Introducing Two of Korea's Best (Courtesy of Bruceleroy)
Korean fighters have a reputation as hard-nosed scrappers that just don’t quit. I had a unique opportunity to chat with two of Korea’s best MMA exports. One is 5’1”, 110 lbs., wears a dress, and made a name for herself by defeating a DEEP champion in her first match. Her name is Seo-hee Ham. The other is 6’1”, 183 lbs., and is barely known outside of Korea and Japan. His name is Dong-hyun Kim. They both do their training in Seoul, South Korea at a basement gym named Jung Shim Kwan. It’s about the size of an American living room, but is well-known for making champions in Korea.
Being the southern gentleman that I am, I will start with the little ball of left straights, Seo-hee Ham. In February of this year, at only nineteen years old, she stepped into the ring with the much more experienced DEEP champion Hisae Watanabe for her very first MMA match. Seo-hee said, “I wasn’t nervous. I don’t usually get nervous. It was my first fight in seven months so I was hungry for a fight.” It goes without saying a lot of fight fans were shocked when she won the unanimous decision by out-punching the Japanese striker. Not Seo-hee. She didn’t think she would lose because she “didn’t want to lose.” Simple. “I was a little shocked after the fight when I realized what I did.” Understated.
I met Seo-hee when she was a junior in high school. She was a kickboxer even before I met her. She never once trained ground technique until she took the fight with Watanabe. Her “family” at Jung Shim Kwan helped her out a lot with takedowns, jiu-jitsu, and sparring. No other girls in that gym, she had to roll with the boys. Korea is not developing women fighters. She feels “that is what makes it hard to be a female fighter here.”
With such a win, I was curious if she had to deal with the newfound fame that goes with the territory. Seo-hee says, “I have been fighting in Korea for a few years, so I get recognized here all the time. The Japanese girls like me more than the Japanese men do.”
Read more
HERE