National Muay Fighter Lee Seon
If you want something precious, accept the challenge first!
More and more female Korean athletes are making the headlines these days. In speed skating, figure skating, rhythmic gymnastics, the list goes on. There is one Korean female athlete who is training hard to join that list, as a National Muay Fighter. Let’s take a look at the fierce punch of Lee Seon, who is sweating inside her friendly ring to fulfill her dreams.
In the evening, when others call it a day, a baby-faced woman enters the gym with a heavy knapsack on her back. There is no time to rest. Putting aside the books she studied at school during the day, she changes into sportswear and starts warming up. As her seniors and juniors enter the gym, she greets them politely and then again focuses on her training.
Her eyes begin to sharpen. Her name is Lee Seon, and she is a 24-year-old National Muay Fighter living in Seonhak-dong, Yeonsu-gu. The story of why Lee started Muay is worth telling. She didn’t start until after entering college. Today, she is a senior in the Department of Food & Bio Engineering at Dongguk University. Upon entering, however, she thought that she had to find something more attractive than studying.
Lee recalled, “After studying for the college entrance exam and gaining admission, everything felt so vain. I’m a very cheerful person, and maybe I selected a major that doesn’t go well with my personality. Or maybe I didn’t have a clear goal. Anyways, I became less and less devoted to my college life.” Finally, she took some time off from school. Working part-time, she started to look for something interesting.
Since she loved romping around as a child, her mind was filled with the thoughts of finding something active to do. “I was always attracted by the masculine side of women. Without much thought, I banged on the door of the gym. The chief operator of the gym immediately knew what I was thinking. Without thinking twice, I started Muay right away!”
The sport she took up because she found her major boring gave her hope in life. She transformed back into an energetic person, and the results were more splendid than expected.
Now she is a National Muay Fighter in the 51kg weight class. Her record is 14 bouts, 12 wins and 2 losses. So far, she has won the Best Dreamer Award at the 3rd North Face Competition, 1st Place at the National Team Selection Match (51kg weight class) sponsored by Muay Thai Korea, and a Bronze Medal at the 2013 Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games (51kg weight class). The more she trained the more trophies she won.
In fact, she likes the training itself. She enjoys the energy of her body growing as she learns and trains more. However, it wasn’t so enjoyable from the beginning. In her very first fight, she lost. Being a person with a strong desire to win, the defeat came as a great shock.
“I realized that competition demands something far greater than self satisfaction. After my defeat, I trained continuously and improved my skills for the competition. Since my career as a Muay fighter is shorter than most of the fighters, I had to put more time into training and sparring.”
Muay is tough even for men. What does Lee think about Muay? For her, it’s stress-relieving, thrilling, and challenging. As Lee says, “Muay starts with strength, but goes on with endurance.” Lee is currently preparing for international competitions including an away match in Japan.
“I must get more experience in international competitions. Also, I want to help my fellow female Muay fighters have an opportunity to throw their hats in the ring.”
In spite of her baby-face, her aspiration is strong and clear. Her attitude of exploring all of her potentials and challenging the world is quite beautiful indeed.
