Joe Taslim: Martial Art and Sport Career
Joe Taslim: Martial Art and Sport Career
Joe Taslim: Martial Art and Sport Career
Joe Taslim
Born June 23, 1981 (age 35)
Palembang, Indonesia
Occupation Actor, model, martial artist, Singer
Years active 1997–present
Spouse(s) Julia Taslim (m. 2004)
Children 3
Johannes "Joe" Taslim (born June 23, 1981) is an Indonesian actor and martial artist of
Chinese descent. A member of the Indonesia Judo national team from 1997 to 2009, Taslim
is best known for his breakthrough role as "Jaka" in the critically-acclaimed The Raid (2011).
Later going on to play "Jah" in Fast & Furious 6 (2013), which marked his first role in a film
outside Indonesia.
Taslim was born in Palembang, Indonesia, the son of Maria Taslim and Mardjuki Taslim.[1]
He was exposed to martial arts at an early age. His martial arts training includes Pencak Silat,
Wushu, Judo, Taekwondo and Shotokan.[2] However, he found his passion in Judo and this
led to his career as a professional Judo athlete. He won several gold medals in national
championships, a gold medal at the 1999 South East Asia Judo championships, and a silver
medal at the 2007 ASEAN Games. Taslim was a member of Indonesia Judo national team
from 1997 to 2009, when an injury forced him to retire.[3]
Acting career
Taslim is active as a model and actor, appearing in magazines, TV commercials and several
Indonesian feature films. In 2010, Taslim won the role of Jaka, a sergeant in a special police
squad, in the award-winning The Raid: Redemption, after a series of impressive fight
auditions and reading.[4] Following The Raid, Taslim took part in HBO Asia's first action
horror film, Dead Mine, which had a theatrical release in selected Asian territories in
September 2012, followed by exclusive television premieres across the HBO Asia
network.[5][6][7][8]
Taslim appeared in the feature film Fast & Furious 6 (2013), as the villainous Jah, a cold-
blooded killer who uses his martial arts and parkour skills to fight two of the film's
protagonists, Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) and Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang).[9]
In May 2013, it was reported that Taslim would star in the action thriller film The Night
Comes for Us.[10] In September 2014, pre-production on the film was halted[11] and it was
reported the script would instead become a graphic novel. In 2016, he played an antagonist
character, Manas, a former first officer of Captain Balthazar Edison (played by Idris Elba),
Anderson Le, turned to be an alien in Star Trek Beyond.
Filmography
Early life
Chris John was born as Yohannes Christian John in Banjarnegara, 14 September 1979, he is
the second son of four siblings of Johan Tjahjadi (aka Tjia Foek Sem) and Maria Warsini.
Boxing has been a part of John's life since his childhood. John's father was a former amateur
boxer in Indonesia. He introduced boxing to his sons, John and his younger brother Adrian, at
an early age of 5. John's Father inspired him by regaling with stories of hard fought battles
and triumphant victories. Given the choice to fight or pursue other sports, John chose boxing
and became an amateur champion in Banjarnegara.[2]
In 1997, Chris caught the attention of renowned boxing trainer, Sutan Rambing. Sutan
recruited John into his gym and relocated John to Semarang, a city in central Java Indonesia.
Sutan served as John's trainer till 2004 and soon after parted ways when John won his first
major world title.[
Professional career
John turned professional in 1997 and was known as "Thin Man" before he proclaimed his
new nickname "The Dragon" that he now uses. In his first professional fight, John won by
knockout, beating a local fighter Word Kanda. In his 6th bout, the reputation of Chris John
rose when he knocked out the national featherweight Champion in a 12 rounds bout,
Muhammad Afaridzi. John was knocked down twice in round one, but he managed to reverse
the situation by knocking Alfaridzi in round 12. According to Chris John, his nose was
bleeding profusely resulting from a broken nose that occurred in the 1st round.[2]
Following the win over Dae-Kyun Park, Chris captured the PABA Featherweight title from
the. John was given the opportunity to fight hard-hitting Oscar León of Colombia for the
WBA featherweight title on 26 September 2003 in Bali. john was The Ring's #8-ranked
featherweight in the world (and #10 pound-for-pound), while Oscar was the #5-ranked
featherweight in the world and #5 pound-for-pound. This was Oscar's second title fight in his
career. His first, losing to then WBA featherweight champion Derrick Gainer in a twelve-
round split-decision.
While both fighters were in their mid 20s, Oscar had several physical advantages over John:
an inch in height and 5 inches in reach. John won by split decision in a 12-round match to
win the WBA Featherweight title.[2]
Trainers in boxing
1984–1997: Johan Tjahjadi (John's father)
1997–2004: Sutan Rambing
2005–2013: Craig Christian
Awards
John was named awarded the Fighter of the Decade for the 2000s by the WBA, in a
ceremony which took place in Panama City on 29 February 2012. This award was previously
held by Roy Jones Jr. for his achievements in the 1990s.[13]
In addition to being a professional boxer, John is also a member of the national wushu team.
His successful achievements as a wushu athlete include:
Bronze medalist, South East Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2001
Gold medalist, South East Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, 1997
Gold medalist, Indonesian multi events games (National Olympic), Jakarta, 1996
Gold medalist, Indonesian wushu championship