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Student of the Month, December 2002 Van Ayasit |
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by
Les Honig According to Van
“Shaolin Punk” Ayasit there is an old Thai superstition that
insists the age of 25 is a watershed year in one’s life, and if that
is the case, this Asian-American dynamo, raised on the streets of Los
Angeles’s San Fernando Valley, is surely proving that his future
destiny must be one of great success. Just turning 26 and
now celebrating his seventh month of Ultimate University training,
Ayasit has already made a deep impression on his instructors as well
as his classmates, to the point that already many of the newer
enrollees are looking up to him as an inspirational leader.
Deeply respected now as a student who totally has his act
together and whose dedication is complete, Van recalls that the
earliest markers in his life would have hardly predicted such a bright
current evaluation. “I was a little
troublemaker as a kid; a rowdy violent child; not the ‘angel’ I am
now,” he recalls with a chuckle.
Never knowing his dad and being raised by his hard-working mom,
Van says he had to “get on by myself a lot and that definitely made
me a better person.” Still, getting into fights frequently and often
being picked on, his mother was wise enough to enroll him in martial
arts training by the age of 8; “and I loved it and hated it but
finally it became a part of me and I couldn’t get enough.” Becoming proficient
in a whole panoply of martial arts, Ayasit was before long going
through his own adolescent adjustments, soon becoming a self-described
“jock”, excelling on his high school’s football team and finding
new popularity. With a
dream to sometime draw for the Disney Company , (“I was always
interested in animation. I had a flair for sketching and wanted a
career in film or comic books”), the restlessness which often
conflicted with his sense of responsibility instead led to a desire to
try acting; where he wouldn’t have to picture a life, “just
sitting behind a desk.” Following a tip from
a buddy who thought he had a good look for movies and TV, Van found
quick success with his earliest auditions, using his vast knowledge of
fighting disciplines to land immediate roles as stunt doubles or as a
bit-part actor in a host of action flicks. “I remember my
first movie in 1995 called ‘Deathgamers’,” he relates, “and I
played a character named Jacker. He had no face; no ears, no body. He
was a genetic alien.” Significant to UPW fans because of the
presence of Rio Storm in that feature, Van went on to land another
bunch of roles early on, but still there was one further doubt that
continued to nag at him: He wanted to become a pro wrestler! A constant thread
running through his life from the earliest years when he watched
favorites like Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan competing, Ayasit could see
emerging opportunities for cruiserweights not quite so physically huge
and that, coupled with his love of a sport that had “become younger
and allowed you to push the envelope”, he was soon trending towards
a big career move. “I always had this little thing eating me inside,
propelling me to see just how far I could get in the wrestling game. I
could see I would love it because of the grandeur, the spectacle, the
competition, the story telling. It
was a real male soap opera that was live in front of so many people. I
just wanted to be part of that somehow.” Auditioning for the
first “Tough Enough” and actually making it to the New York
auditions, his disappointment was severe when he wasn’t chosen for
the final group and he returned home to the Coast depressed, buying
into the aforementioned Thai taboo that if “you don’t make it by
25 or 26 your life is gonna just go downhill.”
Already studying acting at a prestigious school in Santa
Monica, Ayasit decided that this must be his sports entertainment
make-it-or-break it moment as well, and before long he was enrolling
in Ultimate U. to push that envelope to discover just how far his
efforts might take him. Keeping it a secret
from doubting friends until he saw if it was truly a “go”, Van was
soon finding his natural and learned talents abundantly aiding him,
and the experience was immediately something that made his sagging
spirits soar. “When I
am in the ring it truly feels like something I was meant to do.
And training with people like the Ballards; they have truly
made me the wrestler I am today.
They are so patient, so understanding with teaching the moves.
It is really amazing to be taught by people who are working in the
business and succeeding so brilliantly.” Having to leave his
best UU buddies, (particularly Little Nate, Sam Culver and James
Lukash), to travel to Thailand to shoot his first major Asian feature
film, Van recently returned back to be reunited, with many stories to
tell and many career decisions to make. (After being seen in a special
tryout by Zero One’s talent agents before his departure, the news
surfaced in his absence that he was selected to train at their
prestigious dojo for six months.) “I know this is my
life’s calling and I didn’t expect either this or my acting work
to present opportunities so quickly but it is extremely gratifying
nonetheless. I am so looking forward to become one of the group of The
Young Boys in the dojo, because you are groomed by the top talents in
Japan. I hope that the
acting thing still works for me as well, but this must be where I must
go now…my heart is here and my soul as well.” |
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Previous Students of the Month: |
