How Martial Arts Helped Danny Kingad Denounce His Vices
After absorbing his second professional loss to Demetrious Johnson last October at ONE: Century, Team Lakay’s Danny Kingad got back in the win column at ONE: Fire And Fury, scoring a unanimous decision victory against China’s Xie Wei.
Kingad now owns an overall record of fourteen wins over two defeats. Life is now good for the 24 year old professional mixed martial artist. But it wasn’t always good, as Danny openly shared with ONE Championship.
“I grew up with a poor family, and it certainly was not easy growing up. There was not always enough food when your family could not find work,” Kingad recalled.
Things got even worse for Kingad however, when his father died when he was the tender age of eight.
“Losing my father was very difficult because I cannot see him anymore. I get some of my motivation from the stories my mom tells me about my dad. My dad and I were very close when he was alive. I am very grateful that I still have my mom, and we are very close.”
During his teenage years, Kingad found himself partying lots, drinking and smoking. However, the turning point in his life came when his cousin introduced him to wushu.
“My cousin wanted me to go to varsity, so I started to train incessantly. He is the reason I spend so much time training. I did a lot of running as well, to go along with my training in wushu.
“I really like how the art of wushu pushes you to discipline yourself. I desired to learn more about the techniques of wushu and to learn more about myself, as well. I needed discipline because, before wushu, my friends encouraged me to go to parties and drink alcohol.”
Now, under the wings of the Philippine’s premiere martial arts coach, Mark Sangiao, and being with world-class athletes every day at the gym, Kingad is inspired to achieve the championship status that his teammates have accomplished.
“I used wushu to help me with my discipline and I am now training in other martial arts because it is a big motivation for me. I saw some of the seniors at school competing, and they are champions now. I wanted to become a [world] champion too,” the Flyweight contender admitted.
Besides from wearing a golden strap around his waist, Danny Kingad wants to look after his family and friends.
“The biggest hope I have for the future is to help my family. I want to get closer to God and help my friends and family who are suffering. I also want to help my brother as a way to pay him back for the support he has given me.”
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