The 37-year-old from Kyrgyzstan has been competing since she was five and spent the majority of her life traveling the globe in order to train, compete, and experience the varied cultures that exist around the world. Where fans and observers see Instagram posts from various locations and envision a care-free, jet-setting adventurer collecting passport stamps, the truth is that for Shevchenko, being a martial artist and world traveler go hand-in-hand.
“I would say traveling and training in different places is not just about training camp. It’s more about my lifestyle because for me, martial arts and travel are all the same,” began the flyweight ruler, who logged time in Thailand, Morocco, Las Vegas, and Texas before wrapping up her preparations for Saturday’s clash with Zhang in New Jersey. “It’s me as a person… I feel this is my lifestyle, and I feel it benefits me because I’m learning every single day, not only in martial arts, but also learning about life itself. You can live in one place all your life and think (this is the world), but it’s not. Once you start to travel, you understand how diverse the world is, how many different cultures and many different people we have, how amazing they are.
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“I would say it’s very fortunate to have this opportunity to travel and see the world.”
But here’s the piece that is occasionally missed when wondering aloud about all of Shevchenko’s travels and whether the absence of a dedicated home base and constantly training in different locales is ultimately beneficial or detrimental to her career: everywhere she goes, her head coach Pavel Fedotov is by her side, orchestrating things. And just as many hands make light work, more eyes studying an opponent means more chances to spot tendencies and weaknesses, opportunities to attack, and the best path forward to victory.
