Recap of My First Amateur Muay Thai Fight

I was recently invited to fight in the UKC (Ultimate Knockout Challenge), sponsored by Elorde Boxing Gym (I think). The event was held last Saturday, November 24, 2012. I had not planned to fight, really. I'd kinda given up on the idea because I became busy with work, plus I haven't been able to run as much because I also got lazy :P So my cardio has been poor.

But Kru Raul from Elorde Gym Don Antonio kept bugging me to sign up for the fight, so I finally decided to give it a try 4 weeks away from competition day (yeah, I'm a bit crazy. I know I need more time to prepare but what the heck).

So while I'm waiting for the video of the fight to be released, I'm recapping what I recall had happened that day:

I went to the venue scared out of my wits because I dunno what the eff I'd gotten myself into! I saw that my opponent had gained weight yet again. I'd been eating a lot the entire month because she was 5 lbs heavier 4 weeks ago. I didn't get to meet her during the weigh-in day before the fight. I found out on fight day that she'd gained another 2 lbs. I was 52Kg and she was 54Kg on fight day T_T

Anyway, my turn came. I went into the ring with my heart beating the crap out of me haha. But then, when I heard the bell, it's like there was a switch in my head. Time to fight. First round, I immediately set out giving her push kicks, as I was told to use my reach advantage by doing this. This certainly deterred her advance, and whenever I pushed her back, I'd follow with a quick, roundhouse to her ribs. My boyfriend said he counted about 8 push kicks (teeps) that went straight in. So I guess I managed about 4-5 roundhouse kicks by doing my combo. She caught 2 roundhouse kicks, which left her open, so I used several straight punches until she let go of my leg. When she caught one of my teeps, I kicked her some more until she had to let go of my foot. Otherwise all hits were clean, no checks or counter attacks from opponent.

My body vest and shin guards came off :( so they had to pause the fight to fix my gear. I had to keep fixing my goddamned head gear because it kept turning and blocking my eyes each time my opponent managed to straight punch me to the face.

When the fight continued, my opponent did a take down when I kicked and I fell on the canvas. I tried to exact vengeance by kicking her repeatedly. My jumping front kick pushed her into the ropes. Bell rung, end of round 1. My team mates said I was already ahead with my points. But I was feeling the effects of my lack of cardio T_T

2nd round, my opponent was charging at me with her haymaker. I kept her away with jabs or just keeping my left hand extended. She ate that glove several times but I don't think that counts as a point for me :P I did the push kick + roundhouse routine again to keep her away.

Middle of Round 2, I was breathing really hard, so I decided to lay off on the kicks. She advanced at me with continuous punches and pushed me back to the corner. This is where I kinda panicked because my headgear turned again and I couldn't see her. I was told I'd turned around and this caused the referee to do a count on me. This is apparently what you call a Standing Knockdown. I didn't know why the ref was counting so I asked him "Ano yan?" ("What's that?") and he said "Ay ok ka lang ba?" hahaha what comedy is this?

Anyway there wasn't much time left. I just tried to remedy the situation by clinching my opponent, almost managed to throw her down but she was pretty well grounded. The fight ended.

My opponent was announced winner by points. I'm going to ask one of my coaches how these points work because I honestly don't know. My goal was just to get clean kicks and punches in because I was told those are what matter. So far, I was told these are the reasons why I lost:

• I was told I wasn't aggressive enough, that my opponent was the one advancing (though I didn't think this was "aggression" because she obviously had to advance because she couldn't reach me). 

• And that I turned around at Round 2. Causing the ref to do a standing knockdown count.

I learned a lot in the fight. At least now I know what I should (more cardio) and shouldn't be doing (back-pedalling, turning around...).

The Disappointing Filipino

Filipino? What is a Filipino? What have we become?

You know you're Filipino when you:

1. Take any or all the lanes despite the fact that there's a Motorcycle Lane for motorcycle drivers like you.
2. Drive on sidewalks because it helps you bypass traffic.
3. Cross the highway despite the fact that there's a footbridge right beside you.
4. Tailgate an ambulance to get through the heavy EDSA traffic.
5. Cut lines. For you, lines are made to be cut.
6. Don't offer your seat to pregnant women.
7. Don't offer your seat to senior citizens.
8. See that someone has forgotten her cellphone and decide to keep the cellphone because it's your "lucky day."
9. Tamper your taxi meter with this thing called batingting.
10. Accept kotong.
11. Are a fixer.
12. You've used a fixer.
13. Require additional money, aka pampadulas, to process government documents like building permits.
14. Bomb beautiful reefs to catch fish.
15. Pick on #Amalayer girl but proceed maltreating your helpers.
16. Think you're an edukada just because you can speak English.
17. Make it your goal to go abroad, work and make loads of dollars.
18. Vote your favorite artista into the Senate or Presidency because fuck progress.
19. Don't think for yourself because the "Church said so."
20. Massacre the media to hide your dirt.
21. Stop the passing of agrarian reforms because you're a haciendero.
22. Love People-Power-Ousting your presidents.
23. You obediently follow the rules in foreign lands, but ignore the ones here in the Ph.

