london old videos of her dance performances tell you her movements are graceful her kohllined eyes full of expression her feet are light and airy her posture is petite and delicate and she seems to float along the stage to a beautiful rhythm they do not tell you that she punches hard and could give you a black eye bharatnatyam dancers do not do that do they meet siona fatima fernandes five years ago she lived in goa india and performed the bharatnatyam today shes punched her way to the olympics in london and is representing new zealand in the womens flyweight boxing category the same as indias biggest medal hope in the rope square marykom sionas been boxing for just about twoandahalf years and has achieved much already in bharatnatyam you are never in one position your speed agility and coordination have to be up to the mark i think the skills i picked up in dancing helped my transition so quickly and easily into this sport she says so when did the punching begin i remember the first time i got into the ring in 2009 when i trained for 12 weeks and had my first corporate boxing fight she recalls it was at a boxing gym next to where i worked and anyone could train and fight so i signed up and fought my trainer dylan russell asked me how i felt after the fight amazing i told him and it still is she adds sionas come a long way since then she took up amateur boxing seriously soon after and was trained by chris martin who is still her trainer this is a journey of many that have supported me believed in me and been there over the years she says initially my mum did not approve of me boxing but shes a big fan now dad on the other hand always supported me he would come to my fights and scream the loudest in konkani maar teka maar teka hit her and no one would understand except me she laughs it was hard to manage my work and sport i had two jobs and this expensive hobby i then realized that my life was gearing towards sport so i dropped one job and managed the other and my boxing says the porvorim girl who works as a certified fitness trainer in auckland siona seems to love adventure not long before she discovered boxing she signed up for the new zealand army yes i am a qualified soldier she says with a laugh i completed the rit recruit initial training 1 2 3 and 4 and also the medic core training at the waiouru military base i did it as a personal challenge and it was my first taste of life outside my comfort zone she adds most people at the village olympic village cannot believe im a boxer laughs the petite framed girl with long straight hair and pierced nose they say i must be