1. Off to my Korean tutoring lesson I raced, and with perfect timing too. I arrived with 10 minutes to spare and was super excited to finally start my lessons. My teacher's English name is Ann. We studied for about 2 hours, had a break and then continued. I'm such a geek in that I love learning new things and jam packing my brain with info and so I really enjoyed today's class. Mind ya, I've got like 20 pages of homework plus about 2 pages of sentences to write out and a whole whack of vocab to memorize... oh gosh. No worries... I'm high IQ... hehehe.
2. Met up with one of my friends for lunch. He goes to school in the area and we haven't seen each other for awhile. Since the last time we met, he's gone and got braces and changed his name.
3. Only in Korea would someone change their name because of what a fortune teller says!!!
4. As it turns out, my Adidas boxing gloves aren't so cool anymore. Sure they look super wicked and very stylish... BUT... that's about all they are, sadly enough. Junior Mint doesn't like them because of the wrist section. Instead of the usual wrap-around velcro that most gloves have (which acts as a kind of wrist brace) these gloves don't have that and so they don't give much support. Secondly, the cuffing on it scratches my arm. The reason why I don't like it though, and Junior Mint had a good laugh at this one, was because I couldn't feel my punches. There's too much padding and so when I punch the heavy bag or Junior Mint's pads, I can't really feel it, nor does it give off that loud slapping sound that my other gloves do. So, sorry Adidas but I give your gloves two thumbs down!
5. Wow... if there was anything any one could do or say to motivate me with my training it'd be Sung Min... wow!!! Today I raced to training and was thrown off at the site of some dude loaded down with numerous layers of clothing shadow boxing in the ring. It wasn't until he took his hoodie off that I realized who it was. It was my team mate Sung Min. He's got a big fight this Saturday and so he's been training like an animal and dieting like crazy. In about a month, he's lost 14kg, that's about 30lbs!!!! That's crazy talk! Considering you're only supposed to lose about 2lbs a week, Sung Min has definitely taken dieting to a crazy level.
6. I couldn't help but stare as he trained. Junior Mint totally drilled him. After pushing him to do extra rounds on pad work and shadow boxing, it was clear Sung Min wanted to crash but Junior Mint wouldn't let him. I'm not too sure how long he had been training cause when I arrived he was already far into his training session but I knew he had been there for quite a long time. He was dripping in sweat. Junior Mint then made him spar with one of the amateur members after he had down an already insane workout. It was amazing... purely amazing!!! And so, I stopped my training to cheer Sung Min on. Wow... incredible... really incredible!!!
7. What's more incredible is just how much Sung Min's body has transformed.... wow! A bunch of us already joke around, calling Sung Min "S-line" cause well, he does have a pretty chiseled body. But tonight... wow. Junior Mint had him weigh-in and so he had to strip down to his briefs. We all stopped to stare at his perfectly chis sled body, insane 6-pack, and super ripped muscles. It's funny cause after we all stood in envy looking at Sung Min, we all resumed training but it's like the mood at the gym had changed. We all envied Sung Min and so he acted as pure motivation for us all. I put my hand wraps back on and did some more rounds on the heavy bag.
8. After training I attacked those student reports again... ahhhh. These reports are seriously consuming me. When I'm not at school sitting beside a pill of them, I'm at home thinking about them, marking them, or looking at yet a different pile of them. I can't sleep, I rush home from training to mark them, I can't seem to escape them... I even had a dream of them the other night!!!
9. No sooner had I convinced myself that I'd stop reading student reports for the night but then I noticed the title on another students' report. The title read, "Sports and Michelle"... what?! What's this?! I picked up the paper and curiously read it. It was a 20 page report about me... hehehe. Now, I've had a couple of students write about me but this paper was ALL about me and my boxing. For the most part, the questions were simple but I got a good laugh out of the last two questions:
a. Would you ever want to fight Michelle?
b. Who is stronger, Michelle or your boy/girlfriend?
10. Around midnight I fell asleep on the floor with Mi Nam but at 1am I was woken up by a phone call from Canada. It was J-Boy's sister. I end today's post on a sad note. It is with great difficulty that I write this. I wanted to write a long message but I can't find the words to express myself right now in the manner that I want to. J-Boy's sister called me tonight to tell me that earlier on today, J-Boy was involved in a car crash that took both his life and his girlfriend's life. They were on their way back from their trip in the States when he fell asleep at the wheel. Their vehicle flipped and J-Boy was ejected from it. He landed several meters away and they say that he laid there alive for quite some time before he was discovered but by then it was too late. Now I know many of you don't know him but you are familiar with his writing on my homepage... he's that stubborn mofu that's always quick to diss people who leave nasty comments... yup, that's my J-Boy. He's always been very controversial. When I first met him in university, I couldn't stand him. I was having an argument with his friend when he stepped in and started to shoot his mouth off. I told him to butt out but he only came on stronger. I ended up punching him in the mouth! But, dispite our rocky introduction, we've been awesome friends since. While some mistake his stubborness and strong statements as being rude, I think that's way I like him. I really respect how passionate he is about life and how true he is to his word and who he is. When I got the phone call tonight, I didn't really have any reaction. I felt numb. But now it's sinking in and so I don't know really what to say. It's terrible to realize just how many people I've lost since I've been here... too many. And with every person I lose, I seriously feel my heart breaking. Nothing's worse than not being able to say good-bye and I'd give anything to have one more memory with him. The fact that I'm miles away and can't even go to the funeral to show my respect to him and his family really sucks. That's what breaks my heart, knowing that after all these years he's been here for me but I can't be there for him now. It's the last thing I can do for him but I can't even do that. It flat out sucks... totally.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Will we meet again?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all.
-- William Goldman
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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
Amy I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. I know that you're having a hard time right now but please remember you aren't alone. There's a lot of us back here in good old Canada that love you and think about you alot. Get your ass back in Canada Amy. I miss you so much and so do the rest of the guys at the gym. You are missed alot. More than you know. I really hope I get to see you soon because I've been saving up lots of hugs for you. I have 3 years of hugging to give you. Come cash in on your hugs.
So sorry, Amy.
My heart goes out to you Amy.
You're stronger than this.
Keep your head on straight.
You know you'll get through this.
You know what Am, I wasn't even there when you punched him but I've heard that story from so many people. You're the only one that had the nerve to do what so many people wanted to. You're my hero Am. I think that is why he loved you so much. You were always as stubborn and set-minded as he was. We will all miss him. He was a stubborn ass but he always kept it real. There was nothing fake about him.
In so many ways I see you in him Am. He was convinced that he was going to go to Korea to drag you back here. I don't know if you know it or not but he was planning on coming to spend Christmas with you. He knows that ever since you moved to Korea that you have hated Christmas. You meant so much to him Am. I hope you know that and find peace in knowing that he always respected you and loved you so much. Please don't think about not being able to be here. J-Boy is there with you. He is in your heart and that's all that matters. Carry him always.
I'm really sad to read your post today. I will be thinking about you Amy. Keep your head high!!!!!
Amy,
So sad to hear about your friend. I always enjoyed reading his comments on your page and could tell how much he cared about you.
I know it doesn't help even a little bit and I feel like I keep saying this to you, but I do know what it feels like being so far away when these sorts of things happen. *hugs*
Hey Amos.
Cheer up girl.
You've got God pushing you through this. Friends supporting you. And a whole crew of folk that love you.
You can get through this.
He wouldn't want you to be sad like this.
i love you
<3<3<3
Post a Comment