Ron van Clief

Ron van Clief
Born	(1943-01-25) January 25, 1943 Brooklyn, New York City, United States
Other names	Black Dragon
Nationality	American
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight	182 lb (83 kg; 13.0 st)
Fighting out of	New York, U.S.
Rank	10th Dan (Founder of Goju-Ryu Karate)
Mixed martial arts record
Total	1
Wins	0
Losses	1
By submission	1
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Ron Van Clief (born January 25, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American martial artist and an actor in Hollywood and Hong Kong action films. He is the father of poet Shihan van Clief.

Early life

Ronald Van Clief was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City. On November 16, 1960, he joined the United States Marine Corps, serving at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, NC from March 30, 1961 to March 21, 1962. He was stationed in Okinawa with the Third Marine Division from June 6, 1962 to June 1, 1963. He returned to Camp Lejeune and served there from August 3, 1963 until April 16, 1964, at which time he was sent on Temporary Additional Duty to the Marine Barracks at U.S. Navy Base Guantanamo, Cuba until September 12 that year. He returned to Camp Lejeune once more, where he remained until his release from Active Duty on April 16, 1965. His military decorations include: Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Rifle "Sharpshooter" Badge.

Martial arts

Ron van Clief began his martial arts career competing in both full-contact and non-contact karate tournaments in New York then internationally, going on to win several national tournaments and world championships. He was nicknamed "The Black Dragon" for his competition victories.

Van Clief was a student of Goju-ryu masters Peter Urban, Frank Ruiz, and Moses Powell, as well as WingTsun founder Leung Ting Modern Arnis (Remy Presas) Brazilian Jiujitsu (Joe Moreira). In 1971, Van Clief created his own style of martial arts, called "Chinese Goju," attempting to unify Japanese style goju-ryu with its roots in Chinese martial arts. He currently holds the rank of 10th degree red belt (shidoshi or grandmaster), in this system.

On December 16, 1994, Ron Van Clief returned to the ring to fight in the 4th Ultimate Fighting Championship, as the oldest competitor to date to fight in the UFC at the age of 51. Van Clief's sole fight in the tournament was against Brazilian jiu-jitsu exponent Royce Gracie. Gracie won the match by submission with a rear naked choke near the four-minute mark. Ron went on to serve as the commissioner of the UFC. Ron Van Clief retired from competition in 2002 after winning the All American Karate Championship at 60 years old. Ron competed in over 900 tournaments in over 40 years on the tournament circuit. Ron Van Clief retired as a 5 time world karate/kungfu champion and 15 time all American champion.

Van Clief is also the author and creator of a number of instructional books and video recordings.

• Black Belt Magazine
  • 2002 Instructor of the Year [2]

Film career

Ron Van Clief's first acting job came when he was selected to star in the Hong Kong film Black Dragon (1974). Some of his film roles during the 1970s were Blaxploitation films which capitalized on the then-novelty of an African-American martial artist, following in the tradition of Jim Kelly's role in Enter the Dragon. He starred alongside Leo Fong in a Filipino action film called Bamboo Trap in 1975. Van Clief's film roles earned him the nickname "The Black Dragon." He was also the fight choreographer for the film The Last Dragon.

Van Clief has earned over 12 different black belts in his martial arts career. Those include black belts in karate (Goju-ryu and Gojukai), jujutsu, judo, kung fu, boxing, and tae kwon do. One film that was never released was "The Art of Cliefing", directly by Jason Dash. The producers pulled the funding at the last minute, due to widespread protests in Korea.

Ron Van Clief also performed various voice-over roles for the international television series titled Kung Faux.

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown

1 match	0 wins	1 loss
By knockout	0	0
By submission	0	1
By decision	0	0

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Loss	0-1	Royce Gracie	Submission (rear naked choke)	UFC 4	December 16, 1994	1	3:49	Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States

Bibliography

Manual of The Martial Arts (1981)
Ron Van Clief White Belf Guide Book (1984)
Ron Van Clief Green and Purple Belf Guide Book (1984)
The Black Heroes of The Martial Arts (1995)

References

The Hanged Man 2011

External links

• Ron Van Clief's official website
• Ron van Clief at IMDb
• Professional MMA record for Ron van Clief from Sherdog