Cecep Arif Rahman

Cecep Arif Rahman grew up in the area near Mount Galunggung, Garut. Inspired by his grandfather, who was a silat figure, he started learning silat at Panglipur Galih school in Garut in 1986. He started teaching silat in 1991 after completing his teacher education. He went to Bandung to learn silat from R. Enni Rukmini Sekarningrat. While in Bandung, he also got acquainted with several other silat teachers.

Cecep won the first-place trophy in an international pencak silat championship in Thailand in the mid-1990s. He regularly attended the Bercy martial arts festival in Paris and was often invited to conduct silat workshops in France, Italy, England, the Netherlands, and the United States.

In 2001, Cecep began working as a teacher. He taught English at SD Tegalpanjang 3, Tegalpanjang, Sucinaraja, Garut and managed school administration. Cecep became acquainted with Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian at the Bercy festival in 2006. In 2008, Cecep was contacted by the two of them to assist in the making of his first film Merantau but at that time he had just been appointed a civil servant and turned it down.

Cecep was again contacted by Iko to take part in the film The Raid 2 in 2013 because the film needed an actor experienced with the karambit. His role as "The Assassin" in The Raid 2 led him to star in other films, such as the Indonesian movie 3: Alif Lam Mim, as a martial arts teacher and also a fight choregraph. In 2015, Cecep, Yayan Ruhian and Iko Uwais were also involved in starring in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.