Kalib Starnes an early age and began teaching when he was a teenager. He started training Gracie Jiu-Jitsu at the Gracie Academy in 1994 in Torrance, California. He also trained in Las Vegas and Fort Lauderdale from 2006 - 2008 at the famous American Top Team gym. His primary styles are Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Greco-Roman Wrestling and Boxing, other styles include Kung Fu, Taekwondo, Aikido, Muay Thai and Shotokan and Wado-ryu Karate. He has studied under prominent trainers such as UFC champion Royce Gracie, Olympic boxing gold medalist Howard Davis, Jr., Canadian boxer Tony Pep, Olympic wrestler Colin Daynes, and professional
Ryu Hayabusa him among the "gaming's greatest patriots" of Japan. In 2011, "GamePro" speculated on Ryu's odds of filling the then-upcoming "Soulcalibur V's" lone guest-character slot (which ultimately went to Ezio Auditore of the "Assassin's Creed" franchise), opining that despite "Soul" regulars Taki and Yoshimitsu's "traditional place as the recognizable 'Japanese' characters, neither is a conventional ninja the way Ryu is." In 2012, after "Soulcalibur V" was released, Elton Jones of "Complex" included Ryu among fifteen guest characters he wanted in a future series entry. "We've had our fun going ninjitsu crazy with Taki and Natsu, but now it's time for Tecmo's