Biography
Grand Master Sayed Najem is a former Tae Kwon Do World
and Olympic champion who now owns and operates a Tae Kwon
Do school in Cranston, Rhode Island. He has been certified
with the 7th dan black belt, making him one of only ten
"Grand Masters" in the world under 35 years of
age.He has trained famous actors and has acted in a number
of movies and programs.
In the News: Articles Written about
Grand Master Sayed Najem
LEADER OF THE STARS
The True Life Story of Sayed Najem
The short story you are about to read will lead you to
believe that this is a fictional fantasy – an embellished
recollection of an old man who had a tendency to tell great
fish tales.
But it’s not.
It is my life as I’ve lived it over the past thirty-four
years. My name is Sayed Najem, an Olympian who had everything
going against him, but made it to the top in his sport of
Tae Kwon Do – despite it all.
Northern Lebanon, 1970
I was the youngest of five sons born to a courageous, strict,
and hardworking father, “Joseph” and to a saintly
mother, “Nawal”. Despite coming from a family
considered “well-off”, “well-connected”
with government ties, and surrounded by intellectually elite
uncles, my parents strength and resolve were continuously
tested by the curves life threw at them.
My eldest brother contracted polio at age one and has lived
his life in a wheelchair. My favorite brother and closest
confidante, Rodrigue Najem, was mortally shot at age twenty.
I was full of love and admiration for my powerful and protective
brother who stood six-foot five and weighed 285 pounds.
While Rodrigue was physically gifted, my second brother
was considered close to genius – Kovadis Najem. Tony
Najem, the middle brother, is my strongest supporter and
my father’s right hand man.
We lived in a beautiful country estate surrounded by fertile
land and exquisite olive and fig trees.
The Muslim Christian War
When the religious civil war of the seventies broke out,
my parents had to make an agonizing decision – either
to potentially lose their five sons in a senseless war or
to lose everything they had worked so hard for and seek
refuge in a foreign country. On the advice of a dear friend,
they chose the latter, leaving behind the country they loved,
friends, and family – and of course, all their belongings.
Ottawa, Canada
We gained our freedom as we settled in Canada – but
we left our wealth behind – hundreds of prized acreage
in Northern Lebanon. My dignified father, who was always
seen wearing a suit, had a family of seven to support. Despite
being blind in his right eye, he washed dishes at age fifty,
in order to put food on the table. We lived well below the
standard we had grown accustom to – living in the
projects of Ottawa. Children can pick up new languages quickly,
but to this day, my seventy-six year old father struggles
to communicate in English and French.
Discrimination and Beatings
As is a common pattern with racial hatred, all people
of Middle-Eastern descent were considered “low lifes”,
not equal or as deserving of respect as the local Canadians.
Christians and Muslims were viewed as one in the same; grievances
and discrimination was doled out to anyone of Arabic heritage.
We were taunted with racial slurs such as “Packy”
and worse... .
When I was in the fifth grade (1981) I was walking to the
French school, minding my own business, when a group of
five kids in their late teens attacked me in the park. I
was beaten so badly with a bicycle chain, that my face and
my clothing were soaked with blood.
My hero brother, Rodrigue was not far away – he ran
to my rescue – and beat the daylights out of all five
of them. I was barely able to walk home and looking forward
to the care and concern my parents would show me. My father
showed me a type of care and concern that I wasn’t
expecting.
The lesson he taught me lasted a lifetime and became a
source of my strength and courage – despite the harshness
of its appearance. My father wasn’t doting and sympathetic
– he was furious! He told me, “If you come home
like this bloody and beaten again, you will get a worse
bloody beating from me!”.
Two weeks later, one of the boys who attacked me, grabbed
me again. I remembered what my father had warned me about
and what he taught me about fighting. I grabbed the kid
in the back of the head and punched him in the throat with
my knuckles. He fell unconscious.
Of course, there was little fall-out from the incidence
– I was beaten with a strap by the principal and suspended
from school. Being treated as third class citizens, fighting
became our “English” of the streets –
a universal language that everyone understood.
Edmonton, Alberta 1982
Relationships with my father started to become strained
when we made a move to Edmonton. Life was filled with many
pressures for him as he worked once again as a dishwasher
and also focused on taking care of my crippled brother.
Despite my love and respect for him, we became estranged.
