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Yia Mua, a Hmong Legend speaks about his life in and out of the spotlight with 18XEEM.

This interview was published in the July 2007 issue of 18XEEM.

Where were you born?
I was born in Laos on May 18th. Laos fell to Communism on May 15th. Basically, two days after I was born, we left Laos. I came to Thailand and we were over there for 6 months. In 1975, we came to the US. We were the first wave of Hmong immigrants to come over.

What have you been doing?
I’ve been retired for about two years from fighting now. Currently, I’m in financial services. I do real estate mortgage and financial planning.

How did you get into Muay Thai Kickboxing?
It was kind of like a dare. Laughs. I’ve always been in martial art –since I was 9, when I started training. I had a childhood friend who was doing Chinese kick-boxing, eventually he ended up being my trainer. He started competing first though and I would watch him fight, and I liked it. Then when I was 18, I started fighting amateur. At 19, I turned professional.

18XEEM Sponsors Rock & Rose, a benefit fashion show. Come join us on Oct. 10, 2009 at the Warren City Hall and win a custom 18XEEM messenger bag… or just buy your own from our online store!

Like any other language, the Hmong or Mong language, takes time to learn and get accustomed to. One of the most difficult things people have with learning the Hmong language, is the sound, because the spoken language is a tonal language, pronunciation makes a huge difference when you’re trying to say a word. The easiest thing about learning Hmong is, once you master the basics, writing and reading it is extremely easy. Some people spend only a few days learning how to read or write in Hmong, while learning how to pronounce it, can take months or years. Here are some great resources to start off with, if you’re interesting in learning more about the Hmong language.

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