Getting in the ring for the first time is always precluded by a sense of surrealism. "Is this really happening?", "Is this me, or am I really just watching someone else fight?", "What if my opponent is much better than me?", "Have I prepared sufficiently?"
No matter how much one has prepared, there is a small element of initial self doubt. This is when you put aside your soft, caring, motherly feminine attributes aside. The doubt disappears when the action starts, and you kick ass!
The surge of adrenaline of the sport has brought interest from women like no other. From fight, to refereeing and judging, women have taken on various roles in the sport.
It is one thing to take on take up running for health. Quite different when your sport actual requires you to beat up someone and to in turn get beaten up.
Each grueling round making it all that more difficult to go back for the next. Only complete belief in oneself and emotional control can make one continue to pound on.
This self confidence though is not obtained from a relaxed routine of stretching or taichii. It comes only from disciplined, continuous punishment of each training session. As the fighters motto goes "Train hard, fight easy".
The price for success is sweat and blood. Tears and cries. Few achieve glory of a win, but all achieve bravery; the honesty of finding out your own self worth. Fighters always keep in mind the adage ""Pain is weakness leaving the body".
This is the growing scene of Asian women in the amateur competitive fight scene, and this is surely replicated around the world.
While traditionally seen as being demure and quiet, Asian women are stepping up into the ring more than ever before to prove that they can be tough as much as they can be gentle.
Happy Mother's Day to the most important women in our lives.
Photos taken at Global Elite Gym-Kuala Lumpur organized fight event.