Bloodsport is a 1988 martial arts film directed by Newt Arnold and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. The film centers on Frank Dux (Van Damme), a United States Army captain and ninjutsu practitioner who goes absent without leave to compete in an underground full-contact martial arts tournament called the Kumite in Hong Kong. Marketed as a true story based on Dux's real-life claims, the film was one of Van Damme's first lead roles, launching his career as a mainstream action star. The screenplay drew from a 1980 Black Belt piece detailing Dux's purported exploits.