Learn to Fight, Chase Your Dream
For women, practising martial arts can be the first step to becoming bolder, and following their ambitions.
“Punching stuff is fun,” I text my boyfriend as I leave my first kickboxing class, feeling exhausted but elated. I’d just arrived in Phuket for three months Muay Thai training, and don’t yet know that this makeshift, open-air gym will soon feel like a second home. Every day, I’m there for around 4 hours, learning to punch, kick, knee and elbow. I feel uncoordinated and clumsy at first, quickly realising just how much I don’t know, but after two weeks, I can feel myself progressing. I’m filled with motivation, thrilled to be on the path to getting better. Feeling the strength in a kick and a punch, getting back in touch with my own body and realising I am capable of defending myself, feels liberating. I feel strong, and ready to face up to challenges in all aspects of my life.
For women, learning self-defence is about so much more than just being able to kick a guy in the crotch if he molests you — although that is already a satisfying start. It is about taking back your own body, on the one hand, and on the other, about experiencing an empowerment that overflows into other aspects of your life.
