22. Can I be like you in three months? By Moxi

22. Can I be like you in three months? By Moxi

 

Hi! My name is Mbuga Moses, although in China everyone calls me Moxi 莫西. I come from Kampala, Uganda, and when I was a teenager in high school, I had a P.E. teacher who was fond of bodybuilding and training. One day, I escorted him to the gym and was extremely inspired by the photos of all those athletes hanging on the walls. As a result, I got interested in this discipline myself. Around the age of 19, Mr. Kasasa started mentoring me. This gentleman was crowned Mr. Africa in Miami back in the year 1978! He is truly my inspiration and was a key pillar to my development as a fitness professional.

 

By the year 2015, I was working with established fitness centers in Kampala, and I decided to register my own brand “Shredded Fitness”. Fast forward to 2018, a good friend who was in China recommended me for a position in Xiamen. China sounded like a great challenge and opportunity, so I packed my things and moved to this stunning island-city. I started working for a fitness center here in Xiamen, and two years later in June 2020, I became a fitness entrepreneur and opened my own facility: Shredded Fitness Studio! This was like a dream to me, and it came true in China!

During my first few years, I realized that gyms in China do very well, but there seemed to be a gap for international fitness lovers. The expat community usually finds it difficult to follow trainings due to the language barrier, so that’s where I found my niche. At the moment, 70% of my clients are foreign and 30% of them are local.

Working in China for four years, I have seen many changes. Compared to Uganda, I can say the fitness industry is more advanced here, but at the international level, there is still room for growth. Professionally, there are many competitions happening around China, so I get more opportunities to compete here. You should see my family! They are so proud of me, they grab every chance to take out their phones and show my pictures to their friends and neighbors back home.

Culturally, I find that there is stigma about obesity and a certain obsession to stay extremely skinny among some young Chinese. Certainly this is caused by trend setters on streaming platforms and social media, who use unrealistic filters, cameras, or even plastic surgery to look a certain way. This is rather unhealthy, and influencers should be responsible and careful about the body image they are portraying. This could lead to eating and mental disorders, instead of an appropriate diet and balanced exercise routines, and that is very undesirable.

Actually, some clients have approached me and asked: “Can I be like you in 3 months?” Naturally, I don’t want to affect their self-esteem, and I am always very cautious and kind and try not to impose my thoughts on them. It is important to use empathy to understand them first, as people already have formed their body self-perception and are aware of their limitations and eating habits (cheat day cannot be every day!).

I have worked with nearly 10,000 people from around the world, and I have learned that respect, kindness, and understanding are the right way to go. Some come to me with the sole goal of looking better, and I try to be realistic and avoid sugar-coating the reality. What I can do for them is to guide them in their journey of adopting a healthy lifestyle with discipline, focus, and patience. Looking better will be the outcome of all that effort. It took me 12 years of self-discipline and “boring” meals, and my weeks consist of 4 days of training, 2 days of resting and 1 recovery day…nobody said it was easy!

So, long story short, yes, you can look like me. But are you willing to commit to a long-term fitness lifestyle? To me, this lifestyle has become like an internalized routine. It’s like paying the bills; one must find space for exercise in the daily routine.

In China, I suffered from an ankle injury and actually tried Traditional Chinese Medicine to help with the recovery. In my experience, you must find the right TCM doctor to help. The first time I tried TCM, they applied a clay-like poultice which smelt like ointment on my ankle for 2 hours, and I was told to keep it on for 24 hours! That first treatment did not seem to help much, but I went on and found a really professional acupuncture specialist and those needles proofed very useful in alleviating the tension and swelling around my ankle. This millennia-old technique is a jewel of the Chinese culture!

Currently, I plan to stay in Xiamen for a few more years. What I love about Xiamen and China in general is the feeling of togetherness and family. Many values of this culture are similar to my own, like respect for and obedience to parents. So now, I consider this place to be my second home, and could not be more grateful for all the opportunities this place has given me.

In the future, I plan to return to Uganda and give all the things I have learned in China back to my community. I want to give seminars focusing on injury rehabilitation and fitness lifestyle, and my biggest goal would be to open facilities for the elderly in Uganda.

 

Story by Mbuga Moses, Moxi

June 2022

 

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