Firelight Chats Ep054 | Blvck Tiger King w/Vincent Soberano (Part I)

In this episode of Firelight Chats, Vincent Soberano elbowed his way to the Spacelab to chat with Kane & Mocha by the fireside about his martial artistic life. He shares stories about growing up in the Philippines during martial law, falling in love with Muay Thai at the age of 10, watching kung fu double features with his dad, street fights and competitions, taking the rigorous tests to enter the most prestigious military academy in the country, getting through the tortuous plebe year, immigrating to the US, working unbeknownst for a porn king, entering the software and IT industry, earning two patents, moving to China to work on their 3G mobile networks, opening a chain of successful MMA gyms, making his first million, driving Lamborghinis through Beijing, training some of China's top fighters, and ultimately selling his brand, system, & remaining gyms to one of his many famous students - the current and 2x champion, Zhang Weili.

Vincent also shares stories about acting on Jackie's Chan's Police Story, working with the action director from the film to open the largest stunt training center in the world, being cast as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter China - Season 1, meeting his future wife while training Li Jingliang "The Leech" for his upcoming UFC fight, pivoting back to the Philippines to chase his dreams and true passions, getting his first film funded, and his current project of acting in the starring role on a huge, big-budget global Netflix series. This segue into the Philippines chapter of his life with his wife is where this episode ends, with Part II in his epic story to be resumed after filming wraps in the middle of 2024.

Vincent Soberano is an award-winning writer, director, actor, and world champion martial artist. He entered the Philippines Military Academy (PMA) before immigrating to the United States, where he graduated from SDSU with a degree in film & television. He currently splits his time between the Philippines and Taiwan with his two daughters and wife, the equally prolific Sarah Chang (Ep 048).