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 Pattani Silat Pattani Silat Patani (, ) is a style of silat originating in the Pattani kingdom, now a state of Thailand. It is primarily practiced in northern Malaysia and southern Thailand. The art is also known as silat tua (old silat) because tradition credits it as the oldest form of silat Melayu. It is sometimes called silat tua Yawi, being the Thai-Malay pronunciation of "Jawi" in this case referring to the Thai Malay community. These two latter names are increasingly popular among Malaysian practitioners, so as not to acknowledge the Pattani origin of the art. The founder of Silat Pattani