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Ron Van Clief


DragonClaws

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Ron Van Clief - Basic Biography & Filmography

Master Ron Van Clief in The Black Dragons Revenge (1975).

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Ron Van Clief was born on the 23rd of January 1945 in Brooklyn New York. As a young adult Van Clief joined the U.S Marine Corp on November 16th 1960. In 1962 he was stationed in Okinawa between June 1962 to June 1963. On April 16th 1965 he was released from active duty after almost five years of service to his country. During his time in the military he picked up the Rifle Sharpshooters Badge, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and National Service Defense Medal.

After leaving the forces he worked as a New York Transit Police Officer until 1968. As an adult he started to pursue an interest in Martial Arts, competing in both full contact and non contact tournaments, locally and on the international circuit. Van Clief would study under a variety of Martial Arts Masters including Goju-Ryu teachers Moses Powell, Peter Urban and Frank Ruiz. He also learned from WingTsun founder Leung Ting and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Joe Moreira.

By 1971 he had created his own style called Chinese Goju, a combination of the Japanese and Chinese fighting arts. Ron retired from active compettion in 2002 at the age of 60, but continues to be involved with Martial Arts.  He retired as a five time World Karate Champion and a fifteen time All-American Champion. In 1974 he received his break in movies starring in the Hong Kong production The Black Dragons Revenge, this movie is where he got his iconic nickname the Black Dragon.

He also starred alongside former Bruce Lee student Leo Fong in the Filipino actioner Bamboo Trap(1975). Van Clief also shared the screen with Hollywood legend Lee Van Cleef in the Italian production The Squeeze(1977) that also starred Karen Black(Five Easy Pieces). He also lent his Martial Arts skills to the 1985 movie The Last Dragon, staging the fight scenes for the movie. His last screen appearance was in the M.Van Michaels directed movie Hot Lead Hardy Fury(2016).

Trivia

- He served in the Vietnam in 1965.

- He was an instructor for the U.S secret service from 1993 to 1998

- Remains the oldest ever competitor to compete in the UFC, facing Royce Gracie at UFC IV aged 51.

- Aged 60 he won the All-American Karate Championship.

- Ron won  a silver medal at the Hawaiian Triple Crown Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament at the age of 72 in 2015.

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Filmography  1975 - 2018

- Tough Guy (1975)

- The Black Dragons Revenge (1975)

- Bamboo Trap (1975)

- The Super Weapon(1976) - Documentary

- The Way of The Black Dragon (1978)

- Kung Fu Fever (1979)

- Enter Another Dragon (1981)

- Fight to The Death (1983)

- The Last Dragon (1985)

- Colorz of Rage (1999)

- Manhattan Chase (1999)

- Set me Free (2001) Re-used footage from Manhattan Chase

- Blazin (2001)

- Hot Lead Hard Fury (2018)

T.V

- The Sopranos (2000)

- Kung Faux (2003)

Stunts/Fight Choreography

- The Black Dragons Revenge (1975) Fight Choreographer with Jason Pai Piao, Chan Lau, Ang Saan.

- Fist of Fear Touch of Death (1980) Stunt Coordiantor

- F/X (1986) Stuntman

- Shadow Conspiracy (1997) Stunt Coordinator

- Oz : T.V Show- (1997) Stuntwork on 3 Episodes

- Homicide: Life on The Streets: T.V Show (1998) Stuntwork on 1 episode

- The Sapranos: T.V Show (2000) Stuntwork on one episode.

 

Edited by DragonClaws
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1 hour ago, AlbertV said:

Winning a silver medal at the Hawaiian Triple Crown Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament at the age of 72 in 2015

Thanks for that Albert, recall you posting this in the original thread. I'll up-date the bio by adding these details to the trivia section.

For some reason the picture you posted isn't showing up?.

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1*jbr4HXcQfquGyV9fCwKVjA.jpeg

Recently re-watched The Black Dragons Revenge, please click on the link below to see the review.

Click on the link below for my thoughts on this movie, thanks.

 

Edited by DragonClaws
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15 hours ago, BiggWill1988 said:

Also TaimakThe Last Dragon on the right

I should not have mentioned Taimark, thanks for pointing that out BigWill.

 

Ron Van Clief and Dragon Lee bust out the moves in Kung Fu Fever(1979).

BlackDragonFever.jpg

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Warning: this short feature on Ron Van Clief from U.K T.V feature SPOILERS for anyone who has yet to see The Black Dragons Revenge.

 

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The Black Dragon meets The Lady Dragon with Jim Kelly far right., can anyone name any of the men behind them?.

Link- https://www.picsofcelebrities.com/celebrity/ron-van-clief/pictures/large/ron-van-clief-house.jpg

Ron Van Clief with well known U.S chat show host Regis Philbin.

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Edited by DragonClaws
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http://rjwagner49.com/Personal/Friends/RonVanClief/BlackKungFuExperiencePoster.jpg

(Link Expired)

 

Edited by DragonClaws
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