Junior Noah Jones stood in the great crowded hall of the tournament building, preparing himself for his impending doom. His nerves were all on edge as he stared up at the older, larger opponent who loomed over him. The rules were that there could be no hits to the face. Jones knew then he had no chance. He had a gut like a rock; Jones was left with no choices. The man easily destroyed Noah and won the match, but that was just the beginning of his Martial Arts career.

Jones participates in Mixed Martial Arts and Muay Thai. He did MMA for four years and only recently started Muay Thai these past few months. Muay Thai is a dangerous Martial Art; there is no gear and matches take place in a ring. The youngest member of the team besides Jones is 23. Competitors must go up against professional fighters.

“During that time I was just thinking, ‘I’m going to die’,” Jones said. “Afterwards, I was just hit with, ‘wow that was extremely embarrassing. I just got murdered’. It made me want to train harder, which is why I now go to the Muay Thai place.”

Martial arts isn’t just a strict and scary place. Martial Arts is a learning sport which you can always improve. Once you succeed, nothing beats that pride.

“[My opponents] are all professional fighters which is pretty scary,” Jones said. “About a month ago, I was against this one guy named Gabe. He was shorter than me, but really bulky and I got him right on the chin with a kick. He stood there for a moment and then he just collapsed. And that moment was just like, ‘woah I just knocked an adult out and professional fighter out. What the heck?’”

Jones plans to study abroad in Japan next year and continue martial arts. He hopes to try Judo. He wants to do a couple of fights for Yokal, which is a very talented group of martial artists who train in the same place. He would also like to start his own school in the future.

“It’s almost like a way to prove to myself that I’m not weak,” Jones said. “It’s not about winning or losing to me. It’s more about how I felt about it myself. I’ve won a couple of fights where I felt like I didn’t really win. It’s like testing myself and pushing myself harder. And if I ever do get into a real fight on the streets, I can protect myself or someone else.”