Fitness: Teaching Muay Thai and Getting Punched in the Face in the name of Volunteerism

Back in February I wrote a blog post about my volunteering adventures into an abuse survivor home to teach them self-defense. I had so much fun teaching other people how to fight that I wanted to keep doing that. I was lucky enough to get one more chance at another volunteer event hosted by my company. This other session is definitely a lot more intense than the last one.

The first time I worked the mitts back in February, I had to train little girls. It was fun. Some of them punched surprisingly hard for their size, but it was nothing I can't handle. As you can see from this video, I was in for a massive surprise, because I won't be working the mitts with little girls anymore. I was going to work the mitts with grown men. Some of them are bigger than me!

The NGO I was supporting when I did this is called CRIBS. Similar to the Visayan Forum Foundation that I mentioned in my other blog post, CRIBS is all about creating a better environment for the children and empowering people in the process. The participants in this session are the security guards and janitors of the building where we do our work.

Although majority of them were security guards, they didn't really have a lot of combat experience. We asked them if they've ever done any contact sport before and most of them said the only sport they've ever done was basketball. This was evident when we taught them through the proper Muay Thai stance. It isn't second nature for them yet to put their hands-up like the professionals do. Once we got them up to speed on the basic stance and strikes, it was time to wrap their hands, put on the gloves, and hit the pads.

Security guard to his friend while I was wrapping his hands: "Kunin mo 'to ng litrato, minsan lang to mangyari!" (Get a picture of this, it doesn't happen often!)

I have to admit I was intimidated at first, but I quickly saw this as an opportunity to see what I'm really made of. If I can't handle their power when I work the mitts with them, how am I going to take a punch in a real fight? I know I just mentioned they don't have any combat experience, nevertheless their size and weight made their punches hard to take. They learned really quickly too. 4-hit and 5-hit combinations weren't difficult for them to pull off after a couple of rounds at the mitts. Weaving under hooks is still awkward, but they managed to incorporate it into their combos.

I got hit 3 times. That's the highlight of my entire experience. I wish I had pictures or clips of when it happened but we'd just have to settle with my anecdote. It hurts but it's still awesome at the same time. A couple of those were my fault because I underestimated their power.

Burly group of men! They're not on the scrawny side.

The first one came from a security guard about my size. I told him to throw a barrage of hooks from both left and right hands. He lost control a bit and threw way too wildly so he ended up smacking my forearms, instead of the pads. They were real punches so they hurt a bit. Thankfully they didn't hit any of my sweet spots (e.g. my face, or my chin.)

The second punch came from a tall lanky security guard when I told him to throw a left uppercut. I didn't expect him to hit so hard. I didn't slap his fist hard enough so his punch went through and hit my face. Obviously this punch hurt more than the first.

The third punch came from a guy that was much shorter than me. It was also a left uppercut and again I underestimated the power behind the glove. When he threw that punch, the back of my mitt hit my face. Although it's a bit more indirect than the other one, it was much, much stronger than the other guy's. This is surprising because he's not a security guard. He's just a janitor! When I got hit by that, I knew I had to take him seriously. I slapped all of his other incoming punches as if they were no joke.

Besides weaving, their distance, slipping, and their overall defense still had a lot of room for improvement. They didn't keep their hands up, and they were too close. I didn't reprimand them about this because I was more focused on teaching them combinations, and I wanted them to have a good time.

Besides all the punching and kicking, we also had them do some calisthenics like real fighters. The video below encapsulates nicely most of what we've made them do, aside from the light sparring that I showed at the beginning, which is actually one of the last things we made them do as a culmination of everything they've learned in the short time we've been training them.

Fortunately, I have a clip of the sparring session; it's better for you to see the actual sparring, instead of me just writing about it. But I will say this: I learned some valuable things just by watching them go at it. They're big and they swing hard, but they tire easily. I'm thankful my coach pointed that out for me. They don't have the stamina to keep their hands up for the whole duration of a round (FYI, that's 3 mins). I have the stamina to go 3 rounds on average, so if I were to go up against a bigger, inexperienced fighter, I just need to keep my head moving, and my hands up until they tire themselves out. My opponent would be a lot easier to take down once he's burned out like that. That's something you can take into consideration too.

I think that's about everything I can say about the Volunteer Day 2019 event. I hope I can do more things like these in the future. I really enjoy the workout and experience I get, and it feels great to be able to give back to society in my own special way outside from the paycheck I get.

What's your special way of giving back to the community? As always let me know in the comments below :)

Fitness: The Honorable Duty of Teaching at Self-Defense Workshops

Human trafficking and abuse are serious issues in developing countries. While criminal activities that fall under these categories tend to involve child labor and slavery to produce goods using cheap labor, the Philippines’ human trafficking issue is alarming due to the nation being a hotspot for cybersex and prostitution catering to pedophiles. It is estimated that there must be at least tens of thousands of children in the Philippines alone that are subjected to cybersex.

Seeing the prevalence of this problem, the Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF) a non-government organization, was established in the Philippines on 1991. Known for its innovations in addressing modern slavery such as human trafficking and domestic servitude, VFF is dedicated to rescuing "survivors" of human trafficking, slavery, cybersex and forced labor.

The girls of Center of Hope are lined up and ready for training.

VFF has saved several survivors of cybersex and abuse, most of them being young girls ranging from as young as 2-yrs old to 25-yrs old. Young girls have unfortunately been preyed upon by sexual predators because they're seen as vulnerable. Realizing that these girls need to learn self-defense, VFF reached out to my company's Muay Thai Club to host Self-Defense Workshops for survivors.

I'm putting on handwraps for the youngest member of Center of Hope in this picture.

I'm part of my company's Muay Thai club. I'm proud to say that right now I'm one of the two representatives of the club. Back in February 2017 up until May 2018, I was just a member. It was during this time that I showed the team what I'm made of, both as a member of the team and as a fighter, by participating in the Muay Thai Club's Self-Defense Workshop with the Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF), one of the club's most ambitious long-term-ish projects to date.

Most of the members of the Muay Thai club. Pic taken after the first self-defense workshop.

An epic shot of one of the girls ready to work the mitts with one of our members.

The Self-Defense Workshops happened every two weeks, starting at February 8, 2018. We equipped the little girls with the proper gears and taught them the basics of Muay Thai: proper stance, punching, and kicking. Since my true forte is boxing, the girls that were under my wing were taught techniques like weaving and bouncing on their feet, which are unusual in Muay Thai.

The training have been extremely successful. Not only did the girls learn the basics of self-defense, the workshops also have: boosted their self-esteem, help them have a healthier lifestyle, and most importantly empower them as individuals. They are always looking forward to the next session.

A swift right hook from one of the girls lands on the mitts!

The Self-Defense Workshop sessions between my company and Visayan Forum have stopped a long time ago, but I will always treasure the moments I've spent in Center of Hope. Teaching the kids have taught me the fulfilling experience of giving back to the community. It's nice to be able to turn a skill that others thought as destructive into something that can protect others. :)