Athlete and financial advisor Ruth Saunders is an enigma. She is warm, ferocious, vulnerable, fearless, funny and direct. A fighter in every sense of the word, Ruth is no stranger to life鈥檚 occasional inadequacies, but she transforms them into fuel and pushes herself to explore the limits of her strength.

鈥淭here have been some rocky moments in my life,鈥� Ruth says humbly. 鈥淟ifting weights became a natural therapy for me and I think my sports are another huge outlet. You could have the worst day in the world and walk into the gym and you just give it everything you have; leave it in a pile of sweat on the mats and when you walk out, you don鈥檛 have the energy to be anything. It鈥檚 the very best therapy.鈥�

Ruth鈥檚 dedication translates into her day job. She is one of the most proficient financial advisors with (a division of First West Credit Union) and attributes her success to her drive and relentless commitment to everything she does.

And as a busy single mother of two boys, she has learned to tackle the throws of life head-on.

鈥淚 started wrestling in high school. I really liked the physical aspect of the sport,鈥� she says.

From wrestling with the boys in high school, Ruth began training in . For the last 12 years, she鈥檚 worked with a tight-knit group of men in Victoria.

鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to be treated like one of the boys. I have always said, 鈥楧on鈥檛 hold back, don鈥檛 treat me different. Give me 110 per cent like you would any other guy,鈥欌�� Ruth says with an impressive tenacity in her voice.

Ruth explains that her patience and defensive skills give her an advantage as a fighter.

鈥淚 train so much with bigger, stronger, faster guys, I don鈥檛 have a ton of opportunity for offence. I鈥檓 patient. I look for an opportunity to go for a submission. And I don鈥檛 give up. There is absolutely no quit in me.

The athlete divulges proof that hard work pays off with a number of wins in various bodybuilding and MMA competitions. Ruth first discovered her knack for competition in 2010 when she won a round-robin style MMA event.

鈥淭hat event gave me a thrill for competing, and qualified me for the Western Canadians in 2011, in Vancouver,鈥� she says.

The Western Canadians went extremely well for Ruth; she won all of her divisions in the 2011 competition. With two substantial competition wins under her belt, she set a goal to go to the World Martial Arts Games in Austria.

鈥淚 am very goal-oriented. I have always believed in setting a personal goal and going for it.鈥�

Unfortunately, while the tenacious athlete made Team Canada for the World Martial Arts Games, she would never have the opportunity to compete.

鈥淚 broke my leg three weeks outside of the competition. I didn鈥檛 want to pull out. My trainer modified my training so I could keep going. So I kept training and broke it again,鈥� says Ruth.

While Ruth didn鈥檛 make it to the World Martial Arts Games, she was offered a professional contract for an MMA super fight league out of Mumbai, India.

Ruth focussed on her training while waiting for her visa to be processed 鈥� but the Indian Consulate misplaced Ruth鈥檚, her coach鈥檚 and corner man鈥檚 passports for two months.

鈥淭raining for fight camps is no joke. I was so burnt out after waiting those two months that I needed to take a break and be nice to my body,鈥� explains Ruth.

Without skipping a beat, she turned her focus back to bodybuilding and discovered the therapeutic benefits of .

鈥淚鈥檝e always been drawn to very aggressive, adrenalin-based sports. I would sit and watch the kite surfers on Dallas Road after I had started surfing and I was like 鈥業 have to do this,鈥欌�� she says with a laugh.

Ruth learned the sport at Nitinat Lake on Vancouver Island, where kitesurfing schools are located.

鈥淚t鈥檚 terrifying learning when you are so vulnerable and trusting something that can hurt you. And yet learning and realizing you are in control and letting go of your fear and anxiety and be under your own power 鈥� it鈥檚 unbelievably liberating. When taught right, it is great, safe, fun and healing,鈥� she says.

Ruth will be running women鈥檚 weekend kitesurf camps with her girlfriend鈥� who is a professional kitesurf athlete 鈥� with the intention of helping other women.

鈥淪o many women are survivors of emotional, mental and physical abuse in some sense. The one thing that I have found that is so healing, is being out on the water and being under the power of something that is so incredibly strong and freeing, and being able to control that. It is incredible to shift that control.鈥�

She adds: 鈥淢y passion is to work with women who are survivors.鈥�

With an ever-growing list of goals to pursue and lives to change, the evolution of Ruth Saunders continues. Ruth has yet to find the limit of her strength, and her journey to discover the depth of her power as a human being promises to be an even better story in the years to come.

-Story by Chelsea Forman/Boulevard Magazine

Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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