lundgren has said that, as a child, he was insecure and suffered from allergies, describing himself as a "runt". he showed a keen interest in drumming and had aspirations to become a rock star. at age seven, he tried judo and gōjū-ryū. he took up kyokushin karate at the age of 10, and began lifting weights as a teenager. lundgren stated that "my dad always told me that if i wanted to make something special with my life, i had to go to america." after graduating from high school with straight a's, he spent some time in the united states in the 1970s on various academic scholarships, studying chemical engineering at washington state university and clemson university. he studied chemical engineering for a year at washington state university, prior to serving his mandatory one year in the swedish coastal artillery at the coastal ranger school. in the late 1970s, he enrolled at the royal institute of technology in stockholm and graduated with a degree in chemical engineering. the name "dolph" comes from a distant relative on his mother's side.