2. Here was the basic schedule today:
4:30am Woke up.
6:00am Headed out to Seoul.
7:30am Arrived in Seoul. Killed time sleeping in the car.
9:00am The boys had weigh-in. We had 4 hours to kill so we went to a PC room and had lunch.
1:00pm Amateur tournament started so we all filed into the super chilly stadium.
1-7pm Watched over 55 two-round boxing games.
7-8pm Tournament finals… so more boxing. One of my fighters made it to the finals.
9:40pm Arrived back in Cheonan.
3. Moments of the tournament that stood out:
* Witnessed 14 TKO (technical knock outs)
* One fighter had to be taken to the hospital
* Youngest boxer, age 7, oldest boxer, age 50.
* It was cool seeing so many boxers but watching young kids clobber each other didn’t sit well with me. I love boxing but something about seeing an 8-year-old kid get knocked out freaks me out.
* 2 players stopped in mid game because they forgot to put in their cup (crotch protector).. so funny!
* Over 200 people in attendance and I was the only non-Asian (dare I say the “f” word)
* Watched over 70 two-round games.
* Someone recognized me in the crowd from my appearance on TV.
* Had two boxing judges question Junior Mint about who I was.
* Met the head ref for the tournament and he said he wanted to ref my next game.
* It was interesting to note that there were no female matches.
* Witnessing my club fighters fight felt so exhilarating... like it was our fight.
* Getting to be the corner coach assistant for my fighters was a great first for me.
4. Hanging out in Seoul with the five high school boys was pretty cool and a lot more fun than I had expected. Each of them knew a bit of English and so together they were able to carry on quite the conversations with me. We talked about things like school and boxing. I teased them about their girlfriends, we chatted about what Canada is like, and who we thought was going to win each fight.
5. Only two of our club fighters were fighting today, Sunny Boy and Gun Shot. Gun Shot’s win was a for sure but I had come to support Sunny Boy. Having watched him go from plump and insecure to fit and more confident, I’ve become somewhat attached to him at the club. He’s still kind of the under dog in his group of friends but he tries hard and he really loves boxing. Today was his first ever boxing match.
6. In some ways I see myself in him and so when he lost his fight today, it felt like my fight all over again. He tried hard to push back the tears as they raised the other boy’s hand but I knew his heart had shattered. He left the ring and headed to the bathroom. I told the other boys to go look after him and when he returned, I sat down with him to tell him I understood. He had come to my fight in February and saw me lose in front of hundreds of people, news paper journalists, sponsors, and on live TV, so if anyone knew how he felt at that very moment, it was me. I didn’t want to tell him that it was ok cause it wasn’t ok. Losing is never ok or acceptable after months of training, dieting and constantly being pushed to the limit both physically and mentally. Some of us take the game very personally, Sunny Boy and me included. It took me a good couple of months before I could even look at my team mates face to face. I told him that it’s not ok and that yes, it does sucks, but even though he may never really get over it, he’ll learn to be better for next time.
7. Gun Shot, as expected, won his fight and I kind of felt sorry for Sunny Boy when it happened. He sat there curled up on his seat beside the ring while the other high school boys jumped up and down and Junior Mint hugged Gun Shot.
8. It had been a super long chilly day and having to sit in an over sized stadium with all the doors and windows open was uncomfortable. But it was a good day. I got to see a lot of really talented amateur boxers… and a lot of not-so-talented amateur boxers too. Some kids in the stands recognized me and so once in awhile they’d shout my name. One of the refs turned around to ask Junior Mint why those boys were shouting my name; he thought I was some kind of celebrity. Hearing Junior Mint tell him that I was a professional boxer sounded great but with it I felt the weight of my club suddenly thrown on my shoulders. I’ll be having my chance to redeem myself soon and it is spooking the heck out of me. I love boxing and I love the intensity and seriousness of the sport, but I can’t afford to lose this time. Boxing broke my heart once and I’m not going to let that happen again… I can’t!!!
9. By the time I arrived back at home, it was late and I was in desperate need of a shower. I had the chills. One of my coworkers had texted me, asking me to come join her. I was so exhausted but promises of oatmeal lured me out and within an hour of arriving home, I was once again heading out.
10. I got oatmeal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And walking downtown with it, I carefully protected it under my arm. It was this massive zip lock bag of oatmeal but it looked like drugs.... hehehe.
QUESTION OF THE DAY…
When is it ever ok to lose?
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
The more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in battle.
-- Author Unknown
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