By Alistair Macmordéan Thurs. 20 Aug 2020
Glass shattering, eye gauging, axe swinging, back breaking strength of a young Schwarzenegger and the flexible speedy kicks of a kickboxer, Silvio Simac The Mighty Dragon has been the ideal pick in antagonist action roles in big blockbuster movies.
At first glance at Silvio’s broad shoulders and his chiseled face reminds one of hired muscle type guys you would see at a local gym, who would ask “If anyone owes you money, let me know and I’ll break his knee caps.”
Judging a book by it’s cover is the wrong thing to do in regards to Silvio Simac. A dark horse with lots of charisma and stage presence, Silvio is full of surprises in his mental and physical capabilities. Not a brawn over brains guy, Silvio has an Economics degree under his belt and is an avid reader of various topics and prose-fiction novels.
"Follow your passion, be driven from within and let your passion drive you!...
If you do things from passion you’ll last forever,
if you go through life driven by ego or vanity, it’s not going to last."
- Silvio Simac
For over three decades Silvio Simac has been a dedicated practitioner of several martial arts styles and has achieved the following ranks: 7th Dan in ITF Taekwondo, 5th Dan in Choi Kwan-Do, 3rd Dan in Kickboxing, 1st Dan in Brithai Karate, and 1st Dan Black Belt in Combat Self-Defense. Renowned instructors that Silvio trained under include Taekwondo instructor Umesh Vijibura, Master Chris Naidoo, Master Orello Ellis, and Grand Master Kwang Jo Choi who founded the martial arts system Choi Kwang Do. Silvio’s last instructor Choi introduced Silvio to studies in nutrition, kinesiology, physiology, and neurology.
Silvio now teaches in his own school of martial arts Simac MMA. For further reading check out the Website and Facebook Page. Mr. Simac has also been a personal trainer for athletes and celebrities in Jeet Kune Do, Wushu, Gymnastics, and Fight/Stunt Choreography. Distinguished actors Silvio has trained for movie productions include Tom Hardy, Scott Adkins, Eric Roberts, Dan Stevens, Sarah Carter, Holly Vallance and many more.
The Mighty Dragon is the winner of titles including 14th time British Champion in Taekwondo (1991-2000) and European Champion 4 times and the Gold Medal at the Taekwondo World Championships. His physical prowess include his ability to effortlessly compression smash a wine bottle and his signature hook kick:
In an uncanny feat, Silvio shares the world record with only two other contenders in the Master’s category (torque 237.5 pounds) of Joe Lewis’s grip challenge in 2011:
"…I attended the martial arts Expo in the UK and martial arts legend Joe Lewis (RIP) used to have this: ‘grip challenge’, he’d been running it for 40 years! Countless people from Ronnie Coleman to Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris to MMA fighters had tried their hand."
- Silvio Simac
Besides his god like muscular Greco-Roman physique, Silvio is a philosopher and teacher imparting the deep wisdom of the martial arts worldview wherever he goes. Mr. Simac is widely respected by his peers for being a fount of martial arts knowledge and experience on training techniques, nutrition and philosophy:
"As we grow and evolve in each field of our life, we seek new challenges which will throw use out of our comfort zone and thus make us grow and expand."
- Silvio Simac
Silvio began his journey into the martial arts at the age of twelve, alongside his brother they sought to learn in order to defend themselves:
"Martial arts teach you to never quit life's challenges. Martial arts has given me self-esteem and discipline and helped me overcome a lot of obstacles in life,"
- Silvio Simac
In the beginning Bruce Lee was an initial motivating force for Silvio:
"I remember as a young child going to the cinema and watching some of Bruce Lee’s movies and I was very impressed in terms of the physical shape Bruce appeared in and the speed he moved with it was pretty mind-blowing!...The first time I walked into a Taekwondo dojang, the spark and passion for martial arts just took off…"
- Silvio Simac
Influenced by martial artists and athletes such as Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Jean Claude Van Damme, Silvio has developed a training lifestyle method that follows what he calls the S-Factor:
"Skill, Strength, Speed, Stamina, Suppleness and Strategy. Taking one component out of the equation is like removing a component out of a transistor radio…No matter how small or insignificant it may seem, the transistor radio will seize to work…I have always taken a holistic approach to my athletic development nurturing all areas that will make me a better fighter and a warrior."
- Silvio Simac
"All my weight training is functional and synthesizes with the function of the body, as opposed to training a body part (as bodybuilders do, mainly for aesthetics). I train a body movement which will benefit my sport."
