Malaysian brothers: Martial arts changed our lives, helped us overcome bullies

A’mmarul says that his life changed after he took up martial arts, and he became more disciplined, healthier and had a better self-esteem.

If you see the tall and athletic A’mmarul Shafiq Ubaidillah today, you would never imagine that he was bullied when he was in school for being – in his own words – “skinny, nerdy-looking and bespectacled”.

“In fact, I’m one of those who went into bodybuilding and martial arts because I was a victim of bullies,” he shares, adding that he was attacked and picked on in school because of his mixed race and unusual looks. A’mmarul’s father is Malay-Thai while his mother is Filipino.