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 Yayan Ruhian. Image by Netmediatama –

Top 10 Remarquable Facts about Yayan Ruhian

Yayan Ruhian is an Indonesian actor and martial artist. He was born in Tasikmalaya, West Java, on 19 October 1968. 1968. He found his passion in Pencak Silat and other martial arts, becoming a professional martial arts instructor.

He has had a successful Hollywood career. He began his career with roles in the action flick “Merantau” (2009) with Alex Abbad and the Iko Uwais action film “The Raid: Redemption” (2012). He next focused his career on film, appearing in “The Raid 2: Berandal” (2014) and the Harrison Ford blockbuster action picture “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015). More recently, he acted in the Hayato Ichihara action movie “Yakuza Apocalypse” (2015).

He is best known for his role as Mad Dog in his next collaboration with Evans, The Raid. The fame opened up other roles in Hollywood productions such as The Force Awakens and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

1. Yayan is an instructor of a breathing technique

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He is also an instructor of an inner breathing technique, Pranayama, designed to condition the body to withstand any impact. He taught at Perguruan Silat Tenaga Dasar Indonesia (Inner Breathing Technique Silat School in Indonesia). He traveled regularly to teach in different cities and abroad.

Pranayama is a yogic practice that focuses on the breath. In Sanskrit, prana means “vital life force”, and yama means to gain control. In yoga, breath is associated with the prana, thus, pranayama is a means to elevate the prana shakti or life energies.

Pranayama is described in Hindu texts like the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Later in Hatha yoga texts, it meant the complete suspension of breathing.

2. He began studying the martial art Pencak silat at the age of 13

He grew up in a small village where teenagers often liked the idea of self-defense. They often started studying as a show of masculinity.

He trained and got so good that he became a trainer and referee. Initially, he did not know that those promotions meant that he could not participate in tournaments. This was much to his dismay.

However, he got to travel to other countries to teach Silat. He went to countries like Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. He also learned several further martial arts techniques, such as aikido.

3. Yayan started as a choreographer

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When he was asked by Gareth Evans to help with the choreography for his film Merantau, he did not know that it would also bring another opportunity. Gareth was unable to find an actor who would handle both the acting and fighting required for the role.

Ruhian auditioned and won the co-starring role. What was in his mind then, was doing his best and leaving the rest to God. He received the part, and Merantau was released in 2009. He impressed so many people that they often regarded him as Eric. Afterward, he had several people approach him and ask him to study Silat.

He played Mad Dog in Evans’ 2011 film The Raid and was also responsible for the choreography together with costar Iko Uwais.

4. Yayan prefers to be the bad guy in movies

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Yayan is known as the villain. His roles often portray characters that speak little but have great endurance, stamina, and fighting skills.

In Merantau, his character, an antagonistic and diminutive martial artist, is capable of overcoming a considerably larger man in moments

In Mad Dog, his character is described as an unrelenting, cold, irredeemable psychopath who when he kills someone, he wants to feel it”, such that he would rather kill a man bare-handed than shoot him.

After the movie, a meme became popular on the internet. He stated that he did not mind the memes. It meant they had seen the movie which was enough for him.

5. He attributes silat for keeping humble and grounded

Silat is one of the deadliest martial art in the world. Unlike some martial arts that stress spirituality or self-perfection, Silat is all about violence.

Despite this, his choreography was so unique and artistic that it inspired numerous Hollywood action film directors. They adapted some of its elements in their blockbuster movies.

His reputation had grown tremendously owing to Silat. However, he remains humble amidst all the popularity that it has brought with it. He says that it has taught him the art of self-control which he maintains is more important than self-defense. He claims that Silat keeps him rooted.

6. He is a fighter and not an actor!

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The movie industry brought about glamour to his life. He is very successful in the industry as an action movie star.

However, he claims that he is not an actor but a fighter. He finds it easy to fight than to act. It could be the reason that most of his roles are of characters of very few words. He says that he works harder on the drama and acting side.

7. He used to train the police

Yayan was such a good trainer that he got hired as a trainer.  He trained Pencak Silat for Pasukan Pengamanan Presiden (the Indonesian Presidential Security Forces- equivalent to US Secret Service) in 1989 and the Indonesian Military Police Corps in the early 1990s.

He also worked as a hand-to-hand instructor for the Indonesian National Police.

8. He did not allow his young sons to watch his movies because they were too violent

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On-screen he is portrayed as this intimidating stature with his well-built muscles and large chunky knuckles. However, behind this intimidating appearance, he is a gentle husband and a father.

He recognizes that Silat is violet and there is much of it in his movies. He did not allow his two teenage sons to watch his movies. He finally gave in when his sons were made fun of by their friends for not watching their father’s movies.

The sons did what most teens do. They bought pirated DVDs which he came to know. He finally gave in and took them to the movies. This was however chaperoned by himself.

9. Yayan is gentle unlike the movies portray

He stands 5’2’’ tall. he is often shorter than his opponents in movies. His action characters try to invert Evil Is Bigger when the role is villainous. For example, Mad Dog in The Raid is treated as the best fighter in the film, despite being towered by his opponents.

Off-screen, he seldom speaks without a smile. He is humble and soft-spoken. His only intimidating trait for those meeting him for the first time might be his compact yet toned figure.

10. He almost did not appear in John Wick: Chapter 3

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He has starred in several local and international movies. He is a well-known actor who often gets offers right left and center.  Sometimes different offers may clash with one another in terms of the filming schedule.

When he got the offer to be in John Wick: Chapter 3, he was in the middle of filming ‘Mat Kilau’ in Malaysia. His proficiency had him decline the offer. However, just four days after the first call, they called him again and offered to reschedule the filming days.

They were willing to compromise and film his scenes for the movie according to his schedule and availability. The 53-year-old recently revealed that he had to juggle between two movies.