Continue Reading Below Advertisement

First off, the kumite is a real thing. That's not the crazy part. Here's where real life actually outdoes cinema: Bloodsport shows the kumite as a bracket-style tournament, like the NCCA Championships with a few more elbows to the face. So it isn't that crazy to think Van Damme (who is playing real-life ninjitsu instructor and supposed kumite champion Frank Dux) could take home the gold ... plated sword.

But the kumite is not a bracket contest: It's an endurance test developed by the founder of kyokushin karate, who had finally figured out a legal way to murder his students. The real challenge pits one man against 100 equally skilled martial artists. He fights each one consecutively in two-minute full-contact sparring matches. After each round, the challenger gets a quick 60-second break before fighting a new, fresh opponent. The main object is to defeat at least half of your opponents, preferably by knocking them out.

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

The other object? Try not to get mashed into meat pudding.

Felix Mizioznikov/Photos.com

Only about 14 people in history have ever made it through the 100-man kumite. The most recent to attempt the feat was Judd Reid, whose preparations for the fight put the collected montages of all the Rockys (and even a few Karate Kids) to shame. Then there was Akira Masuda, who completed the challenge in 1991. During his 44th -- that's 44 fresh, eager, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed murder machines that Masuda put down -- Masuda nearly kicked his opponent's goddamn head off and practically exploded the poor guy's ribcage.