Filipino Boxers

[shaheediyan]

The Philipines has a hugly rich fight culture, with all types of traditional and foreign arts being taught and practiced with passion (although as with any MTV affected culture, this is now sadly in decline). One can learn wrestling, grappling, muay thai, all Japanese arts, many Chinese and Indonesian arts, all plethora of weapons etc.

Still, there are some wonderful examples of western boxers (paradoxical term, as the western style it self is anything but, largely being rooted in the native Filipino arts) in the Philipines (see here for some background - http://www.sikhawareness.com//index.php?showtopic=12564).

Most people will have by now have heard of the living legend that is Manny Pacquiao aka Pac-Man. The man who destroyed Ricky Hatton.

He is said to be the best pound per pound fighter on earth and has a record 7 titles in 7 weight divisions, with his eye on an 8th weight division before his retirement.

Pac-Man is not a freak occurance, there are many, many passionate/dedicated fighters in the Philipines, but only a few get a lucky shot. In fact there are living legends even greater than Pac-Man - i.e. within PI versions of Muay Thai (guys who have never been defeated on the street or in the ring for 20 years, inc challenges from cocky foreigners).

Most others are poor, and fighting is a skill they inherit or learn in order to survive, and during their lifetime, their live experience of its use, helps them to further evolve it and perfect.

Many Filipinos are largely Catholic (or minority Muslim), and although being brought up in a tough enivornment, where kidnappings for ransom, muggings, street fight/challenge mindsets are common, like to follow very philosophical principles. In the fight world, many are still extremely superstitious (for want of a better word) and protect themselves or arm themselves with amulets, prayers, power form natural elements/animals, ancestors etc etc. This is part and parcel of taking their fighting ability to the extreme, and some fighters have been known to have extra-ordinary sensory/speed/timing/strength abilities, even at very old age (including women). I suppose our versions of this would be the Kavachs.

Anyway, back to the topic, here is a promising young fighter (Casimero) polishing off what has been a hard fight against another superb and talented Cuban opponent (as opposed to the bums most British fighters like Amir Khan get to fight).

In particular, check out the masterclass in uppercuts, look carefully at the punch which sets up the 2nd knock-down - a beautiful uppercut, where the kid bends right down, and blasts up using not just his arm/bicep, but his whole body, in reality, the 2nd knockout puch was just a formality!

Enjoy: