“Put Up Your Dux: The Story of Frank Dux” Theatrical Poster
AKA: The True Story of JCVD Bloodsport
Director: Jesse Barrett-Mills
Co-director: Daniel Gallai
Cast: Frank Dux, Joe Fiorentino, Jeff Langton, Sheldon Lettich, Brian Thompson, Vic Moore
Running Time: 70 min.
By Jeff Bona
If you’re a fan of 1988’s Bloodsport, then you might be familiar with the name Frank Dux. If not – or if you’ve forgotten – here’s a refresher: In Bloodsport, the name of the character Jean-Claude Van Damme portrays is a guy named Frank Dux, a real life American martial artist who supposedly lived though the events portrayed in Bloodsport, hence the “Based on on a true story” tag that was slapped on the film’s initial VHS release. The main focal point of Bloodsport’s plot is Dux’ participation in a deadly, underground fight tournament known as the Kumite.
In most cases, when the name “Frank Dux” is brought up to a reputable martial artist, they’ll reply back by calling Dux a fraud, liar or con artist. Then you have that other small percentage of people, including four-time world karate champion Vic Moore, who says that Dux is “one of the top fighters today because of what he went through…” The next thing you know, you hear a rumor that Dux bought his martial arts trophies at a local trophy store.
In a series of archival footage and interviews – mostly from Dux himself – Put Up Your Dux: The Story of Frank Dux examines the highly debatable Dux story, and by the end of its 70-minute duration, it’s up to the audience to decide whether Dux’ life is fact or fantasy.
First and foremost, there’s no evidence of the Kumite ever existing. Many people, especially those in the martial arts community, believe that Dux made it up to sell a screenplay – but that’s just the tip of the ice berg. There’s a lot more to Dux than his supposed Kumite competition…
The controversial martial artist is also known for breaking bullet proof glass with his bare hands, as well as being a master of the “death touch,” (the ability to bare-handedly strike through layered thin bricks, only to break the bottom thick brick, leaving the first layer of thin bricks intact) which can obviously be a fatal technique if used against an opponent. Although there is no actual “film” of the Kumite, there is footage of Dux breaking glass and performing the “death touch.” However, skeptics dismiss the footage as being fake or staged.
Things get really strange when the documentary goes into Dux’ life as an undercover CIA operative, complete with propagana-like “home video” footage of Dux walking the Ukraine streets in a James Bond-like suit, as well as questionable interviews with anonymous Russian agents (via voice changer to hide their identities) who authenticate Dux as a legit secret agent. During these scenes, Dux clearly states that he was on a mission to recover biological weapons from terrorist organizations. In fact, he has even written his own book titled The Secret Man: An American Warrior’s Uncensored Story, which is described as “a true-life espionage account chronicles the exploits of a former CIA hitman who performed highly classified missions and who masked his covert operations under his international reputation as a martial arts black belt.”
Regardless if Dux’ life is fact or fantasy, Put Up Your Dux: The Story of Frank Dux is both an interesting documentary and a solid character study. One minute, it feels like a mockumentary; the next minute, you actually feel bad for the guy. For instance, during an autograph session at a martial arts convention in the 90s, Dux was knocked out by MMA fighter Zane Frazier (who was supposedly wearing brass knuckles). After the incident, Dux checked into a hospital to treat the injuries caused by Frazier, only to discover a massive tumor in his brain. As a result, Dux lost the use of one side of his body (including one of his eyes), which eventually led to memory loss. It was around this time that his wife aborted their child and divorced him. Additionally, he had to shut down many of his dojos due to his disability.
What really makes Put Up Your Dux: The Story of Frank Dux shine is the rare archival footage: Dux’ appearances on shows like That’s Incredible (circa 70s), obscure tabloid talk shows (circa 90s), news interviews, and even an HBO special that aired around the time of Bloodsport’s cable premier. Also featured are snippets from the “Dux vs. Van Damme” Court TV footage (In 1998, Dux filed a lawsuit against Van Damme, claiming that 1997’s The Quest was based off a 1991 screenplay he co-wrote with Van Damme which was then-called The Kumite: Enter the New Dragon).
Adding to its pacing are interviews with various acquaintances and friends, such as filmmaker Sheldon Lettich, who worked with Dux on Bloodsport, Lionheart, Double Impact and Only the Strong. At one point, Lettich explains that Dux “started becoming an embarrassment” on various film sets.
I was shocked to find out Put Up Your Dux: The Story of Frank Dux was panned by audiences. The negative response definitely has something to do with how it was marketed. In most countries, Put Up Your Dux: The Story of Frank Dux was changed to the totally misleading title The True Story of JCVD Bloodsport (click here to view artwork). To make things even more bizarre, the Blu-ray was released in 3D, which makes no sense at all. With a title like The True Story of JCVD Bloodsport, anyone would be disappointed if it wasn’t solely about Van Damme and the film Bloodsport. They should have called it Bloodsport: The Frank Dux Story – not only does this title make sense, it’s also highly marketable.
