I am officially a member of Team Insider Boxing Club in Poblacion.
After a conversation with some key individuals regarding my boxing and my concern with the lack of attention I'm getting at the Philippine Army, I've decided to take on a new club, a new coach. This isn't to say that I won't still be training at the army because I will be but it won't be my main club and I'll only be there on my "off days".
Team Insider is a little over a 4km walk away from my condo but with my bag stuffed with all my boxing gear it made for quite the trek, not to mention I didn't really know where I was going either. At one point in my journey there, I noticed a guy take note of me, turn around and then start following me. It was right about the time I realized I really didn't know where I was in regards to my route mapped out. I turned, saw a girl walking behind me, and then suddenly latched arms with her and smiled big. "Sorry but do you think you can help me? There's a dude following me and I don't know how to get to this particular street". She was super sweet in giggling and showing me the way.
An hour and a bit later I showed up at Team Insider.
It's a small club that I've actually have visited before but just to check it out. There was no one else training when I arrived there today but there were some coaches sitting around and some pro boxers too. I was introduced to them all.
It's always a bit nerve racking, starting at a new club, going back to being "the new girl" all over again but today it was really good. I did pad work with both of the coaches but it wasn't until I stepped into the ring with the second coach that I really felt like I could honestly be a part of this club.
He prayed for me.
Yes, you read right.
The coach took me to one of the corners of the boxing ring, told me to bow my head and then he prayed for me. Now I'm not a very religious person but I've always had a lot of respect for people who have steadfast beliefs and don't feel the need to apologize or hide them.
It was a great training session. They tested my skills, assessed me, and then pushed me to my max with the last round on the heavy bag. I might not be able to raise my arms for the next week because of it but that excites me, the fact that they really challenged me.
The plan is to train here three days a week, train twice a week at the Philippine Army, and then train once a week at Elite Boxing for sparring and pads with Coach Bogs. Three clubs, one week, but for the next month.
Training suddenly just got expensive. Of course it's a lot cheaper than in Canada but I also was making money in Canada. Anything more expensive than free when you don't have any income though is expensive. Consequently, I've decided to walk every day to training. It works out that I'll be trekking about 50kms a week. "Just take a jeepney or the bus", some friends say. "Just buy a bike", others said. Well, I can't afford training as it is so a jeepney at this point, despite it being ridiculously cheap to the average person, I'm not the average person. I am an athlete and an entrepreneur -- two professions that don't make money until you make it big or make something. So the notion of buying a bike, wow, that's a lot of food I could buy instead. Buying a bike at this point would be pure luxury and part crazy. Luxury because I don't have the money but crazy because I've seen Filipino driving.
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