TRAINING in martial arts may have made Jihin “Shadow Cat” Radzuan a better competitor – but it definitely has made her a better person.
She has used martial arts to better her life both inside and outside of the ONE Circle.
“I’m not good at keeping myself motivated, but somehow over the years, my confidence grew day by day,” the Johor Bahru native said.
“I struggle with this topic every time. But, I’m a pretty positive person, so, perhaps I don’t show whether a particular situation is affecting me or otherwise.”
At times, the “Shadow Cat” does breakdown through a training session or even before a clash, but the young lady never allows it to get the best of her during match-ups.
Though it did slightly affect her in her two career defeats against Gina “Conviction” Iniong and Denice “The Menace Fairtex” Zamboanga, the 21-year-old is not bothered about it anymore.
“Sometimes, I guess I’ve just got to suck up the bad moments and visualize that there can be better days ahead. Like I’ve always said, tomorrow is a new day.”
The tough trials she faced in her martial arts journey also kept her on top of her game outside of the Circle.
Jihin may be all smiles, cracking jokes on her social media channels, but her schedule is packed to the brim every day.
Apart from her professional career, she juggles roles as a veterinary student, a full-time veterinary nurse, and coach at Ultimate MMA Academy.
“The tough moments I’ve faced in my fighting career perhaps helped me to be stronger as a normal person. I try to help people every day, even animals, and I think how I perceive these situations these days are very much related to the obstacles I came across in my career,” she said.
“One day I can feel very happy, and one day I just struggle in the gym, but this is the life I chose, so I have to make full use of it.”
2020 could present her more obstacles to turn herself into a more complete individual, and Jihin is more than ready to take the weight of those challenges and start her hike up the atomweight division.
In the meantime, get your martial arts fix settled at ONE: FIRE & FURY in Manila, Philippines on Friday, Jan 31.
