Sheik Farhan

From a young age, my goal in life is to just be the best at what I do, be it in sports or in my studies, and representing Singapore was one step towards achieving that goal.

I started Silat at the age of 3, and I have never stopped since. My father was a Silat champion who made sure that all his children were given the opportunity to practise the sport. Every Sunday, he would take my siblings and I for training and this continued until it turned into a competitive sport for me.

Two of my elder siblings have also won medals for the country, so in a way they’ve inspired me to excel in the same way.

I joined the national team when I was only 9 years old, and in January 2015 I represented Singapore for the first time at the age of 17. It was a valuable experience, despite the fact that I lost. For a 9-year old kid, it was an eye-opener, and a great start to my competition journey. 8 years later, I represented Singapore as a senior athlete in the World Championship and came home with a Gold medal. That was a life-changing experience for me.

In a competition, each round lasts only 2 to 3 minutes, but the competitors spend hundreds or even thousands of hours training for it. The training is always the hardest bit. On top of technique drills and skills sessions, I have gym and weight training 4 days a week, and sometimes my coach will include boxing and cardio in my routine. This happens in 10 sessions from Monday to Friday with the team, and another 4 individual sessions at night or on the weekends at the gym.

Leading up to the competition, training gets more intensive and it’s not uncommon that we stay at the gym – eating, sleeping and training on repeat. This happens 10 to 20 days before the tournament, and we give our full dedication to the sport. During this period, whatever commitments we have are shelved and there is no room for distractions. My focus is always on winning – and that is half the battle won.

Because I’m slightly underweight for my weight class, I also need to make sure that I eat enough to keep my weight in check. I check in with a dietitian regularly to make sure that I am eating the right foods for strength and weight gain, especially leading up to a competition. That also means that I have to sacrifice a fair amount of my social life to prepare for competition. But it is what it is, for if we want to achieve big dreams, we need to put in the same amount of hard work and sacrifice.