Ron Van Clief  

                                                                                                                     (Ronnie Van Clief)      

                                                                                           Martial Artist, Instructor, Actor 

                                                                                   Born: January 25, 1943

                                                                       

                                       Ron Van Clief, the American martial arts master and 5 time world champion, was 

                                          the first Westerner to receive top billing in Hong Kong, where he established an

                                                   acting career during the height of the 1970's kung fu film explosion.  

                                        It was American producer Serafim Keralexis who first brought Van Clief, a former

                                            New York policeman, U.S. Marine, and Hollywood stuntman, to Hong Kong. 

                                      Van Clief took on the part of "The Black Dragon" in a series of HK films and worked 

                                              with current stars like Jason Pai Piao, Carter Wong and Dragon Lee.

                                             

                                      Ron Van Clief began studying jiu-jitsu in 1957 with Grandmaster Moses Powell in his 

                                    hometown of Brooklyn, New York. During his Marine Corps duty in Okinawa, he learned

                                                  Shorin-Ryu karate; he has also studied ninjitsu, Shotokan karate, 

                                                                    Aiki-Jitsu, Wing Chun, and various weaponry.

                                          In 1971 he founded Chinese Goju, a new system which merged aspects of both 

                                       Chinese and Japanese martial arts. Over the years Van Clief has authored several 

                                           martial arts books, produced a series of instructional training videos where he

                                       demonstrates various fighting techniques, established martial arts schools across 

                                            America and 18 other countries, and served as technical advisor to both the      

                                                                           U.S. Army and the Secret Service.

                                                                               

                                     In his professional fighting career, Ron Van Clief competed in over 900 tournaments,

                                       becoming the United States Champion 8 times and the World Champion 5 times.

                                    After decades of competing around the world, Ron stepped into the ring with Brazilian

                                          jiu-jitsu champion Royce Gracie at the 1994 Ultimate Fighting Championships.

                                      He lost to Graycie in the no holds barred event, though at 51, his opponent had the 

                                       advantage of being nearly half his age. He was later appointed Commissioner to the

                                                             sport, such is his enthusiasm for the martial arts.

                                            

                                                                     Ron Van Clief Filmography 

 

                                  

                                                                       1  aka Death of Bruce Lee

                                                                       2  aka Bamboo Trap

 

 

                                                                  Ron Van Clief -American Films        

         

 

                                                                        *   martial arts choreographer

 

 

                                                   Ron Van Clief - Documentaries 

 

                                                                   

                                                                     *  Ron Van Clief is interviewed 

 

 

                                          Ron Van Clief Gallery

 

                                         

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