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Iko Uwais or UWAIS QORNY, was born in Jakarta on February 12, 1983. Uwais began his studies of Pencak Wilat when he was 5 years old and he continued to practice until he became a professional athelete. In 2003, he reached 3rd place in Competition among Pencak Silat schools in Jakarta. In 2005, he won Best Single Performer at the Pencak Silat Festival. He traveled to the United Kingdom, Russia, and Aljerbaizan in 2005 as one of the members of the professional team to introduce Pencak Silat. In 2007 and 2008, he traveled to Cambodia and France with the team.

In 2007, Iko met Gareth Huw Evans while demonstrating Silat for a documentary on the martial art. One year later, Uwais and Evans teamed up for Merantau, a drama/action movie featuring West Sumatra's distinct Pencak Silat style Silat Harimau (Tiger-style Silat). This was Iko's debut film not only as an actor, but also as a fight choreographer. After the movie's successful theatrical release in 2009, Iko became Merantau Films' in-house choreographer. He continued to work with Merantau Films to develop their slate, including serving as fight choreographer with Yayan Ruhian on THE RAID: REDEMPTION. The film introduces the character of 'Rama,' an idealist special forces policeman intent upon taking down corruption in all its forms. Later this year, Merantau Films will go into production on Berandal, which will delve further into the background of the character.