AVA: WARRIOR PRINCESS
My life as a stunt double!
I’ve been involved with martial arts for about 37 years now. I probably wouldn’t have done it if it hadn’t been for my husband Lance. He wanted to get into it, so I tagged along. There were no classes in the Coromandel in those days, so we travelled to Auckland to train.
We brought what we learned back to Thames and developed our own system, Kiaido Ryu.
It’s a full circle-type programme which combines a variety of self-defence skills with a holistic, family-focused healing syllabus. We started off in 1990 with one senior class and we’ve now got 13 schools across New Zealand.
Early on, we spent three months in Canada studying Arnis Mati stick fighting, and then we lived in the States for four years, where we learned jiu jitsu and pressure point techniques. The main highlight there was training with four
10th Degree Black Belt Grandmasters, including
Leo Fong, a first-generation student of Bruce Lee’s.
Lance and I would train with him, then go to Starbucks for a coffee and chat for hours. We heard the most amazing stories of life. It was awe-inspiring.
I’m a 7th Degree Black Belt and grandmaster, so all the gradings from here on are about what I’m giving back to martial arts – the training programmes, the teachings.
Martial arts has taught me discipline and it’s taught me calmness. It’s also what got me into doing stunt work. I was a stunt double on Hercules and then on Xena: Warrior Princess and The Last Samurai (no, I didn’t meet Tom Cruise − we weren’t allowed to go anywhere near him!).
When I was being Lucy Lawless ( Xena), I was filmed from the back as her, and then change and be her nemesis, the person fighting her. There’s a lot of hurry up and wait with that sort of work. You’d go in early in the morning and sit around, and then you’re on. Still, it was amazing and I did it for about five years until I decided
I was too old to be throwing myself around. They said they would get someone else to do the falls and I could just do the martial arts side of it. But that’s not actually being a stunt person, so I stepped away from it.
I have also been involved with the Police Wahine Toa programme, teaching selfdefence to at-risk teens. Some of them would start off really shy, not wanting to be part of it, but once they realised that they could defend themselves, they were right into it. It was so great to be part of that, to be helping empower women.
Here in Thames, we’ve got about 50 juniors aged between eight to 11 that we train. We teach them meditation as well as the physical components. There’s a lot of stress in kids’ lives today, they don’t get a chance to just sit down, stop and be with themselves. We show them centering techniques and teach skills to cope with emotions such as anger and fear.
There are little ones who come in with no confidence. Watching them slowly gain that confidence and a little bit of self-worth is just great. About a third of our students are families. I’m from a family of 10, the oldest of four girls, so family is a huge part of me and that’s rubbed off in how we work.
My great- grandmother, Meri Te Tai, was involved with the women’s suffrage movement, but it’s my mother who’s been my strongest influence. It was a loving environment and, luckily, a time where mums were able to be present. Respect for others – especially elders – and manners were everyday lessons.
I’ve also got a stepdaughter and two grandchildren, and Lance and I have just celebrated our 40th anniversary.
I always try to challenge myself. When I was 49, I taught myself to play the drums. I’d been surrounded by guitars all my life, but never really picked it up. We’ve got a band called Crimson Coast and we’re working on our second album. Lance has written all original songs, which means I get to play ‘original drums’, which is how I want to play. It’s a blast!”