"I came to the gym and that changed totally.
"If I hadn't found the gym, I'd most likely be a gangster or a drug dealer to be honest. 100 per cent."
Aung was taken under the wing of gym coaches Eugene Bareman and Doug Viney who, after some investigation, learnt of Aung's ill-behaviour towards his mother and worked to get him on the right path.
As Bareman says, sometimes that required some tough love.
"He was really abusive toward his mother and we had to straighten that out," Bareman says. "We did that through the vehicle of fighting and everything involved with that – the discipline, the dedication, the martial arts code of respecting people that have been there for longer than you - all those things he had to be taught and I think at the end of the day all those principles is what turned around that first initial problem.
"I think what he was lacking was a male authoritative figure in his life. I think with me and Doug, that's what we brought to the table more than anything. I think his mum did a very good job with what she had, but I think he definitely lacked that and that's where we filled the gap.
"You could say I've become a bit of a father figure – that makes me sound older than I want to sound – but more of an authoritative male figure in his life that he never had."
After just three months at the gym, Aung began to pester the coaches for a fight. They obliged and found him one.
He was hooked from that moment on.
Now, more than a decade later, the 25-year-old, affectionately known as Sanchai around the gym, is preparing to step into the ring as part of the lightweight tournament on New Zealand's premier kickboxing stage – King in the Ring.
Aung will be one of eight fighters competing for the King in the Ring title on Friday night, in a format that sees the winner and runner up fight three times in one night.
While from the outside, such a set up seems daunting. However, for Aung, it's simply another part of the challenge to embrace.
It's not an uncommon scenario to have young people in similar situations to the Aung was in finding solace in the discipline and respect of combat sports. Bareman says while it doesn't stick for some, others immerse themselves in it.
"We get a fair few kids who for one or another reason gravitate towards the gym, and it's good. I think me and the trainers do a good job at recognising who those kids are and trying to nurture them a little bit," Bareman says.
"It's not for everybody, it's a hard sport, but for a lot of those kids they do find some salvation at the gym.
For Aung, being in the gym gave him a sense of belonging.
"I felt like I was allowed to be in the gym and people were nice to me. At that time, I had just come from Malaysia so I had no actual friends around my age so basically the gym was where I socialised.
"But It's not just Eugene and Doug. It's everyone...everyone just showed me a piece of themselves when I was young."
"The sport itself, I like doing it, but it's the people around it that I love the most."
Bareman says it's been an amazing thing to witness Aung evolve from one extreme to the other. Aung is married and a father, and is able to pass on what he has learnt from the father figures in his life to his son.
"It's been a massive turnaround for him," Bareman says. "He's a mature young man now; from where he started in terms of his maturity to where he is now, they're two completely different scenarios.
"I've known him for a lot of years and there have been ups and downs, but the downs he's used positively to motivate himself and come through them. He's learnt from them; he's grown from them and now he's a fine young gentleman."
King in the Ring 62VI: the Lightweights
7pm, Friday October 2
Eventfinda Stadium, Auckland
Eight-man lineup
David Aung
Nikora Lee-Kingi (reigning lightweight king)
Yassin Yass
Craig Hughes
Andre MacDonald
Dominic Reed
Prashanth Guda
Rasy Soth
