Muamer has been involved with martial arts since he was six-years-old; he started with jiu-jitsu in Ottawa.
However, now at 23-years-old and instructing Muay Thai throughout the Valley, Muamer has grown a lot as a person thanks to the training involved with the sport.
In high school he was pressured by his grades and that is when Muamer learned Muay Thai, and martial arts as a whole, is quite therapeutic.
Training also naturally fine tunes the body and Muamer said a healthy body is directly linked to a healthy mind.
The Canadian Psychological Association said being active is directly related to an increase in brain health and reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as depression or anxiety.
He said taking that first step into a new interest can be daunting, but for Muamer it has paid off in community and friendship.
Muamer said being surrounded by friends and community is very important for mental wellbeing; he said nowadays thanks to social media and other modern technology it is now much easier to disassociate from reality.
Screen time can be comforting and it is sometimes a nice distraction, but Muamer said pushing yourself physically really builds character and mental fortitude.
Muamer is a coach here in Renfrew at Renfrew Muay Thai, but recently has spent a lot of time at their new Arnprior location to coach there.
He said people coming in the gym also use martial arts to release built up anger and frustration, but you have to give it your all.
One woman at the Arnprior location came in with a bit of baggage, but Muamer saw her face light up as soon as she was putting those emotions behind her punches.
Another example is when Muamer was living in Ottawa; there was a fighter at the local gym who had apparent self-harm scars but that didn’t stop her from adopting a healthy mindset and then sharing life’s joy with others.
He strongly believes Muay Thai is a cure-all medicine.
Muamer is also known as Coach “Boomer” and can be found training at Arnprior or Renfrew Muay Thai throughout the week.
(Written by Mik Horvath)
