After becoming Hong Kong’s first senior fencing world champion, Ryan Choi took on a second arena: Cantopop. For Friday Club’s September cover, he discusses his Olympic ambitions, his self-funded debut, and the discipline of pursuing two careers at once.
Most athletes wait until retirement to explore a second career. Ryan Choi began his while standing at the top of his sport.
In July 2025, Choi defeated Kirill Borodachev in the World Fencing Championships final, becoming the first Hong Kong fencer to win a senior World Championships title and rising to world No. 1. At a time when he had every reason to devote himself entirely to fencing, Choi chose to become a beginner again.
Less than a year later, while still competing at the highest level, he entered the recording studio and introduced Hong Kong to a very different side of himself.
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With another Asian Games approaching and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics on the horizon, the conventional move would have been for the 28-year-old to concentrate entirely on fencing. At the height of his career, Choi instead chose to enter an industry where he would have to prove himself from the beginning.
Music could easily have remained a casual pursuit alongside his athletic career. But Choi set his expectations higher: he wants to succeed in both. That means sustaining the standard he has established in fencing while developing his career in music, without treating either ambition as secondary.
Only months before becoming world champion, Choi had been considering ending his season early. A string of disappointing results had left him questioning whether to enter the remaining competitions, until his coaches convinced him to continue. The decision transformed his season: he won his first senior individual international title at the Shanghai Foil Grand Prix in May, became Asian champion in June and completed the three-month turnaround with his victory in Tbilisi.
Pants: EGOITSELF
His success also secured his place in an unprecedented period for Hong Kong fencing. Cheung Ka-long won consecutive Olympic men’s individual foil titles in Tokyo and Paris, while Vivian Kong claimed women’s individual épée gold at the Paris Games. By becoming the city’s first fencing world champion, Choi contributed a milestone of his own to a generation that has changed Hong Kong’s position within the sport.
Choi is quick to place these achievements within a longer history. He credits the fencers who came before him with laying the groundwork for Hong Kong’s current success as well as creating a stronger path for the generation that followed.
‘To be part of the golden era of the Hong Kong fencing team, I feel very blessed and lucky,’ Choi tells Friday Club. He credits earlier generations with investing years in the sport and passing their knowledge to the athletes who followed. ‘In that sense, we were able to take a shortcut,’ he says. ‘Now we can achieve more and produce better results than before.’
Fencing has shaped Choi’s life since he was nine, taking him from school competitions to the top of the world rankings. Yet reaching world No. 1 did not leave him feeling that his career was complete. Having represented Hong Kong in the men’s team foil event at the Tokyo Olympics, he remains focused on the achievement still missing from his career: an Olympic medal.
‘After reaching world number one, I still want an Olympic medal,’ he says. ‘It doesn’t have to be gold. Even silver or bronze – I would be very happy.’
That goal also brings pressure. Becoming a world champion established a new standard against which each performance would be measured, making every competition another opportunity to prove that he can remain among the sport’s best. To manage that pressure, Choi relies on music and meditation. ‘I handle the pressure by listening to music and sometimes doing a little bit of unprofessional meditation,’ he says with a laugh.
Pants: EGOITSELF
Music, then, was already a personal outlet before it became a career. His path into the industry began when he appeared as a guest at a concert by his friend and former university roommate, MIRROR member Edan Lui. The response to his performance showed Choi that singing could become more than just a private interest.
‘I performed not badly at his concert, and people were quite impressed,’ he recalls. ‘More people realised that I could sing, and then there was an opportunity for me to become a singer.’
That performance gave Choi the confidence to pursue music more formally. In March 2026, he released his self-funded debut single, My Most Hated Male Singer《我最討厭的男歌手》, working with singer-songwriter Phil Lam, lyricist Wyman Wong and producer Edward Chan. He later reunited with Lui for 1206, named after the university room they once shared. The accompanying music video brought them back to their former hall, connecting their student years with the very different careers they have since pursued.
Choi’s music catalogue has since expanded to include Cause of Death Unknown《死因不明》and Break Through the Sky《高空突破》, recorded with Lam as a theme song for Hong Kong television coverage of the 2026 Asian Games. The latter brings his sporting and musical careers together.
Choi funded his debut himself to retain the flexibility required by his training and competition schedule. ‘I self-funded my debut because it would be more flexible for me to arrange my time,’ he explains.
Shoes: Christian Louboutin
That flexibility is essential when both careers place competing demands on his time. Elite fencing requires daily training, recovery and international travel, while music adds recording sessions, rehearsals, performances and promotional commitments. Learning how to accommodate both careers took time. ‘It’s always very hard for me to balance fencing and music,’ he says. ‘I struggled a lot at first because I was very, very busy.’
Several months into managing both schedules, Choi has become more effective at organising his time, allowing more time for rest and recovery. He also accepts that achieving his goals in both fields will demand patience.
‘Now I’ve found a better way to schedule my time, and I’m able to get more rest,’ he says. ‘It’s becoming more balanced. It takes a long time to do well in both careers, so I’m taking my time and trusting the process. Hopefully, one day I can be successful in both industries.’
Pants: EGOITSELF
The discipline required for elite fencing also shapes how Choi approaches music. Years of training have taught him to repeat, refine and perform under pressure – habits that now carry into recording sessions and live performances. Music requires a different form of expression, however. On the piste, success is immediate and measurable: a touch lands, a bout is won and a ranking changes. A song depends on how strongly it connects with its listeners.
His approach to managing both careers centres on making purposeful use of the time available. ‘It takes discipline and focus,’ he says. ‘Don’t waste any time. Remember that you’re doing what you love, so don’t waste any time.’
That sense of patience also shapes how Choi measures progress in music. A concert remains a distant prospect; for now, he has one clear goal: to release a song that becomes widely recognised across Hong Kong.
‘Success in music, at this stage, would be having a very popular song,’ he says. ‘I’ve never thought about having a concert. It might be impossible, or it might just be too long a journey. Right now, I want to have a popular song in Hong Kong. I want everyone in the street to know how to sing my song.’
Choi’s two goals ask entirely different things of him. In fencing, he wants to add an Olympic medal to a career that has already taken him to world No. 1. In music, he wants to hear people across Hong Kong singing one of his songs. A medal is earned touch by touch under the fixed rules of competition; a song takes on a life of its own only when listeners choose to carry it with them.
His focus now turns to the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, where he will represent Hong Kong in September. He is also considering releasing another song in October, although the details have yet to be confirmed. Together, the plans trace a year lived across two tracks – competition dates and creative projects – as both careers continue to develop.
As Choi pursues two careers at once, he remains aware that each requires time, patience and a different way of measuring progress.
What distinguishes him is his willingness to become a beginner again without stepping away from the field in which he has already made history. Fencing has shown what he can achieve at the highest level; music gives him an entirely new standard to work towards. His commitment to both places Ryan Choi in a league of his own.
Hair: Lupus Chui
Catherine Pun
A Hong Kong native with Filipino-Chinese roots, Catherine infuses every part of her life with zest, whether she’s belting out karaoke tunes or exploring off-the-beaten-path destinations. Her downtime often includes unwinding with Netflix and indulging in a 10-step skincare routine. As the Editorial Director of Friday Club., Catherine brings her wealth of experience from major publishing houses, where she refined her craft and even authored a book. Her sharp editorial insight makes her a dynamic force, always on the lookout for the next compelling narrative.
