Roger Yuan

Biography:

Taiwanese parents Theresa and Joseph Yuan, who were studying at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the United States, gave birth to Yuan in Carbondale, Illinois.  When Yuan was five years old, he returned to America to live with his parents in New York City after being sent back to Taiwan as a baby to live with his grandparents. After watching Bruce Lee on The Green Hornet, he became motivated to learn martial arts.

He did not start a formal martial arts study until he was seventeen years old, when he joined in a Kyokushin Karate class, despite having taught himself judo and karate from manuals. He joined a Chun Kuk Do dojo run by Chuck Norris’ United Fighting Arts Federation (UFAF) after relocating to Los Angeles for college, eventually earning a fourth dan black belt. After that, he trained with Bill Wallace and Don “The Dragon” Wilson and studied American kickboxing under Benny Urquidez, where he sparred alongside Pete “Sugarfoot” Cunningham.