- Silvio Simac
Silvio over the last few decades has also participated in public demonstrations of the martial arts for charity events including Shelter, UNICEF, Fighting for Cancer, Help a London Child, Romanian Orphans and many others:
"Part of martial arts code of conduct is to contribute to the mutual welfare of our environment. This is the way energy flows, give and receive. We must all give first and then we shall receive…The more you give, the more you get back…share the knowledge you possess, keeping it to yourself is pointless...Most people are concerned about what they can “take” or “consume” but it’s about what you put in, what you give that counts."
- Silvio Simac
The Mighty Dragon has also participated at many martial arts demonstrations performing around the world including the Dominion Theatre for Royal Variety Performance for her Majesty The Queen, a Martial Arts Spectacular in Royal Albert Hall, Euro Disney with Chloe Bruce and the Warrior Spirit Martial Arts Festival with Scott Adkins.
Silvio made his first appearance in acting for a cameo role in the sci-fi show Lexx in 1996. In 2001 he made an explosive entrance into television for his martial arts role in the BBC2 game show Masters of Combat. Recently Simac starred as a trainer in Warrior Island (Hawaii) reality TV show competition in mixed martial arts.
In 2002 The Mighty Dragon went to Thailand to star in the feature film called Black Mask 2: City of Masks. Silvio played the role of Troy performing for the first time with cutting edge action star Scott Adkins and well renowned fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping.
"I was offered my first role as a stuntman in Black Mask 2 alongside Scott Adkins. After displaying my skills to Director Tsui Hark and Action Choreographer Yuen Wo Ping, my character was written into the script and I was working alongside Scott Adkins...I’ve worked with Scott on five movies, my first being Black Mask 2, playing his right hand man. We were the only two British guys working on that one so we became close friends and have kept in touch over the last 14-years. It’s been fun and I enjoy working with him because we trust one another, when we rehearse choreography we bounce off each other’s ideas so we tend to work well together."
- Silvio Simac
Luc Besson’s feature film Unleashed (2005) starring Jet Li and Bob Hoskins was Silvio’s first big break into an action blockbuster. Reunited with Scott Adkins and Yuen Woo-ping for a second time they developed one of the most iconic fight scenes in cinema history.
"Unleashed’s fight scene was rehearsed for a week and took two weeks to film. Jet Li turned up and Yuen Woo-ping said the first technique I was to do was a flying side kick into Jet Li’s back! Well, I couldn’t imagine hurting the main star, so I kept holding back my kicks, but Yuen got a little frustrated because my kick wasn’t selling on screen, he said, “more power!” He got Jet padded-up and I kicked him in the back and he went flying...I was also ‘shot’ by Bob Hoskins, prior to which I was told to inspect the gun, ever since Brandon Lee died on the set of “The Crow”, we have to do that as a rule now, so that was a little unsettling!"
- Silvio Simac
The second entry in Michael Jai Whyte’s George Chambers movie series Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing (2006), the former Spawn star this time was to face off with Scott Adkins in the role of Yuri Boyka. Silvio was offered the role of Davic to fight against the formidable Yuri in the opening sequence:
"When I was offered a role in Undisputed 2, working with Scott and fight choreographer JJ Perry, I was over the moon, it was so much fun! Imagine, it was filmed in Sofia,
Bulgaria, in the middle of winter at minus 20 degrees –it was freezing,
and we were in the studio wearing only our shorts!"
- Silvio Simac
In the tradition of popular game franchises Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat DOA: Dead or Alive (2006) was also a very popular console game turned feature film. In this ensemble cast Silvio who starred in the role of Leon, was given the opportunity to work with Ninja Legend Kane Kosugi, Eric Roberts, Jaime Pressly, Holly Vallance and many more:
"Yes! I worked together with the entire cast for three months, we became like a family. Kane and I got on very well and played chess and pool almost every day! Kane is a very competitive character – there had to be some kind of bet or forfeit even if we were in the gym! I got on with all of them, Matthew Marsden, Eric Roberts, Sarah Carter, Holly Valance, Deva Naoki, I personally trained many of them, they had strict diets
and I made sure they stayed in shape."
- Silvio Simac
The Mighty Dragon had to perform at Jackie Chan levels in the stunt department:
"Also, In DOA, I had to get jerked back by wires and fall through a second storey window into a swimming pool below, it had to be done in one continuous motion, so it was quite scary."
