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 in the highly-aggressive nature of their pencak silat. Acehnese pencak silat borrows its foundation from silat Melayu and silek Minangkabau, particularly the arm-seizing techniques of the former and the ground-sitting postures of the latter. Bladed weaponry is favoured, specifically knives and swords. The primary weapon is the rencong, an L-shaped dagger used mainly for thrusting but also for slashing. The kris is used as well but the native rencong takes precedence. Batak land is situated between the Minangkabau to the south and Aceh to the north, and the culture shows both Indian and Chinese influence. The word Batak refers to