Today we talk with Ron Smoorenburg, a Dutch martial artist, stunt performer, and actor known for his explosive high-kick style and work in international action cinema, including Who Am I?, Tom-Yum-Goong, and numerous Hong Kong and Thailand productions. He shares his journey through the world of martial arts, stunt fighting, setbacks, reinvention, and his unique approach to creating action on screen.

You have a background in Kyokushin Karate – why did you choose that style over Shotokan, Goju-Ryu, or Ashihara?

In my hometown, we had a gym that looked straight out of a Rocky movie, with that classic ’80s atmosphere – wooden floors and heavy punching bags everywhere. There was a teacher named Ron Calmer, and he looked exactly like Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid. After watching The Karate Kid at a children’s party, I knew I wanted to join a karate school.

One of my older friends was already training at a Kyokushin school. One day, he landed some hard kicks on my legs and showed me how conditioned his legs had become – I couldn’t do anything against him. That convinced me I had to join that school, and it turned out to be the best decision of my life.

I later found an Ashihara Karate book at the local library and started trying to learn the movements and tactics on my own. At the time, there weren’t any schools nearby that taught the style.

Who inspired you to start training – did you have an idol growing up?

I grew up during the great era of the 1980s. Besides The Karate Kid, every Friday night we watched a ninja TV series called The Master starring Sho Kosugi. Everyone was making ninja stars, smoke bombs, and even swords.

We also had Rocky IV, where Dolph Lundgren really impressed me with his physique. Jackie Chan was at his peak, and The Young Master was on TV with its incredible final fight full of amazing kicks.

But it was Jean-Claude Van Damme who truly changed my life. After watching Bloodsport, something clicked in me. I started stretching like crazy, working on oversplits, and kicking leaves off trees in my neighborhood to improve my height and flexibility.

Can you share your experience competing in high-kick competitions? Any memorable moments?

Besides kicking leaves in the street, I also trained at my parents’ house. My room was on the upper floor with a sloped ceiling, and you could actually see my footprints on the surface from all the kicking practice. I was constantly trying to beat my own record. During karate demonstrations at my Kyokushin school, my instructor would always have me kick a piece of paper out of a teacher’s hand held high in the air.

One day, there was a TV competition for the highest kick record. Since Dutch people are generally tall, the record was already insanely high – over 3 meters (10 feet). I wrote to the TV program saying how much I loved kicking and asked for a chance to compete. Eventually, I made it to the final episode, where I broke the record with a kick reaching 3.30 meters (11 feet). I trained specifically for that kick against a wall for two straight months.

There was another contestant trying to beat me during the live broadcast. Before the show, he pretended he couldn’t kick higher than 3.10 meters. But once the cameras were rolling, he suddenly kicked 3.26 meters, looked straight at me, and laughed. My parents were sitting in the audience, and I looked at them to regain my focus. Then I managed to hit 3.29 meters. The other guy was devastated and lost his balance on his second attempt, and I finished by setting the final record at 3.30 meters.

What did you do for a living before entering the film industry?

I was a graphic designer, as I love the art of creating. Back in the days I was pixel by pixel almost and redrew Ninjas from an old MSX game. In Holland there’s no action movie industry but one day an uncle told me – “maybe you will make money with your passion for martial arts”.

Many people know you from Who Am I? (1998), where you faced Jackie Chan – how did you land that role? Can you tell the full story? I’ve heard it was almost like a miracle.

In June 1997, I was working as a graphic designer at a company called Alldata, which specialized in creating interfaces for TV games and news programs. One day, my boss told me that Jackie Chan was coming to the Netherlands to film a movie. A casting agency in Rotterdam was looking for 3,000 extras.

I contacted the casting company, called them nonstop, and eventually got a small role as a background extra, playing a businessman when Jackie Chan enters a building in Rotterdam. If you watch the movie carefully, you can actually spot me in that scene.

On my first day on set, I saw Jackie Chan in the distance, and I started throwing a few kicks around, hoping he might notice me. I asked one of the local casting agents if there was any chance I could do more action work in the film, and she suggested I speak with the Dutch stunt team.

When I told them I had recently set a high-kick record and performed martial arts demonstrations at events, they laughed at me and jokingly told me to jump off the building and leave.

But I felt I had to do something. I noticed one of Jackie Chan’s stunt team members asleep in a corner, and somehow I found the courage to wake him up. Surprisingly, he was very friendly. He was a small bald guy from Wheels on Meals – you’d definitely recognize him if you saw him. He told me I needed to make a showreel and bring it to him the next day. At the time, I didn’t even know what a...

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