Frank William Dux was born in Canada in 1956. He moved with his family to California and attended Grant high school in Van Nuys. At the age of 16, he moved to Japan and trained with world-famous Master Tiger Tanaka, a descendent of 40 generations of ninjas.
Ninjas were mercenaries in old-world Japan who were skilled in espionage. Their tactics were seen as dishonorable to the Samurai but became popular in America during the 1980s.
Frank joined the United States Marines, served in Vietnam, and was awarded the Medal of Honor for covert operations.
After the war, Frank competed in a secret martial arts contest called the Kumite, a 60 round elimination tournament held every five years in the Bahamas. Frank won first place and was rewarded with a priceless ninja sword. He also broke the world record for the fastest knockout and the most consecutive knockouts.
He was the first American permitted to speak publicly about the secret fight and discussed it for an article in the November 1980 issue of Black Belt magazine.
Frank opened two world-renowned ninja schools in the San Fernando Valley and taught his own martial arts style called Dux Ryu Ninjutsu.
In 1988, Frank gave fighting advice on the movie Bloodsport and also for the movie Lionheart with Jean-Claude Van Damme. He wrote a book called The Secret Man about his life within the CIA. He wrote about his secret operations destroying fuel depots in South America. He was kicking ass and taking names like an action hero. In the 1980s, every teenage boy wanted to be Frank Dux.
In 1993, Frank attended the second annual Martial Arts Trade Show in Los Angeles. It was there that he ran into a former student who challenged him to a fight. Frank accepted and was quickly knocked out.
It was a strange turning point for a ninja that claimed to have won 321 fights with no losses in his lifetime. Next, Frank was sued by Jean-Claude Van Damme for breach of contract. Frank lost the case. The jury felt Frank was less than credible. Frank swore he had evidence to clear his name, but it was destroyed in an earthquake.
Frank was then accused of Stolen Valor when a journalist challenged his military record. It showed that Frank had served in the Marine Corps Reserve and never saw action or won any medals. The military had referred him to a therapist for expressing “disconnected ideas.”
The Medal of Honor photo that Frank bragged about showed him in an Army uniform with misplaced medals. Frank argued that the government was trying to discredit him and sabotage his service record. He later admitted that the uniform was a costume from Halloween.
There was no record of the ninja master Tiger Tanaka who trained Frank in Japan, although there was a character with the same name in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice.
Frank’s book about his time in the CIA also proved to be fabricated. He was never in the CIA or recruited by Director William Casey in a public restroom.
Frank could not produce anything from his past, except memories. When asked about the ninja sword he won fighting 60 men, he gave a reasonable answer. He sold the blade in an attempt to free a boatload of kidnapped orphans. He was also busy foiling a plot to assassinate actor Steven Seagal.
It doesn’t matter whether or not you believe Frank Dux because Frank believes in himself.
In today’s world, you can be whatever you want. Afterall some of his life is true. He really was in the military and worked on several movies with Jean-Claude Van Damme. He did own two martial arts studios in Los Angeles, and the CIA never admits to knowing its employees.
Some of his life may be shady, but some of his life is pretty clear. Frank Dux is either one of the greatest con men of all time or the Last American Ninja.