EYE OF THE TIGER

Hailing from Singapore, Japan and Brazil respectively, Evolve Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athletes Darren Goh, Hiroki Akimoto and Alex Silva are proof that the ring demands as much from mind as it does from matter.

- Indran Paramasivam

Competitive sports are both a metaphor for and actualisation of the human capacity for transcendence. But the high stakes receive a further, more dizzying elevation when bodies are explicitly pitted against each other in the win-lose finality of combat. As we celebrate the legacy of the human body this month, we tip our hats to these three fighters who have pledged their bodies to the demands of their calling, and experienced the kind of epiphanies that can only blossom into consciousness when you commit your whole self to your purpose.

Let’s go back to the beginning: what made you want to pursue combat sports? DARREN GOH: I watched a lot of wrestling and action-packed shows when I was young and became an early fan. I was always intrigued and curious about how it would be to undergo and withstand the training and discipline required of a martial artist. I was also very skinny and small when I was younger, and figured I should pick up a sport I had interest in to help build myself up physically. I told my parents and they were hesitant at first as they thought it’d be too strenuous for me, but chose to arrange for a trial and that’s when they found Evolve MMA online. They were not sure of what to expect and definitely had reservations, but when they came down with me on the first day, they realised there were so many other children who were way younger than me, aged six to 10, and that the youngest age you can enrol your child is four. That was when it shifted for them too, and I’ve never looked back since.