In 1975, three days before the fall of Saigon, Cung Le and his mother Anne escaped Vietnam by helicopter under heavy gun fire. They spent several difficult months in a refuge camp in the Philippines until the time they where reunited with some of their family members. Luckily, they had a sponsor in America and were able to start their new lives in San Jose, California.
Growing up as a skinny Vietnamese refuge, Cung Le was an easy target for bullies to pick on, often used for practical jokes, pushed around and even beat up. Most of these bullies never even knew his name and often referred to Cung Le as a nip, chink, or gook.
Today the name Cung Le is one of the most famous names in the Martial Arts Fight World as "... pound for pound one of the most exciting fighters of all times (Dave Carter, Inside Kung Fu)." Cung Le is not only a three time world champion who is in his prime, he is also a dedicated father and role model to millions. Cung Le has made a tremendous impact on martial arts and continues to expand his arsenal of tools with the addition of Jujitsu training. His popularity as a fighter has brought San Shou Kung Fu to the forefront of the fight world and is catapulting Le into the main stream.
Most recently, Le was featured on a television series called JOURNEY OF A CHAMPION. His beginning, his challenges, his victories, and the road ahead are featured in three unforgettable episodes. He is also the subject of a documentary that chronicles his life "Cung Le, The Making of a Champion", beginning with Le as a child in Vietnam, following him as a wrestler in college and taking the audience ringside for his many hard fought victories. The film also takes you behind the scenes to see the type of grueling training that makes a champion. Le was also the featured guest for The Discovery Channel documentary titled, "On the Inside: Martial Arts."
Le has made appearances on the covers of several of the most renowned martial arts publications in the world, including Black Belt Magazine, Inside Kung Fu, Wushu Kung Fu, Martial Arts Illustrated, ESPN the magazine and the cover of DirecTV. A testament to his high status in Asia, an article on Le was also published in the Japanese version of Black Belt Magazine, the Bible of Martial Arts. Le has also captivated his television audience with outstanding victories on ESPN2 StrikeForce, Pay-Per-View's K-1 Superfights, DRAKA Championships and Shidokan, The Triathlon of Martial Arts.
At the prestigious 2004 Asia Entertainment awards, Le was honored as the most famous Vietnamese Martial Artist in the world. He received this award in Los Angeles amid a first class Oscars-like ceremony. With this honor Le is now in possession of over 35 major awards.
With Sanshou's fast paced style, where unlike boxing, a fighter is penalized for non- engagement or resting, Le is an ominous presence with the ability to knock someone out with both his hands and feet. Not only a fighting champion himself, Cung Le has made many of his students champions. His UsH team of fighters have brought home many gold medals, state titles, national titles, and world titles in both San Shou and Muay Thai. In 2003, one of his UsH fighters brought the first ever gold medal from the San Shou World Championships.
Having conquered the Sanshou world in every conceivable manner - as an international medalist, an undefeated ESPN2 Strike Force professional fighter, and wildly successful US Sanshou Team coach - Le grew tired of the criticisms from the pundits who said he was "only" a Sanshou fighter and would never make it big in the mixed martial arts cage. In spite of his powerful KO and tap out victories at the World Shidokan Championships (the triathlon of martial arts where competitors must demonstrate superlative striking and grappling/submission skills) there were still those who loudly questioned whether the human highlight reel could make any such footage in the No-Holds-Barred cage matches.
He silenced them all.
In 2006, Le stepped into the mixed martial arts cage and showed the world that the loose MMA set of rules just meant more opportunities for him to work his magic. His four fights have ended in four resounding victories, all by KO. With his remarkable skills in Taekwondo, Vietnamese Kung-fu, wrestling, Thai boxing, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, combined with a rabid fan-base that grows exponentially with every appearance, Cung Le was a natural sponsorship choice for Throwdown Industries and Knoxx Gear.
So it should come as no surprise that Hollywood has been knocking on Le's door. After appearing in a couple of independent films and an episode of Walker - Texas Ranger, Le is now signed with Insomnia Entertainment and is awaiting the release of his first major feature film, Blizhniy Boy: The Ultimate Fighter, co-starring David Carradine, Eric Roberts, and Gary Busey.
But don't think for one second that the rest of Cung Le's story is predictable. With such incredible talent to entertain coupled with an unrelenting work ethic, he's going to keep training, keep working, and keep striving to take the public to new heights of martial entertainment in the ring, the cage, and the silver screen!
Blizhniy Boy: the Ultimate Fighter
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