An 84-year-old Malaysian grandma has proven that age is no barrier to pursuing a dream, after being awarded an honorary Taekwondo black belt following 16 years of training.
Lim Xi Ying (translate) from Pekan Nanas, Pontian, Johor, received an honorary Kukkiwon Taekwondo Black Belt 1st Dan certificate on 6 June at an event held by Yun Long Martial Arts Academy.
The recognition made her the academy’s oldest student to receive the honour.
From pushing a tricycle to learning Taekwondo
Life was far from easy for Lim Xi Ying.
When she was younger, she worked at a pineapple factory for just 25 sen an hour before turning to selling cut fruits, cincau and herbal jelly to support her family.
She and her husband eventually ran a fruit stall together and raised five children. After her husband passed away in 2012, she stopped the business as she had grown older.
Years of pushing a tricycle while selling fruits also took a toll on her legs. She suffered from chronic leg pain for more than 20 years and fractured her thigh twice, requiring surgery.
But even after developing leg problems, she refused to give up exercise.
She started Taekwondo at 58
Lim Xi Ying became interested in martial arts around the age of 58, when her youngest son Wu Tian Fa (translate) was already a black belt and teaching Taekwondo.
At first, she simply helped look after his students during classes. But after watching and following along, she gradually became interested herself.
“I started by helping out, then I slowly became more interested in learning.”
She spent years accompanying her son to different places for classes and continued practising whenever she could.
Despite her age and leg problems, she remained serious about training and even helped younger students with stretching.
She never thought she would get a black belt
Interestingly, Lim Xi Ying never officially sat for a Taekwondo grading examination.
She said she had never considered pursuing a black belt because she worried about what people might say about an elderly woman learning martial arts.
She also pointed out that grading normally requires a sparring partner, which was difficult to arrange given her age.
Her son, however, believed she had already reached a much higher level.
Son says she could be at black belt level 3
Wu Tian Fa, 42, is a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and Taekwondo black belt instructor. He previously trained his own mother and now serves as the academy’s medical adviser.
Based on his own standards as a coach, he believes his mother has skills equivalent to at least a third-degree black belt. However, her health eventually forced her to stop training around 10 years ago. She fractured her thigh again in 2019 and underwent surgery. She now mainly uses a wheelchair, although she can still stand and walk slowly for short distances.
Her passion for Taekwondo, however, never disappeared.
After her story was introduced to international martial arts leader Choi Duk-soo, her case went through around six months of assessment before Kukkiwon approved the honorary black belt.
“This is an important achievement in my life”
When she finally received the certificate, her son said he could see a long-lost light in his mother’s eyes.
For Lim Xi Ying, the certificate represented much more than a martial arts qualification.
She said she had received little formal education and could barely read, which made the recognition particularly meaningful to her.
“This is an important achievement in my life.”
Even today, she remains active in her own way.
She helps with household chores, looks after her three grandchildren and assists at her son’s traditional Chinese medicine clinic.
She also has an interest in herbal medicine and has previously obtained certificates related to the subject, often helping others identify and collect herbs without charging them.
For this 84-year-old grandma, life may have brought plenty of hardships and losses, but she continues to live by a simple philosophy:
“Every morning when I wake up, I treat it as if I’ve earned another day.”
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