Mar 8 was International Women’s Day. In honor of all the Queens who are crushing it and living their best lives, Jingkids will be profiling some of Beijing’s fiercest female entrepreneurs. Like Queen Beyonce says, “Who runs the world? Girls!”
If you know a Girl Boss you think we should profile, don’t hesitate to shoot us a message at editor@beijing-kids.com.
Yonina Chan is a bada$$. A no-nonsense, ridiculously funny, energetic powerhouse. As the general manager and founder of Warrior One and Krav Maga Global’s (KMG) China office, she is fueled by coffee and a deep sense of service to the community she and her husband Von Ng have built.
In her own words, “Warrior One is a community-centered martial arts school and strength training center. Our mission is to help ordinary people train body and mind, and build an unshakeable spirit, through self-defense, martial arts, and strength training.”
This is old-school. No treadmills, pink sparkly one-pound dumbbells, or peppy cheerleaders telling you to “visualize the life you want.” This is legitimate training aimed at building skills and strength. And its devoted community and following are supportive but tough.
But Chan didn’t seek out the fitness industry. In fact, she is a self-described “couch potato” who started her career in journalism. However, when she and her partner had the chance to helm a small KMG studio here in Beijing she took the business reigns while Ng handled the structure and content.
In an attempt to understand the business better and because it was free to train at her own center, she started taking classes. The structure and the challenge of the system got her hooked. “It took several years of physically and mentally demanding training, personal sacrifice, and a lot of much-needed maturity as a practitioner and as a person before I managed to go and thankfully pass a certification in Israel in 2015, and the rest is history,” Chan explains.
But her true purpose is what she refers to as behind-the-scenes work – keeping the school running, documenting and posting to social media, and keeping the books and clients healthy.
“It’s truly not the most glamorous or highest-paying gig, and it’s also immensely challenging to stay on mission given the onslaught of trends, gimmicks, and new social media demands that constantly bombard us.”
When asked what the best and worst thing about being an entrepreneur, her answer was the same for both. “That we are fully responsible for the success or failure of our business… It took Von and me a long time to learn and refine how to run a business. Our journey wasn’t a smooth one, and we didn’t have mentors to guide us. Coming from the technical side of things, we swung from being too precious about our martial arts to trying too hard to fit the market, and everything in between… until we are finally learning how to be business owners without selling our souls.”
So why do it? Why work so hard at an unglamorous, 24 hour a day, seven days a week gig that pays the bills but, by her own admission, might never make them rich?
“Well, because there’s something fundamentally satisfying about the nature of the work we do. It’s a selfish reason, to be honest, but it feels really great to know that the things we do have a real impact on people’s lives. Sure, we’re probably not making huge sweeping social statements or changing the world, but we’re doing what we can to focus on the people who are in front of us… I’ve seen people who’ve transformed so dramatically – built their confidence, improved their mindsets, and boosted their sense of self. We’ve seen people go from frail, uncertain, and fearful of injury, to strong, confident in their abilities, and more knowledgeable about their bodies. It’s a big thing for us to know that what we’re doing works, and that it matters to the people we serve.”
The upcoming International Woman’s Day is about equity and empowerment. And the truth is Warrior One is one of the few places where that is actually achieved. Men and women train side by side, the expectations are the same for both and no excuses or platitudes are allowed. In an industry that is about self-confidence and empowerment, I wanted to know how a truly confident and empowered business owner who happens to be a woman feels about the movement.
There is a lot of lip service paid to female empowerment. But what does that actually mean to you?
Even as I recognize that we need to use the term “empowerment” as a shorthand to communicate what we are trying to do, I’ve long struggled with using it because it’s been a complicated, co-opted term for a long time.
There’s an article from 2003 (almost two decades ago) by the satirical news website The Onion headlined: “Women Now Empowered by Everything a Woman Does” that makes the point rather bluntly:
“Whereas early feminists campaigned tirelessly for improved health care and safe, legal access to abortion, often against a backdrop of public indifference or hostility, today’s feminist asserts control over her biological destiny by wearing a baby-doll T-shirt with the word ‘Hoochie’ spelled in glitter.”
In the most literal sense of the word, empowerment means giving someone power to do something. Empowering women meant fighting against discrimination, fighting for equal rights, equal pay, equal opportunities. In the martial arts world, it should be about helping women build skills, knowledge, and the mindset so they have a realistic sense of their abilities and better understanding how they can navigate the world. But it’s become about a lot of pastel colors, wearing makeup to training, toothless platitudes and self-affirmations, and, worst of all, false confidence. Don’t get me wrong – grabbing a fashionable pair of leggings, finding a great pair of heels, or sharing a well-angled photo of myself gives me a genuine rush of endorphins – but I don’t think it should be confused with something that genuinely empowers women.
How do we achieve that as a society?
I don’t know that there’s a clear answer to this. We try to focus on genuinely trying to help the people in front of us… use our knowledge, resources, and skills to help one person and facilitate a real shift in their lives and their mindset, then at least we know for sure we’ve done something concrete for that one person, right?
Most combat sports are predominantly male-dominated but every time I walk into your gym it’s at least 50 percent women training. Why do you think Warrior One has had such success with women?
What we’re very happy with is the number of women that actually go up the ranks with us and go through the process of learning how to actually fight or defend themselves. It’s both about having a proper pedagogy and space for them to learn, as well as not babying them in training. Sure, you can have pink MMA gloves and a pink mouthguard, but you’ll be expected to learn how to do the strikes, blocks, grappling, etc.… And as a result, you will get better, you will get stronger, you will gain real skills and abilities, and you will reach your goals. I think that’s a more powerful reason people stay, be it women or men.
Women’s bodies carry a lot of cultural baggage tied to unrealistic standards. You work in an industry that deals with bodies and health. How do you balance the aspirational and the realistic in your marketing? How does that marketing differ from the culture you actually have at your training facility?
We’re not exactly a bodybuilding gym, so we’re a bit tangential to that part of the industry. We focus on making people stronger and building real skills. So most people who come to us are interested in our specific offerings and what they can get out of it – they take Krav Maga to learn how to defend themselves, Kali to fight with weapons, Capoeira to do amazing acrobatics, Kickboxing to be proficient in stand-up combat, and Powerlifting to become stronger and prevent injuries in sports and even as we age.
Perhaps the most inspiring thing about Chan is this. She truly strives for balance and integrity in her life. She makes the decisions that are right for her regardless of other people’s opinions or comments. When asked what she does when her definition of personal success and business success don’t align she says, “So far I’ve been lucky that they’ve been able to align. I really try to steer clear of things that don’t fit my values or the journey I see myself taking in life.”
Isn’t that real empowerment, regardless of gender?
KEEP READING: Defending the Day: the Importance of International Women’s Day
Images: Yonina Chan