I knew my mother was always there for me, yet I became
fiercely independent and started “testing the waters”
at age thirteen. I stayed out on the streets until late
every night – including school nights.
My Introduction to Tae Kwon Do
Luckily for me, next to our apartment in the projects was
a Tae Kwon Do studio. Both my brother (Rodrigue) and I signed
up. Rodrigue didn’t last long in his training, but
it became my passion...and while I didn’t realize
it at the time, it became my saving grace. At my first big
tournament I received a gold medal. So did my friend and
Tae Kwon Do partner, Mike Popowich. We celebrated all evening!
It was more than celebrating the winning of a gold medal
– I was celebrating the new found knowledge that my
athletic life had begun.
In addition to experiencing life as an athlete, I was feeling
my strength from within. Helping along the journey was my
new master, Min Hyung Keun. Master Min was a strong, tall
Korean who wanted nothing short of victory and little else
mattered to this Vietnam veteran.
Master Min had a terrifying presence. This was the first
person who I was ever fearful of.
I wanted more than anything to train with my friend Mike
in Korea, where Tae Kwon Do originated over two thousand
years ago. After weeks of working at MacDonald’s and
scraping scraps off of plates and wallowing in waste as
a bus boy, I earned my way to go to Korea – to train
with the world’s best. Tae Kwon Do was about to become
a demonstration sport at the Seoul Olympics and we wanted
to get in at the ground floor. For this, I was willing to
work at the bottom.
Korea, (1986)
The training was “crazy” – eight hours
a day, every day – running, sparring, strength training,
shadow training, target kicking, plyometrics, and a strict
weight-loss program. Many of these techniques dated back
to the traditional old method of martial arts training.
We trained with the best martial artists and the world’s
greatest coaches including Kim Sae Yuk.
Airport, Ottawa
Training in Korea had been the experience of a lifetime
– I was elated thinking about all I had seen, the
people I had met, the unbelievable training my body and
mind had endured. I couldn’t wait to see the faces
of my family as I debarked the plane, anxious to share my
memories, see their warm smiles, and hold close my family
that I had so missed.
With luggage in hand I looked for my family and waited.
I waited a long time – no one had come for me. I took
a cab to the apartment figuring we had our wires crossed
about my arrival time.
No one was there.
On the floor lay a note, “meet us in Ottawa, we decided
to move back.” Panic set in. I needed to make the
right decision – pursue my personal aspiration of
the Olympic dream or be with my family. I spoke with Master
Min and shared my conflict – he became quiet and was
obviously angry – he knew the decision was mine alone.
When I moved back to Ottawa, I felt uncomfortable, on edge
every moment of the day. Misery and loneliness set in. I
missed my friends, my training, and also Master Min –
who had become the father I longed for. After all, Master
Min shared my dream, supported me in every way, spent hours
of his time counseling me – he was clearly becoming
the father figure a young man going through difficult times
needed.
I couldn’t shake the desire to be back training in
Edmonton – could I handle being 3,000 miles away from
my family at age 16? I knew I had to speak with my parents
but they didn’t know Master Min – he was a stranger
to them – would they understand or would I get another
beating?
I was truly alone.
$100 In My Pocket
Kovadis was a good brother through thick and thin. He backed
my decision and gave me $100 which was a lot of money to
us. I had many mixed feelings about leaving home. Being
on my own was not new, I had been fending for myself since
I was thirteen – but this was an enormous leap off
a cliff for me. I was hoping the landing would be safe and
successful.
My three day bus trip across Canada cost $99.00 –
that left one dollar for food for the entire trip. My growing
body survived on an apple that I bought with the change.
Training with “the Master” Begins
My three day journey was just the start of an amazing venture
that lasted for fourteen years.
Master Min was strict. He trained me in the old world style
that most Western athletes never experience. Unwavering
will power, 100% commitment, 24-hour a day respect and discipline
were the lifestyle I led. There was no coddling –
no mercy. Many times I was woken up in the middle of the
night and told to run many miles in the dead of the Canadian
winter (30 degrees below). My breath seemed to freeze in
the air, but I did it. Other times I was told to kick a
pad 3,000 times or race up the stairs for 6,000 steps. I
did what I was told – there were severe ramifications
for those who didn’t do what was expected.
