Occupation: Actor, producer, writer, director, instructor.
Style: Shen Chi Do, kickboxing, MMA, boxing, Muay Thai, taekwondo, Hapkido, Wing Chun, Kuk Sool Won.
Biography: Cengiz Dervis was born in London to an Irish mother and a Turkish Cypriot father. He lived in Fulham until the age of six before moving to north Kensington. At the age of five, Cengiz learnt the style of Shen Chi Do from his uncle, Professor Grand Master Shen. The Korean hybrid style is a combination of Kuk Sool Won, Hapkido and taekwondo. He first started to compete in karate before moving into full-contact kickboxing.
Cengiz is a former three-time world kickboxing champion in two different weight divisions. He was a chief instructor for the World Kickboxing Association (WKA). He co-founded KX Gym in London, and in 2007, Cengiz went on to open the TÉ Studio, a boutique London-based personal training studio.
Cengiz has worked as a combat trainer for the film industry. His credits include training Rosamund Pike for Die Another Day, and Natalie Imbruglia and Rowan Atkinson for the Johnny English films. He also trained Matthew Macfadyen for The Three Musketeers.
Whilst teaching and fighting, Cengiz was simultaneously pursuing a career in film and enrolled in acting courses. He trained as an actor in London, Los Angeles, New York and Paris. His first credits involved work in over 40 student films, plus music videos, theatre and festival shorts. In 2012, Cengiz set up his own production company, Fight Me Productions. His first production was the short, Drake (2013), based on a graphic novel written by Cengiz. As well as producing, Cengiz took the lead role in the film, which won Best Foreign Film at the 2013 Action on Film International Film Festival.
In 2013, Cengiz had a small role in the film Green Street 3: Never Back Down, starring Scott Adkins. In 2014, Cengiz wrote, produced and starred in another short, London Hood, for Fight Me Productions. He was also the co-writer, producer and star of Brothers Promise (2014), alongside his brother, Senol.
In 2015, Cengiz was nominated for Male Action Performer of the Year and also Best Fight Choreography at the Action on Film International Film Festival in California. In 2015, Cengiz appeared in the lead role in the British action thriller By Any Name, based on a novel by Katherine John. The same year, he played a central role in the feature film, Retribution, playing a hitman. Also in 2015, Cengiz worked on the Street Fighter: Resurrection mini-series.
Cengiz is also an author. He has written a children’s book, Jengito, about a teddy bear which comes to life, and a series of graphic novels called The Drake Files, which has been turned into a feature film for Fight Me Productions.
Speech! “Some of the hardest times in life for me have been in the ring when it was a brutal fight. You’re under pressure and you almost feel like giving up, but you just have to push forward, and when you look back, those are the moments that define you.” Interview with Kung Fu Kingdom, 2015.
Click here to listen to KFMG Podcast S01 Episode 08 with Cengiz Dervis.
Filmography (as actor): 2013 Chronicles of Syntax (TV); The Callback Queen; Drake (short) (+ pro.); Reversed; Green Street 3: Never Back Down; 2014 Salvation (short); Crude (short); Voltage (short); London Hood (short) (+ pro, scr.); 2015 The Haunted; The Countdown (short) (+ pro, scr, action dir.); A Dark Reflection; Life Is Too Short; Brash Young Turks; The Passenger (short); Brothers Promise (short) (+ dir, pro, scr, action dir.); 2016 UH 10 (+ pro, scr.); Altin Kafes: The Golden Cage; By Any Name; Caring and Killing; The Drake Files (+ pro.); The Meeting; The Righter (short); Street Fighter: Resurrection (TV); Retribution (+ action dir.).
