Andreas Hug was born in Sursee, Switzerland in 1964. His father, Arthur, was a foreign legionnaire, who died in Thailand without ever seeing his son. Hug rarely saw his mother Madelaine Hug-Baumann, and grew up, with his brother Charly and sister Fabienne, with his grandparents in Wohlen. At age six, he started playing soccer and was also selected to the Swiss National Under-16 team. At eleven years old, he started practising karate at Wohlen Karate school under Werner Schenker.