10 December 2005.  3PM- Marc picked me up from my crib and we went to Greenhills to kill time.  I checked out some stores and I actually stumbled upon the bag that I saw an American girl in RCBC was using.  Lucky me!  That time I saw her with that bag, Vench had to restrain my urge to ask where she purchased it. To make the long story short, I was really meant to own another Gold Sling Bag coz it appeared right before my eyes begging me to buy it.  Rio shop offers fabulous finds, go check it out. 

4PM- I don’t really drink coffee but since I knew it was going to be a long day and I was still sleepy from the night before, I decided to drink Starbuck’s Peppermint Mocha, which I enjoyed.  

(Flashback: 12.9.2005/9PM- Red Corner Xmas Party – actually, we ditched the party early but we went to T-bar for some late-night drinks.  Theo was all jittery about the fight so I treated her to some drinks to relax her.  She and Marc went to smoke (and drink) in the other area while I stayed at our table, oblivious to the world and STILL trying to input all my contacts in my new toy.)  

4:30PM- Marc had to work for a bit so we went to EGG at the Promenade, which is a competitor of S168, but not a threat at all (blech!) and he checked the documents that were sent to his email by the ever nice and hardworking Pilar.    

5PM- We headed out to Araneta, which turned out to be a little quest, because we didn’t know how to get there so we had to follow the Araneta signs.  When we arrived, we were hungrier than wild boars so we ate at Taco Bell and ordered our favorite grilled stuft steak burrito.  After eating, I checked out the new arrivals in Mango, Gateway. 

7PM- We went inside Araneta Colisuem and saw Jay Tengco and his beautiful fiancé.  The Coliseum was not even one-third full.  I saw Antz and talked to Darwin.  I went to Wendy’s to buy Antz and Dar food because they haven’t eaten yet, being in the URCC production and all.  When we got back inside, I finally saw Theo, Janelle with their 2 other friends.  Her face was radiant but obviously stricken with anxiety.  She was wearing the DEFTAC shirt she made for Christian and his coaching team, with a design at the back that says “Don’t mess with the WONG man…” Catchy isn’t it? I saw a huge paper bag beside her with about 15 shirts inside, heavy and all, but anything for the WONG man right (wink wink)?  

9PM- Ok, so the event finally started and so far this has been the best URCC production yet.  I liked the AV presentation of the fighters, Grace Nono’s (was that her?) interpretation of our National Anthem and the rock band.  Plus, our seats were the best ones in the house! 

Fight Card

1^st fight: ho-hum.

2^nd fight: ho-hum.

3^rd fight: ok.

4^th fight: washroom.

5^th fight: saw the last few parts, go LINO! You are one helluva boxer, what a reach! And with only 2 weeks notice. Man oh man.

6^th fight: pretty interesting. First crack at how we’ll fair with the Chinese team.

7^th fight: Ok, 2 bloody fights in a row.  This is turning out to be the best URCC! But damn, Art of War Team won again. 

(My seatmate has been fidgeting non-stop, maybe whispering a prayer, encouragements to Christian –which she hopes will be sent to him through the wind (ok ok, AC)… asking Marc if it’s Christian’s turn, walking to DEFTAC peeps to give out the shirts, clasping her hands together, looking at the sea of crowd wondering if she’ll see his face, cringing at the sight of the Chinese team.  She looks at me and gives me a hopeful smile –a smile that beckons all good wishes for Christian.) 

8^th fight: Ok, I have to abruptly cut this part coz work is nudging me to start already. I’m off to do some work. Will continue folks! 

(I’m back!) Judging from the first two fights of Team Art of War, my first observations were: 

They can’t understand the ref’s instructions! (Where is an interpreter when you need one?)

They were really strong, bulging muscles and all (even on their faces!) I don’t think anyone was able to get them pinned down for a long time.

Some said that the Pinoys should look out for Team AW’s striking.  Ok, the first two fighters were really giving solid, straight punches –ones that can really knock you out.  And I noticed that they hit on the spots where they can do the most damage.  It’s very evident with the way they left the two Pinoy fighters bleeding from nasty cuts.

Is this all they ever do? I feel like all they do is train, train, train.  I think even in their sleep, they train.  Maybe even their poop has muscles.  When I look at them: I get a visual of oxen, bulls, and water buffalos.  No matter how hard you try to break their bones, it just wouldn’t budge. 

