Cheick Kongo repertoire and trained in Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Savate and Greco-Roman Wrestling at age of 19. At age 23, he studied Pencak Silat, an Indonesian martial art, and was coached by Charles Joussot and Franck Ropers, men who brought silat to France. They taught Kongo the Pencak Silat style of Setia Hati Terate. He is also a cousin of rugby star Fulgence Ouedraogo, the French back-rower. Cheick is also a columnist for the French MMA magazine, Top Fight. On June 10, 2001, Kongo began his professional career by knocking out Doog Ward. Kongo then followed up that win with a TKO
Silat in 1987 Southeast Asian Games and 2018 Asian Games, both were held in Indonesia as the home and the real land of Silat. Training halls are overseen by separate national organisations in each of the main countries the art is practised. These organisations are "Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia" (IPSI) from Indonesia, "Persekutuan Silat Kebangsaan Malaysia" (PESAKA) from Malaysia, "Persekutuan Silat Brunei Darussalam" (PERSIB) from Brunei and "Persekutuan Silat Singapura" (PERSISI) from Singapore. Practitioners are called "pesilat". While the word "silat" is used by Malay-speakers throughout Southeast Asia, the art is officially called pencak silat in Indonesia. The word "silat" has