Exceptional people carve out their own – sometimes solitary – path in life with the courage of their convictions and unwavering faith in their own judgment.
Port Perry’s Jackie Chan will tell you that a thirst for experience separates a life well-lived from one viewed from the sidelines. That philosophy has already taken him to far corners of the world, exposed him to hair-raising situations and exotic cultures – the stuff of the most adventurous person’s dreams – because he embraced challenges and met them head-on.
“I’ve learned to take opportunities when they’re available,” he said with self-assurance and maturity belying his 25 years. “I go with the flow, that’s where the real living is.”
And “real living” is what he’s done, packing a lifetime’s experience into a mere quarter century, still hungering for more. But the adventuresome nature that’s so evident now was once submerged, which makes the story of his journey all the more remarkable.
Then there’s the matter of his name. Carrying a high-profile action hero’s moniker might represent a burden, doubly so when the namesakes share a passion and talent for martial arts. But in this young man’s case – his earthly arrival having comfortably preceded the film star’s North American breakthrough – it’s pure happenstance. Yet that coincidence has exerted considerable influence on the course of Jackie’s life.
“As a kid, I was bullied for having ‘a girls’ name,’” he remembers. “It made me pretty shy.”
His mother’s solution to build self-confidence for her ten-year old son: karate lessons. While her plan sounds like it should have been the logical genesis of a lifelong passion, the reality was quite different. Initially, Jackie hated his lessons.
“I did everything I could to get out of them,” he admits. “But then I saw ‘the other’ Jackie Chan in ‘Rumble in the Bronx,’ and I saw how cool those moves could look.
“Some friends and I analyzed the fight scenes in the movie, worked out routines for karate demonstrations and talent shows, filmed ourselves. That’s when I learned to love karate.” Appearing in live demonstrations was only one aspect of Jackie’s spiritual awakening. Evidently, a budding performer had been secretly hiding inside the young man’s body. In Grade 9, a friend’s encouragement took Jackie in a direction he would never have imagined.
“He convinced me to join drama,” Jackie recalls. “Sure, it was nerve-wracking, every time on stage, but it always gave me a rush. And it didn’t hurt that there was a wave of interest in Jackie Chan’s movies.” He laughs. “That name started to work for me!”
As well as bringing him further out of his shell, drama also introduced Jackie to teacher John Crocker, whose influence stretched beyond the classroom.
“Mr. Crocker taught us to follow our dreams, do what makes us happy. I’ve carried that philosophy with me. He inspired me with his ‘real life’ teaching.”
Jackie’s interest in martial arts expanded. After earning his first-degree black belt in Shaoin karate – which he describes as an “empty-handed martial art where you attack with traditional kicks and punches” – he increased his knowledge with lessons in judo and aikido.
A dream began to emerge alongside his evident talent. The Shaoin art had its roots with the Chinese monks of that order. With the encouragement of his local karate master and the monastery’s North American liason, Sifu Lee Chi Wai, Jackie trained to study under the monks in that faraway land.
After Jackie had completed his second-degree black belt, Sifu Lee made the appropriate arrangements. He was accepted to the exclusive program, which would demand nine hours’ training, six days a week, for two months.
The physical and spiritual experience would change his life.
“I considered myself ‘in shape’ before, but this training was so intense, by day’s end, my legs trembled when I climbed stairs and I had to hold the handrail. There were times I wondered what I was doing there, but I realized this was my dream. By the middle of week three, the ‘tearing down’ process was over and I felt good again. I learned what could be done to the human body.”
Cultural issues were challenging as well.
“Many of these people had never met a Caucasian before, let alone a Canadian,” he explains. “I had to prove myself worthy on both levels, and it took time to feel acceptance from the older students and instructors.
“But I felt warmth immediately from the kids studying in the monastery. They’d come to me, with what little English they knew, saying ‘friend, friend,’ and offering small gifts. I was in awe how hard they trained, and learned a new respect for youth and children. Their influence inspired me.”
He also gained a broader viewpoint from the vastly different culture.
“They had no internet, iPods, or cell phones. When the training day finished, we just chilled, talked. I enjoyed that, and in spite of our different backgrounds, learned that people are just people, wherever you go.”
Back in Ontario, an understandable letdown followed Jackie’s amazing experience in China. It was impossible to maintain the level of training he’d attained with the monks’ guidance; his high school friends had scattered to the wind in post-secondary programs.
But the truly resourceful are never held back, and before long Jackie formulated Plan B. Building on his amateur film experience, he started Prodigy Productions. Initially, he filmed weddings, then karate school promos and a self-defense course.
Not only did these projects finance the purchase of equipment, they provided a logical segue to a college career. He enrolled in Humber College’s “Media Foundations,” the precursor to its 3-year “Media and TV Production” program, from which he would eventually graduate.
Jackie found time to lead a self-defense course at Humber as well as “dabble” in yet another martial art form.
“I took lessons in the style of tactical self-defense taught to police officers and bodyguards,” he explains. “It doesn’t have the set routines of karate, so it was a nice change.”
Jackie’s not one to sit still for long. At the moment, he’s working through an online university program in Communications. He has also volunteered at Port Perry High School as a student mentor and has just begun teaching a “combative program” at the school. While far from his first experiences with either, Jackie’s current activities will lay part of the foundation for his career goal as a teacher.
Unless….
Did I mention that Jackie made a six-month backpacking stopover in Australia on his way to the Shaoin temple? Or that he’s climbed Alaskan glaciers, scaled Japan’s Mount Fiji, taught young people in Calgary and Jamaica, rubbed shoulders with a famous rapper in the Caymans? And filmed it all for what might possibly become at TV series?
No, I didn’t think so.
The Jackie Chan story has yet much more to tell. So to read more about this remarkable young man – as old-time television announcers used to say to tease multi-part episodes – join us “next time” for Part Two!
By Scott Mercer
Focus on Scugog
Personalities
