AMMAN — When speaking about
Jordanian women’s participation in martial arts, it’s impossible to ignore Lina Fayyad, the 31-year-old Jordanian champion.
اضافة اعلان
“I began practicing
MMA in 2012,
after previously practicing kickboxing and taekwondo,” recalled Fayyad in an
interview with
Jordan News. “My beginnings in this sport were not easy,
especially given that I am Jordan’s lone female fighter. As a result, I found
it challenging to prove myself at first.”
But gender stereotypes and backlash
did not stop her from rising through the ranks of Jordan’s martial arts scene
and winning the World Professional Arab Boxing Championship that took place in
Amman, in addition to her recent victory in a professional match in the Abu
Dhabi Championship.
Fayyad hails from a family of
sportsmen and women: Her father was a boxer and her mother was an athlete as
well. They supported her as she trained for such challenging sports such as martial
arts. She graduated from the University of Jordan with a degree in English, but
her passion for sports and boxing drove her to study sports online at the
American University, after which she opened her own women’s martial arts gym.
Like many of her fellow athletes,
the pandemic altered Fayyad’s usual routine. “The preparation process was not complete because of COVID’s
repercussions. It took me off training for a long time,” she said. “In the last
championship in Abu Dhabi, I camped for 45 days in Jordan and 15 days in Dubai.
She added that despite the time taken off from her usual training regimen due
to the pandemic, she won several medals and bands for her weight class in
various tournaments. On two separate occasions, she was named the Arab world
kickboxing champion.
But Fayyad’s was not an overnight
success. “Because I am the
only woman who practices this sport (professionally) in Jordan, I do not get as
much support as men do,” she said. “So it is difficult for athletes who devote their
lives to raising the Jordanian flag in international events to continue in the
absence of support.”
The athlete, who seeks to become a
certified trainer, also has interests outside of her MMA career. “I love
animals and care for them a lot, like cats and dogs,” she said, adding that she
also enjoys “driving, camping in the desert, and climbing mountains.”
“Do not let anyone stand in the path of achieving your dreams, and do
not let anyone underestimate your abilities... Everyone has a goal, and you
must commit to reaching it.”
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