I am a nervous wreck and a pitiful image. A six foot tall, two hundred and ten pound man running out the shower with nothing but a towel on, swinging down the stairs in a tarzan-esque fashion. I'm desperately rummaging through my dryer for my still damp underarmour, Muay Thai shorts, and a pair of hand wraps which I should have hung dry so I wouldn't currently need to be untangling them while frantically driving. I have Muay Thai class in 20 minutes and I’ve made the near fatal mistake of skipping lunch so I know I have to get my favorite pre training snack… a banana (potassium is the shit!).
I go to the grocery store around the block, and as I'm leaving and obliterating my treat, I glance over to see a traditional martial arts school. Watching these disciplined little ninjas sit in horse stances I realized how far from that path I have strayed. No disrespect to the traditional arts that I grew up on. I have nothing but gratitude for the memories they gave me and how they have molded my childhood and adult life, but I no longer relate to those arts and theories, I believe in simple facts and "the science of eight limbs".
I remember when it first hit me. The moment the light bulb went off. The night I said “this is what I was looking for”. It was at a local amateur kickboxing event. This was my first time at one of these events and I was completely shell-shocked on how amazing it was. From the choice and volume of the music, to the lights and ring girls, this was a full-fledged entertainment event and a perfect podium to display our beloved art of Muay Thai.
A month prior to this event I went from training at a boxing/kickboxing gym to traning at a traditional Muay Thai gym. Oddly enough, my old school's top student was set to fight my new school’s top student as the main event. I was delighted because I saw this as a true testament of which school offered better training. FSMT’s own Eric Rivera was the man representing my new gym. At first glance, Eric has a modest physique, jolly appearance, and was set to square off with a fighter that has the physique of a bodybuilder and the icy stare of a hitman. I'm sure that based purely on looks, all the bookies were expecting Eric’s death. Long story short this fight revolutionized my thoughts on fighting,...muscles don’t matter and there are means of physical underdogs winning through clean technique and ring wisdom. Eric, being a crafty fighter, easily out maneuvered his foe using all angles to his advantage and gave his opponent a boxing lesson with countless unanswered knees in the clinch.
As though one win from team dynasty wasn’t enough to convince me of their legitimacy. Mark “Atilla” Trillas was also fighting in this event. Not quite as suspenseful as the main event, Mark wasn’t able to put on quite a show due to his challenger having to throw in the towel after receiving a merciless assault of leg kicks from Mark during the first minute of round 1. Mark coming back from injuries and facing an experienced fighter, demolished his opponents leg and spirit with only three kicks. I saw enough, I was sold.
Looking back I feel a sense of pride and achievement. I know I’ve come a long way
but now arriving here at Temple Arts, the official home of FSMT's Team Dynasty, preparing to train and hearing the bags and pads cry in pain, I look forward with a sense of hope and hunger, knowing I have an even longer way ahead of me.
I go to the grocery store around the block, and as I'm leaving and obliterating my treat, I glance over to see a traditional martial arts school. Watching these disciplined little ninjas sit in horse stances I realized how far from that path I have strayed. No disrespect to the traditional arts that I grew up on. I have nothing but gratitude for the memories they gave me and how they have molded my childhood and adult life, but I no longer relate to those arts and theories, I believe in simple facts and "the science of eight limbs".
I remember when it first hit me. The moment the light bulb went off. The night I said “this is what I was looking for”. It was at a local amateur kickboxing event. This was my first time at one of these events and I was completely shell-shocked on how amazing it was. From the choice and volume of the music, to the lights and ring girls, this was a full-fledged entertainment event and a perfect podium to display our beloved art of Muay Thai.
A month prior to this event I went from training at a boxing/kickboxing gym to traning at a traditional Muay Thai gym. Oddly enough, my old school's top student was set to fight my new school’s top student as the main event. I was delighted because I saw this as a true testament of which school offered better training. FSMT’s own Eric Rivera was the man representing my new gym. At first glance, Eric has a modest physique, jolly appearance, and was set to square off with a fighter that has the physique of a bodybuilder and the icy stare of a hitman. I'm sure that based purely on looks, all the bookies were expecting Eric’s death. Long story short this fight revolutionized my thoughts on fighting,...muscles don’t matter and there are means of physical underdogs winning through clean technique and ring wisdom. Eric, being a crafty fighter, easily out maneuvered his foe using all angles to his advantage and gave his opponent a boxing lesson with countless unanswered knees in the clinch.
As though one win from team dynasty wasn’t enough to convince me of their legitimacy. Mark “Atilla” Trillas was also fighting in this event. Not quite as suspenseful as the main event, Mark wasn’t able to put on quite a show due to his challenger having to throw in the towel after receiving a merciless assault of leg kicks from Mark during the first minute of round 1. Mark coming back from injuries and facing an experienced fighter, demolished his opponents leg and spirit with only three kicks. I saw enough, I was sold.
Looking back I feel a sense of pride and achievement. I know I’ve come a long way
but now arriving here at Temple Arts, the official home of FSMT's Team Dynasty, preparing to train and hearing the bags and pads cry in pain, I look forward with a sense of hope and hunger, knowing I have an even longer way ahead of me.
1 comment:
Wow! Michael... I am impressed... Great writing skills, and your stories are so interesting. You will be a great fighter eventually when your done smoking and train jajaja.. if not you can always be a good journalist... they can smoke. Cant wait for us to go to your first fight!!! Good luck Michael "Doom...." Moran!!! Booooo!!!!!! Scary.... lol.
Martini says she wants to go on Thur...
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