I found a greater purpose in life.

At the age of 17, I was diagnosed with anorexia. Suffering from low self-esteem, my self-worth was always measured by how people thought of me and my looks. When teenage girls started paying attention to their looks, I paid a little too much attention to myself.

I felt ‘abnormal’ being overweight and went on a spiral of extreme dieting and exercise. I survived on one meal of bread and water a day whilst exercising intensely for three to four hours a day, seven days a week.

Within a year, my weight fell from a healthy 62kg to a mere 37kg and I was 2 kg away from death, according to the doctors. Then, my purpose was about living to people’s expectations and society’s notion of what beauty was all about.

Today, I live for a greater purpose – to save lives.

Recovering from anorexia was a long battle, but martial arts saved me from it and gave me a new purpose in life. As I started practising martial arts, i developed confidence within myself.

It taught me that my self-worth was not measured by looks, it taught me to find peace within myself and it taught me to accept myself. Most importantly, through it, I had a greater purpose than myself – to use my skills to save thousands of people by empowering them with self-defence skills.

Together with my teacher, we have co-developed a civilian version of street combatives based on Israeli hand-to-hand combat, French kickboxing, catch wrestling and more, that is simple to learn, somewhat intuitive and brutally effective. We call this Modern Street Combatives.

To date, I have taught thousands of people from all walks of life – from ladies/executives travelling overseas for business or leisure, to students being posted overseas for studies. I use the same skills, to develop the confidence and courage that they never had before. With my newfound confidence, I pushed my boundaries further and became a national wrestler and had the opportunity to represent Singapore in the last South East Asian Senior Championships 2015.

Today, I am a far cry from who I was before. From a skinny girl lacking in confidence, to a social activist seeking to empower ordinary people with self defence skills.