Marrese Crump was born on January 4th, 1982 in Lakeland, Florida and 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. 

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 emersed himself in arts from all over the world; Karate, Muay Thai, Kung Fu, Capoeira, western boxing, Filipino Martial Arts, 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.

With a vision to utilize the power and knowledge of each unique art form in action films, Crump headed for Hollywood and dedicated all his time and energy into the movie making process.

Crump's 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 Bautista 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 Bautista). 

"It is my vision to take what I have learned from my masters and put that quality of movement and energy to action movies." - Marrese Crump