Steven Frederic Seagal is an American and naturalized Russian actor, screenwriter, and martial artist. A 7th-danblack beltinaikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-law’sdojo. He later moved to Los Angeles where he had the same profession. In 1988, Seagal made his acting debut inAbove the Law. By 1991, he had starred in four films.
In 1992, he playedNavy SEALcounter-terrorist expertCasey RybackinUnder Siege. During the latter half of the 1990s, Seagal starred in three more feature films and the direct-to-video filmThe Patriot. Subsequently, his career shifted to mostly direct-to-video productions. He has since appeared in films and reality shows, includingSteven Seagal: Lawman, which depicted Seagal performing duties as a reserve deputy sheriff.
Jean-Claude Van Damme is a Belgian actor, martial artist, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Credited with helping popularize martial arts in film, Van Damme is widely regarded as one of the mosticonicmartial arts action stars of all time.Born and raised inBrussels, Belgium, at the age of ten his father enrolled him in aShotokan karateschool. From there, he went on to develop his fighting skills, both in Shotokan karate andkickboxing. He was a member of the BelgiumKarate Team when it won the European Karate Championship on 26 December 1979. With the desire of becoming an actor, he moved to theUnited Statesin 1982, where he did odd jobs and worked on several films, until he got his break as the lead in the martial arts filmBloodsport(1988).
