studying abroad in Korea can be a life changing experience, exposing individuals to new cultures, languages and ways of life. For some, it can also lead to unexpected opportunities and achievements, such as wining a martial arts competition. That’s exactly what happened to the athlete Nuryna, during her studying abroad in Korea. 

In this exclusive interview, Nuryna share her inspiring journey of wining in Mauy Thai competitions and passion for martial arts while studying in korea. We delve into what inspired her to take up martial arts, as well as how her experience in competing has shaped her as a person. And what advises she has for others who are interested in martial arts and competing in Korea.

the following are excerpts from the interview via social media, with Nuryna from 15 MAY 2023. 

So, join to explore this young amazing woman story, and gain some valuable insights into the world of martial arts and studying abroad in Korea. 

Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you ended up in Korea?

Nuryna: Hi I’m Nuryna, a 23 years old student from Malaysia. Currently I’m in my 4th year majoring in Business Administration in Hanyang University. I’m a Youtuber who shares her daily life studying abroad in Korea as well as a content creator on Instagram.  I’ve been wanting to study abroad since I was in middle school and I got the chance to travel to Korea in 2018 and that’s when I fell in love with Korea and decided to further my studies here. I firstly went to Korea University to study Korean language for 2 years, before I continue with my degree at Hanyang University.

Can you tell us a little about the competition you recently participate in too?

Nuryna: I participated in my first Muay Thai competition last April 22nd at Daegu Wolbae Sports Training Center accompanied, and my friend as well as the director of my Muay Thai gym, Fearless Gym Wangsmini. I compete under the -72kg category. The competition started with Amateur Muay Thai fights and proceeded to the Pro Kickboxing fight called MAX FC First League 25.

How do you balance your academic studies with your martial arts practice?

Nuryna: Since I’m in my final year in university, I have a lot of free time. So, it is easy for me to juggle between my studies and training. I would go to class in the morning until afternoon and train at night. And after training, since I have class in the morning, I try not to be with my phone until late night and try to sleep as early as I can to get the required rest and sleep. Time management is definitely important. I always schedule the things I need to do in my Google Calendar to keep track of my schedule.

What inspired you to learn martial arts/sports, and what motivated you to participate in Muay Thai competition in Korea?

Nuryna: I’ve been into sports and martial arts since I was little. I started training in Softball when I was 10 years old, did it for 7 years, tried Malaysian martial arts called Silat Gayong Malaysia, tried handball, won a few medals including a gold medal for my school’s Shot Put competition and many more when I was in Malaysia. In Korea, I joined the Judo club in Hanyang University for one year, before I tried Muay Thai at a local private gym. I just tried them for fun but I end up enjoying it so much and enjoy going to competitions to watch and even participate in fights.

The person that inspired me to participate in the Muay Thai competition in Korea was my friend, Khuc Thinh, who is also my coach. I went to watch his fight in Daegu, which was my first time ever watching a Muay Thai fight in my life, and he was so cool fighting that I thought that I wanted to fight and win like him too. Another person is the director of the gym who would always invite me to watch Muay Thai competitions so that I can get a gist of how the fights work. He had been trying to make me join the fight since the first time I joined the gym because he saw some potential and talent in me.

Can you tell us about your preparation process for the Muay Thai competition?

Nuryna: For us athletes, our daily routine is to train. For me, I would take Muay Thai class in the afternoon for 1-2 hours, run for 1 hour and 30 minutes (around 5-8km) and then do athlete training in the evening from 7 to 9.30pm. That would be my usual routine even if there’s no competition. However, if there is a competition, especially two weeks before the competition, we will train harder during the evening. It includes jump rope, shadow boxing, punching the sandbag, sparring, clinching and pad work. It is extremely hard during the two weeks period, but that is what we need to do to really prepare for the competition. I’m usually the only female training so my partner will always be a guy who is stronger than me. I think that’s how I improve really fast and endure pain better.

Can you walk us through your experience at the competition in Korea, from warming up to competing to winning? How did you feel when you found out that you won the competition? What was going through your mind at that moment? 

Nuryna: We need to come one day earlier for weigh in. At night, I started to feel really nervous for the fight since it’s my first fight. But my friend/coach assured me it’s gonna be fine. On the day itself, we need to do medical checkups first, and then wait for our turn for the fight. I need to do warm up, shadow boxing and some light pad work to get my heart pumping and body warmed up. I tried my best to calm myself down and be present and not too nervous. 

After, I wear all the protective gears, Prajiad (Muay Thai armband), gloves and headgears, I walk up to the ring and get ready to fight. It was a really fast fight compared to the other fights, it was 1 minute and 30 seconds for 3 rounds. It’s really fast so all I could think that time was to get in as much punches to the opponent and gain as much points as I can. For Amateur muay Thai fight, we win through getting points through hitting the opponent. I won through a unanimous decision by the judges. I just felt relieved that time because it’s finally over and I got to rest, but of course I was happy, I got to prove to myself that I can actually do it despite the opponent being taller than me, had more experience than me. 

