1. Woke up nice and early, jumped in a cab with Milk Dud and then headed to the train station to meet up with others from UP Boxing. Today we were all going to Seoul to watch Min Young’s fight. It was my first live boxing match and so I was super pumped. While others slept on the train, I sat there eagerly anticipating what today would bring. I was way too hyper for the morning… hehehe.
2. Finally we arrived in Seoul and made our way to where the match was. It was being held at the Hilton and so when we arrived, the place was swarming with boxers, coaches, camera crews and lots of other people.
3. Ever since I’ve started training with Junior Mint, he’s really taken me under his wing and has really mentored me. Actually, I guess “molding” would be a more appropriate term… and I love it. Today he kept me close by his side and really encouraged me to experience all I could today and so I did exactly that. It was so awesome.
4. The featured fight of the day was between Kim Eun Young (Korean) and Terry (American). Considering the place was swarming with a few hundred Koreans, four Americans (Terry and her team) and one Canadian (me), I ended up getting quite a lot of attention from the MBC camera crew who initially thought I was there to cheer on Terry… hehehe. And so to avoid any confusion, I made myself one of the loudest cheerers for Eun Young… hehehe.
5. While Milk Dud and I watched from the side, I realized something, crowd goers don’t seem to heckle or boo… hmmm. I tried to tempt Milk Dud with $50 to yell out, “Kill the American” (just as a joke… relax) but he wouldn’t go for it.
6. Finally the moment arrived. It was time for Min Young to fight. As she walked by me I put my hand on her shoulder and told her, “think kill”… hehehe. It’s kind of an inside joke we got going on. You see, at training it’s very easy to get distracted, become relaxed and lose focus, but when you get yourself angry in the ring, it’s like your senses become alert, you throw more punches and your hits become harder. So now, “think kill” is kind of like my new motto for boxing.
7. We all eagerly watched Min Young fight. It was so awesome and I felt like I was right in the ring myself. I was yelling out combos for her to throw, screaming out her name, and punching my fists together everytime she threw a good punch. However, she lost the fight. We all felt so sad. I mean this was her fighting but it was kind of all our fight. The thing that really got to me though was when she sat down and tried to fight back her tears. She only cried for about a minute or two but it really got to me. I mean, it was awesome to see how passionate she was about boxing.
8. It had been a long day, full of yelling and jumping, laughing, cheering, and about 6 hours of hardcore boxing. I learned the phrase “koo pee”, which means “bloody nose”. It seemed like every fight ended in a bloody nose.. it was great! I mean, such intensity and brutal force. I wasn’t so much interested in the dudes fighting as I was with the girls. I ended up talking to this one young female boxer and as a result, they filmed me for her documentary… cool. Later on, I ended up leaving my cellphone in the hotel bathroom. I realized this as I was halfway down the escalator and so, instead of simply taking the up escalator up two floors, I decided to sprint it up both down escalators in stelleto heels. Not only did I end up getting my cellphone back but my picture is now on numerous cellphones in Korea (people watching took pictures of me… oh gosh).
9. Someone had the not-so-bright idea for us to take the subway all the way back to Cheonan… 2 hours later we arrived. I was ready to go home and crash but no such luck… we all went out to eat.
10. As if today wasn't great enough, today Junior Mint told me that he's arranged a fight for me. The deal is, right now I'm listed as an amateur boxer, but on October 5th the Boxing Association in Korea is going to test me. I will have to fight and if I win, I will be granted PROFESSIONAL BOXER status!!!! As you can imagine, I'm totally stoked about this... this is so awesome! Becoming a professional boxer will mean harder fights, paid fights, and no head gear. Wicked!
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
How come Westerners heckle but Koreans don't?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Don't wish me luck-- I don't believe in luck. I believe in myself.
-- Me
As the story has it, one day I headed to the opposite side of the globe – the Flipside. I arrived in Korea February 16th, 2005 and thought I’d do a year, then leave. I was wrong. I stayed, launched my first company, Flipside Fitness, and then opened Korea's largest boxing club, Hulk's Boxing (now called Hulk's Club).
After 11.5yrs in Korea, I then picked up one day and returned to Toronto, Canada. But then I left again.
Now I live in the Philippines where I am the CEO and head coach of Empowered Clubhouse, the Philippines' first and only boxing clubhouse exclusively just for women. I also am the founder of the Lil' Sistas Project, CEO and designer of Slay Gear and Baa Baa Black Sheep .Ph.
2 comments:
I love that you're nearly a professional boxer and you wear stilletos. That's what I call tough feminine. It's awesome.
Good luck!
i dont believe in luck either but i still say goodluck :P
weserners ae mean, bottomline
bman
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