Editing Jean-Claude Van Damme (section)

==Early life and education==
Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg, on 18 October 1960, in [[Berchem-Sainte-Agathe]], [[Brussels]], Belgium, the son of Eliana and Eugène Van Varenberg, who was an [[accountant]] and [[Floristry|florist]].<ref name="v007">{{cite web | last=Hendrix | first=Grady | title=Happy birthday, Jean-Claude Van Damme! | website=Slate Magazine | date=19 October 2007 | url=https://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/low_concept/2007/10/happy_belated_birthday_jeanclaude_van_damme.html | access-date=31 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Current Biography Yearbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1YwYAAAAIAAJ|year=1999|publisher=H. W. Wilson Company|page=577|quote=<!--Van Damme was born Jean-Claude van Varenberg on October 18, 1960 in Belgium to Eugene van Varenberg, a florist and accountant, and Eliana van Varenberg.-->}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019806/bio |title=Jean-Claude van Damme- Biography|publisher=[[Yahoo! Movies]]|access-date=3 April 2012}}</ref> His father is from Brussels and bilingual, and his mother is [[Flemish people|Flemish]] (Dutch-speaking).<ref>{{cite web|title=Jean-Claude van Damme unveils his statue in Belgium|publisher=The Reel Place|url=http://www.thereelplace.com/news/jean-claude-van-damme-unveils-his-statue-in-belgium/|quote=Standing next to his Flemish mother and his Walloon father, the actor talked about the linguistic conflict: "It's a dispute between two cultures that are, in fact, the same. But, there's a lot of love in this war" he concluded, true to himself.}}; Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/VCMb3OxCnZo Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130226122006/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCMb3OxCnZo Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=Jean-Claude van Damme - Bifff 2007 |date=21 March 2008 |publisher=VanDammeTV|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCMb3OxCnZo|quote=Mijn moeder is Vlaamse en mijn vader is van Brussels [My mother is Flemish and my father is from Brussels]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Van Damme was brought up Roman Catholic. His paternal grandmother was [[Jewish]].<ref>[http://www.vandamme.ru/articles/1996/11-11-1996.htm Getting a kick out of stardom] By Pearl Sheffy Gefen, The Jerusalem Post: 29 November 1996</ref>

He began martial arts at the age of ten, enrolled by his father in a Shōtōkan karate school.<ref>{{cite news |title= Why is he famous? |publisher= [[AskMen.com]] |url= http://uk.askmen.com/celebs/interview_300/311_jean-claude-van-damme.html |access-date= 15 June 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100409113625/http://uk.askmen.com/celebs/interview_300/311_jean-claude-van-damme.html |archive-date= 9 April 2010 |url-status= dead }}</ref> His styles consist of [[Shōtōkan]] [[Karate]] and [[Kickboxing]].<ref name="sfchronicle">{{cite news | title=Belgian Bruiser Muscles into B-Movie Scene | first=John | last=Stanley | newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle | date=2 April 1989 }}</ref> He eventually earned his [[black belt (martial arts)|black belt]] in karate at 18, and earned the rank of 2nd-[[Dan (rank)|dan]] [[Black belt (martial arts)|black belt]].<ref>[http://www.jeanclaudevandamme.net/articles.htm Karate black belt] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060405094621/http://www.jeanclaudevandamme.net/articles.htm |date=5 April 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stallings |first=Antonio |date=18 July 2022 |title=Jean-Claude Van Damme Once Earned a Film Role by Knocking out a Martial Artist |url=https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/jean-claude-van-damme-earned-film-role-knocking-martial-artist.html/ |access-date=19 July 2024 |website=Showbiz Cheat Sheet |language=en-US}}</ref> He started lifting weights to improve his physique, which eventually led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title in 1978.<ref name="playboy">{{cite news|title=Playboy interview|first=Lawrence|last=Grobel|newspaper=[[Playboy]]| date=1 January 1995}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/actors/jean-claude-van-damme|title=Jean-Claude Van Damme - Movies, Age & Facts|date=13 April 2021|website=Biography}}</ref> At the age of 16, he took up [[ballet]], which he studied for five years. According to Van Damme, ballet "is an art, but it's also one of the most difficult sports. If you can survive a ballet workout, you can survive a workout in any other sport."<ref name="chicagost">{{cite news | title=Van Damme gets his kicks from acting now, not karate | first=Jae-Ha | last=Kim | newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]| date=14 April 1989}}</ref> Later he took up both [[Taekwondo]] and [[Muay Thai]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jeanclaudevandamme.be/fandamme/biography.htm|title=FanDamme Jean Claude van Damme|access-date=6 December 2014}}</ref>

Among his acting heroes growing up were [[Charles Bronson]], [[Bruce Lee]], [[James Dean]], [[Montgomery Clift]], [[Steve McQueen]], [[Jean-Paul Belmondo]], and [[Sylvester Stallone]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/jean-claude_van_damme_and_the_creators_of_jean-claude_van_johnson|title=Jean-Claude Van Damme and the Creators of "Jean-Claude Van Johnson"}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/10/van-damme-expendables-2 | title=Jean-Claude van Damme: 'I tried to play the system; I was blacklisted' | newspaper=The Guardian | date=10 August 2012 | last1=Godfrey | first1=Alex }}</ref>