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He's happy fighting
By Bryna Sim
The New Paper
Saturday, Dec 03, 2011
HE NEVER thought he would quit school, much less quit school to become a professional kickboxer. But Mr Lenis Lim, 21, has done just that.
On Saturday, the wiry Singaporean will make his debut on the world stage by taking on European professional fighter Sergio Wielzen in the Fighterzone Kickboxing World Series competition. Mr Lim's competitor has won several world championship titles and there is even a Wikipedia article on him.
But Mr Lim is far from daunted.
"I'm excited. I welcome the challenge," he said.
The competition is organised by a local gym, Soul Of Fitness, and will see big names in international kickboxing coming to Singapore, many for the first time.
World-renowned kickboxing organisation K-1's World Max Champions Giorgio Petrosyan, Gago Drago and Andy Souwer will be taking part, and so will Naruepol Fairtex, who was featured in 2007 on the reality show The Contender Asia.
The prize money awarded to the champion of each of the four matches in the competition will be up to $50,000.
In preparation for the showdown on Saturday, Mr Lim - who is 1.7m tall and weighs 60kg - has been given a new name, Sanuk Fighterzone, by his coach.
Sanuk means happy in Thai, and Fighterzone is the name of the team he represents.
But Mr Lim wasn't always happy.
Two years ago, he was deeply dissatisfied with school. Although doing well in Temasek Polytechnic as a second-year business engineering student, he did not enjoy what he was learning.
In June last year, he joined the Soul Of Fitness gym to learn kickboxing with his younger brother, 17, and some friends.Before long, he was hooked, and found himself training four times a week in preparation for his first competition which was in November last year.
He won.
But the win confused him, and he disappeared from the gym after the competition and could not be contacted.
Giving it some thought
"I wanted to think carefully. I wanted to make sure I wanted this. School, or a fighting career? I needed to make a decision," he said.
He chose to give up his studies to pursue his passion for kickboxing.
When The New Paper spoke to him on Tuesday, he said: "This is the first time in my life that I'm passionate about something. I've finally found something I want to fight for."
His coach, Singaporean Nhang Thalung, 36, said Mr Lim's decision is "super rare" for a young man his age. (See report on facing page.)
Mr Nhang was born in Singapore to a Thai father and a Balinese mother.
Mr Lim's parents were less than thrilled about their eldest son's decision to quit school to turn pro. Mr Lim has two brothers, the 17-year-old and a 12-year-old.
Mr Lim informed his mother, a housewife, in person, but told his father via e-mail as he was overseas then.
Said Mr Lim's father, Mr Joel Lim, 45, an engineer: "My heart was pained by his decision. Being a professional kickboxer is not very popular here. Besides, which father would want to bring up their son just to see people hit him for a living?"
But Mr Lim decided to support his son's decision, especially after witnessing him in action at his fights.
"I realised my son has potential," he said.
Mr Lenis Lim went on to win two other competitions in March and July this year.
Since then, he has upped his ante in training, to prepare for this Saturday.
He wakes up at 6.30 every morning, and what follows is an intensive schedule which includes running, boxing, footwork, breathing exercises and even yoga.
He goes to bed after midnight each day at "home" - which is the Soul Of Fitness gym.
The sofa bed in the gym is where he sleeps.
Although he has no complaints about the training regime, he says he misses eating "salty food".
"I eat anything that's salty usually. But now, everything is saltless," he said.
His no-sodium diet reduces water retention and keeps him lean.
As he spoke, a container of what he described as "tasteless beef and vegetables" was given to him for dinner.
His father swings by the gym once every week to take him out to eat.
But even then, Mr Lim can only inhale the scent of food and watch his father eat.
Food is one of the reasons Mr Lim can't wait for the competition to be over. The other is his social life, which is virtually non-existent at the moment, he declared.
He said his close friends will be supporting him at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday. Mr Lim said he's prepared to "have his limbs broken".
He added earnestly: "It's very rare to die in the ring. The worst thing that could happen to me, apart from broken bones, is a concussion."
For the record, he has yet to sustain any broken bones, although he has had to pop his shoulder back in place a few times after dislocating it during training .
Mr Lim is not afraid to lose his debut professional match either.
He said: "If I lose, I just have to try harder the next time. Winning is important, but the fighting spirit to keep fighting is much more important."
[email protected]
This article was first published in The New Paper.
