A lot of the evidence I'll be citing here is in the documentary Put up Your Dux and Frank's interview with The Voice. Both of these can be found in their entirety on Youtube for free. A lot of information is also taken from this article, which I verified via the Voice intervew, the documentary and other sources.
Frank Dux is probably one of the most fascinating martial arts figures in the history of the West. There have been a lot of articles "exposing" Dux, many that are very one sided and incomplete. I'll go through a lot of these claims here.
1) Frank Dux worked for the CIA and did a lot of special ops in Russia during and after the Cold War.
It's a fact Frank was in the Marine Corp as an intelligence specialist. He's produced a DD214 reflecting this, as well as pictures. He also has a lot of photos of him abroad in Russia and in former Soviet satellites dressed up like a flashy spy, which may seem absurd to some but this is how people often dressed in Russia at the time. Dux claims that the military wiped over his DD214 so it doesn't reflect all that he did while he served. This is a common practice for intelligence officers. In the documentary Put Up Your Dux, Frank has several high ranking U.S. and Russian military officials speak about the validity of his claims. Examples: Major General, Anatoly Korneinko, USSR, and Lt. Commander Alexander Martin USN. They testified that he was involved in operations like the Iran Contra and securing WMDs. I can't image why these men would lie, as when the documentary came out Frank was hardly a wealthy man. I'm not saying I believe everything or even most things in his book, but it's clear to me that Frank was more than just your run of the mill intelligence specialist.
2) Frank Dux was a legendary Martial Artist
Victor Moore claimed Frank was not only faster than him but faster than Bruce Lee. Moore was a Grandmaster, USKA & PKA World Karate Champion. Dux trained under many American and foreign masters, many of whom were alive in the 90s and 2000s and attested to that fact. He did train under and with Jack Sanzo Seki and later with the legendary Sanzo “Tiger” Tanaka. They were members of the Black Dragon Society, which was an industrial spy ring in China, an underground crime syndicate and a well known organizer of no rules fights.Sanzo Tiger Tanaka’s existence and the event is a matter of common knowledge in Chinese martial art community, as is portrayed in the Jet Li true to life story Fearless. This helps support his story in regards to how he was invited to the Kumite and its existence. Head of Family of Black Dragon Fighting Society, Lawrence Day and Patriarch Donald Miskel also have attested and confirmed Dux's association with the Black Dragon Society, as well as his ties to Tanaka. Dux's belts were not order online or fabricated. He is a true student of martial arts and has been since a young man.
3) Dux fought over 300 times in no rules competitions and retired undefeated. He won the Kumite multiple times
Dux has numerous videos of him KO'ing opponents in full contact karate tournaments and what appears to be bare knuckle/no rules fights. These can be seen in the documentary. These fights are real and they are brutal with flashy and quick KO's being delivered by Frank. Dux was also trained in Jiu-Jitsu and was/is a large man, which would help him in the ground substantially. There are even lowlights on Youtube where someone has compiled moments where Dux looks his worst, getting knocked down, slammed, etc. What they don't show you is that Dux comes back and wins every one of those fights, all of them by brutal KO or G&P. When asked about the Kumite and how he got invited, Dux goes on to explain that often back in 70s/80s fights were more or less the equivalent of Kimbo Slice matches. It was basically a standup only or no rules fight in a gym, parking lot or back alley. He won many of these and due to his victories on the streets, in karate tournaments and his connection with the Black Dragon Society, he was invited to the Kumite. He states that many times would fight multiple times a week or a day. My guess is that his 330 record includes not just no rules fights but also standup only fights and full contact karate fights. Whether or not he was in the Kumite: I've seen clear and compelling video footage and you will too in the documentary of Dux fighting real and brutal full contact karate matches with fists, possibly no rules matches, in a grand asian setting that mirrored what we saw on Bloodsport. I don't know that he won anything as grand as what is portrayed in Bloodsport but he was definitely a legit no rules and full contact fighter for his day.
4) Dux could perform the Touch of Death or Dim Kak
There is video of this in the documentary and he went around doing it on several TV shows. It's not as impressive as what you see on Bloodsport, more of a fancy board breaking trick but it's still pretty neat. I'm not someone who puts a lot of stock in breaking bricks or breaking breaks beneath bricks. I've seen no real evidence that he or anyone can perform the Dim Mak. Anything is possible I guess.
