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Mia Kang doesnt want to be categorized.
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Nor can she be.
My health has suffered from this industry my whole life, she tells SELF.
After losing weight in her early teens, Kang was encouraged to try modeling.
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She had immediate success.
I didnt know what I was doing when I went into my first modeling agency, she says.
I booked my first photo shoot three days later, and honestly the rest is history.
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I grew up in this world, in this bubble, thinking that this is normal, she says.
I was resisting more.
I was emotionally resisting, mentally resisting.
She burst into tears.
Kang ended up doing the shoot, but she knew she needed a change.
Shed reached a low point, even contemplating suicide during a particularly rough time.
She decided to go to Thailand for what she thought would be a 10-day reset.
Thats where she discovered her love of Muay Thai, a martial art also known as Thai boxing.
I just loved how it made me feel.
She ended up moving into the gym and staying for nine months.
Her life became simpler: Wake up, train, eat, rest.
Maybe go the the beach.
I detached from all of it.
I lived a really simple life where I was me.
I really focused on me.
Its no wonder thatKang credits Muay Thaiwith changingand savingher life.
Not only for me but within this world and within this industry, she says.
Shes doing it to help the fashion industry become more inclusive and accepting of all types of bodies.
I’ll do whatever I want to do, she says.
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