30th SEA GAMES: Myanmar bags seven medals on first of  SEA Games 

As an eight-year-old, who was refused entry into a Taekwondo class as she was too young, Aye Thitsar Mying started practising Wushu after seeing the children performing the martial art in white and red outfits in front of Thuwunna Stadium.

Since then Aye Thitsar Myint’s achievements have improved the country’s image and prestige.

Born on April 24, 1996 in Lashio, she was always nimble and her parents wanted her to try sports at an early age.

“When I was young, I used to watch martial arts action movies and mimicked the stars’ actings. My parents noticed this and I was allowed to attend a sports class,” she said.

Early on, she began admiring the success of senior athletes bsuccess decided to emulate them.

That determination has paid off and she has become a successful athlete in her own right.

However, success did not come easily and she had to overcome difficulties.

As Wushu is different from other sports, she faced numerous obstacles at first but was able to overcome later due to the support of her trainers.

“As time goes on, tshe understanding between the teacher and student increases. Wushu is a little bit difficult. There are many different categories and levels. I also had to become far more flexible than normal. The early days were really hard times,” said Aye Thitsar Myint.

However, even when she cried because of the stress, she never failed to go training the next day.

Despite these hurdles, she was happy during her training. Meditation is an important part of her training.

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As she was in the youth selection team, she had to deal with both Wushu  training and school lessons.

By  10th grade, a difficult choice challenged her.

When she was selected to compete in the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar, she also had to sit for her matriculation exam.

The games were held in December and her matriculation exam was in March. Just three months of preparation for that exam was not sufficient to be successful.

In her first competition, she had to be content with only fourth position which made her very upset.

That sadness made her more determined to get a prize in 28th SEA Games in Singapore  two years later, in 2015.

She had to train for the 2015 competition so she didn’t sit for her matriculation exam that year as well.

The sacrifice saw her winning her first gold medal in that 2015 SEA Games.

She focused again on education as she has achieved her dream in sports, he said.

“I managed to pass the matriculation exam only after a few years of effort. My parents fully supported me. They guided me to pursue my only dream when I was doing the sport. But when I got back to my studies, they didn’t fail to support me either,” she said of her parents’ support.

Her most memorable moment was when she achieved success back in 2015. She was not among the list of athletes who were tipped to win a medal despite the fact that she tried even harder for the medal that she had missed in 2013.

But, her hard work and determination proved worthwhile as it resulted in gold.

“I was very happy to win the gold medal. I hadn’t thought that I would win it. I got the opportunity to sing Myanmar’s national anthem because of the victory.  I was more excited to sing it even though I had done it many times before, and my hands, legs and even my lips were trembling. It was a thrilling moment. That year was the most memorable year in my life,” she told The Myanmar Times.

She believes that her success changed her life. As a result, she gets more support from her teammates, coaches and officials than before, she said.

However, everything is not easy for her. She is still facing other hard things, she said.

“Among our training, jumping is also included. The most difficult one is jumping and spinning in the air. And then I have to land on the ground in the same position. This was always hard for me and I got injured quite often. I had to rest for one or two weeks after every injury. My coach would always encourage me to keep trying even though sometimes I was afraid to try the move. Even though other things were easier for me, the inability to pull off that one particular move troubled me,” she said.

This year she faced more unusual difficulties.

“In the past, I practised and got ready to compete on a schedule, but this year I’m not sure if I will be sent for foreign events. This makes it harder to train.”

“I don’t know whether I need to practise or not as I am not sure if I will get to compete.  The situation is uncertain even for us as national athletes. I haven’t faced such a condition before,” she said.

She practises to achieve goals, she said. Wushu is not like any other sports and requires lot of careful warming up. If a wushu athlete doesn’t limber up properly, he or she could easily get injured. So, they must warm up comprehensively, she said.

In addition to her training, she needs to study the techniques of different Wushu disciplines. Then, she has to do the physical exercises, she said.

“We have many steps to practice. So, two hours is not enough and so it takes us about three hours to practice. We take a break briefly and that is just to drink water. We have to train to maintain our weight and our stamina and I often run around the stadium under the sun,” she said.

The says she also has to be very careful about her nutrition to maintain strength and stamina.

As she has competed abroad, she says she has noticed how careful her competitors are with their diets.

“They know the importance of nutrition. The best wushu exponents know nutrition and diet  have enormous effects on performance. Here, despite training, nourishment is not good enough,” she said.

Moreover, she wants more support for local athletes. She says she feels financial assistance for the athletes is very low and the amount is even worse if a player has family to support.

Such weaknesses affect the performance of exponents. Although athletes want to win medals they they feel the support needs to improve she says.

She has even thought about early retirement due to the difficulties.

“National wushu exponents get K100,000 a month and new exponents get only K 30,000 as assistance. So, sports cannot improve their life and thus fewer young and promising athletes can be produced. The young athletes will look at the national players and medalists and ask how much has their success changed their lives? Most haven’t changed a lot and so, parents will not let their young children get involved in wushu because the sport will not change their living standards. Now, even those interested in the sport stop and opt to focus on their education. So, new exponents are rare,” he said.

She will learn lessons from previous experiences and mistakes to try to succeed again, she said.

The wushu exponent she admires most is Swe Swe Thant who is really talented and one of the best in Myanmar.

Besides this, former national representatives Ko Aung Sithu and Ko Pyae Wai Phyo teach her the changing techniques.

She aims to compete in the 2022 Asian Games but she will have to think again to decide whether she will continue thereafter.

In the coming SEA Games, the host Philippines will not include the type of event she specialises in so she will miss the games, she said sadly.

“Despite the fact that I will miss the SEA Games, I won’t reduce and stop my training. In the latest world tournament, I was ranked one of the best eight in the duo event, so I am allowed to join the world championship which will be held in Japan next year, and I also have a plan to compete in the Asian Wushu Competition which takes place every four years and ASEAN’s university games,” said Aye Thitsar Myint.

She urged those who are interested in Wushu to be steadfast in the face of various challenges.

“Be proud of yourself as Wushu exponent because this sport is difficult to perform. Only if you’re really passionate and determined will you succeed. Think how you would overcome challenges. You will definitely be successful if you persevere,” she suggested.

SITHU AUNG MYO KYAW

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