A Singaporean Muay Thai Fighter’s Journey To The Top

I think it was because since I was young I grew up in a family that did quite a fair bit of martial arts My dad practised karate and my brother did taekwondo I've seen my brother during his competitions and I wanted to be a part of that So that was my goal To train and to enter into a ring Hi, I'm Lena I'm a Team Singapore Muay Thai athlete I think the interest started when I was very young but unfortunately, I was sickly when I was a child so I didn't even tell my family It's, you know, the very Asian thing where you don't dare to tell your parents because you don't want to get scolded Closer towards the fight it will be six days of Muay Thai (a week) Initially, I guess it was mentally draining because after work, you're really tired and you just want to go home or go hang out with your friends But I guess, discipline is very important No matter how tired I am I make sure I show up (for trainings) and it became like a habit I started to enjoy it Especially after a long day at work you just want to go punch some bags There's a lot of mental strength involved as well My first fight was in Australia I remember when the first bell rang I actually froze I lost it to the Queensland champion then I cried, I was very upset Like of course when you go into a fight you want to win But I lost instead and then I realised that I wasn't good enough yet Sometimes, you really just need to take a step back and reflect on everything that has happened Then you improve during trainings so that the next fight will be better Going onto the world stage I wanted to achieve my goal of standing on the podium Last December I won gold during the Asian Muaythai Championships in Macau So that was the first gold for Singapore on an elite level I think there are no words to describe, like finally reaching your goal of standing on a podium where the national anthem is playing I felt really happy and really proud of what I had achieved After winning, of course there is a lot of pressure but I like to think of this as encouragement to train even harder A fighter is as good as the support team from your home, work to the gym It's all these people who give me the encouragement and back-end support that allows me to achieve my goals I've a lot of people who ask me "So when are you going to stop fighting?" And I say "Until my body cannot take it anymore Then I'll stop."

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