Once my fatigued showed in practice. Master Min decided
to make an example out of me. He beat me badly, humiliating
me in front of sixty-eight other black belts. On the van
ride home, we were both very quiet. I thought how my father
used to beat me..and now Master Min. I knew despite my pain,
that they both loved me and deeply cared in their own way.
The Furnace
With no money and no family, I survived the best I could.
My friends would let me stay over their house, I slept in
their basements, and mostly, next to the furnace at the
Tae Kwon Do building – where it was nice and warm
during frigid Canadian nights.
Every day I felt more drained physically and emotionally.
I had to continuously pull the power from within and stay
focused on my goal – the Olympics.
Life Takes Yet Another Turn for the Worse
On October 17th, 1987 at 1:18 a.m. tragedy beset my family
like never before. My beloved, savior brother, Rodrigue,
was shot and killed on the streets of Ottawa. The close
Lebanese family was totally and forever devastated. The
loss “took the wings off my father’s back”
and the eyes through which I see good souls was destroyed.
I secretly joined the “Brown Nation” –
a gang of Italians, Portuguese, and Lebanese.
The Gangster Sayed Najem
For the next five years all my pent up anger, resentment,
and frustration was vented in gang activity.
My close friends and Master Min had no idea.
In the fifth year of my gang affiliation, I was at a bachelor
party when we received a phone call that a twelve year-old
boy had his face cut up by white Canadian bikers. This was
just because he was Arab looking.
The child’s older brother was at this party and asked
us all to help. Without hesitation we were ready to seek
revenge. As a leader of the Brown Nation, I personally wanted
to take on the head of the biker gang. He didn’t know
he was playing with Lebanese fire.
Downtown Edmonton, Jasper Ave.
Eighty of the white Canadian bikers lined one side of
Jasper Ave – we lined the other side. There were only
thirty of us, we were badly outnumbered. I charged forward
– a biker met me midway in the street. I gave him
the roundhouse kick of a lifetime -- full of anger –
and with no mercy, continued to beat him. I moved on to
the next and also smashed his Monte Carlo with a bat. Despite
being outnumbered, we clearly won the battle. Many were
hurt. For the first time, I felt mercy, after I had badly
injured one of the bikers – he had been knifed and
badly attacked by many of us.
I was filled with sadness about the whole incident. I had
grown emotionally and spiritually from this horrible fight
– I had found mercy within. And I saw the uselessness
of violence, hatred, and racial bigotry.
It was a turning point for me – I ceased all gang
activity.
Life Starts Looking Up, 1993
Despite my life in the gang, I was spared any personal
injury, legal prosecution, or damage to my Tae Kwon Do reputation.
In fact, in 1993, my reputation in the world of Tae Kwon
Do was advancing rapidly. Over the next several years I
received numerous titles; ten time Canadian National Champion,
Pan-American Champion, and finally, experiencing my lifelong
dream – the Olympics. My colleagues bestowed the name,
“the Dancing Panther” on me.
I also experienced the downside of serious sports competitions
– when so much is at risk, the rules are not always
followed by everyone – the game is not fairly played
by all either. At the Olympics in Barcelona, despite fighting
with a fractured knee cap, the tapes will speak for themselves.
Without knowing who is who, it is easy to see who is the
victor. An offer of money and politics skewed that vision
in the eyes of some referees. The gold was handed to my
opponent.
Athletes know the truth and they take great pride in winning
clearly and they, themselves feel cheated if the medal they
receive is not rightfully and cleanly theirs. Believe it
or not, we became close friends. When I visited my opponent’s
mother – she told me I deserved the medal, not her
own son. Her son then named his first born child after me
– Sayed.
First and Only Love, 1996
After years of living the insular world of a serious athlete,
I wanted to become more educated. My brain was well exercised
from speaking four languages – Phoenician (Arabic),
French, English, and Korean – but I wanted to expand
my options with a more formal and extensive education. I
attended Algonquin College in Ottawa with the goal of getting
my bachelor’s degree in business marketing.
My friends and family knew that I was now a “free
bird” so they tried to counsel me to pay attention
to my studies and don’t get distracted by all the
beautiful girls.
I followed their advice for one semester, but in the second
semester the most popular girl in the school caught my eye.
I set a new goal for myself – to make her my girlfriend.
After a few bungled attempts, she conceded to have coffee
with me. Five hours and many cups of coffee later, she became
my girlfriend. She was my first true love. Her presence
at one of my tournaments gave me the fulfillment and happiness
that for the first time someone believed in me.
At the age of twenty-seven, I received a phone call from
the Canadian Olympic Committee – they wanted me to
train for the Sydney Games in 2000. I promised my love I
would train for two months and then return to her. We kept
our promise to each other in letters, calls, and then, our
Lebanese engagement.
What was thought to be a two month trip expanded into fourteen
months.
Five months before the ‘99 Olympic trials, I decided
to surprise her with a visit from me. I couldn’t contain
my excitement as I walked up her walkway with roses, cards,
and gifts for my fiancé. The surprising visit for
her – became the surprise for me...
Once again, another episode of sad love that I had to
overcome.
A Debt to Canada
Many people think that a successful athlete would be well
supported financially – that they made it not only
athletically, but fiscally. Not so. Unlike in the Unites
States, the land of opportunity where athletes are well
supported and receive million dollar endorsements, Canada
does not, universally, offer the same. Canadian born and
raised athletes seem to be at an advantage, as a Lebanese,
I never received the same monetary backing as my counterparts.
To this day, I am still paying back credit card debt for
all my tournaments and travels of my past.
A Taste of Hollywood
After the Olympics, I knew I wanted to redirect my passion,
my deep discipline and focus, into a new avenue. In my heart,
I am humbled and grateful for all the gifts and talents
bestowed on me. I am even grateful for all the hard lessons
that built my character and made me achieve successes. So,
I opened my heart and mind to what direction awaited me,
and as circumstance would have it, I happened to be training
a young women in Tae Kwon Do. She told me her brother was
playing the part of Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars II –
would I help train him? Of course. I trained Hayden Christiansen
daily to prepare him to fight magnificently with light sabers.
I enjoyed working with him and hearing of his success.
It brought me closer to my lifelong passion which began
for me in 1992 – to be an actor.
Next Olympic Generation
Today I live in the United States, a land filled with opportunity.
I train children and adults in the sport I love. Beyond
kicking, punching, blocking, sparring, and forms –
I teach them about being passionate and determined, being
kind and thoughtful, respect of parents, and hard, hard
work. I share all I have learned in all aspects of my life
with my young (and not so young) students.
I hope to find the next Olympians and train them with the
same determination and will that was instilled in me!
September 11, 2001
This day affected all of us in many different ways.
For me, as a Middle Eastern Christian man, the indescribable
pain is two-fold.. First of all, my heart goes out to all
of those who lost family members on that tragic day.
But also, it affects me personally. I see the look in peoples’
eyes when they hear my name.
Here is my most recent example. On Thursday August 12th
of this year I was sitting on a plane returning from my
visit to Los Angeles. A woman next to me asked me where
I was from. I told her I was from Canada. She said, “No,
where were you born?”. I answered Lebanon. She gasped
and moved away. Her reply was, “I hope we land safely.”
Despite these enormous setbacks to my business and personal
encounters, I remain optimistic. I still face some discrimination
since I clearly look Middle Eastern, sound Middle Eastern,
and have a Middle Eastern name. When I cross the borders
to travel into a foreign country, I am often detained for
questioning. Because of my world travels, my passport is
filled with numerous stamps showing the 50 countries where
I have been in. This raises suspicion. I understand. But
I will not change my name.
Leader of the Stars
On February 28, Nawal Najem gave birth to her son. She
named him, Sayed Najem. My name means in literal translation,
“Leader of the Stars”. For this reason, I keep
my name even though it brings me challenges and difficulties.
It was those very challenges that help me rise above and
push a little hard, kick a little longer, or run a little
faster. I need to live up to this name – to lead and
to be at the forefront. It is a lot to live up to –
but I am ready!
I end as I begin -- my story is timely.
In today’s multicultural world, all of the elements
that seemingly work against me and my fellow country men
are the very same elements that I will use in my quest to
bridge the horrible gaps brought about by September 11,
2001.
All my years of training, discipline and fighting will
help to put a positive face on being a Christian man of
Middle Eastern descent here in the United States. I am proud
of all I have accomplished, proud to be have been born in
North Lebanon, proud to have fought for Canada, and now
I am proud to be an American despite all the heartaches
I have endured and the hardship of my youth.
My time has come.
Copyright 2004 Sayed Najem |
