The Quest (1996 Film)
''The Quest'' is a 1996 American martial arts adventure film starring and directed by Jean-Claude Van Damme, in his directorial debut. It co-stars Roger Moore, James Remar and Janet Gunn. The plot, set in 1925, follows New York thief Chris Dubois (Van Damme) who is sold into slavery by Lord Edgar Dobbs (Moore) and, after receiving Muay Thai training in Siam, enters an ancestral martial arts tournament in Tibet to earn back his freedom. ''The Quest'' premiered in Turkey on April 19, 1996, and was released in the United States on April 26, 1996. It was the last of a five-picture deal between Van Damme and Universal, and the actor continued his career at Columbia. Hyped as Van Damme's be-all end-all martial arts film, it had a complex development and was the subject of several grievances by the star's former friend, Frank Dux. The latter succeeded in obtaining a story credit from the Writers Guild of America, but failed to prove in a court of law that his contributions had been i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate school at the age of ten, which led Van Damme to hold the rank of 2nd- dan black belt in karate, and compete in several karate and kickboxing competitions. As a teenager, he won the middleweight championship of the European Professional Karate Association in 1979 and the Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title in 1978. With the desire of becoming an actor in Hollywood, he moved to the United States in 1982, where he worked on several films, until he got his break as the lead in the martial arts film '' Bloodsport'' (1988). He became a popular action film star and followed up with commercially successful films such as ''Cyborg'', ''Kickboxer'' (both 1989), '' Lionheart'', '' Death Warrant'' (both 1990), '' Double Impact'' (1991), '' Universal Soldier' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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History Of Thailand
The first human settlements in Thailand have been traced to 100,000 years ago in the Paleolithic. Fossils of ''Lampang man'' shows Homo erectus, Homo Erectus people lived in Hat Pudai Village, Lampang province, Lampang circa 500,000 BCE. The oldest stone tools date to circa 600,000-800,000 years ago, at Ban Mae Tha in Lampang province. Mass migration of Tai peoples from China (Guangxi) to Mainland Southeast Asia and Northern Thailand occurred between the 8th-10th century. The Mainland Southeast Asia, Mainland region was ruled by the Khmer Empire since 900 CE. The Thai people, Thai established their own kingdoms: the semi-legendary Singhanavati Kingdom (691 BCE–638 CE) evolved into the Ngoenyang Kingdom (638–1292). In 1220, the Khmer controlled Sukhothai (city), Sukhothai was conquered by the Thai people, Thais and made the capital of the Sukhothai Kingdom. By 1220, the long declining Khmer Empire was mostly overrun by Thais. By the 13th century, the Sukhothai Kingdom (1238 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ryan Cutrona
Ryan Cutrona (born July 29, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for playing gruff authority figures and military men in both dramatic and comedic roles in films and on television. Career The second son of Joseph F. H. "Pro Joe" Cutrona, an Army general and combat veteran (Silver Star), he was a native of West Point and spent much of his early life in a military setting. His first law enforcement roles came on the TV dramas ''Hunter'' and ''DEA'' in 1990. He was Captain Margolis in the ''Top Gun'' parody ''Hot Shots!'' and played a detective in the Sharon Stone thriller '' Sliver''. He had larger supporting roles in the 1996 action film '' The Glimmer Man'' and the 1999 thriller ''Deterrence'' while continuing to make frequent guest appearances in all genres of TV shows. He satirized his military roles in a TV commercial for the KAYAK travel site and showed up in sitcoms like ''Becker'' and in crime dramas like ''Brooklyn South''. He had one of his most notable ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Okinawan Martial Arts
Okinawan martial arts refers to the martial arts, such as karate, tegumi and kobudō, which originated among the indigenous people of Okinawa Island. Due to its location (between " Mainland Japan" and Taiwan), Okinawa was influenced by various cultures with a long history of trade and cultural exchange, including Japan, China and Southeast Asia, that greatly influenced the development of martial arts on Okinawa. History In 1429, the three kingdoms on Okinawa unified to form the Kingdom of Ryukyu. When King Shō Shin came into power in 1477, he banned the practice of martial arts, due to fears of the widespread teaching of the art of deception. Tō-te and Ryukyu kobudō (deception) continued to be taught in secret.Okinawan Masters msisshinryu.com. Retrieved on 2011-06-20. The ban was continued in 1609 after Okinawa was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ryūkyū Disposition
The , also called the or the annexation of Okinawa, was the political process during the early years of the Meiji era, Meiji period that saw the incorporation of the former Ryukyu Kingdom into the Empire of Japan as Okinawa Prefecture (i.e., one of Japan's Prefectures of Japan, "home" prefectures) and its decoupling from the Tributary system of China, Chinese tributary system. These processes began with the creation of the Ryukyu Domain in 1872 and culminated in the kingdom's annexation and final dissolution in 1879; immediate diplomatic fallout and consequent negotiations with Qing dynasty, Qing China, brokered by World tour of Ulysses S. Grant#South east asia (Siam, Burma, Singapore, Cochinchina) East Asia, China, Japan, Ulysses S. Grant, effectively came to an end late the following year. The term is also sometimes used more narrowly in relation to the events and changes of 1879 alone. The Ryūkyū Disposition has been "alternatively characterized as aggression, annexation, nati ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hidari Mitsudomoe
