Cung Le has been called one of the best fighters in the world; among his list of titles is the 2001 Light Heavyweight World Championship in kickboxing.

But it's his transformation from a champion fighter to a savvy businessman that is turning heads these days.

The story reaches far back to 1975, when Le and his mother fled Vietnam on one of the last American military aircraft leaving the country, barely three days before the fall of Saigon.

The transition into American life was a bumpy one for Le; black eyes and school-yard bullies forced him to search for ways to strengthen his body and defend himself. That's when he stumbled onto free-style Greco Roman wrestling, which in turn led to him to martial arts techniques including Shidokan, Tae Kwon Do, Wushu/Kung Fu and San Shou.

Today, Le maintains a record of 39 wins, 2 losses, and 26 knockouts. With his mix of power and elegance in the ring, his performances have been a major impetus in elevating the martial arts and San Shou and Shidokan kickboxing into one of the biggest draws for pay-per-view and live fight events in the United States.

Although still fit at the age of 30, Le recently shifted gears to focus on turning his knowledge of the martial arts into a successful business enterprise. Together with his wife, Patty, Le opened his first training centers in San Jose, California in 1998.

With a mix creative marketing and community involvement, Le's San Jose training center quickly outgrew its first three locations. The popularity of his classes and the flood of students eager to following Le into martial arts tournaments spurred the opening of a second location in Santa Clara the following year.

'I found it difficult at first to do it all – the administration, teaching classes, and managing the other instructors,' Le said. 'Because I believe it's really important to train instructors and ensure the quality of training, I had to learn to let go of some things and let other people like Patty take over some of the management.'

Currently, Le's training centers boast an enrollment of about 1100 students including nearly 35 professional level fighters, both men and women. Le's roster of students include current International Middleweight Champion Rudi Ott, Amateur Welterweight Champion Santos Soto, and the exciting San Shou female fighter, IKF Bantamweight Champion Jenna Castillo.

And the business is still growing. Using his private mantra 'UsH' ('unity starts here'), Le founded UsH! Entertainment, which produces his live events and workout videos.

In addition to a collection of sporting gear and apparel, UsH! Gear features paddles, gloves, apparel, and videos of Le's signature Cardio Kickboxing workout, an intense timed interval training and fitness program that combines sparring, stretching, kickboxing, and punching for a challenging full body exercise routine.

'We don't train for second place,' said Jivoni Jordan, Le's trainer, coach, and one of the instructors in his training centers. 'To survive and succeed, you have to take risks. And Cung has always been willing to take the risks.'