It was Fight Day and I was pumped that it was being held here in Cheonan. It wasn't a usual Fight Day for us however, the fights weren't that of boxing but instead were that of Mauy Thai, but we had been personally invited to cheer a friend and it was a loaded tournament.
The tournament was being held in a local Mauy Thai club that originally was a sauna house but then it added a fitness club and then added a Mauy Thai club to its facilities. It's remained all three and is two floors. Instantly, upon walking into the facility I turned to Snickers and said, "respect the club" and by club I meant our club. It's hard not to compare our club with others but our club is still very much a baby and hasn't had time to fully mature and grow up. We are always telling each other "respect the club", a simple reminder to not discredit Hulk's for all that it is and all that it has yet to become but will. We never had the "luxury" of being founded by a group of wealthy business men nor have we had the six years of experience to tweek, fine tune and expand upon our club like this particular club has. We're still working on approaching our second year. They've done good, they've done really, really good for themselves and I was just as inspired as I was intimidated but you can't compare our club to theirs, it's not fair.
The club was pretty sweet, I won't deny it. Definitely a large drop of cash had been put forth to make this place as such. They had a water fountain/statue thingy at the front entrance for goodness sake. "Ya, but we've got the Hulk's halo", Snickers added when I pointed out the fountain. I envied them for the fact that their club was nicely heated and the flooring was done so perfectly, but I snapped out of that moment of envy when I thought about the heating bills and installation bill that came with it all. Suddenly my cold club with it's do-it-yourself ghetto flooring and it's lack of both a heating bill and a installation bill looked pretty sweet.
We were joined by a little over a dozen friends we know and ran into another dozen or so that knew of us but have never really met before, like "fans" and fellow pro boxers. Running into two former Hulkies who have since left our club and joined this club was a bit of a harsh reality check.
Many of our Hulkies don't necessarily care to fight, I know that, but many do, I know that too. We have to give them amble opportunity to step into the ring to spar and more opportunity to explore amateur boxing for those who would like to fight in various tournaments.The two former Hulkies who fought today, I think we lost them because of the fact that they really wanted to fight and we never really gave them the chance to fight. We have Sparring Days on alternating Fridays but it's only been Kato that we've really been encouraging to step into the ring. I aruge we need to get more to step in the ring, even if they're not entirely ready. You'll never been 100% ready to have someone go a few rounds on you but taking that leap of faith and trusting in your training is what will make you improve and become such a better boxer.
This is going to change. This has to change and I'm going to make the change. I've always been about the old member, holding on to members so that we can establish "regular members". Snickers has been about getting in new members. Today I won our ongoing argument about the two types of members when we saw one of our former Hulkies stepped into the ring to fight. I was proud to watch him fight but couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed in myself and responsible for them leaving the club to go elsewhere. So, on that note, Snickers' huge idea with expanding upon the club to the upstairs floor has been officially put on hold while he attacks and conqours some ideas I have with upping the quality of our club for our current members. First thing on the list, getting more Hulkies to participate in whatever amateur tournament comes up next.
4hrs, 6 different clubs participating, 14 friends, 24 fights, 48 fighters, 3 friends who fought and won their fights, one Mauy Thai fitness center that was as intimidating as it was inspiring, and one overly delish dinner at a gorgeous mountainside restaurant = one sweet Sunday in Cheonan!!!
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