By Bryna Sim
The New Paper
Saturday, Dec 03, 2011
HE NEVER thought he would quit school, much less quit school to become a professional kickboxer. But Mr Lenis Lim, 21, has done just that.
On Saturday, the wiry Singaporean will make his debut on the world stage by taking on European professional fighter Sergio Wielzen in the Fighterzone Kickboxing World Series competition. Mr Lim's competitor has won several world championship titles and there is even a Wikipedia article on him.
But Mr Lim is far from daunted.
"I'm excited. I welcome the challenge," he said.
The competition is organised by a local gym, Soul Of Fitness, and will see big names in international kickboxing coming to Singapore, many for the first time.
World-renowned kickboxing organisation K-1's World Max Champions Giorgio Petrosyan, Gago Drago and Andy Souwer will be taking part, and so will Naruepol Fairtex, who was featured in 2007 on the reality show The Contender Asia.
The prize money awarded to the champion of each of the four matches in the competition will be up to $50,000.
In preparation for the showdown on Saturday, Mr Lim - who is 1.7m tall and weighs 60kg - has been given a new name, Sanuk Fighterzone, by his coach.
Sanuk means happy in Thai, and Fighterzone is the name of the team he represents.
But Mr Lim wasn't always happy.
Two years ago, he was deeply dissatisfied with school. Although doing well in Temasek Polytechnic as a second-year business engineering student, he did not enjoy what he was learning.
In June last year, he joined the Soul Of Fitness gym to learn kickboxing with his younger brother, 17, and some friends.Before long, he was hooked, and found himself training four times a week in preparation for his first competition which was in November last year.
He won.
But the win confused him, and he disappeared from the gym after the competition and could not be contacted.
Giving it some thought
"I wanted to think carefully. I wanted to make sure I wanted this. School, or a fighting career? I needed to make a decision," he said.
He chose to give up his studies to pursue his passion for kickboxing.
When The New Paper spoke to him on Tuesday, he said: "This is the first time in my life that I'm passionate about something. I've finally found something I want to fight for."
His coach, Singaporean Nhang Thalung, 36, said Mr Lim's decision is "super rare" for a young man his age. (See report on facing page.)
Mr Nhang was born in Singapore to a Thai father and a Balinese mother.
Mr Lim's parents were less than thrilled about their eldest son's decision to quit school to turn pro. Mr Lim has two brothers, the 17-year-old and a 12-year-old.
Mr Lim informed his mother, a housewife, in person, but told his father via e-mail as he was overseas then.
Said Mr Lim's father, Mr Joel Lim, 45, an engineer: "My heart was pained by his decision. Being a professional kickboxer is not very popular here. Besides, which father would want to bring up their son just to see people hit him for a living?"
But Mr Lim decided to support his son's decision, especially after witnessing him in action at his fights.
"I realised my son has potential," he said.
Mr Lenis Lim went on to win two other competitions in March and July this year.
Since then, he has upped his ante in training, to prepare for this Saturday.
He wakes up at 6.30 every morning, and what follows is an intensive schedule which includes running, boxing, footwork, breathing exercises and even yoga.
He goes to bed after midnight each day at "home" - which is the Soul Of Fitness gym.
The sofa bed in the gym is where he sleeps.
Although he has no complaints about the training regime, he says he misses eating "salty food".
"I eat anything that's salty usually. But now, everything is saltless," he said.
His no-sodium diet reduces water retention and keeps him lean.
As he spoke, a container of what he described as "tasteless beef and vegetables" was given to him for dinner.
His father swings by the gym once every week to take him out to eat.
But even then, Mr Lim can only inhale the scent of food and watch his father eat.
Food is one of the reasons Mr Lim can't wait for the competition to be over. The other is his social life, which is virtually non-existent at the moment, he declared.
He said his close friends will be supporting him at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday. Mr Lim said he's prepared to "have his limbs broken".
He added earnestly: "It's very rare to die in the ring. The worst thing that could happen to me, apart from broken bones, is a concussion."
For the record, he has yet to sustain any broken bones, although he has had to pop his shoulder back in place a few times after dislocating it during training .
Mr Lim is not afraid to lose his debut professional match either.
He said: "If I lose, I just have to try harder the next time. Winning is important, but the fighting spirit to keep fighting is much more important."
[email protected]
This article was first published in The New Paper.
