Aesthetics sets new hype on bodybuilding scene

ACHIEVING a physique nearly as perfect as Adonis may not seem too hard for Muhammad Firdaus Ahmad.

The youngest in a family of four siblings, the 24-year-old Mirian has always been interested in bodybuilding since he was 16. And thanks to brothers Syallehudeen, Dzulkarnain and Abdul Khalliq, he never had to look too far when it came to nurturing this passion.

“Make no mistake, though. It doesn’t mean I had it easy. I really had to work hard for it,” the chatty youth told thesundaypost.

While still studying for his degree in welding engineering and quality inspection at UniKL-Malaysian France Institute in Kuala Lumpur, Firdaus met Safiq Roslin, the founder of Divine Aesthetics.

“Safiq introduced me to body aesthetics – a branch of bodybuilding that focuses more on form rather than flexing. I was immediately hooked as I had never seen this discipline back in Miri. Workout-wise, it’s rather similar to bodybuilding except that the objective is not to get big, but rather to accentuate the ideal male physical form like that immortalised through sculptures such as Michaelangelo’s David or in Renaissance paintings. It’s definitely my kind of thing,” he beamed.

Being involved with Divine gave Firdaus the push to enter several competitions slated for aesthetics – more well-known locally as badan cantik (body beautiful) – which saw him winning Mr ACT Badan Cantik title in Kuala Lumpur last year and placing first runner-up in Mr Iron Hardcore Fitness Above-170cm category in Kota Samarahan last month.

“It’s always great to win something – more so if it’s for something you are passionate about. Even more delightful is seeing that aesthetics has begun to draw many enthusiasts among Sarawakians. Back in the peninsula, especially in the Greater Klang Valley, the sport is quite established and many bodybuilding championships there include it as one of the categories,” the young muscleman said.

Safiq concurred.

“It’s Divine’s aim to reorganise this sport in Malaysia – just like it has been in the US and Europe. Going by the number of Badan Cantik competitions being held over the past couple of years, it appears aesthetics has been received rather well,” said the 25-year-old who is among key members of Malaysia’s bodybuilding portal TegapTV.

Established in June, Divine is touted as the country’s first full-fledged aesthetics team based in Kuala Lumpur. It now has 30 active members, including Sarawakians.

“Apart from Firdaus, the team leader Muhammad Faris Jonathan Jalin and another member Abdul Warith Abdul Rani are also from Sarawak. In fact, we are planning to come to the state for our gym tour and training. We’ll train, share with and demonstrate to local fitness enthusiasts the basics of body aesthetics. This could be sometime in September next year.

“Also if there are competitions such as the recent Mr Iron Hardcore Sarawak Open, we will come to Kuching next year,” he said, adding that the Sarawak leg would be the fourth proposed outside its home-base apart from Melaka, Kedah and Pahang.

For now, Safiq said Divine’s mission is to promote its team through nationwide gym tours and at the same time, having members stamp their presence by taking part in competitions.

“We’ve also received the approval from the Youth and Sports Ministry on our registration. As such, we are ready to go all out, beginning November.”

Meanwhile, Faris, 31, said as the team leader, he strove to encourage his charges to inspire and motivate those wanting to join the aesthetics bandwagon.

“Those wishing to pursue bodybuilding, especially the youths, can start with aesthetics. The same goes for those who want to look good or aim to land a modelling job. Moreover, aesthetics is also great for women.

“The general aim is to raise public awareness on healthy lifestyle, especially the youngsters. More specifically, we also want to bring our country’s name to international aesthetics and calisthenics (gymnastics-like discipline that stresses solely on own body weights) tournaments.

“Malaysia has already established itself as far as bodybuilding is concerned, going by the number of world-class champions that we have. Now it’s time for us to lift aesthetics. It may be a tall order for now but at least, we have got the ball rolling,” said Kuching-born Faris, who recently clinched the Mr Enrich 2014 championship title in Kuala Lumpur.

Nevertheless, like any emerging sport, aesthetics also has its share of doubting Thomases, many of whom have been calling followers of aesthetics narcissistic beefcakes. Faris laughed off the label.

“To be fair, I believe such remarks could have stemmed from the attitudes of some over-enthusiastic athletes.  I admit several of them are quite over their heads but to be fair, the fault of a few cannot be the sum of all. There are many others who are truly dedicated to this sport. Doing aesthetics takes a lot of hard work. Perhaps, it’s their way of sharing their accomplishments with others that has triggered such a perception.

“Of course, there are also the wannabes who think being gym members gives them the right to brag. These are the narcissistic beefcakes, if you ask me,” he said.

Faris’ assistant Muhammad Ismail Ahmad, 29, said it was all about people’s perception.

“For us in Divine, the mission is to introduce this activity to the public, especially the youths, in the hope that Malaysia could one day make it to the global aesthetics stage. To me, as long as we don’t cross the sports ethics line, we are fine.

“Having said this, I apologise to all if some of us, especially the younger ones, may have offended anyone with their behaviour. I hope fans would see beyond that and instead, take note of the positive things that we are striving to portray,” he said.