8^th fight:  Christian, standing tall and with authority, walked along the plank that led to the ring.  It was the moment of truth.  95% of the crowd cheered.  The whole entourage gathered around his corner.   

Flashback: 12.9.2005 –            

Theo:      I’m so nervous.

Jane:       Don’t be.  You think Christian is ready?

Theo:      Ya. He’s been training non-stop almost everyday, and on top of that he still goes to work.

Jane:       Tsk-tsk.  I told him last time that he should set his work aside first, esp. in the next two days. He shouldn’t be stressed with work anymore.

Theo:      He’s like that, super responsible. I’m sure he’s going to do well but I’m so tensed.

Jane:                (wondering why she doesn’t feel the tension) Oh. Now, I realized why I’m so apathetic.  Haha. What a funny coincidence that I get to accompany the girls. I mean, the whole Makati fam are there but it always so happens that I’m the designated companion. URCC IV- I accompanied Gina, Dar fought.  URCC V- Shar, Allan fought. URCC VI- Chai.  Now, it’s you.  I guess I’m immune already.   

Seeing Chris stand there in the ring waiting for his adversary, suddenly all of my nerves are racked up.  Theo was on her feet.  I was sitting there for a minute, numbed. I can’t believe Chris is fighting!  He’s like the nicest person at the gym ever (except the past two months when it became automatic for him to always mock and make fun of me! Blech) and he might be smashed into a pulp by a towering, pea-eyed guy who smells like Siomai.  I don’t want to see my closest guy friend at the gym (of course, nowadays Antz has replaced that role) be in any sort of danger.  But seeing that look in Chris’ face assured me that he was READY. That didn’t diminish the tension though. I joined Theo and stood up. “GO CHRIS!!!” 

The announcer introduced the opponent.  Hmm. Ok, he’s taller.  He seemed to have longer limbs. He looked like the Great Wall of China. For reasons unknown to me, my confidence in Chris started to build. The Chink reeked of Siomai. The bell rings.  Bakbakan na!

Christian didn’t spare any time.  He jabbed the opponent – first hit – and quickly went for the legs for a takedown.  Chris looked like an assassin with a mission.  The gentle face was still there, but his eyes were all business.  He started to slowly execute his game plan.  However, the Opponent’s strength was just too much.  Chink guy seemed to have the strength of 5 guys.  No matter how many times Christian tried to pin him down, Chink overpowers him. 

Chink got to his feet.  Christian sat on the floor, waited for the right moment to get up.  He didn’t want to give the Chink the opportunity to smack him on the face while he’s trying to get on his feet.  Chink gave a hard Muay Thai kick on Chris’ shin.  Ouch.  I heard Theo gasped from my right.  Theo and Marc almost concurrently whispered in my ears, “Christian has injury on the leg.”

I said a silent prayer, hoping that it wasn’t the leg that was injured in training.  Chink tried another kick.  Patience.  More Patience.  With deliberate timing, Christian got up.  He was on his feet again. Chink threw punches that missed.  Christian not only dodged the bullets, but also decided to meet the opponent’s tactics by using the same arsenal.  (Ok, I’ve seen Christian boxed before and I’d say he was pretty good.  Not to mention, the striking experience he gained from Yaw-Yan.  But seeing the first two fights and the talks of Team Art of War being a striking team first and foremost, I wasn’t so sure how Chris would fair if it boils down to just striking.  Chris, before anything else, is primarily a grappler.)

