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.

Thursday, October 09, 2014

Keeping my Head in the Game... Thursday, October 9

Today's List of Things to Do:
  • 9.5km morning run
  • 2 loads laundry (club towels and clothing)
  • pick up fight uniform from the seamstress 
  • meeting with the printers regarding uniform printing needed
  • meeting with sponsors
  • lunch with main club sponsor, Wow
  • pick up fight uniform from the printers
  • Busan champ buddy comes to Cheonan
  • meet and greet with some Hulkies and our Busan champion buddy
  • business meeting regarding our two year game plan
  • last minute shopping
  • go and buy airport bus tickets for tomorrow
  • update Hulk members' profiles (pictures and goal weights)
  • update Hulk's record books 
  • add more music to my iPod
  • print off plane tickets
  • boxing and weight training
  • pack trip luggage
One of my Hulkies said something to me the other day that really stuck to me.  I had told her that it was driving me bonkers that both Snickers and my Busan champ buddy haven't told me anything about my opponent.  For awhile there they didn't even have an opponent and so I figured I'd either get a crap opponent who was just a prize fighter and had agreed to fight at last minute for the money or that I was getting one of their best, a fighter than was always in fight mode and didn't need any time to really prep.  Both opponents I had conceived in my head had equally stressed me out so I mentioned my concerns to her.  You know what she told me, she said "Don't worry about her; she's none of your business, not your job.  Your job is to worry about yourself".  And she was right, she is totally right. One of the reasons why they had decided to keep any news about my opponent from me was because it tends to distract me from my training, throw me off, and I become so preoccupied with "her".  I thought about this when I was running today.  

After bugging Snickers way too much about not giving me anything about my opponent, he blurted out "She's had something like 20+ fights".  Instantly I felt like I was going to seriously poop my pants.  I was gearing up for my morning run when he told me this so after one too many scared-stupid bathroom visits, I finally headed out for my run.  And, when I went running, for fifty some minutes all I could think about was this fact -- my opponent has had 20+ fights.  It meant my run started off with me feeling somewhat spooked but then something happened that really put it all into a different perspective.  I passed another runner.  To tell you the truth, at first I felt a bit proud.  I always seem to make things into a competition and fellow runners out running on the path always fall victim to this habit I do.  I always try to catch and pass them, make them the "dog" and me the "rabbit".  Anyways, I didn't know how long this particular runner had been running and it didn't really matter to me, all I knew was I had just passed him.  He was now the dog and this Polish rabbit flew past him.  Then the words of my Hulkie repeated in my head, "Don't worry about her; she's none of your business, not your job.  Your job is to worry about yourself."  And she was right, with the exception of course with "her" being a "him" in this case.  So often I become so distracted and preoccupied with beating the other person that I kind of lose focus on my own skills, training and progress.  It's not about beating anyone else but me.  It's about beating myself.  

So what if I had beat that other runner out there on the path today, what does that really matter?  Maybe they're a hardcore triathlon or maybe it's their first day ever running.  Does beating them mean my pacing will be any better than it was the day before?  No.  Does it mean I'm progressing as a runner and upping my skills?  No... exactly.  It isn't a competition against anyone but me and the same holds true with training for my fight.  Whether or not my opponent is training 24/7 or sitting on her butt eating potato chips really shouldn't matter to me nor should how many fights she has had or hasn't had.  The point is the fight has been scheduled and my job is just to focus on myself -- be the best that I can be and bring my best to training every single day and then to the ring on fight day.  Would, should and could my training be any different if I knew her stats?  No, because you can't give more than 100%.  
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