This time, we have the pleasure and honor of speaking with Stella, a Muay Thai martial artist based in Berlin, who also hosts the Muay Thai Martial Arts Team Events.
What is the art or sport you make?
Hi, I am Stella, a (martial) artist based in Berlin. My "Home discipline" is Muay Thai - the art of the 8 limbs - a full contact martial art which uses striking, kicking, knee, and elbow techniques.
How did you find your way to your art and passion?
I have always been an artist as well as an athlete. I find physical presence as a form to create with really fascinating. After I spent my childhood and youth with horse riding, vaulting and acrobatics, I got to know the world of martial arts in my early 20’s.
I dived deep into Muay Thai and found so much in it.
It’s physical presence. It’s grounding myself through feeling and developing true physical strength. It’s performing a beautiful art and there is something very special about contact sports. There’s a lot of trust and intimacy but also rawness and it just gives me a very special satisfaction that I don’t find in a lot of other things.
When I don’t do it for a while, something is truly missing for me.
What is the reason you continue to practice your art and passion?
I expanded to MMA - mixed martial arts - at one point, and I also started to let martial arts inspire my performance art. I started training action performance and stunts.
So I continued my journey of movement and performance from Muay Thai. But my foundation in and my connection to Muay Thai is part of all these things. Coming back to classic Muay Thai training gives me a feeling of nurturing my roots. Nurturing my power.
What is a life well-lived for you?
My life changed a lot when I retired from competing and fighting. Now, a well-lived life for me is a life without too much stress and constant tight schedules. To connect with my arts in a more playful and wholesome way without always needing to match some specific goals. To cultivate a harmonic relationship with my body.
What is your least favorite feeling?
One of my least favorite feelings is stress. I don’t mind working hard - but please don’t rush me! I like taking my time, keeping space to see beauty in details, a beautiful evening light, the shape of a cloud, spending time outdoors.
What is your favorite movie or series?
If I would need to choose to watch one series for the rest of my life, it would be Buffy, the vampire slayer. This series accompanies me since a long time and it’s a pleasure each time again. It aged well, it has great fight choreographies, a lot of action as well as a lot of heart. And some actors speak the accent of my happy place which is the island of Great Britain. I am an absolute lover of the UK landscapes and culture.
If you don’t find me in Berlin: You find me there.
Thanks for your time, Stella!
If you want to meet, train with, and learn from Stella, check out and book her Muay Thai Martial Arts Team Event in Berlin, Germany!