Put Up Your Dux: The Story of Frank Dux may not have the budget or slickness of a PBS documentary, so it has its production/editing hiccups here and there. Other than that very minor flaw, this film is highly recommended. Cheers to filmmakers Jesse Barrett-Mills and Daniel Gallai for making it!
Jeff Bona‘s Rating: 8/10
This guy is definitely a product of his time. I think the only people who believed Dux were teenage fans of Bloodsport. If you actually go to the movie it says just ridiculous things like him winning 300 some fights, having the fastest punch and kick on record. If you look at the real Dux’s shape there’s no way such is even possible. I still like the movie Bloodsport as the fiction it is, but let’s not argue linguistics, Dux clearly made up the whole story, and his CIA claims are even worse. Yet, despite it all, there’s a part of me that sort of finds Frank Dux endearing. This is a guy who is a total liar, but also bad at it and yet he knows no bounds on how absurd he sounds. So it’s like hearing a guy talk about how he was crucified on the cross then kicked himself off and single handedly took over the Ukraine. Even funnier is that nobody has ever, ever verified anything and the evidence of him ordering trophies. It’s great unintentional comedy. To be honest, I don’t really give a shit about how legit fighters feel about it, cause I mean I just don’t care enough about the sport in itself, I mean hearing someone pretend they’re an NFL player is the same type of shenanigans as far as i’m concerned.
Frank Dux is a true Martial Arts Legend. The movie was good. A must see for martial arts fans. I have meet and talked to Frank Dux he is friendly and very intelligent. He is very knowledgeable about martial arts.
I enjoyed this film. Dux’ compulsion to lie is unfortunate because it seems like he’s done some genuine impressive things in his life. When he makes up stuff it taints his achievements. This is a shame because despite the lying, he seems like a very likeable guy.
I think the best way to treat this film is as a really good dvd extra for Bloodsport. I’ve used a 2 way dvd case and stuck it in with Bloodsport. It’s like I’ve got my own custom made ‘Bloodsport: Special Edition’ dvd.
Cool idea for your ‘Bloodsport: Special Edition’ DVD. 🙂 Crafty fella! Totally agree with your statement: “Dux’ compulsion to lie is unfortunate because it seems like he’s done some genuine impressive things in his life. When he makes up stuff it taints his achievements.” That’s basically what I got from it. Tried to stay as neutral as possible for the review. Thanks for your comments!
After all I’ve read, even though there’s no way to prove Dux is a fraud or legit, my gut tells me Dux full of shit! Claiming to have won/earned the Medal of Honor is the absolute worst lie he chose! It’s VERY easy to fact check & find the very small list of MOH recipients. Also, the MOH qualifications are at the highest of standards. You would have to have a good amount of confirmed kills, saving lives & to have been wounded as well. Basically, going above & beyond call of duty. I strongly believe all who claim Dux is a fraud & that belief is from their sources. So, this alone proves to me Dux is a shitbag, lying piece of shit!
I’m currently working on a film version of “THE SECRET MAN （of Walter Mitty）” which will chronicle Captain Dux‘s top secret mission to Vietnam after the war ended and his recruitment to the CIA after having a piss next to the director. I need actors!
Put up your Dux, is a nice documentary about Frank Dux. Many things are explained about his life and esspecially his side of the story. It would be nice when mr Dux talks a little more about his Koga Yamabushi Ninjitsu system and his mentor Senzo Tanaka. I never found a good interview with Frank Dux about his teacher and his Koga lineage.
Sincerely Douwe Geluk
Tai Chi Apeldoorn ‘Bron van Geluk’
Wow. I didn’t know Frank Dux was covered in COF.
I guess there’s no need to repeat what his critics have said. I agree with them. ThePinkMan on YouTube has a great series which goes in depth with why and how he was a fraud. It’s especially harmful to people who’ve paid a lot of money to learn from him based on those lies.
But everything after that Frazier incident is tragic, and that punishment doesn’t fit the crime at all.
I have trained martial arts in Mexico in Koga Yamabushi Ninjitsu at the school of Enrique Flores. The Enrigue Flores K.W.S. Koga Warrior Society has the original programm that Frank Dux taught in the eighties still in tact. All the stuff as he said he learned it from his teacher shidoshi Senzo Tanaka. If his stories are true or not, i dont care i liked te classes and the awesome workouts.
If anyone learned legitimate techniques from Koga Warrior Society, there’s no argument there. But it’s not Dux’s teachings. Again, the evidence is out there about him including that Senzo Tanaka may not have been real.
i think unfortunately Frank Dux got caught up in so much misinformation like Seagal that he began to believe it all, the mysterious Ninja master, the Kumite , the “oh i went up on the roof of a hotel that didnt exist in Hong Kong and challenged Van Damme to a duel high above the city’…..and the court case is fantastic, the excerpts from the TV coverage are fantastic….only Frank’s safe was damaged in the earthquake etc
The problem is these guys start BS’ing that it destroys the credibility of any real achievement they may have once had