- Black Belt Magazine
- 3 hours ago
- 12 min read
Dolph Lundgren has lived a life that feels out of this world.
How many karate champions are also models, scientists, directors, and movie stars? Aside from his natural gifts, his hard work and curiosity have placed him in fascinating positions: from being plucked out of academia by superstar Grace Jones to training with legendary karate teachers like Mas Oyama, from friendships with Schwarzenegger to starring roles with Stallone.
Lundgren has lived by way of discipline and it has helped him stand back up with each punch and kick that life’s delivered.
We were honored to spend time with Dolph Lundgren at our Los Angeles studio and sit with him as he reflected on his extraordinary life and lessons.
Discovering the Arts and Abilities
Black Belt Magazine: Tell us about your journey into martial arts. How did you get started at a young age, and what inspired you to pursue it?
Dolph Lundgren: I was a 15-year-old kid in Sweden. I lived in a small town and a friend of mine bought this book called Karate. It was Kyokushin karate and had a bunch of guys fighting each other, lifting weights, breaking some wood and it looked pretty badass to us so we thought yeah, we'd like to try that. So it was kind of in my personality to want to go for something that had a real physical challenge in it.
Black Belt Magazine: Out of all the martial arts you could choose, Kyokushin karate happens to be one of the most deadly and brutal martial arts, known for its intensity and rigorous discipline. What did you know about this martial art before you began training in it?
Dolph Lundgren: Yeah, I started when I was 15. I did some judo and then I did some Goju-Ryu karate, a little taekwondo, and then ended up with Kyokushin.
You know, I was drawn to the fact of feeling stronger as a young boy, feeling I could protect myself. I had a hard relationship with my father. He was quite abusive, and that's one reason I started martial arts. So part of it was trying to feel stronger, and the other part was I was attracted to the spirituality of the martial arts. I didn't really know why, but later in my life, that became kind of more important than the actual fighting aspect.
Black Belt Magazine: Can you take us back to the early days of your training and share some of your most memorable experiences?
Dolph Lundgren: I did judo for a while. I was a kid and I ended up under this big fat guy who was choking me out and he was sweating all over me and I said I don't want to do this anymore. I think I'm going to go for karate where I can stay away from the guy, and throw a few kicks and punches. So that's what I ended up with and just sort of by sheer luck or faith, I ended up with Kyokushin karate which turned out to be perfect for me.
Black Belt Magazine: At 6'5", your height must have influenced your martial arts training and techniques. How did your size impact your approach to training and execution?
Dolph Lundgren: I realized even when I was younger that I was quite agile for a big guy. I can move pretty well. I can throw high kicks and I could, you know, move out of the way. I try to utilize long techniques like the front kick, roundhouse kick, knees, and try to keep my distance so I wouldn't let the guy get too close to me.
Grace Jones and Mas Oyama
Black Belt Magazine: During your college years, you worked as a bouncer and a chance meeting with a celebrity changed your career path from engineering to acting. Can you share that part of your life with us?
Dolph Lundgren: Yeah, I was on a scholarship in Sydney, Australia at the University of Sydney. And I didn't have a work permit, but I needed some cash. So I did some stuff on the side. I worked doing security at rock concerts. And a friend of mine who was my sparring partner hooked me up with his gig. I think I made like five bucks an hour or something. I stood by the stage wearing earplugs, you know. But one of the performers was Grace Jones, who was a very famous singer in those days.
She kind of clocked me out there, you know I was this tall blonde fit guy. Me and my friend Mark ended up doing security with her at one of the nightclubs where we went out with her posse. One thing led to another and I spent the night with her. And, you know, we kind of fell in love. I had to stay in Sydney for another six months.
Yeah, so I started training with Mas Oyama in Tokyo and Grace was there doing a Honda commercial and we ended up meeting up again and then I went back with her to New York. I had six months off from school before I was supposed to start at MIT in Boston on a scholarship. So I ended up meeting friends of hers, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, and Andy Warhol and went to Studio 54. And I started thinking that maybe engineering isn't my path. Maybe I should be in show business and do some acting, take some acting classes.
And from there, I decided to quit engineering and start acting.
Black Belt Magazine: You had the opportunity to train in Japan and met the legendary Mas Oyama, often considered the greatest karate master in history. Can you share this story and what you took away from that experience?