I got told I have short arms and leg so I shouldn’t be fighting, but I got through it and prove myself that I can actually do it and won, it was really a prideful moment for me. I was proud of myself. Winning a fight was definitely one of my to do list this year. Also, I realized that winning this Muay Thai competition means that I actually won something all through my own effort. Literally through blood sweat and tears. since Muay Thai is something so foreign to me, I really started from the bottom where I really don’t know anything, to learning slowly with my coach, joined the athlete team and finally win my first fight. It is a really prideful event for me.

Speaking of hard times, what has been the biggest challenge or obstacle you have faced in pursuing martial arts/ muay Thai competing, and how did you overcome it?

Nuryna: The biggest challenge is definitely my lack of stamina. We need to run every day to improve our stamina and train our breathing but I was not a person who enjoys running. However, I didn’t put much stress and pressure on myself and just start slowly. Every day I consistently run and I improve every single day. I look at my progress and I was always so proud of my improvements. Other than that, being a female athlete, having your menstrual period is definitely a pain. I would get stomach aches, painful bloating that really hinders my training, I’m more sensitive to pain, and get really emotional easily. I remember crying so badly because I was in so much pain during training but I still need to keep going. And lastly is definitely the cutting season, aka losing a lot of weight. I need to lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time. Strict diet is always the most painful part of being an athlete.

Do you have any specific mentors or role models within the world of martial art or athletics more broadly?

Nuryna: My friend Thinh is one of the people I looked up to. He had more fights than me, is super talented and is a natural fighter. I don’t think I would have even thought of joining a fight if I hadn’t seen his fight that time. Other people that I look up to is one of the Daegu Muay Thai athletes called Eunji Choi from 달서 피어리스집 대구. For international athlete, I look up to the athlete Supergirl Jaroonsak Gym, she is so cool especially her knee attacks.

Are there any specific moments or experiences from your Muay Thai competition that really standout in your memory?

Nuryna: Being the only foreigner joining the competition, especially me wearing a hijab, the people there were staring at me. They were so focused on watching me fight and even took my pictures when I was praying before walking up the ring. The photographer met me after the fight and gave me a thumbs up, acknowledging my fight, the director of the Fearless Gym Daegu branch complimented me saying I have the talent to go further, my friends who came and supported me, even to giving me flowers and took polaroid pictures as if it's a given that I'm going to win and all the Daegu friends that support me really gave me a lot of strength. I was really happy that day after the fight.

What are some lessons you have learned from this competition that you can apply to your martial arts practice and your life in general?

Nuryna: Consistency and hard work will never betray you. I feel myself getting better every single day, improving a lot and even if I didn’t do my best that one day, I still did it. At least I did something rather than nothing. That applies a lot to my daily life. Since I’m a perfectionist, I want to do my best in everything and end up getting stressed most of the time. But through training Muay Thai, I learned that you do not need to do your ‘best’ in everything because it’s going to give you a lot of stress and you end up not doing anything. Doing small little things, small progress, consistently every single day is the best.  

Can you tell us about your future goals in martial arts, and how this competition has impacted your aspirations?

Nuryna: I will just keep on training and learn Muay Thai because I enjoy it so much! I enjoy learning new things that I myself want and not because other people ask me to. I have another fight this June and I’m currently doing my best to train hard and just do my best. Since I’m a very active person who likes to try new things, I might try other martial arts too in the future. Since I already learned Judo and Silat Gayong Malaysia, Jiujitsu or MMA seems kind of fun too.

if you could go back and give your past self (or anyone else starting out martial arts) one piece of advice, what would it be? And What advice would you have for other students/someone who are interested in Muay Thai/ martial arts and competing in Korea but may be hesitant to pursue it?

Nuryna: It’s fine if you don’t do your best every single time. As long as you do it, even if it’s a little, then you’re doing good. You do not need to be perfect every single day. some of my favorite quotes are “Movement creates motivation” and “Actions cures fear”. I will continue to feel really unmotivated if I do not do anything and get stressed if I don't do the things that I need to do. However, when I just forced myself to just MOVE, things started to get done.  For anyone who is starting out martial arts, if there’s a thought suddenly passing through your head saying you want to try a particular martial art. JUST DO IT. I closed my eyes and just joined the Judo club and it ended up being the best thing that happened to me last year.

I met amazing people, learned a lot from amazing Judo athletes, and made a lot of friends. When I thought about trying out Muay Thai, I just did it and tried it. You can stop if you find out you’re not enjoying it. But the most important step is to just start it. Both Muay Thai and Judo, I never had any experience or knowledge about it so I didn’t put expectations on them. But they turn out to be one of the best choices I took in my life. It's just a competition. If you lose, you can try again. Also, do it because you want to do it. Not because of other people. That's how you can get the feeling of worth it and it will help you get through the training, and don't put too much pressure on yourself.