Well, I can go on forever. We're quite a badass people, aren't we?

Posting Two Tankas of Mine that Appear in Atlas Poetica 13

The book is available for order at Amazon. Details here.

Here's the first, I got the idea for this while waiting for the train:
 
corroded tracks
the trains no longer run
sky rust at sunset
even heaven
comes and goes


This one, I thought of while at the dock in Boracay:
 

moss has grown
our boat rots on what’s left
of the shore
nothing to sail with
to the things we used to know

Two Poems in the PH Graphic Mag

They're already available in the newstands, I heard, but I can't seem to get my hands on a copy of the Philippines Graphic mag.

As I wrote last month, my poems "A Sense of Loss" and "Habagat" appear in the magazine's issue for the week of November 5, 2012. Posting them here:

A Sense of Loss

The body is a cruel thing

wise, like the spirit,

like that little voice within

that whispers of odds

something is changing

yet, while the voice can be silenced,

senses are always acknowledged

much like how, before rains,

my skin crawls as though beset

by unseen ghosts, passing.

Yes, the body knows,

but it doesn’t understand

there are things

we just don’t want to know.

You are the same

but I can’t ignore how

your skin on mine

has become an annoyance;

your voice some noise

that disrupts my reading.

Somehow, I’ve returned to days

when it didn’t make a difference

whether or not someone waited

or met me at the door

and what of this dizziness

frequent tremors

haunting migraines

fever and tasteless tongue?

It feels much like grief

but right now, I don’t have to

put a name to it.

Things are going so well

and we still have a movie to catch

this Saturday.

Habagat

Jesus walked on water

            when the rains hit

            we walked in smog-gray waters

            that rippled over our knees

            I imagined I was San Pedro

            but all I did was slosh and wade

Genesis 8:7-12

            we never got home

            mudwaters rose higher

            than the riverbank trees

        we were being punished

the bishops said

what did we do this time?

my brother is down there

I cried for forgiveness

On the third day, he rose again

            people reciting the Creed

            while I ate noodles and sardines

        in the tomb of the Cruz family

        they’re keeping the ghosts away

but I worried more for my brother

nowhere in this shelter

has he joined our many friends

previously buried by Ondoy?

Revelation           

they said you’re nameless

            rain or flood isn’t good enough

            to remember you by

            but I’ll always know you

            by my brother’s name…

            still missing. still missing.

Atlas Poetica 13 Now Available

Reposting from Atlas Poetica:

Keibooks Announces Atlas Poetica 13 : A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka
Press Release – For Immediate Release – Please post to all appropriate venues
5 November 2012 – Perryville, Maryland, USA

Atlas Poetica 13, the latest installment of the prestigious tanka journal, is now available for purchase.
“Poet King, courtesan, leprechaun, child molester, monster. Images bright and dark, full of light and shadow, stretch across the years, the centuries, the millennia. This is what tanka poetry of place does best: to find the ‘Other’ and make it ‘Us.’ It is no longer the bones of strangers lying in the desecrated grave: it is our bones.”–from the editorial by M. Kei

Contributors to ATPO 13 include:
Alexander Jankiewicz, Anne Carly Abad, Autumn Noelle Hall, Bob Lucky, Bruce England, Chen-ou Liu, Christina Nguyen, Claire Everett, Dawn Bruce, Dawn Manning, Elizabeth Bodien, Elizabeth Moura, Genie Nakano, Gerry Jacobson, Gregory Longenecker,Guy Simser, James Won, Janet Lynn Davis, Jenny Ward Angyal, Joan E. Stern, Joy McCall, Kath Abela Wilson, Keitha Keyes, Kenneth Slaughter, LeRoy Gorman, Leslie Ihde, Lisa Tibbs, Lynda Monahan, M. Kei, Margaret Chula, Margaret Van Every, Marilyn Humbert, Mark Kaplon, Mel Goldberg, Mira N. Mataric, Nu Quang, Owen Bullock, Patricia Prime, Paul Mercken, Peggy Castro, Peggy Heinrich, Pravat Kumar Padhy, Sanford Goldstein, Sheila Sondik, Sonam Chhoki, stanley pelter, Susan Constable, Susan Diridoni, Taura Scott, Tish Davis, William Cullen, Jr.

Purchase direct from the printer at:
or at Amazon.com or your favorite online retailer.

Nongshim Shin Ramyun is Safe! :D

For instant noodle lovers like me, Korean ramyun is a must-eat. IT IS A MUST.

So imagine my devastation when my beloved noodles were banned from the market? These noodles are said to contain benzopyrene, a known carcinogen. I was in denial. I still kept eating my fave Shin Ramyun.

But then I decided to do some research. I wanted to prove that this ramyun isn't tainted. And guess what? We have good news! My fave Nongshim Shin Ramyun is benzopyrene free according to a study done in Thailand. 

My friend also linked the ingredients list to me. Yup, looks clean enough for me! *Slurp!*