Dolph Lundgren: I'd met Mas Oyama in Tokyo when I fought at the World Tournament in 1979. I was a kid, 22. And I always looked up to him. I was extremely nervous when I met him. He signed my book and I was shaking, I remember.
I was with Grace, I trained with him again. And I was the European champion and they knew about me in Tokyo as well. I was kind of the hot prospect for the World Tournament in ‘83. But between ‘82 and ‘83, I ended up picking up acting. And next time I met him was when I came to Japan for the Rocky IV premiere. Since I was a bit of a star, I met him again and trained with him again.
But he was a great guy and nice man and very open and very emotional and very kind of nurturing. He was a very warm person.
Stallone
Black Belt Magazine: Can you share the story of your first major starring role as Ivan Drago in Rocky IV? Stallone mentioned that you hit him so hard that you put him in the hospital. Were you aware of your own strength at the time?
Dolph Lundgren: They said, “Sly was in the hospital.” So Sly was in the hospital with some kind of heart problem. They said it was because of me. I'm not sure. Maybe it was. Maybe he was overworked. Or maybe they're trying to collect the insurance payment. I don't know.
Black Belt Magazine: Some of the most memorable moments in your career, especially with martial arts fans, are the times you spent with Brandon Lee, son of the late Bruce Lee. Can you share a memory from that film and working with him?
Dolph Lundgren: I was assigned to do a picture for Warners called Showdown in Little Tokyo. And I was training with a sword master and my coach walked in and it was Brandon Lee. Well, I didn't know who, I thought Brandon Lee, okay, he's an Asian fella. And when I ran into him in the gym, somebody said, it's Bruce Lee's son.
We had a lot of fun, off and on set. You know, Bruce Lee was married to Linda Lee, who was of Swedish heritage. So he'd been to Sweden, and he even spoke a couple of words of Swedish. So we had something in common there. And I really thought he would have, well, I know he would have been a huge star, but unfortunately, he got killed in an accident a few years later. So it was very sad actually, but he was a very nice guy.
Schwarzenegger
Black Belt Magazine: Arnold Schwarzenegger shared that you have been working out together for over 40 years. What did you learn from his training philosophy, and what valuable lessons did he teach you?
Dolph Lundgren: Arnold Schwarzenegger, I met him way back, 40, what is it, 42 years ago. I was in Mexico for Conan the Destroyer which was the sequel to Conan the Barbarian and Grace Jones was in it. I came on set and Arnold was with all his guys like Sven from Denmark and all these big guys. They were lifting 300 pounds and I was a fighter so I worked out with them and he was always very nice to me. I wasn't in show business yet. I was gonna become a fighter, so I was doing a lot of running and in a bag and stuff. But he was very nice to me.
Then I kind of lost contact with him. I did the Rocky movie and I was renting a house in Coldwater Canyon here. And Grace had one of her many late-night parties. I was trying to get some sleep because I had to get up at seven to train with Sly. And there were all these people out there drinking and I was sleeping in the guest house, earplugs. Somebody was banging on the door and I'm like…”Who the hell is it? What's going on?”
And I heard somebody out there going, “It's your trainer. I'm here to check your abs. Open the door.”
There's Arnold with a big cigar. And that kind of sums him up, you know. He's just a great guy. We've had some good times together.
I just kind of studied him, same with Stallone. They were very driven. They always trained before going to work in the morning, even if it was five a.m., and they would adjust their lifting schedule, depending on how much work they had to do as actors. You know, they were very flexible. I think the dedication and the flexibility are something I try to pick up from them.
Setbacks and Resets
Black Belt Magazine: As you approach 20 years of directing, what inspired you to start, and what have been the biggest challenges and most rewarding aspects of this part of your craft?
Dolph Lundgren: I was gonna star in a movie back in 2005 called The Defender. It was in Eastern Europe and the director got sick and was an older guy, Sidney Fury, who did a movie with Marlon Brando and Diana Ross. He was a really great director and the producers asked him, “We need a replacement within a week, who should we ask?” And he said, “What about Dolph?” And they're like, “Who?”
Sidney said, “Dolph's pretty clever with a script, and he's really organized. He could be a good director.” So he asked me and I said “Yes.”
I had like 10 days to prep for it. But I think I did a pretty decent job. At the time I was living in Spain, was married, and my career started heading downhill.
I took like a 90% salary cut there for a while. And somehow I tried to save my career by directing movies because I knew more about it myself than most of the other directors they could afford to hire. So I directed four or five movies in a row. And then after that, I ended up in The Expendables series, which brought me back onto the big screen again.
