Cecep Arif Rahman was born on August 18, 1972 in Garut which is a subdistrict and town in West Java in Indonesia . Cecep is a teacher, athlete , teacher of martial arts and Indonesian actor . Cecep is a martial arts artist from the Peguruan (Silat School) of Panglipur. His career in Pencak Silat took him to the French martial festival Bercy Festival des Arts Martiaux from 2000 to 2008.
Cecep Arif Rahman grew up near the Galunggung mountain (an active stratovolcano in West Java) . His grandfather who was a well known martial arts figure encouraged him to learn martial arts after graduating from high school . He started studying Pencak Silat at Panglipur gerguruan of Galih, Garut from 1986. After graduating with a degree in education in 1991, he went to the city of Bandung to study silat with Eni Rukmini Sekar Ningrat. While living in Bandung he also was introduced to several other martial arts teachers.
Cecep won the first ever trophy from the International Pencak Silat Championship in Thailand in the mid-1990s. He also regularly attended the Bercy martial festival in Paris and is often invited to fill in martial arts workshops in France , Italy , England , Russia , and the United States.
In 2003, Cecep became an assistant teacher at in Garut and was appointed as a civil servant in 2008 and became an English teacher, administration and Pencak Silat teacher until 2013.
In 2008, Cecep was contacted by Iko Uwais to help him in his first film Merantau but at that time he had just been appointed as a civil servant so was unable to appear in the movie
Cecep was again contacted by Iko Uwais for the film The Raid 2: Berandal when he needed a kerambit master. He was also recommended by Yayan Ruhian in 2013 and began to be known by the international community. His career as an actor “The Assassin” in the film led him to star in other films such as a martial artist and also an action choreographer. In 2015, Cecep with Yayan Ruhian and Iko Uwais were also involved in starring in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Cecep also played a role in ‘John Wick: Chapter 3′ with Keanu Reeves.
