|
Mark Tesoriero, Mornington Leader
Date: 02 Jun 08
"JUST hold still, I promise I won't hit you."
It's not the most reassuring greeting, but when spoken by a man who has stood toe-to-toe with great martial artist Jet Li you do as you're told.
I take one last look around the Dandenong training centre, close my eyes and think about the extensive dental work I had done last year.
The cool air lashes my face as his fists whip past my shaking chin in a rapid motion.
But he's not finished yet.
"Just hold this phone book up against your stomach," I'm told.
The only six-pack to which I've ever laid claim is the alcoholic kind, but I'm in good hands.
Mornington man and action film regular Master Joe Sayah has practiced Wing Chun Kung Fu the style immortalised by martial arts legend Bruce Lee since he was nine years old.
The discipline, originally created by a woman, works on deflecting force and striking back immediately.
It appealed to Sayah, who as the only person of Lebanese descent at his primary school in Carlton had his fair share of scraps in his youth.
"One day my father said there was this guy that claims to have taught Bruce Lee, and I said 'Bruce Lee!'," Sayah said.
"So he took me up to Corrs Lane in the city at Chinatown and I saw this guy and he was really fast. After that I said to dad 'I want to come here'."
That's when, according to Sayah, he "found the magic".
Training under Grand Master William Chung, he became an instructor at 17 before moving to Japan where he worked as a bodyguard for businessmen and politicians.
Sayah was coaxed on to the K1 Kickboxing circuit and competed in some "cage fights" before moving to the US and opening schools in California (two), Canada (one) and France (one).
Here he met wife Mandy, also a Wing Chun instructor, and the pair moved to Rosebud, and later Mornington, with their young son.
Ironically it was in Melbourne, not Hollywood, that Sayah got his big break.
Jackie Chan was filming his 1997 film Mr Nice Guy at the former CBD shopping centre Daimaru.
"I just rolled up and said I was there for an audition," Sayah said.
"One of the security guards touched my shoulder and I deflected his arm and just gave him a look.
"They let me through and I told the producer I was there to see Jackie and they gave me my audition."
Since then he has appeared in seven martial arts films, including as the main villain opposite Li in Once Upon a Time in China and America.
The pair faced-off in a final, eight-minute fight scene.
"Part of martial arts training is being a good showman, showing your technique off," Sayah said.
"Real contact stuff is not always that glamorous as you might see in the ultimate fighting championships so that's where, like cake, you have to put icing on it."
Sayah, who runs a Dandenong training centre, has opened a new one in Latham St, Mornington.
Details: Phone Sayah on 9792 5275.
|