Mixed martial arts champion

Modern warriorRedcloud Anquoe carried the lessons of his Sioux, Kiowa and Cherokee ancestors with him as he followed the path that led to becoming a mixed martial arts champion. On July 19, Anquoe won the United States Muay Thai Association’s (USMTA) first World Native American Heavyweight Muay Chao Cherk championship belt at the Sac and Fox Casino in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Anquoe’s fighting style is primarily based on his study of Jiu-Jitsu, the system of unarmed combat developed by Samurai in Japan to fight opponents who had weapons or were wearing armor, but he sees some similarities to Native American traditions. He said in fact, the Japanese people hold Native Americans in very high regard.

“The warrior tradition, it’s not that different,” he said. “It seems like it should be but it’s not.”