Ryan Bow was born on Feb. 3rd, 1979 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Coming from a family of wrestlers, Ryan’s love for sports developed at the young age of 3, as he sat on the mats and watched his father coach high school and college wrestling.“Even to this day, every time I visit family and friends, my high school wrestling coach apologizes for accidentally kicking me in the head, when he got thrown in practice, wrestling under my father when he was in high school. Maybe that was fate preparing me for the future†says Bow, laughing.Despite being around athletes from a young age, it wasn't until the age of 15 that Ryan's love for martial arts surfaced.Like many youth, Ryan loved Kung-Fu movies. Thus, he began learning Chinese Kung-Fu. It didn’t take his teacher, Sam Hing Fai Chan of Chan's Kung-Fu School long to notice that Ryan excelled, especially in sparring. Ryan won several medals in competition, even during his first few months in training.It was through his sifu (teacher), that Ryan's love for Asia was born. After a training excursion in Hong Kong, the young Bow knew where his heart was.Ryan's love for martial arts and competition grew when the UFC aired on TV. "I remember watching the second UFC at home with my father. I was confident that that the traditional martial artist would win easily. But, my father disagreed. Being a wrestler, he knew the fights would end up on the ground. He simply said: “Watch†says Bow.After seeing grapplers win easily, Ryan's goals changed. He began training in Muay Thai and Judo.In 1997, at the young age of 17, Ryan moved to Japan to pursue a career in Mixed Martial Arts.While studying Japanese, Ryan regularly trained in Judo. He eventually earned his black belt from both the Kodokan and Hing Kong Chan of the Hong Kong based Chi Yiu Judo Organization.Wanting to take it a step further, Ryan joined Shooting Gym Yokohama. After several months of hard training, Ryan made his amateur debut in Shooto. He quickly rose to the top and was granted permission to compete in the 1998 All Japan Shooto 16-man tournament. He placed 3rd, and earned the right to turn pro. Until this day, Ryan is the ONLY foreign fighter to have earned the right to turn pro by coming up through the well-known Shooto amateur rankings.Ryan then returned to America for a short time to fight professionally under Frank Shamrock. “Frank has the amazing ability to make some complex sound really simple. I still use everything I learned from him to this very day.†says BowWhile still fighting under Frank Shamrock, Ryan returned to Japan. He made is pro debut in 1999 at the age of 19, entering and winning an 8-man tournament in Hawaii in Super Brawl.Ryan then returned to the Shooto ring, eventually earning the title of the Number 1 ranked fighter in the world according to the World Shooto Rankings.Having made Japan his home, Ryan joined Enson Inoue and Purebred in 2003.
During his time with Purebred, Ryan made tremendous strides as a fighter, training with the likes of Enson Inoue and Norifumi ‘Kid’ Yamamoto. “My ground game has improved tremendously, sparring with fighters with such a vast knowledge and wrestling†says Bow.Ryan opened his own dojo, Kaminari Dojo in 2005. “Teaching MMA has motivated me to rededicate myself to the sport. I see my students out there competing. Watching them reminds me of when I was coming up through the rankings. My students have motivated me to strive to become world champion. For that, I am grateful.†he says.Ryan currently fights out of his own dojo, Kaminari Dojo. He trains at Yoshida Dojo, Deep Dojo, and AJ Gym with the likes of Hidehiko Yoshida Hidehiko, Ryo Chonan, and Aoki Shinya. He has also been traveling when we can to train at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California, since 1998.
