The fans welcomed Van Damme in Prague with cheers. He got a dog, he remembered the ballet

“This is my second time in Prague, I’ve traveled a lot and I’ve come back to this beautiful country,” said Van Damme, who was greeted by applause and cheers from the sold-out hall. He received a welcome gift – a dog figure, because he is known for his love of them.

“I’ve had a lot of injuries, but I’ve still got to make films, so I won’t tell you much to keep me covered,” he joked.

“When I was fifteen or sixteen, I wanted to be 18. But on the contrary, you should slow down, do what you enjoy, spend time with your family. Enjoy every second of your life no matter what you do,” said Van Damme.

He revealed that he started with Japanese martial arts. “Back then it was $100 for 12 months, I had to have a kimono,” he said. He also trained in ballet. Ballet certainly made you the most elegant wrestler, Vasut countered.

It wasn’t easy, but I knew it would happen, he said it took him five years to break through. He also lived in a car for a while.

The event was opened by Marek Vašut, who first welcomed the guests Petr Jákl and Petr Jákl the elder on the stage before the arrival of the Belgian actor. Jákl the younger told about his experiences in the field and how he met the actor Anthony Hopkins. He revealed that he will be producing a film with Mel Gibson in America in a week.

Fighter Karlos Vémola, Slovak fighter Attila Végh, actress and singer Olga Lounová and businessman Ivo Rittig also arrived at the event.

Van Damme has already visited the Czech Republic several times. In November 1995, for example, as a former professional European champion in karate, he took over the patronage of the kickboxing evening. He also stayed in Prague in 2010, when he chaired the jury in the Czech Miss competition. The Belgian actor is not the first guest of the Night with the Legend. In the past, boxers Mike Tyson and Tyson Fury have already participated in it.

At a meeting with journalists on Monday, the star of the films Blood Sport, Universal Soldier and Kickboxer revealed that even at the age of sixty-two, he is capable of the iconic crutches in the rope between two chairs. “I hope to get to know the local food and beer in Prague, I remember the historic city and pretty girls from my past visits,” he said.

Jean-Claude Van Damme was born on October 18, 1960. He is best known for his roles in Hollywood action films, in which he applies his lifelong love of karate. In 1979, as a karateka, he became a professional middleweight champion of Europe. He also practiced other martial arts, such as kickboxing. At the same time, he went to ballet from the age of sixteen. As a seventeen-year-old, he became the champion of Belgium in bodybuilding.

He debuted in front of the camera in 1984 with a small role in the French film Ulička Barbarů. A year later, he filmed the drama Karate Tiger in Hollywood. In recent years, he has appeared in the action series Dispensable, in which he starred together with other industry leaders: Sylvester Stallone or Dolph Lundgren. Van Damme is married for the sixth time and has three children.