Written by: Charmaine Singson
For three years now, I have been training in combat sports, such as Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Initially, I wanted to try these sports out to increase my fitness and lose weight. However, I attended more and more training sessions, I found myself loving the thrill of tapping people out and kicking padded mitts.
It all started when I asked a friend to scout my area for gyms that offered combat sports. This was when I was introduced to Mojo MMA Gym: one of the top ten fitness gyms in the Philippines. Excited, I visited the gym and signed myself up for several Mixed Martial Arts classes.
I was told to buy numerous items from shin pads to a BJJ Gi before my first training session. I didn’t even know what a Gi was at the time, but when I arrived at the K-1 Extreme Sport shop, a shop specialising in combat gear, I learned all I needed to know about the necessary equipment.
The first training session was agony - Excruciating torture. I was confused and disoriented. To make matters even worse, everyone else seemed to know exactly what they were doing. They managed to keep up with the tough exercises while I was left gasping for breath. I almost wanted to quit, but my instructor told me that the first lessons are always the hardest and that I would improve over time. With this in mind, I continued to attend these training sessions.
After a couple of months, I started getting closer to my teammates, who taught me the basics and introduced me to BJJ teams in the Philippines. I became, and still am, a proud member of Deftac, the largest BJJ team in the country.
My teammates also encouraged me to compete in national BJJ competitions. Since then, I’ve competed in numerous BJJ competitions, including the 2013 Asia Pacific International Open (where I placed second in the open weight division) and the 2014 Rollapalooza Championships (where I placed third in my division). Though I have yet to win a gold in any of these tournaments, this won’t stop my journey as a martial artist: it only serves to drive and motivate me further. Needless to say, I have come far and changed much from my tentative self those first few days at the gym.
Currently, I am taking a break from martial arts as I am pursuing other sports (at the moment, I’m competing in ISAC on the girl’s basketball team) . But when I’m done, I’ll come back to my new gym, Fight Factory Manila, and will once again dedicate myself to the sport that I love.
See the full article in the magazine here
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