabrication." He had his lawyer write to HarperCollins, the company that owned the imprint ReganBooks which published the book, asking for it to be recalled Soldier of Fortune opined there were at least ten plot holes in the book, such as Dux's "preposterous" claim that Casey personally handled his operations and ensured that no one else in the CIA would know of his existence, yet contradicts this by describing receiving documents and support from other personnel on numerous occasions. A CIA spokesman said the book was, "sheer fantasy," adding that it was unusual for the CIA to comment on such matters though Dux's claims were, "so preposterous that we thought it was necessary," also stating that it was convenient for Dux that Casey was dead and unable to refute the book himself. Reviewing the book, Publishers Weekly said, "It's hard to tell whether the author is merely posturing or expressing his fantasy life in a memoir that reads as if patterned on the early paperback Avenger series."
Dux also alleged in the book that his father Alfred had worked for Mossad before the Second World War and also joined the Jewish Brigade in 1939. Nigel West says that Dux's family history does not "withstand much scrutiny", noting that Mossad was not formed until after the Second World War and that the Jewish Brigade was not formed until several years after Alfred is said to have joined it. Lieutenant Commander Larry Simmons, a novelist who formerly commanded SEAL Team 5 and who had the same literary agent as Dux, posed with Dux for a photograph. Dux featured the photo in the book, with the caption saying he was "talking shop" with the SEAL Team leader. Simmons denied "talking shop" with him, adding that Dux was "not an American warrior. He is a con man.”
Dux Claims He Was Offered $25,000 To Kill Steven Seagal
According to Dux, someone offered him $25,000 to assassinate another noted martial artist: Steven Seagal.
No records exist of Dux reporting this to the police or of him actually attempting to snuff out Seagal, however.
Other claims and reactions
Writing in the book Actions Speak Louder, Eric Lichtenfield said that, when his exploits are questioned, Dux counters by "actually exploiting his lack of substantiating evidence, and spinning it" into even wilder stories. Dux says that the reason he no longer has a sword he was presented with at the Kumite is that he sold it in a failed attempt to buy the freedom of a boat of orphans whom he later rescued from pirates, that he stopped a plot to assassinate Steven Seagal, and that discrepancies in his martial arts history are the work of fabrications by his rivals including ninjutsu master Stephen K. Hayes.
While many sources dismiss Dux's claims entirely, others believe there may be some truth to his stories. Dux sued Soldier of Fortune publisher Robert K. Brown for libel following the publication of their articles about him. While he eventually lost the case, during the hearing, John Johnson presented a photocopy of the receipt which he said proved that Dux had purchased his Kumite trophy, though the judge refused to allow it as evidence, noting several discrepancies such as the date on the receipt being after Dux was photographed with his trophy. Dariel Figueroa from Uproxx opined that there were several holes in both Dux's claims, as well as those of some of his critics, "leading to a mess of false evidence, lies, and, somewhere in the middle, the truth." Hugh Landman from Ranker has stated that while Dux "lies about, or at least greatly exaggerates, many aspects of his career," that does not necessarily mean his story is entirely false, speculating he may have won a Kumite that was significantly different from the one that appears in Bloodsport.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Dux
https://uproxx.com/movies/bloodsport-jean-claude-van-damme-frank-dux/
https://www.ranker.com/list/frank-dux-insane-true-stories/hugh-landman
https://budodragon.com/outrageous-claims-of-frank-dux/#Analyzing_The_Kumite_In_Further_Detail
https://budodragon.com/outrageous-claims-of-frank-dux/#Analyzing_The_Kumite_In_Further_Detail
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