Who would win in a fight...Van Damme, Seagal, or Norris?
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shareVan Damme. Easily.
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MovieChat Forums > Jean-Claude Van Damme Discussion > Who would win in a fight...Van Damme, Se...
There actors now, probably havn't had a fight for years.
As van damme's younger I'll go with him.
Either Norris or Van Damme. Probably Norris since in addition to karate he has grappling skills.
Seagal is a joke
Seagal used to be legit. Being the first Westerner to open a dojo in Japan.
Back in the day the guy was really good, but his skill and technique were very situational.
The one time he had a chance to prove he could beat Van Damme (at a Stallone party no less), Seagal ducked Van Damme:
https://youtu.be/xMo7Ip8bjQ4
Seagal used to bad mouth Van Damme ALL the time every time he was asked about him on talk shows or interviews. Van Damme had nothing bad to say about his martial arts action-star rivals at the time.
Most people kept claiming Seagal and Van Damme were just "actors", but what they didn't know (and what Seagal was probably later made aware of) Van Damme had an impressive tournament record with some of the fastest knockouts by kicks to date:
https://youtu.be/a8A5tYUTt1s
Full-contact KO by kick in under 19 seconds? Crazy.
I liked Seagal in his earlier film roles, but just looking at the way Van Damme executes his technique, and when you look at the way he trains (you can check out his videos on YouTube), I would have to put my money on Van Damme against Seagal (plus, Van Damme, in his 50s, was still quick enough to catch Cody Garbrandt with a reverse heel hook kick while sparring):
https://youtu.be/qnkH5OS6cDg
A prime Van Damme versus prime Norris? Hmm, that's a much tougher call. As you stated, Norris trained with Bruce Lee and other grapplers with Judo, wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu. But you'd have to get within reach of Van Damme's kicks to make use of grappling techniques, and Van Damme appears to be a faster kicker than Chuck Norris, even though Norris was definitely fast with his strikes.
I would pay good money to see prime Van Damme vs prime Norris, but I would probably have to put my money on Van Damme. Nobody kicks with the precision, flexibility and speed that that guy has.
If you're talking about the real human beings named Van Damme, Norris, and Seagal, it'd be Norris by a mile. Van Damme was a dancer before he went into movies (like Michelle Yeoh), Seagal wasn't good at martial arts, but Chuck Norris was the world karate champion.
If you're talking about the standard characters they played onscreen, it'd probably be Seagal. He used guns the most.
Norris was legit, but it's always tricky assessing how good a fighter is by tournaments. There are rules in a tournament; NOT in a real fight.
As far as Van Damme being a dancer, so was Bruce Lee. So were/are *many* accomplished fighters. This is not surprising; the skill sets have many similarities.
Finally, as has been mentioned: Van Damme has many ring victories under his belt, just like Norris.
I'd put my money on Van Damme. But it's (obviously) no more than an educated guess, in any case.
Dance is good training for a career as a screen fighter, because screen fighters are all choreographed, and dancers are the ones who are great at memorizing sequences of movements. So Jackie Chan is another who had a strong background in dance and acrobatics (Chinese opera rather than ballet), and a Chinese opera performer or ballet dancer can learn hours of choreographed movements! A twenty-minute screen fight that has retakes is hardly a challenge to them at all!
FYI there were rumors back in the day that Van Damme had faked or exaggerated his martial arts background and he'd really just been a dancer, and also that Seagal greatly exaggerated his accomplishments, and moreover that he'd been involved with all sorts of criminal activities before going into movies. So yeah, maybe my original guess was right, in a fight where there are no rules, Seagal would probably fight the dirtiest, and if it's a question of a karate champion vs the guy who'd grab a chair from a spectator or pull out a hidden gun... I'd bet on the guy with the hidden gun.
FYI there were rumors back in the day that Van Damme had faked or exaggerated his martial arts background and he'd really just been a dancer,
There were, but those rumors were put to rest when his trainers, collaborators, and some former fighters verified his record:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8A5tYUTt1s&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=VikingSamurai
An 18-1 kickboxing record is nothing to scoff at, all basically by KO and with pretty quick times, too:
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/519945-jean-claude-van-damme-will-go-from-the-big-screen-to-the-heat-of-the-real-fight
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Van_Damme#Kickboxing_record
Only two of his fights lasted longer than a minute, otherwise he basically knocked everyone out about as quickly as he did in the movie Bloodsport (which is ironic, because they could have based the movie on his real life and it would could have been just as exciting, even more-so since he has better feats in real-life than what was portrayed in the film).
I would have to check Chuck Norris' records to see how quickly he managed to KO people, but in a tournament fight I don't think Chuck would pick up the victory quite as quickly as some might suspect. share
Norris also trained with Van Damme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqr-LRLeDPE
Oh I forgot about that, they did train together didn't they?
Really it would be a fight for the ages.
I think Norris has the quicker hand speed up close, and while he has a really beautiful step-over spin kick, it's hard to put anything past Van Damme given how agile and quick he was (and still is) with his kicks.
I think it would’ve been whoever was competing more at a higher level. Van damme has some kickboxing records but I don’t think those guys were anything near world level. Norris was world champ if I remember right but it was point fighting which I’d argue is less of an combat sport that straight kickboxing matches. Seagal doesn’t really have any competition records as far as I know. Aikido kinda get clowned on too. That said, Seagal would have height, reach, weight advantage on the other two which is a big factor if he’d be able to use it. My heart says van damme would win between them all but I think it would’ve been Norris.
shareSeagal (all day....everyday)
shareBoth would easily beat Segal. Aikido is not really all that proven and even in his prime Seagal didn't look like he worked out much, whereas Van Damme and Norris both know karate - a more useful style - and actually exercise. They hold they advantage in every way. Norris and Van Damme both supposedly have won some championship experience at the amateur level:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHKkr1jKIB0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0pnfzVESWw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Norris#1958_to_1968:_United_States_Air_Force_and_martial_arts_breakthrough
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xtl5yX0KSk
Chuck trained in multiple styles. He also appeared to still actively train through most of his life. Van Damme stopped competing once he became an actor (by all indications).
My guess is Chuck.
Chuck Norris because he had a TV show in Walker Texas Ranger and he is also the only one to sing. He sings the opening theme. For that and his fighting abilities, I see Chuck winning
sharehttps://youtu.be/qUaesUh-M3Q
Surprised your college professor hasn't told you about Seagal's singing career, Millsey?
Two albums and counting. His track 'My God' (featuring Stevie Wonder) also featured as the theme tune to his TV show 'True Justice'
Thanks for this. I wasn't aware of this. However I like the theme song from Walker Texas Ranger better and since hes a better singer, hes probably also a better fighter
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