Mr Sham Raaj Elansharan, 28, who came from a single-parent home, had a rough childhood. He was abused by his extended family members, and bullied in school due to his small stature.

At the age of 13, he wanted to learn muay thai to defend himself, and asked his mother to enrol him for lessons.

During his three years at the Bia Muay Thai (BMT) gym in Boon Lay, Mr Sham picked up skills that, unfortunately, got him into trouble with the law for assault-related offences.

Hardened by his childhood experiences, he started picking physical fights in secondary school, and got involved with bad company.

In 2011, when he was 16, he was arrested for robbing people of their iPhones, by luring them to staircase landings of an HDB block in Yio Chu Kang and assaulting them.

It would not be his last offence. From the ages of 16 to 22, Mr Sham served three prison sentences for assault-related charges.

When he was released from prison in 2017 after serving his last sentence, he was desperate to turn his life around.

He returned to his muay thai gym, as he felt it was a place where he could receive the guidance and discipline he needed to leave his troubled past behind. His coach, Mr Bia Sonthaya Dunpheri, took Mr Sham under his wing and taught him how to be a trainer at the gym.

Mr Sham told The Straits Times: “In my eyes, he embodied the upright values that I looked up to. Despite Bia being a good muay thai fighter, he was honest and respectable. I saw in my coach what I aspired to be.”

“He said I was put on this earth to do this (coach muay thai), and that I was a natural at picking up muay thai skills,” he added.

With greater confidence and a new-found purpose, Mr Sham trained diligently to be the best at his craft, and to realise his vision of opening his own muay thai gym one day.

To date, Mr Sham has taken part in 22 fights, with 17 wins from knockouts. He is currently the two-time World Muay Thai Organisation Junior Lightweight Champion of Singapore.

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck and circuit-breaker measures were put in place in 2020, Mr Sham found himself jobless.

Undeterred, he conducted muay thai lessons online, through Zoom, to earn money and keep himself busy. When the circuit breaker measures were relaxed, his students were eager to resume personal training sessions, so Mr Sham had to think out of the box to find a suitable venue.

“I wanted a place where my fighters could train, but I had no gym at the time. So, I bought mats and placed them at the multi-purpose hall beside my block. I made a ring by using hand wraps to cordon off the pillars. That became my first muay thai gym,” said Mr Sham.

Ms Sarah Shaheeda, 42, a pre-school principal, had seen Mr Sham through his evolutionary journey while he was her muay thai trainer at BMT in 2017.

In 2022, they decided to open a muay thai gym together, and achieved this vision in two months.

Said Ms Sarah: “It was something that we have been daydreaming about for years. I saw a potential in this boy to go very far, due to his talent. I wanted to be a well-wisher for him, and helping him to open his gym was my opportunity to do so.”

When deciding on what to call the gym, Mr Sham decided to adopt the name that his mentor Mr Bia had given him – Pornsawan – which means gifted in Thai. He named the gym Gifted Fight Academy (GFA).

Now, Mr Sham coaches people of all ages. He mentors his instructors at GFA to create a welcoming environment at his gym – where trainees can not only acquire muay thai skills, but also learn to be the best version of themselves.

Mr Yaashvasin Saravanan, 20, was selected by Mr Sham to be an instructor at GFA. Mr Yaashvasin said: “Before this, I had no goals in life. When Sham took me in, he gave me a purpose and taught me the value of self-discipline.”

“I saw the positive impact he had on me, and I wanted to have the same impact on others,” he added.

Ms Marilyn Cheng, 43, a humanities tutor, has been practising muay thai since 2008. She has been training with Mr Sham for over two years, and sees the passion he has to help lost kids find their purpose in life.

“He is one of those rare gems who managed to pull himself out of a really bad situation. He exudes positivity and is a good example for youth on how to find your passion and excel at it,” said Ms Cheng.

Mr Arvindran Manoosegaran, 40, an investment manager at a litigation funding company, has been training at GFA for over three years.

He said: “Unlike coaches at other commercial muay thai gyms, Sham is personally invested in the well-being of his students. He has also helped me build my confidence and self-esteem.”

Mr Sham hopes to work with youth at risk, so that he can impart the life lessons that he has learnt the hard way.

He worked with Singapore Indian Development Association – a self-help group for the Indian community in Singapore – in June to conduct muay thai workshops for young people, and plans to give motivational talks to residents of the Singapore Boys’ Home.

“Fighting is not just in the ring. Fighting is about being resilient in life,” he said. “So I want to give them the gift of fighting in GFA.”