God gave me a great body and it's my duty to take care of my physical temple.
Jean-Claude Van Damme
You can create the perfect triceps by just pushing yourself off your wall.
Life is short. I'm 47 years old. I've got 10 years to go where I can be the best I can be. I want those 10 years to be precious, not like before, cranking two or three movies a year. I've made a ton of movies in my life, but so what?
You know, I looked at my face in the mirror this morning, and I like being old. My face has more content and when I train in the gym now, I am not training to be strong or handsome - just better than I was yesterday. These days the race is just against myself.
Believe me - I've done very good stuff and very crazy stuff, and I don't regret the crazy stuff.
I came to America with a dream and I made it. The dream became reality. America is built for success.
I don't have a bad relationship. I'm 48 years old. I think life is too short for that. To me, life is... you open the shutters, you see the dogs outside, you look left, you look right, in, what, a second and a half? And that's a life.
I've become 40, my audience is partly the same age.
I train, for me, very smartly. I don't train heavy, I do a lot of isometrics.
What I promise to my actors, and to my director, is to give them the salary and everything they need.
You have to believe what you say, and if you believe what you are saying, then acting is easy.
In the past, I was working out too heavy.
I'm not complaining about doing 20-hour days. It's a joy to be able to work on yet another film.
I'm one of the most sensitive human beings on Earth - and I know it.
In an action film you act in the action. If it's a dramatic film you act in the drama.
There are some movie stars in Hollywood that are so scared, they also tell the reporter that they are recording them, in case there is something wrong with what they wrote about them in the papers.
It's time for me to do things I like so I will be happy, my wife will be happy, my friends will be happy. I just want to do something I'm proud of. It's time for me to change. I could sign with a company for 10 movies and I'm the king of video and so what?
My body looks like 30 but my face looks like 50. But I cannot walk bare-chested in the streets. I like to do these movies to challenge myself physically.
What is a movie star? It is an illusion. It was everything I ever wanted to be, but it became a kind of shell, non? It was what made me famous and got me women. But it wasn't real.
I now truly believe it is impossible for me to make a bad movie.
Because no matter what you say in life, the truth will always be the truth. You know when someone is telling the truth, you look in the eyes. I have a tendency to believe people.
Karate's a very boring sport, but when you know the technique you can go further and further.
I came back to my original wife. I came back to her after I made a few boo-boos in my life. Coming back to her was good for me, good for her and good for the children.
The action films I will make in the future will be more believable and character-based. I am now on my second cycle of fame, and I want to make films that smell real and are truthful.
I'm a big traveler these days. I was in Hong Kong. I live there. I was just in Belgium with my parents and now I'm on my way to North America. You will find me all over.
What really helps a guy to become an action hero today is the directing of the movie. All those fast cuts.
But on average, I go to the gym about four or five times a week. Today, I'm so experienced in training - I'm actually listening to my body now. My body needs freedom. When I train I create serenity and I produce oxygen in my blood. It helps me to think better and relax. By training, you accentuate the problem.
I like structure - like driving: go past the school on the street, stay on the right side, no hitting the car, go in right, you'll see a big church, stop and take a left, and you'll have it. By doing this I'm giving a structure of life, a path of light, and showing what happens between me and me, which is something very beautiful.
When I was 24, I was full of life. I was that ham who wanted to be famous, a movie star, all that stuff. I think it's cool. But it was not what I was searching for, really. It was more a delusion.
You need at least six or seven years to understand the philosophy and concentration of karate to know to clean your spirit of everything and dedicate your mind and body to the sport.
When you finish a film, if you believed in your character, you're empty.
My time of martial arts was traditional.
When I go on location, we have a schedule. And when you have a schedule, you know when you're not working, so I train very well on location. But I also train three or four times a week at home, but today I train differently than before.
It looks good when you see someone kicking at the age of 51 with no double. It's kinda cool for people to know that past 50 we can keep flexible.
Your body has enough weight for you to be in perfect condition just working against yourself.
