Chep was born in Thailand in 1981 and grew up in Australia since the age of 6 years. He started training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in 2000, and after only a few short months he realised that he did not have the mental or physical resilience to continue in the sport.
The feeling of being pinned and controlled by someone else on the ground was very overwhelming, humbling and frustrating at the same time. In 2010 Chep decided to choose a sport to help him find a regular routine, lose weight, get fitter, and improve longevity.
He had grown tired of being overweight, feeling depressed and being lazy. Chep decided that if he was going to choose, one martial art, it needed to be the most difficult and would require the most commitment. This time he was determined and had made his mind up about following through with his journey in BJJ…all the way to black belt. Chep pioneered the first BJJ academy in Hervey Bay Queensland in 2011.
He spent many years building his club and helping others on the same journey as more and more people began training in BJJ. Being so far away from major cities and having direct access to BJJ blackbelts was the most difficult part of Chep’s own progression in the sport.
He spent many hours over the years, teaching, learning, competing and developing himself by travelling to train with other coaches in Maryborough, the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and Melbourne. Chep continued training for many years under the following coaches- Brian & Edward Nielsen, Marcus Collings, Andrew Bailey, Yoshi Hasegawa and Peter de Been. In 2017, Chep was awarded his black belt in BJJ from Peter de Been.