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.

Monday, August 04, 2014

Is That ALL You Got?!... Monday, August 4

Just as expected, Friday's drama concerning one of our mini Hulkies got carried over the weekend and dragged into today.  We kept our club doors closed and locked right up until official opening hours on account that we anticipated our much needed cleaning and prep time to be interrupted by the father of this particular mini Hulkie.  Mondays are extra long and extra brutal for setting up so we just couldn't have that.  I'm not sure if he dropped by but right before opening time he called.  

He called, saying he was calmer but that didn't stop him from arguing up a storm, again.

This one phone call and the dragging out of what should have, could have and would have been an easily nipped in the butt situation instantly put me in a funk for my workout.  And the funk didn't end there, oh no. It hovered over my head long into the evening.  I tried to use it as fuel for my own workout, and envision me having to fight him but.  That really only served to exhaust me because it meant all my hits to the sandbag were thrown with full power on my behalf.  

When his son, our now former mini Hulkie, started text messaging me, then my frustration with the situation turned to sadness and even more frustration.  I still wonder, now more than ever, how this kid came out so good?!  Snickers told me not to respond to his texts but there were innocent ones like asking me what I'm doing, am I busy and telling me that he missed boxing.  I felt so bad for him and really do wonder what his father told him with why he can't come boxing anymore.  He's a good kid and perhaps his handicap isn't that he's mentally challenged but that his father is manner-challenged. 

Snickers ended up leaving the club a bit early today, after all our members had finished training, and one of our Hulkies stuck around so that I could talk to him about bulking up.  When he went to go leave the club, we stood at the front club doors talking.  A black car had pulled up beside the club right before we reached the doors and then, when they saw us standing in the doorway, they suddenly backed the car up in reverse and then spun it around the corner.  The car and its front passenger then sat in the car for about 10 minutes, sitting in the idled car smoking and the front window down.  I could see their faces but didn't know who they were.  They just sat there -- them looking at us and us looking at them.  The member I had been standing there with was well aware of what went down on Friday and the gang threat so he asked me if I thought maybe this is what the situation was now escalating to -- the father sending someone to scare us.  "I don't know," I told him, "but they don't scare me and they're just wasting their time."  I then said goodbye to our member and the car stayed there.  They motioned to me, as if to suggest that the cigarette the driver had just flicked was meant to hit me.  So, as a joke, I reached into the air, pretended to grab it and then twisted my foot, as if I was stamping the lit cigarette out.  

I don't know if they drove away after or what because I then closed the doors for the evening and started to clean up.  About thirty minutes later I noticed the same car was now parked across the club, beside the movie theater, and it's front two occupants were still in the car, starring in my direction, so I decided to go outside.  I walked right up to the front of the car, said "say kimchi", then took a picture of them and their car.  I then sent the picture to Snickers.  When he called me, asking me what that was all about, I told him "if anything goes down tonight, find out what's up with this car".  He asked me if I wanted him to return, if I was scared, but there was really no need.  I'm pretty sure me walking up to the car as boldly as I just had was enough to throw those two guys for a loop.

I live in a supposedly haunted building where often even my four-legged friends at night won't venture to the back of the club without having a barking fit.  I participate in a sport that's considered the toughest sport and that many say "is too dangerous for women".  I used to be employed by Hells Angels and Foundation back when I was a university student -- was their head bartender at one of their shady clubs.  I drive a scooter despite not having a license.  I'm married to a man who did hard time for almost killing someone and I've trained about 20+ members of one of Cheonan's biggest gangs.  Some silly car with a cheesy looking skull plastered on the front of its hood and two overweight occupants in it who would more likely have to sit on me to hurt me as supposed to actually being able to fight me did nothing but insult and amuse me.  I was insulted that they thought they could intimidate me and amused at the confusion I'm sure I gave them when I snapped their picture.

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