Jason Li (’25) gears up for his pad holding session, eager to alternate 30 minute hitting rotations with a partner for the first time. Midway through the session, his partner lands a particularly forceful hit, causing Jason to momentarily lose his balance. However, he quickly regains his stance and continues the session. Fueled with adrenaline, Jason pushes through the harsh workout, demonstrating the same perseverance he brings to every workout, which drives his continuous progress and growth. 

“The struggle motivated me to try harder,” Jason said. “After witnessing that kind of experience, a lot of people will just give up right there. It made me feel lesser than but it made me realize that there’s big skill gaps to that. Difficulty is a good wake up call to understand the limitations of your capacity.” 

Jason began his avid hobby of Muay Thai, a form of Thai kickboxing, last year. Every time he trains in the gym, he aims to give his all towards his performance. Despite being aware about the skill differences among his opponents, Jason perseveres and is confident in his own potential. 

“The biggest difficulty is putting the ego aside and just stepping in there with the mentality to learn and not have your ego damaged, because there are going to be people stronger than you,” Jason said. “There’s going to be people just objectively better than you, stronger, faster, better technique. It’s an individual journey.”

Ambitious in his pursuits, Jason constantly pushes himself to reach new heights and achieve his far-reaching goals. Close friend junior Mindy Truong recognizes his unwavering positivity, insightfulness and dedication towards his activities.

“He is an optimistic person, and he always has a fresh view on things that a lot of people can’t see sometimes,” Mindy said. “He is also a very driven person. He really commits to things when he does them.”

Looking back at his physique frosh year, Jason feels satisfied with his gym progress since then. To strengthen his joints from his past 12-year sport, swimming, Jason started recreational bodybuilding, along with Muay Thai, to further enhance his overall physical health and stability. Dedicating himself to bodybuilding over the past four years, he acquired a healthy bulk since the start of high school. Jason reflects on the significance of personal satisfaction in his physical appearance, recognizing that only he can direct his fitness journey.

“Realistically, I don’t think anyone is actually going to care that much about how you look,” Jason said. “We often overvalue how much other people will judge us, which is why the rewarding part about bodybuilding is just that. It’s just an internal battle. It’s you against you, and only you can change how you look.”

With aspirations to fight in an MMA organization in the future, Jason highlights the critical role that consistency plays in his training and development in Muay Thai and bodybuilding.

“Both of these sports require a lot of discipline and consistent training,” Jason said. “It’s not like you’re going to train for a week, and wake up the next day, and you’re notably more muscular. It takes years and upon years of consistently resistance training.”

Jason embraces a high level of confidence that enables him to freely share his perspectives, fostering open dialogue among those around him. Gabe Li (’25), Jason’s close friend since frosh year, describes Jason as someone who is highly self-aware and fervent about his ideals.

“He is really in tune with himself and passionate about his own beliefs and ideas, and he loves to spread that around to other people,” Gabe said. “He doesn’t have shame about that.”

Jason looks past the stereotypes many people have about martial arts, such as the idea that it’s overly aggressive. Muay Thai developed him as a person, both physically and mentally. Addressing the common misconceptions, Jason appreciates how his peers in Muay Thai are incredibly supportive to whatever he does.

“A lot of people tend to think that martial arts is violent, or that it makes you impulsive or low on patience, but it actually does the opposite,” Jason said. “All the guys at my gym are the nicest people I’ve ever talked to. They’re the most genuine, patient people ever.”

Close friend Adam Pawliger (’25) has known Jason since elementary school but became close friends with him in frosh year from high school swimming. Reflecting on their growing friendship, Adam observes the meaningful change in perspective of Jason over the past years.

“Initially he was kind of mysterious, but as I’ve gotten to know him more, he’s a really genuine guy,” Adam said. “He’s someone who is knowledgeable in a lot of seemingly random ways.”

By doing these activities, Jason is able to appreciate his own successes and see his progress not just in skill, but in the physical transformation of his body. Jason describes that in bodybuilding, the progress is visible, but martial arts introduces a competitive element, relying on how inner strength matches up against someone else. He explains his point of view of the difference between internal and external competition through his two main hobbies, bodybuilding and martial arts. 

“The most meaningful part about bodybuilding is that you get to witness that change and know that it was your effort that caused it,” Jason said. “Martial arts is a little different because martial arts is one person competing against others. It’s less of an internal struggle and it’s more applicable.”