Marrese Crump

Marrese Crump (born 4 January 1982) is an American actor, martial artist and author. His most notable role to date is costarring in the martial arts sequel Tom Yum Goong 2 alongside Tony Jaa. His first major role was in the movie, Wrong Side of Town alongside Rob Van Dam, Dave Batista and Ja Rule, which was distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment. Crump broke into the movie industry as a result of his experience in martial arts, often serving as the fight choreographer as well on the films he is in. --- Marrese Crump spent most of his childhood in a southeast suburb of Tampa, Florida called Progress Village. He grew up as an athlete, participating in the sports of football, basketball and track, but his true passion has always been martial arts. He started his training at the age of 7 when his brother introduced him to Master Kim-Jae. Marrese Crump first project in movies was a G.I. Joe fan film called "Battle for the Serpent Stone", serving as the action coordinator. He took some time off thereafter to focus on his career path as an actor, often passing up invites to be a stunt performer. Wrong Side of Town was Crump's first major role as Markus, alongside Rob Van Dam, Dave Batista and Ja Rule. Marrese also served as fight choreographer on the production, mapping out several of the movies' fight scenes, including Crump's character Markus versus Big Ronnie (played by Dave Batista). In August 2011, it was released that Crump was cast as the co-star opposite Tony Jaa in Tom Yum Goong 2. --- Crump's passion for martial arts began as he started watching Bruce Lee films and imitating the movements as a young child. At age 7, he began his training under Master Kim-Jae who taught the concept of integration. Following the advice of his teacher, he went out and immersed himself in arts from all over the world; karate, muay Thai, Chinese martial arts, capoeira, western boxing, kali, taekwondo and ninjutsu. Along this path, he received training from some of the world's top masters and grandmasters of our time. With the blessing of his masters, Marrese opened his first training facility at the age of 18 and transitioning it into one of the most respected academies in the Tampa area before closing it in 2005 to pursue his career in movies. To stay connected with the martial arts community during his movie career, Marrese Crump along with Anesti Vega founded the website, crumpdojo.com, an online social media community for martial artists. As of August 2011, Crump Dojo has transitioned into an online resource blog for information, news and inspiration on martial arts, training, and fitness. It is updated by Marrese Crump and maintained by Anesti Vega.