He began training in Shotokan Karate at the age of 14 under Sensei Dave Morris and Horace Harvey; and later boxing, kickboxing and Muay Thai at Master Toddy's gym in Manchester.

[citation needed] At 16, Shahlavi started to pursue a career in film and got the attention of Hong Kong action cinema expert Bey Logan in the early 1990s.

[1] After moving to Hong Kong in the mid-1990s to pursue a career in action cinema, Shahlavi was discovered by famed martial arts choreographer and director Yuen Woo-ping, who signed him to play the bad guy opposite Jacky Wu in Tai Chi Boxer.

[citation needed] Shahlavi had done stunts in studio films such as Universal Studios The Chronicles of Riddick, 20th Century Fox's Night at the Museum and Warner Bros' 300 often making an on-screen cameo as an inside joke such as the sleeping guard who can't fight in In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale in which he was the stunt double for Ray Liotta for the fighting scenes with Jason Statham which were choreographed by Ching Siu-tung.

[1] He played Devon in the 2013 film The Package alongside Dolph Lundgren and WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin.