If you haven’t notice I am a big fan and practitioner of Muay Thai. However, it was only recently that I started learning the sport. My brother was the one who got me started. He was learning Wing Chun for a couple of months, but decided to switch it up. After a week or two he finally decided to give Muay Thai a shot. I accompanied him and my little sister to Southside Muay Thai & Submission in Toronto, Canada, to try a sample class and get a “feel” for the sport and the trainers. After an hour and a half, I picked them up from class and I will never forget the look on their faces. They were still breathing heavily and the new shirts that they changed into were drenched in sweat, but they had a big smile on their faces as if they just got off a rollercoaster. At that moment I knew that they had fallen in love with the sport and it only took me a day to do the same.

Now this was the first martial art that I studied, so I was a bit nervous at first. I could have given up after the first couple of sessions, but I remained consistent with my training and I stayed with the gym for 6 months. The reason why I stayed was because of the atmosphere at the gym. I was training with fighters of all levels (beginner, novice, veteran, champions) and they were about my age (20-30 years old). We were there because they wanted to learn the sport. In addition, there were some that wanted to improve their physical condition while there were some that wanted to compete at the amateur circuit. However, one thing is for certain, we were all their to be the best. 

In addition, the reason why I continued to train was because I was seeing improvements in the gym slowly transitioning into other areas of my life. (ie. school and work) I became more confident and I started to think positively. 24/7. These improvements were my own doing, but I want to give credit to my coaches at Southside because they pushed me to be the best I can possibly be. They gave me sound advice both inside and outside of the gym. If it wasn’t for my coaches I wouldn’t have developed a passion for Muay Thai which makes training a lot easier. 

• I want to give a shout out to Kru Mikey Perez for turning pro. You can read the article that he was featured in at Muay Thai Authority. Great teacher. Phenomenal fighter. Love and thanks to the coaches at Southside Muay Thai & Submission!