Oum Ry was born in 1944 on a Central Cambodian island in the Mekong River to a family of silver engravers. Most of his family was killed in the Cambodian genocide but he miraculously survived, in part because of his fame as a kickboxing champion. His immigration to the United States in 1980 was sponsored by an American pastor and in 1987, he founded Long Beach Kickboxing in California, one of the oldest kickboxing gyms in the United States. His gym has been open six days a week for the last 33 years, training several kickboxing champions and keeping countless kids out of gangs.

Oum Ry grew up on a Central Cambodian island in the Mekong River in a family of silver engravers. When his family couldn’t afford his food or schooling, he lived with monks until seeking out masters of Cambodian kickboxing, a martial art called Pradal Serey (Khun Khmer, used in mixed martial arts and UFC). He was the smallest kid but would become national champion at 23 years old. Over 15 years, he toured Southeast Asia and without ever suffering a knock-out won more than 250 fights. After a young man’s dream-life of stardom, parties, and girls, his new wife gave birth to a child in 1975, two months before the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh and pushed the country into an abyss of mass executions, disease, and famine.

Oum Ry survived the genocide though much of his family perished. He was saved many times from death in Cambodia due to fame, talent, and his resilience, but suffered a life-threatening attack during Southern California’s epic gang violence of the 1990s.  Earlier, as a refugee with his young family in Chicago, Oum Ry learned English while working cleaning hotels. But within a few years, he had an investor in Long Beach, California and opened one of the first kickboxing gyms in the United States.