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
Pencak Silat independence, some schools have adapted themselves in the context of modern religion. Among the most popular modern styles is the Muslim-directed Tapak Suci. An evasive long-range system, it requires constant movement as the practitioner rotates on their own axis every few seconds. Similarly the Setia Hati school is Christian-organised. Rooted in silek Minangkabau of the Padang area, it relies on kicks and footwork while the hands are mainly used defensively for blocking and parrying. Java's western region was the first area from which pencak silat spread out of Sumatra. The Sundanese pencak silat of West Java may be called "silat