Justin | Takapuna
“I’m Justin from North Shore, Takapuna. I don’t think there’s really been a situation where I had to do something courageous or brave, like helping someone or anything like that.
Relatively most of my time in New Zealand it’s been peaceful wherever I’ve been. But I know other people’s experiences will be different, depending on the area, I guess. I remember like a year ago I did boxing, and I decided why not do a sparring match, and then I did it, and I got my nose broken. But it was kind of, an interesting experience. So, I guess that’s the closest thing to brave, the courage of me stepping up and trying something new.
I was originally from South Korea, so my parents moved here when I was really young. I was four or five then and I went to a primary school called Belmont Primary, and then for high school, I moved here to Takapuna. Things that are important to me I guess are just relaxing, just having a fun time.
While I was still at uni, like any other student, I liked to procrastinate and watch a lot of YouTube videos. I ended up watching a bunch of martial arts videos, like boxing, MMA, Muay Thai and I saw people like Floyd Mayweather, where they’re dodging everything, blocking everything, Mike Tyson knocking the shit out of people, you know? Prince Naseem Hamed dancing around the boxing ring, and I thought it was really cool, so I might as well give it a go. The first lesson was real tough, I was exhausted already in 20 minutes and couldn’t keep up, but I kept up for about a year, just on and off because of uni. Eventually, I got decent enough, and the coach said, do you want to do a sparring match? And I said, sure. I went, and it didn’t go as planned. Got knocked down a few times. Luckily I never actually got knocked out fully, but I did hit the canvas a few times, and I actually got my nose broken in the process, but I never regretted it. It was actually real fun.
Absolutely, once in a while stepping out of your comfort zone doesn’t hurt. You get a new experience, a kick out of it. You never know what you might like, because originally, I was never really into martial arts. I thought it was kind of stupid, just beating the crap out of each other, but it actually ain’t that bad once you understand it. I’m not saying you should go out and just get your ass beaten. But the exercise is actually very good for you, like training-wise, except for the sparring parts. That gets a bit dangerous.”
