My name is Aiden Lai, I was born in BC and have lived in Canada my whole life, but have since lived in Airdrie and St. Albert before finally moving to Edmonton. I’ve been training Muay Thai for about one year now, and although I’ve taken some martial arts in the past, my martial arts journey really didn’t begin until I started learning from all of my teachers at Arashi-Do. I tried to get into some other martial arts while I was in BC and St. Albert like Karate and Taekwondo, but I never seemed to feel like I was learning or having fun at those classes. However, just from the first class at Arashi-Do I had learned so much about Muay Thai, and I was even having fun too which are a couple of things which I’d say has greatly contributed to my change of heart towards martial arts.
Learning Muay Thai has taught me how to push myself in a whole new way that I’d never have considered if I didn’t love it so much. I found out about Muay Thai while searching on the internet for something that I could commit to that would make me a stronger person, both physically and mentally. I wanted to jump right out of my comfort zone and do something that I knew I could be proud of one day. The way Muay Thai looked in all of those old clips was fascinating to me, I loved the Muay Shuffle, the tall posture, the armbands, along with the slower but strategic pace of the fights, and I was inspired by the crazy-high number of hours that the fighters put in to mastering their style every day. I remember that before even making the decision to sign up for classes, I had spent half of my summer vacation jogging in circles around this big field in my neighborhood just because I had read that running was an important part of Muay Thai training, and back then I hated running. Now, running is something that helps to calm my mind and it’s become one of my happy places.
Even before I began my journey, Muay Thai and Arashi-Do has helped me to change my lifestyle by inspiring me to not only set goals in the gym but outside of it as well, which I think has helped me to become a better person in many ways. I’ve learned what it feels like to be able to put my time and energy into something I am truly passionate about, which was something I believe I had been missing out on in my academic education. I look forward to continuing my martial arts journey so that I may continue to grow and become the best I can be, and I hope to one day be able to truly test my spirit through competition.
Khun Aiden Lai
