JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAMME - VAN DAMME MEETS PUTIN AT FIGHT CONTEST

VAN DAMME MEETS PUTIN AT FIGHT CONTEST

Belgian actor JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME showed off his best martial arts moves to Russian president VLADIMIR PUTIN during a competition in St. Petersberg at the weekend (15Apr07). The actor attended the Konstantinovsky palace with scores of martial arts fighters to take part in a contest, which was filmed by state television. Putin told fighters, "You have a very tough sport, but it is not without dignity and respect toward your partner. Brave people are in this sport." Van Damme says he was honoured to have been invited to the contest, adding, "I know that officials can give speeches, but what the President just said was not a political speech, but that of a person speaking from the heart."