And so, when I recognized the stance that Chris was in, I thought to myself, “Uh-oh.  No Chris. Try for the double-leg takedown again and get an advantage position, then punch his lights out or break his arm, choke him out or something” Chris aimed, flung his knuckles and landed.  Whoo-wee!!! Where did that come from?  It felt like he heard me and retorted, “You were saying…?” And then more, more punches – more hits.  Everyone was on their feet!!! The whole Coliseum was in pandemonium! Chink appeared dazed and shaken, but he gritted his teeth and smiled.  A taunting smile – like he was saying, “I want some more of that.”  Chris tried the takedown again.  This time I was thinking, “Chris. Abandon mission. Go and knock him out with blows on the head!”  Chris apparently wanted to see the final execution of his plan.  They struggled for a bit.  I had the impression that Chris was going for the foot lock.  He was groping at one leg trying to make the Chink stay on the ground.  The Chink wrangled and suddenly he was on top of Christian.  Oh-no.  That’s not good.  I heard Marc and Theo screaming, encouraging Christian.  People started chanting his name.  “Go CHRISTIAN!!!”  Everyone was red on the face, out of breath, but couldn’t stop cheering Christian on.  I felt the engaging affection for Christian –especially the Love coming from the two people beside me.  (Haha, yes kiddos, Marc’s gay.  He and Chris have been dating behind Theo’s back.  Theo, seated at my left –next to Chris’ family, finds a “karibal” in the person of Marc, seated at my right side.)  The scuffle went on.  I was screaming to Christian to hold the Chink’s arms down, to keep it chained to his chest, but the Chink kept on hitting Chris on the face.  More tussling.  Chris partially side-mounted Chink.  But even the whole body of Chris can’t keep the Chink’s torso pinned down.  More struggling, punches here and there.  Both seemed pretty exhausted –I didn’t think Chink would be a bit out of breath, judging from his horse-like stamina which the whole AW team has been showing, but Christian made him squeeze out his last juice.  Chris seemed pretty gassed out, but he was still enduring the fight –bearing every aching bone to achieve this win –for the team who has continuously supported him and trained him for months and the URCC followers (I can’t say specifically for Pinoys –coz he’s full-blooded Chinese, a direct transport from China, ancestral of Yao Ming –haha, just playing.), but for sure, the win he wanted was beyond himself –it was for everyone else.  Out of nowhere, the Chink suddenly went for an arm bar.  A move that really made my blood rush to my brain.  Chris tried to wrestle out of it, almost had his arm back, but the last drop of oil in Chris’ engine finally burned.  His arm escaped his grasp and the Chink carried out his lousy arm bar.

Candidly, I never expected Christian to win.  I did hope that he would win though.  I even prayed for it the whole week and I haven’t been praying for a while prior to that.  I always asked Theo how Chris’s training been coming along every week since he started.  She said he’s been training extremely hard, black eye, injury and all.  I’ve sat through a couple of his trainings and I cringed (cringe –from a girl who enjoys watching URCC and UFC and hasn’t missed a URCC event since it has been introduced to her.  So me cringing means it was that bad) at the blows on the head he received from the training.  If Ali got those kinds of blows early on his career, I think he would’ve gotten Parkinson at the age of 30.  They were really tough on him.  However, I didn’t undermine the training and strength that the China Team had.  They must be treated like beasts there.  Besides, look at the track record of his opponent -17 wins with 2 knock-outs and a military guy, for heaven’s sake! Moreover, Chris is rusty, from the fights he won 2 years ago.  It means it has been 2 years since he last had that nerve-wrecking tension and rigorous training.  That’s why my expectations weren’t too high –this dispels the notion that I’m biased.  I wasn’t banking on Chris to win.

But seeing how he fought made me think that I was SOOO wrong.  He exceeded all of my expectations.  Chris proved me wrong.  I didn’t think he would, but he DOMINATED his opponent.  He looked sharper than his opponent.  The determination in his eyes to win was more than I saw in any other fighters.  He DESERVED the win.  He was holding the win in his hands all throughout the game.  More than anyone else, he is worthy of the win, not only because the skills displayed were of top caliber, but more than anything, Chris is the type to not gloat over a win.  He apologized to every one he might have disappointed and extended gratitude to his team. Theo’s eyes were gleaming.  She was so proud of how Chris fought.  Her admiration for Chris and her radiance was uplifting in every way.  We had a few drinks at Phi Bar afterwards (courtesy of Sir Mark Nep) and when Chris arrived, we gave him the cheers and cahoots.  As a true illustration of grace, Chris’ face was not of forlorn nor dejection. Instead, it was beaming. Like a man, he took it in stride -shrugged it off like it was just another day in paradise.

Chris, you make us truly proud.  Thank you for giving that Siomai-smelling Chink the cloud of doubt for a comeback next year.  We lav ya! Cheerios!!! 

Album: http://cushee.multiply.com/photos/album/65/9-10_December_2005

Link: http://www.pbase.com/cmanaginged/urcc_7