Mandy Sayah didn’t know it at the time but the daily brawls she had with her older brother destined her for the martial arts journey that lay ahead.

It was as a child growing up in California, USA that Mandy learned the value of fighting back. “I had almost daily brawls with my older brother when I was growing up”, Sayah remembers. “I hated the fact that my brother was bigger and stronger and I could never win, but I never gave up.”

And so it should be no surprise that when Mandy considered her martial arts options, Wing Chun turned out to be the perfect choice.

Although she dabbled for a few months in Aikido, there was never that “hook” that kept her wanting for more. Then Wing Chun entered her life and the martial art made famous by the great Yip Man quickly became a daily staple.

The reasons for her fascination with the venerable Chinese style were many:

• As a Bruce Lee movie fan, Mandy was delighted at discovering that Wing Chun was his core art;
• She loved knowing Wing Chun is an art not only founded by a woman, but also created with a woman’s needs in mind;
• Most importantly, there was comfort in the realization that Wing Chun mastery is not based on force vs. force. Instead, the system relies on deflection and strategy.

“It’s perfect for a woman,” adds Sayah, who began training in 1999 with eventual husband Joe Sayah and Eric Oram. “You’re using footwork and your positioning, as well as deflection because you’re not fighting force, you’re releasing it, and you’re redirecting it. That’s got to be the biggest appeal for a woman, because you can’t match a man’s strength. Having (Wing Chun) makes you stronger and the strategy and footwork just support that.”

For Sayah, mastering one of the most-difficult and demanding styles wasn’t easy even though she was spending every day at the studio.

“Your coordination is the first thing that has to improve,” explains Sayah, who’s earned her eighth level. “At first, I felt really awkward, as I think all beginners do. You start to think to yourself, ‘Am I ever going to get better?’ But it does and you get better. Your reflexes improve so you can respond to stimuli faster. The more control you have over your body the more control you have over your mind. It all works together.”