When Saif Chafeker faces his opponent on the sparring mat, fitted out in his Kung Fu Sun (uniform), headgear and gloves, he looks just like any other 15-year-old teenager. That is until he removes his gloves.
Born without a left hand due to a rare condition called amniotic band syndrome (ABS), Saif is differently-abled.
Despite this, he has been training and competing against able-bodied athletes, earning gold at two separate international championships in the process.
Come Sunday 4 September, Saif will climb on a plane to Turkey to compete in the IKF World Kungfu Cup as the only youth athlete representing South Africa. But he will not be travelling alone.
At his side will be his proud dad, Muhammad Junaid, better known as MJ Li in the Kung Fu world.
The five-times gold medallist and Legends of Kungfu World Champion will also be competing in the Special Grandmasters and Masters Divisions, but, he says, for him, the upcoming event is all about his son.
“This opportunity will make him see once again that he can go toe-to-toe against able-bodied athletes. We don’t train to win or to get a podium position. I want him to take in the experience, absorb the atmosphere, and to know that if he does experience defeat, it is not failure.
It will make him stronger – mentally, physically, emotionally, and psychologically,” says MJ Li.
When Saif’s mom, Leila Mulligan, was pregnant with him, none of the ultrasound scans showed any abnormalities.
ABS happens when fibrous bands of the amniotic sac get tangled around a developing fetus.
In Saif’s case, the bands were wrapped around his left arm, causing the hand not to develop. With him always lying on his side during the scans, the condition only became apparent when he was born.
Holding their newborn baby, MJ Li and Leila immediately decided to accept the condition.
“This was God’s way of creating him unique. We believe he was born with other unique abilities. And on top of all that, God gave him intelligence and a beautiful character,” says MJ Li.
The martial arts world champion says Saif has taught him what a true champion is.
“He proves to me and to us all that we should rise above our circumstances. He has to put in more effort and time than abled-bodied athletes but in this way, it allows him to deliver his best,” he says.
For Saif, listening to these words of praise coming from his dad is not easy. Usually weary of the spotlight, the shy teenager prefers to spend his time with his friends, watching Japanese anime or reading.
He also has a talent for and loves sketching – particularly Dragon Ball Z characters.
Even though his dad is a martial arts master, Saif says he never felt compelled to take up Kung Fu. It was only when he was seven that he really got into it.
This coincided with his dad offering his time free to teach classes in disadvantaged communities across the country in 2015. Having just returned to South Africa after having won three gold and one silver at the 2014 Legends of Kung Fu World Championships, MJ Li wanted to give something back to the youth, something tangible.
Little Saif accompanied his dad on these trips and it wasn’t long before he started joining the classes.
One-and-a-half years later, Saif participated in a Western Cape Tournament hosted by his dad. With about 100 athletes participating, competition was fierce, but the then seven-year-old boy ended up winning first, second and third place in his divisions.
Having made such tremendous progress in such a short time, it was clear Saif had a talent for the sport.
The boy shares that he trains five days a week, Mondays to Fridays, for two to three hours per day. Training usually starts with Kung Fu cardio exercises, then a sequence of punches and kicks followed by weapons training and finally sparring.
Even though Saif does not have a left hand, he has to strap on a left glove when competing in Chinese kickboxing. His dad says they didn’t have to adjust Saif’s training in any way.
“He has learned to punch with the left, even though there is no fist. He might not be able to give as strong a left punch, but that has made his right even stronger. In Kung Fu, you are also allowed to kick, and maybe it is the proud dad speaking, but for a 15-year-old, his kicks are quite strong. His left arm is also very powerful,” says MJ Li.
With two gold medals won at the International Wushu/Kungfu Championships in 2018 and 2019, respectively, now hanging in his room there can be no doubt that his perseverance has paid off.
“It was my first time competing internationally. I felt very happy and proud that I was able to win gold for the team,” he says.
But he wasn’t always as confident in his abilities. For the first year or so of training, Saif wasn’t sure if he could do it. But his parents constantly enforced his positivity.
“We told him not to hold back. That he was not disabled, that he was differently-abled. That he must continue to push, continue to do his best,” shares MJ Li.
Today his dad and mom remain two of his three biggest supporters. MJ Lee and Leila were amicably divorced in 2012. When MJ Lee got married again a few years later, Saif gained another champion, his stepmom Natalie Doran.
MJ Li says it is Natalie who makes sure that he doesn’t push his students too hard.
After completing school, MJ Li travelled to China. He would spend seven years there training at the Shaolin Temple and with other Chinese Kung Fu masters before returning to South Africa.
He admits he tends to get carried away with his students when he thinks of what it was like for him in China.
“But she reminds me that they are just boys, that I should ease off a little. So when we compete overseas, when the competition is done, we calm down and relax again, we check out the sights,” he says.
Saif says he is very excited but also nervous about the upcoming trip to Turkey. While there, he will compete in three divisions: San da Chinese Kungfu Kickboxing Full Contact, Weapons and Taolu Forms.
He feels that the Taolu (the set routine [form] practice component of Kung Fu) will be his strongest division because he has practised them the most.
The one that Saif is now busy learning consists of 107 steps. “I am going into the competition with an open mind. I am just hoping to try my best and, hopefully, good things will happen”.
