His heart is pounds in his ears as he silently prays to God to get him through this fight without getting seriously injured. Finally, he steps into the ring, ready for the fight to begin.

Senior RJ Muncy has participated in Sanshou, or Chinese kick boxing, since he was 10 years old. Now, he is a member of the national team and travels to other countries to compete.

“The reason I fight is to prove to everybody else that I am something,” Muncy said. “I’m not just some normal person that has an everyday life. I want to do something different than everybody else is doing.”

Muncy said he began learning Sanshou when he began fighting with his brother at home and after he was being bullied at school.

“He was always bigger than I was, and I just wanted something that I could use to possibly even out the battlefield,” Muncy said.

Later, Muncy’s brother also started participating in Sanshou and began competing with him.

“Three to five months after we started, my coach wanted me and my brother to be his first kid fighters,” Muncy said. “We fought in Tulsa, Oklahoma for one of the big tournaments that they have every year.”

Muncy said he got first place five times at the Oklahoma tournament. After a while, Muncy’s brother stopped fighting, but Muncy continued, eventually joining the national team and traveling to Turkey to compete.

“The worst part of training is cutting the weight,” Muncy said. “For my Turkey fight, I had to lose 20 pounds to get to my weight class. Every day, for about two and a half months, I would eat a slice of toasted bread, with the occasional peanut butter on it when my coach would allow me. For lunch and dinner I would have a small can of tuna and three crackers.”

At the Turkey tournament, Muncy said he had to lose six more pounds by using laxatives and spending time in a sauna.

“According to my coach and other witnesses, I was trying to break the door so I could leave because it was so hot,” Muncy said. “The system was that we would go in the sauna for 15 minutes and then come out to cool off in a freezing cold shower for five to seven minutes and then back in the sauna. After the fourth time in there, I started to hallucinate and beat the door. After about five minutes, I gave up and sat back down. Two minutes later, I started singing.”

Muncy did lose the six pounds but did not place in the competition. Before a fight, Muncy said he is really nervous, not because he is scared to lose, but rather scared to let his coach, teammates and himself down.

“I want everyone to know who we are when I fight,” Muncy said. “I feel that if I can get that done, win or lose, I have done what I wanted. Winning is just a result of putting my practice and my faith in God, my coach and myself.”