Master of Vader’s moves

The Edmonton Sunday Sun
Spotlight

Ex-Edmontonian Sayed Najem hones Hayden Christensen’s martial arts skills for Star Wars

Sunday May 12, 2002 — It was just 13 hours over the course of a week, but tae kwon do master Sayed Najem was suitably impressed. And with multiple world titles and an Olympic silver medal under his belt, that's no mean feat.

Hayden Christensen, it seems, can kick martial arts butt with the best of them. And he's pretty handy with a lightsaber, too.

The 21-year-old Canadian stars as Anakin Skywalker, the man who becomes Darth Vader, in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, which opens in town Thursday.

But when he's flipping, tumbling and tussling on the big screen, the moves keeping audiences breathless will belong to Najem, a former Edmontonian.

"I'd have to say that by the end of the first day of training, or maybe by the beginning of the second, he really seemed to have an understanding of it, of the importance of the soul and the mind and body being as one," says Najem.

Got the call

Najem, a 31-year-old who now runs Superior Tae Kwon Do Academy on Rhode Island, got a call from Christensen's sister in the summer of 2000, shortly after her brother landed the coveted role. She was a competitive martial artist and figured Najem was perfect for the task of teaching her brother how to joust like a Jedi and sting like Obi-Wan.

So for five days, they ventured out to a park in Thornhill, Ont., and Christensen played the role of humble grasshopper.

"We worked on a whole series of moves, on using the lightsaber, the kicks, the flips. .It's funny because this was his first martial arts instruction and yet he was really quite good at it. He did an unbelievable job. If he hadn't been an actor he could have been a martial artist."

Almost two years later Najem's reputation is such that he is running a dojo with a short and exclusive client list, including the 13-year-old grandson of Rhode Island Supreme Court justice and some movie stars, whom he insists on keeping confidential.

He’s pondering how to get into the movies and “be the next Jackie Chan" and hopes the contacts he's made made training Christensen help push him towards Hollywood.

Things weren't always so rosy for Najem. His family emigrated from Lebanon when he was six, anxious to get their two young sons away from cycles of warfare and desolation. They escaped to Ottawa initially, then moved to Edmonton in 1984 when Najem was 13 after his father landed a job at the Mayfair Golf and Country Club. He joined his brother in taking on martial arts to try to keep out of fights at school. They quickly realized they were natUrals and trained together every day, dreaming of one day owning their own studio.

Then, in a matter of months, everything changed. The family moved back to Ottawa when his father got a new job. But Najem decided to return to Edmonton on his own to continue his training with Master Hyung Keun Min" bunking with fellow enthusiasts and his master and going to Ross Sheppard Composite high school.

His parents back in Ottawa were not impressed, even though his father had initially urged him into the sport.

"My father was very old fashioned and traditional and he felt that the eldest son has to stay at home, but I had a dream that I needed to make come true, and so I took off."

Najem was moving from home to home, sleeping on couches and living for long stretches with master Min.

"He was like a father to me at that time. And everyone was so supportive because they recognized how difficult it was for me to be away from home," he says.

Things were about to get more difficult. His brother Rodrigue, Najem's biggest fan, was killed in a freak shooting accident back in Ottawa.

At first, he felt gutted.

"When my brother died that hit me really hard, because we really were best friends and we did everything together. He really wanted to see me go to the Olympics. And there were some times around then that I had trouble focusing on where I was heading," he says.

Up to that point, he'd developed a reputation as one of the country's most promising young martial artists, regularly winning at tournaments and absorbing master teachings with gusto. His mentor and long-time friend Paul Mollins, with whom he bunked during his Edmonton exodus, knew almost immediately that Najem's talents were "in that one per cent that are just better than everyone else."

"The guy is definitely a phenomenal athlete. You could tell just from the way he moved that he was something special. The moves he executed were definitely beyond what normal people could do," says Mollins, an accomplished instructor in Edmonton who runs Korea Tae Kwon Do Academy. "He has an extra sense. I remember watching him fight once in an academy event. They put two divisions together and Sayed was from the lighter division. But he sized up this much bigger guy and Sayed knocked him out in a matter of three to five seconds.

"And the thing is, he was just that much better. The guy t he was fighting was a long-time fighter, he was fast and he was good."

Death and feud took a heavy toll

Najem concedes that his brother's death, combined with his feud with his father, took a heavy toll.

"My father was so distant and it was very hard," he recalled. "I was going through so much. I had my father and my master but in my own mind I was alone."

It took recognizing that his brother had been the biggest supporter of his Olympic dream to push Najem back into the fray. His father, however, wanted him to return home and look for normal work, at least in part to fill his brother's shoes.

Instead, he redoubled his efforts, training for hours on end, intent on not letting his dead brother down.

It earned him a trip to the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and in 1993 to a silver medal at the World Tae Kwon-Do Championships. Along the way, he picked up a demonstration-sport silver at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, multiple national titles and Pan-Am Games glory.

"He's a funny, passionate person," says Mollins. "And when he gets something on his mind he's just determined to get it. When you work with him, he turns you on spiritually. He has a certain level of intensity that you need to have to be one of the best in the world. He has mental toughness."

He has the force - the force of will to achieve great things, Najem believes, and maybe enough to get his name above a good martial arts film title or two someday.

"I do consider myself an actor - I have to because that's my dream and that's what I want to accomplish next."

He says it without a hint of doubt, as if it could happen tomorrow. "I'm trying always to keep my mind straight, be kind to everyone and open the door to as many people as possible."

Chief among them, Christensen, for whom he waived his usual fees.

A form of thai stick fighting was substituted for the. Jedi's lightsaber, and Christensen made it clear to Najem that "he wants to be the greatest Jedi ever, just like he says in the previews."

So when Christensen pulls an overhead flip, his saber hissing as it arcs through the air, Najem says viewers will believe because it's the real thing, not a stunt double or the latest in cm (computer generated imagery) graphics.

"He picked up the martial arts big time after only one week. He's so focused, he learns fast and yet he's so humble and quiet. I love it."

Images from the Article:

Canadian Hayden Christensen, who plays Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Eppisode II - Attack of the Clones, trains with martial arts expert Sayed Najem, a former Edmontonian and Olympic silver medallist. Najem spent five days training Christensen to fight like a Jedi.

Before he was a martial arts trainer for Christensen in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Najem was a Team Canada member at the 1988 Olympics and won a silver medal at the 1993 World Tae Kwon Do Championships. Najem, left, demonstrates his skills prior to the 1999 World Tae Kwon Do Championship held in Edmonton.

Najem, who has won several national titles, was also a sliver medallist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where tae kwon do was introduced as a demonstration sport.

Najem has his eye on becoming Hollywood's next Jackie Chan.