Hidari is the Japanese word for "left" or "left hand side" * Hidari (skipper), a butterfly *Hidari (band) People *Hidari (illustrator) * Bokuzen Hidari (左 卜全 1894–1971) Japanese actor and comedian *Hidari Jingorō (左 甚五郎) was a possibly fictitious Japanese artist, sculptor and carpenter *Sachiko Hidari was a Japanese actress and film director. Life Hidari was born in Asahi, Toyama, as the eldest of 8 children. She graduated from Tokyo Women's College of Physical Education and gave her film debut in 1952 in ''Wakaki hi no ayamachi''. Betwe ... (左 幸子 1930–2001) Japanese film actress {{disambiguation Japanese-language surnames ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surface area.Sayre, April Pulley (1999), ''Africa'', Twenty-First Century Books. . With nearly billion people as of , it accounts for about of the world's human population. Demographics of Africa, Africa's population is the youngest among all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Based on 2024 projections, Africa's population will exceed 3.8 billion people by 2100. Africa is the least wealthy inhabited continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including Geography of Africa, geography, Climate of Africa, climate, corruption, Scramble for Africa, colonialism, the Cold War, and neocolonialism. Despite this lo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Flag Of The UNIA
A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and flags have evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is challenging (such as the Maritime flag, maritime environment, where Flag semaphore, semaphore is used). Many flags fall into groups of similar designs called flag families. The study of flags is known as "vexillology" from the Latin , meaning "flag" or "banner". National flags are patriotic symbols with widely varied interpretations that often include strong military associations because of their original and ongoing use for that purpose. Flags are also used in messaging, advertising, or for decorative purposes. Some military units are called "flags" after their use of flags. A ''flag'' (Arabic: ) is equival ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by population density, most sparsely populated sovereign state. Mongolia is the world's largest landlocked country that does not border an Endorheic basin, inland sea, and much of its area is covered by grassy steppe, with mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south. Ulaanbaatar, the capital and List of cities in Mongolia, largest city, is home to roughly half of the country's population. The territory of modern-day Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the First Turkic Khaganate, the Second Turkic Khaganate, the Uyghur Khaganate and others. In 1206, Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire, which became the largest List of largest empires, contiguous land empire i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Okinawa Prefecture
is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west and 400 kilometers north to south. Despite a modest land area of 2,281 km² (880 sq mi), Okinawa’s territorial extent over surrounding seas makes its total area nearly half the combined size of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Of its 160 Island, islands, 49 are inhabited. The largest and most populous island is Okinawa Island, which hosts the capital city, Naha, as well as major urban centers such as Okinawa (city), Okinawa, Uruma, and Urasoe, Okinawa, Urasoe. The prefecture has a subtropical climate, characterized by warm temperatures and high rainfall throughout the year. People from the Ryukyu Islands, Nansei Islands, including Okinawa Island, Okinawa, the Sakishima Islands, and parts of Kagoshima Prefecture, are often collectively referred ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive with a respective county. The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the United States by both population and urban area. New York is a global center of finance and commerce, culture, technology, entertainment and media, academics, and scientific output, the arts and fashion, and, as home to the headquarters of the United Nations, international diplomacy. With an estimated population in 2024 of 8,478,072 distributed over , the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. New York City has more than double the population of Los Angeles, the nation's second-most populous city. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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People (magazine)
''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the largest audience of any American magazine, but it fell to second place in 2018 after its readership significantly declined to 35.9 million. ''People'' had $997 million in advertising revenue in 2011, the highest advertising revenue of any American magazine. In 2006, it had a circulation of 3.75 million and revenue expected to top $1.5 billion. It was named "Magazine of the Year" by '' Advertising Age'' in October 2005, for excellence in editorial, circulation, and advertising.Martha Nelson Named Editor, The People Group , a January 20 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |