Mia Kang (born 30 December 1988) is a British-Swiss fashion model,
Muay Thai
Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...
fighter,
body confidence advocate, and television host based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Kang grew up in Hong Kong and was bullied as a young girl for being overweight. She halved her weight at the age of 13 and was soon scouted as a model. Kang modeled across Asia and Europe through her high school and college years. She got a master's degree in finance and financial law in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, and left modeling to work as a
commodities trader
A commodity market is a market that trades in the primary economic sector rather than manufactured products, such as cocoa, fruit and sugar. Hard commodities are mined, such as gold and oil. Futures contracts are the oldest way of investing ...
, before returning to modeling in New York City and winning the 2016
''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue model search and being named a 2017 Rookie.
Despite her modeling success, Kang was miserable with the
eating disorders that she felt the modeling industry demanded to stay thin, until she took up the
martial art
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...
Muay Thai in
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
. Training and fighting gained her respect for her body, healthy eating habits, weight and muscle. She now advocates for women's body confidence, while continuing to model, and hosting ''
Spy Games
''Spy Games'' (released in some countries as ''History Is Made at Night'') is a 1999 film directed by Ilkka Järvi-Laturi, and starring Bill Pullman, Irène Jacob, and Bruno Kirby. Written by Patrick Amos, the film is about a jaded CIA agent a ...
'', an American
reality competition
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
television series.
Early life and modeling
Mia Kang was born and raised in Hong Kong, though she has
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
nationality
Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...
.
Her father is British and her mother is South Korean; they met while living in Taiwan, then moved to Hong Kong for business.
Both parents were
academics
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
, with her father being a
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
from
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
.
She has four older half-siblings (two half-sisters with the same father and a Taiwanese mother, and two half-brothers with the same mother and a different British father), but they lived in other parts of the world as she was growing up.
As a teenager, Kang studied at and eventually graduated from the international
Island School
Island School ( Chinese: 港島中學) is a co-educational international school located in Hong Kong. It is the founding school of the English Schools Foundation, and is still a member. The school has been accredited by international organisatio ...
in Hong Kong,
but never felt like she fit in. She says the Asian kids would socialize together and the western kids would socialize together, but she was half Korean and half British, and never felt she belonged with either.
Kang grew up bullied and overweight, though a
''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue cover with model
Tyra Banks
Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...
hung on her wall.
When she was 13, a doctor told her she was obese, and at risk of weight related
diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...
. So she went to the other extreme and essentially
stopped eating, halving her weight in a couple of months.
She says that she was around before dropping to around ; she was size 14 and became size 0.
[ Also available as ] At the same time, she grew .
The boys who had bullied her now asked her out on dates.
Getting thin led to her being scouted as a model while still 13 years old, by her dance teacher.
One of her first jobs was a
Levi's campaign, and she remembers being surprised seeing her picture in shops in
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
.
After graduating high school, Kang modeled abroad, in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
,
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, and
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
For several years she was signed with the London Models 1 agency.
Higher education and finance career
Kang studied philosophy and economics at
Bristol University, earning a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
, then got a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in finance and financial law at the
School of Oriental and African Studies
SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...
.
She says her education is the thing in her life that she is proudest of, and intends to return one day for a doctorate or an MBA.
After graduating, Kang left modeling to use her degree in finance as a London
commodities trader
A commodity market is a market that trades in the primary economic sector rather than manufactured products, such as cocoa, fruit and sugar. Hard commodities are mined, such as gold and oil. Futures contracts are the oldest way of investing ...
. She was on the path to becoming a
derivative
In mathematics, the derivative of a function of a real variable measures the sensitivity to change of the function value (output value) with respect to a change in its argument (input value). Derivatives are a fundamental tool of calculus. F ...
s consultant in her mid-20s, when she realized she felt stifled and decided to try the modeling profession one more time.
Return to modeling
In 2015, Kang signed with
Trump Model Management
Trump Model Management, later shortened to T Management, was a New York City-based modeling agency founded by Donald Trump as T Models in 1999. It was closed by Trump in April 2017, shortly after he became U.S. president.
History
In October 20 ...
and moved from Hong Kong to New York City, home of most of the world's top models.
''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'' was her first New York City modeling assignment, and she was the first Hongkonger to become a ''Sports Illustrated'' model.
She also worked in campaigns for
Guess
A guess (or an act of guessing) is a swift conclusion drawn from data directly at hand, and held as probable or tentative, while the person making the guess (the guesser) admittedly lacks material for a greater degree of certainty. A guess is als ...
. In August 2016, she defeated five other models from around the world in a public vote and was named the winner of the magazine's Swimsuit 2016 Model Search, to be featured in the 2017
''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue.
She was also declared a ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue 2017 Rookie.
However, she was very unhappy. She was being asked to starve herself, and go on 10-day
liquid diet
A liquid diet is a diet that mostly consists of liquids, or soft "foods" that melt at room temperature (such as ice cream). A liquid diet usually helps provide sufficient hydration, helps maintain electrolyte balance, and is often prescribed fo ...
s between
photo shoot
A photo shoot is the process taken by creatives and models that results in a visual objective being obtained. An example is a model posing for a photographer at a studio or an outdoor location.
A photo shoot is a series of images that are taken ...
s. It was normal for her to go four days without eating.
She was obsessed with being thinner, and living off of "
Marlboro Lights, black coffee, and alcohol."
At her low point, she was contemplating
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
.
Muay Thai and body confidence
Kang's family have a home in
Koh Samui
Ko Samui (or Koh Samui, also often locally shortened to Samui; th, เกาะสมุย, ) is an island off the east coast of Thailand. Geographically in the Chumphon Archipelago, it is part of Surat Thani Province, though as of 2012, Ko ...
, an island off the east coast of
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
.