- Silvio Simac
Director Luc Besson was impressed by Silvio’s performance in Unleashed and when it came to do Transporter 3 in 2008, The Mighty Dragon got the call to join the cast as Joe with Jason Statham in the lead role as Frank Martin. The production was assisted by martial arts choreographer Corey Yuen. Testament to Silvio’s work ethic and dedication after receiving a hamstring injury, he insisted in finishing the scheduled shoots for the movie against all odds:
"On Transporter 3, I had been kicking all day long; everything was fine until I did a kick near the end of the day. I tore my hamstring and was in excruciating pain. They offered to find me a stunt double, but I said I wanted to finish it myself. They gave me some extremely strong pain killers. It took me about a year to recover from that injury!"
- Silvio Simac
Producer Jason Ninh Cao approached Silvio for his next project called Iron Monk (2012) to play an antagonist role with Zara Pythian, Mark Strange to take on the mystic Iron Monk played by Shi Yanzi the headmaster of London’s Shaolin Temple in the lead role. Silvio worked with Action Director Vincent Wang (Batman Begins, Sherlock Holmes, Shanghai Knights and Skyfall) on this Kung-Fu tale. Mr Simac was very impressed by Jason’s vision and passion for the production and this was shared by all the outstanding talented cast and crew.
Silvio joined the cast of Man of Tai Chi (2013) Directed and co-starred by Keanu Reeves and Tiger Chen in the lead role. Silvio reflects upon his experience working with Keanu:
"Working with them was fantastic! I have to say Keanu Reeves is the nicest person I’ve ever worked with, he’s very thorough, aware of his angles: he’d come on set and greet me every time asking if I needed anything."
- Silvio Simac
In 2014 Silvio played a supporting role in the sci-fi/action television series Metal Hurlant Chronicles: Season 2, Episode 2 The Endomorphe. The Mighty Dragon embraced his inner Rambo as the character Sant, starring with the legend Michael Jai White, Daniel Shahlavi and Michelle Lee.
Another notable role Silvio portrayed was M. Bison, the infamous villain from the Street Fighter: Resurrection (2016) Fan Fiction movie.
Reunited with co-star Zara Pythian Silvio took on the role in the sword and sorcery movie Knight of The Damned (2017). This was the first time he collaborated with Ross O’Hennessey and Ben Loyd Holmes. Playing the rugged and charismatic character of Thomas as a Knight who joins his comrades in hunting down a dragon for the King. As the story unfolds they are attacked by medieval zombies summoned by black magic. The whole experience was a real pleasure for Silvio:
"To work on a fantasy adventure with a twist of comedy and dress up in a historical costumes was so much fun; it turned me into a big kid. I was nicely challenged to play this role in a genre I was not accustomed to."
- Silvio Simac
Silvio joined many established names including Roger Yuan and Tiger Chen as part of the stunts/action performance team for the epic blockbuster movie John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum (2019). Reunited with the relentless and unstoppable Keanu Reeves, it was also an opportunity for Silvio to work alongside other prominent actors including Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishbourne, Mark Dacascos and many more.
Silvio has recently joined Macmordéan Enterprises debut sci-fi/fantasy/horror feature film The Manifesto Chronicles (in development) and he will be starring as Daos Kabeirio a four-thousand-year-old Champion of ancient Thrace. Stay tuned!
Silvio Simac has earned a reputable name for himself as an essential asset to blockbuster action films, ranging from Asian to French and Hollywood Cinema. He is able to serve movie productions in dynamic roles including stunt/action performer, fight choreographer, personal/class trainer in mixed martial arts and general fitness. His willingness to take on and adapt to any role that fits the Directors vision makes him a reliable and dedicated team member. Mr. Simac's contributions to the martial arts and fitness industries has left an indelible mark on the global stage. Silvio's broad knowledge and passion in the martial arts and philosophy have helped to shape his own character as a positive force with a lasting impact and contribution to everyone he has mentored. It will be exciting to see future action roles The Mighty Dragon will take on blowing us away with yet again another high octane outstanding performance on the silver screen.
About the Author:
Alistair Macmordéan founder of The Manifesto Chronicles multi-media franchise and Heavy Metal band Manifesto, is an aspiring writer. His credentials include a Bachelor of Arts in English/History Majors, with Film and Drama electives. He has also completed a Post-Graduate Degree in Information Studies.
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