We all go through hardships. I went through some hardships from my divorce and my career. I was kind of in the toilet for a while, in 2005, 2007, and 2008, before The Expendables. And people came to me and things appeared in my life, positive things, that I think the universe brought to me.
In the last five years, I've gone through a medical battle. I mean, five years ago, I found out that I had kidney cancer. So I went through a medical battle, chemo, and a bunch of tough times. And miraculously, things have gotten so much better. So I went from someone telling me I had a few years left to live, to being virtually healthy now. And I think that energy that I put out earlier in my life has come back to me and sort of saved my life, really. That's how I look at it. So I think it really works. For me, it's worked really well, anyway.
Lessons Learned
Black Belt Magazine: You have played villains and heroes, is there a character you most relate to in real life?
Dolph Lundgren: I'm pretty close to Ivan Drago in one way because when I was a kid, 27 years old, I was a little bit like him. I mean, I wasn't maybe as cold-blooded as he was in the movie, but I was kind of indestructible and trained a lot.
He was very innocent in one way like he's a very innocent guy who's being used by the Soviet system. Well, I was a very innocent Swedish guy who was kind of being, in one way, absorbed by Hollywood and had to deal with that.
And then 35 years later, I ended up in this movie called Creed II, where I got to play this character again; an older, wiser version, more compassionate version. And I guess that's the journey I've made as a man.
Black Belt Magazine: In a previous interview, you mentioned that when you put love out there, you get it back. Is this a philosophy you learned or developed over time?
Dolph Lundgren: You know, I think even since I was a kid, I was always quite compassionate and felt sorry for people that were on hard times. People who were weak or were suffering. I always felt sorry for them because I was abused by my dad and also I had allergies. I couldn't really do sports when I was a kid. So I think I always had a lot of empathy for other people. And so I always try to be nice to everybody in my career as a fighter and as an actor. And then later in life.
Black Belt Magazine: As people age, their training routines often change. However, your training seems remarkably consistent, as evidenced by your always being in great shape. How have you adjusted your training from your 20s to now?
Dolph Lundgren: Well, I had a hard time because I did the chemo and I also had ankle surgery. I injured my ankle in the Swedish military when I was about 23 years old.
And I was on that ankle for 45 years afterward, even though I was supposed to fix it earlier. But I had surgery a couple of years ago, so I was kind of compromised in my mobility as well. But I think there's no real magic bullet. You just gotta get up in the morning and have a decent...practically, you know, enforceable schedule, nothing too crazy, and you know, something you can do every day, you're trying to improve a little bit.
But I think strength training is important as you get older in combination with, I discovered Pilates actually, because it's quite relaxing, you can do it at home, I mean without equipment, just floor Pilates, and it's very good for your core. So it kind of replaces the martial arts, which I couldn't do because of my ankle but now I can do martial arts again.
In my current regiment, I try to balance it depending on what I'm doing. In my life and if I'm filming or if I'm in LA at home. But usually, I try to get two days of strength training every week and I try to get two days of cardio or karate or a hike or Pilates or something where you practice mobility and conditioning. Keeping that balance is tough in life when you get older because you lose mobility, you also lose muscle mass. So you're trying to do both. And if you overdo one, if you lift too much, then you kind of neglect the other part and you get too stiff to do the other stuff.
I think the important thing is to keep that balance in your life, to keep your mobility, flexibility in your muscles, your condition, and your strength. So when you're young, when you're 25, there's no problem. You can do all those things without thinking about it. But as you get older, I think the balance is, at least I've found, what's really important, to feel good and to help your health and your body to recover and stay young.
“Discipline is also putting off something you want now for something you get later.”
Evidence that Dolph Lundgren Might be Superhuman
Standing to 6’5” Lundgren holds the rank of 4th dan black belt in Kyokushin karate and became the European champion in 1980 and 1981.
Dolph Lundgren holds a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney. He was also awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT, although he left to pursue his acting career.
Lundgren speaks several languages, including English, Swedish, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, and some Italian.
Lundgren has an IQ of 160. For perspective, that's the estimated IQ of Albert Einstein.
Oh, and Lundgren is an accomplished musician, particularly with the drums. He played the drums in a rock band during his college years.
Not to mention, he looks like a Norse God who caught the eye of famed aesthetes like Grace Jones and Andy Warhol.