5) Dux once stood on one leg and had 60 people try to pull him down tug of war style using a rope and they could not
He did this in Switzerland and he did it with 100 people in Mexico and it was video taped. Yes, he was on one leg. However, he was grabbing onto a pole with one hand. It's an incredible feat of balance and strength but still, as much of a magician's trick with leverage and positioning as it was a feat of strength.
6) Dux has the fastest KO ever recorded, the fastest KO kick ever recorded and the fastest KO punch ever recorded
I haven't seen anything to validate any of these claims. It's clear that Dux fought and KO'd a lot of people and I mean a lot. He was fast for his size and very skilled in the standup area of his game. However, I haven't seen any evidence to indicate he has the fastest KO punch and kick ever recorded. Likewise, I've seen some of his KOs and some are pretty awesome but I've seen no evidence to suggest he has the fastest record KO in history.
7) Dux is a world renowned martial arts trainer and has trained Navy Seals, Army, police and SWAT
Fact. Dux is a listed contributor on NSW CFC manual K-431-0097, which is used to train not only U.S. special forces but special forces units around the world. In Put Up Your Dux, Frank is seen training Army, police and SWAT.
8) According to Art Davie and Zane Frazier, Frazier beat up Dux at a martial arts convention
This is false. Frazier was there with several people and he sucker punched Dux wearing brass knuckles. Frazier was arrested that day, Dux was not. Dux has pictures and medical records showing the head injuries he received from the attack. Several eye witnesses, made declarations under penalty of perjury that this is what happened. Dux's version of events differ slightly depending on when asked but he always says Frazier sucker punched him and attacked him with his friends. I believe Dux, not only because of police records, medical records and eyewitnesses but also because at that time Dux was already on the wrong side of 45. He had 2 recent brain surgeries. It was a miracle the guy was alive. Why would Frazier even want to attack him? Dux's story about Frazier being a coward makes sense. Better yet, Dux and witnesses testified that even after being sucker punched and ganged up on by Frazier and his crew, Dux still managed to manhandle and detain Frazier.
9) Dux Trained Jean Claude Van Damme
Dux did train Jean Claude for 3 months before the movie Bloodsport, the movie which made JCVD famous. In fact, almost all of JCVD's good action films were choreographed by Dux. Before that JCVD was trained Shotokan and there is youtube footage of him competing as a youngster in full contact karate tournaments. So while JCVD was an experienced martial artist, experience with full contact competition and trained in ballet, it was Dux who fined tuned his fighting style to work on the big screen.
10) Dux faked being the only person to ever break bullet proof glass with his bare hands
There was one guy who was there that day that claimed the whole thing was a fake and Dux was using another type of material altogether. Several others, who were there and participated in the presentation all claim it was real. It was caught on video. However, the glass was already shot once and it had already stopped a bullet. Dux also clarified it was bullet resistance glass later on, still impressive, but remember it was already shot once to prove it was real bullet proof glass. So it already had a crack in it. Still, Dux tried to palm it, fractures his wrist then just punches it, with the same hand and breaks it. Again, impressive but I don't put a ton of stock in magic tricks like this. They are always part hoax, part reality.
11) Dux bought all of his Kumite trophies himself
This claim makes no sense. A receipt was produce that allegedly Frank himself signed. The signatures don't match. His name is spelled wrong. The description on the receipt doesn't even matchup with the trophy that Frank has for his victory. It's just a smear job.
12) The UFC is based on the Kumite or the Bloodsport movie to a large degree
Why is this even up for debate? Clearly the early UFCs with the tournament and style vs. style matchups were inspired by Bloodsport.
There's a lot of real history here with Dux and the guy appears to be a legit badass. I don't believe all of his claims but he was definitely an accomplished martial artist, full contact karate competitor and bare knuckle fighter.
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[–] Zenocide 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
Great work you put into this, stickying it for awhile so it gets seen.
Awesome job, it's interesting that there is a lot more nuance to the story than it first appeared.
For those intereted, here is the documentary on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NqK9qQDsdQ