At age twenty-seven, and more than a decade into her modeling career, Mia Kang found herself in Thailand, standing at the edge of a Muay Thai gym thousands of miles from her New York apartment, watching fighters she didn’t know spar and sweat. As she stood there, something primal came over her—the desire to fight.
What began as a short vacation to escape the toxic world of modeling became the start of an incredible journey that would forever change Kang’s relationship to food, to her body, and to her own sense of self.
Mia Kang is many things: a sought-after model, an immigrant, a master’s degree holder, and a Muay Thai practitioner. However, beneath her success is the story of a woman who once lived and died by her weight. In her first book, Knockout, Kang opens up about her struggles with bullying, drug addiction, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts, and how she ultimately eschewed normative body standards and learned to use martial arts to redefine her sense of self-worth.
In a charming, fierce, and intimate voice, Kang invites readers into her life and implores women to seek confidence and live outside the mold of what they’ve been taught is “feminine.” With the strength of one who has fought and survived, Mia shares the lesson that’s kept her going through it all: to not let anyone else dictate who you are supposed to be.