[ Kang was taking a 10-day holiday from modeling there in 2016, when she noticed young fighters from a local gym training in the ]combat sport
A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the opp ...
Muay Thai
Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...
by the side of the road, and asked if she could try it; initially just to help her lose more of the weight that she was told she needed to. The coaches were impressed enough by her workout that they suggested she join.[ The 10 days turned into a six or nine-month training camp, of six day a week routines.][ The martial arts training taught her to respect her body.] The workouts were so intense she forgot she smoked.[ She stopped restricting what she ate, added 20-30+ pounds, became more muscled, and gained definition.] Her dress size
Clothing sizes are the sizes with which garments sold off-the-shelf are labeled. Sizing systems vary based on the country and the type of garment, such as dresses, tops, skirts, and trousers. There are three approaches:
* Body dimensions: Th ...
went from a size two-four to a size four-six.
Kang began to alternate her time between training and returning to New York for modeling. She kept training in New York with Phil Nurse
Phil Nurse is an English former Muay Thai kickboxer and an undefeated European Light Welterweight Champion, Double British Champion, and British All Styles Super Light Welterweight Champion. He is the owner and senior instructor at The Wat in M ...
at The Wat, and Hollywood Hino of Church Street Boxing, for about three hours daily, and in Thailand at the Bangkok Yokkao
Yokkao Boxing is a Muay Thai brand based in Thailand.
History
YOKKAO was founded in Bangkok on 1 January 2010 by Philip Villa and Doungjaj Tananan. It began by producing Muay Thai shorts and training equipment. In February 2011, YOKKAO started t ...
and her first gym, Yodyut, on Koh Samui, for about six hours each day. She decided to compete in her first professional Muay Thai fight in May 2017. She would have done it earlier, but her modeling agency objected strenuously; the money wasn't much compared to US modeling fees, and being injured in a fight would put her career in doubt. At least she needed to first shoot the ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue. ''Sports Illustrated'' promised to film the fight for a digital documentary. She took a month long training with legendary Muay Thai fighter Saenchai
Suphachai "Saenchai" Saepong (born July 30, 1980), formerly known as Saenchai Sor. Kingstar ( th, แสนชัย ส.คิงสตาร์), is a Muay Thai fighter of Khon Isan descent. Saenchai won the Lumpinee Stadium title, which is ...
to prepare for her fight.[ Her trainers recommended she "have as much sex as possible" before her fight, to increase ]testosterone
Testosterone is the primary sex hormone and anabolic steroid in males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondar ...
levels.
Kang's first professional fight was on 7 May 2017. She was matched against Thai fighter Nong B, who had 5 bouts experience. She won the second round, then went in with "heavy hands" in the third round, hitting her opponent hard, and winning by technical knockout
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
. After her victory, Kang was excited to continue into mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
, and signed with manager Malki Kawa of leading MMA agency First Round Management.
Kang credits Muay Thai for teaching her to love her body and even saving her life. She became a body confidence advocate, encouraging all women to have strong and healthy bodies. She started her own all-female boxing club in SoHo
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
, New York, called "Killa Girl Gang", after her fighting name, "Killa Kang", for all levels of fitness. She hosted a body positivity retreat on Koh Samui with travel agency 109 World. A May 2018 Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
post in which she compared photos of her emaciated size two, body in 2015 with her size eight, body in 2018, drew 14,000 "likes" and international press coverage.[ Also available as ] Kang was named a 2018 ''Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...
'' Style Hero, and the 2019 ''Self
The self is an individual as the object of that individual’s own reflective consciousness. Since the ''self'' is a reference by a subject to the same subject, this reference is necessarily subjective. The sense of having a self—or ''selfhood ...
'' magazine New Year's Challenge star.
Kang continues to model, but says that her new size, eight or ten in 2018, puts her above the standard model sizes, and yet below the plus-size model
A plus-size model is an individual size 12 and above who is engaged primarily in Model (person), modeling plus-size clothing. Plus-size clothing worn by plus-size models is typically catering for and marketed to either Big & Tall or Tall or Overw ...
sizes, so clients ask that she either gain or lose weight.
In 2020, Kang became the host of ''Spy Games
''Spy Games'' (released in some countries as ''History Is Made at Night'') is a 1999 film directed by Ilkka Järvi-Laturi, and starring Bill Pullman, Irène Jacob, and Bruno Kirby. Written by Patrick Amos, the film is about a jaded CIA agent a ...
'', a reality competition
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
television series on the American television channel Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
*Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
*Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...
, in which ten contestants compete in spy-inspired exercises for $100,000.
Charity work
Kang tries to work with a charity in every country she models in. She supports the Wor Watthana Muay Thai gym that helps children in an impoverished region of northeast Thailand. In 2017, she raised money for a sex trafficking project called "18 for 18 Project Rescue", by skydiving
Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachut ...
from , the highest in North America.
Publication
Kang published a memoir entitled ''Knockout'' in 2020. In her memoir, shediscussed her very personal journey from self-loathing to self-love as she struggled with body dysmorphia and eating disorders in her youth and during her modeling career. Her memoir is centered around her experience with Muay Thai and the positive impact it has had on her life. ''Knockout'' was published by Abrams Books in October 2020, and was met with positive reception.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kang, Mia
1988 births
Living people
Hong Kong female models
People educated at Island School
Hong Kong people of British descent
Hong Kong people of Korean descent
British female models
British people of Korean descent
Swiss people of British descent
Swiss people of Korean descent
Swiss female models
Female Muay Thai practitioners
Swiss Muay Thai practitioners
English Muay Thai practitioners
Hong Kong Muay Thai practitioners
Swiss female martial artists
British female martial artists
Hong Kong female martial artists
British expatriates in the United States
Swiss expatriates in the United States
Hong Kong expatriates in the United States