Interviews to come on the blog

Venturist on Flickr

I have been pretty slack on the interview-front lately. Blame some hectic real-world stuff. But I'm very excited to have some inspiring women coming here over the next few weeks from a range of sports.

First up this week will be Ti from the outdoors in Alaska blog Element 22  As well as insights into her adventurous lifestyle, she's sent me some fabulous (or fablous as we say in Ireland) photographs to go with the interview.

And I just finished mailing with Girl Boxing so looking forward to some great stories from the boxing world in New York City.

Closer to home I'm waiting to confirm with an Irish swimmer who has featured here a few times, will let you know more about that when I have the details.

Plus a few others, including a great MuayThai fighter who has just retired, in the pipeline. As always, if there is someone you'd like to see featured here,  do let me know - or indeed, volunteer yourself for a chat if you love sports too.

How's your cruciate?

pic from balls.ie

Non-sporting types would probably give that post-title a skip. But if you're like me, every twinge and ache gets examined before that big sigh of relief; oh, it's just a sprain, nothing serious. Until the big ones fall apart and then you know all about it.

So far, *touches wood* my knees are in one piece. But cruciate ligament injuries are becoming so prevalent here in Ireland, one national association, the GAA, is setting up a project to guinea-pig 30 players in an effort to find the perfect warm-up. One sports journalist said last week that a winning ladies gaelic football team - from my own county of Cork - has had 15 players out with cruciate injuries since 2005. That's half the team. 

This article in one of the Irish papers a few days ago said it's a far more common injury for women than men. And the worrying thing is the experts quoted don't really seem to know why it's an increasing problem. When you talk to older athletes - in their 60s - they say it was a rare injury 'back in the day' so we're doing something wrong. Or maybe just recognising something that was accepted back then?

Dr Pat Duggan from the sports organisation is quoted in the article saying: “It may be that modern players are so phenomenally conditioned from the hips up that when they land on one leg, like in football, the power going through their leg is a lot greater than it was say 10 years ago.” But shouldn't the legs be stronger too - or is the weights-room to blame?

What's the worst injury you've had? 

Thailand's female boxers go to the Olympics

Great interviews from Global Post with the women on the Thai boxing team preparing for the Olympics. As with the male fighters, many of them were Muay Thai boxers first and now are changing over. Interesting look at a culture where women are not meant to be physically strong or act in a 'masculine' way. Plus ca change ...

Thai Women Boxers Going to the Olympics

Sports Blog Karma

It's been a while since I gave a shout-out to some sports blogs. As always, I've tried to highlight sites which deal with women's sport. Call me sexist if you like but then take a look at your local paper or television station and see if you notice any slight imbalances.

A Runner's Life

I first came across Katarzyna's blog when she was living in Poland and she gave me some tips here on running in the snow. Now living on the Gold Coast in Australia, she's just done her first marathon - definitely deserves a shout-out!

Girlboxing 

Been following this for a while, and now linking up on Twitter as well so definitely time to say how great this is. Everything from fight reports, the dangers of deer-ticks and this on-the-ball review of the Haye-Klitschko fight.

Not to mention the surprise you will get on the About page ...

The Sport Collective

So, wasn't sure I should include this as, so far, they only have one woman up. But hey, they're trying and the writing on the site is brilliant. All are 'long-reads' but well worth the time.

Have you got any new blogs to share? 

Late posting, apologies. Good at sport, not so good at reading calendars! 

Pressure on 2012 boxers

Interesting piece in one of the Irish papers today looking at the effects of only having three weight divisions for women's boxing in the London Olympics. Looks like there will be a large shuffle with boxers moving up and down the divisions to try and qualify. And something tells me the women moving down from higher categories will stand a *slight* advantage as long as they can keep the weight off. 

Taylor pic Lucozade Sport

For anyone reading that who hasn't seen how easily boxers drop kgs, it might sound nuts. But if you're fit and know how to skip in a sweat-suit or even in a sauna (oh yes) then dropping five or more kgs just in time to make a weigh-in is not difficult. And depending on how long you have before the actual fight, you can be back up at your normal weight by ringtime. But lighter women trying to go up, or women naturally in these three divisions could face problems. Bulking up means losing speed and agility, plus mentally you feel slow and a bit trapped in your gloves.

A former Irish champion interviewed for the piece, Michael Carruth said: "There is huge pressure on Katie (Taylor, Irish world champion) that she just needs to turn up and win. That’s not right. Two World champions will come into her weight division because there are only three weight categories in the Olympics for women. You will have the 64 kilo class going down to 60 and you’ll have the 57kg boxers going up to 60kg. 

"Then you are looking at beaten semi-finalists and quarter-finalists also flooding into the same weight category."

If you think of all the quality women boxers you know, and imagine them shoehorning into three divisions with just 36 places, well the getting there is going to be as big an achievement as medalling. While Taylor faces incomers, another favourite of mine - Mary Kom from India - will be looking to go up. The divisions are: 

Fly Weight (48-51kg), Light Weight (57-60kg), Middle Weight (69-75kg) 

Sadaf Rahimi, Afghan Women's Boxing Team pic Majid Saeedi

What about the boxers from your country? How are they fixed for qualifiers?

Dying to take part in sport?

Marcela Acuna, Argentina

How healthy is sport? Not something many of us question, everyone knows sport is good for you, right? But this article I read yesterday points out that maintaining a healthy weight for competition isn't always the same as being healthy. 

It's definitely something boxers struggle with, most have a "walk-around" weight which is significantly higher than their competitive weight, and the same appears to be true for other martial arts as well as sports like gymnastics. The author of that study (and studies she quotes) feels women suffer more from this than men, "Like the non-sports world, females are more affected than men."

That is something I would quibble with, she has clearly never spent time in a boxing gym. Every male boxer (well, the good ones!) knows their weight to the gram, knows the weight of their food, knows the effect of drinking 200mls of water vs 300mls before a weigh-in. I learnt more about food control and weight-loss from men than any women's magazine. Not saying all of it was necessarily healthy, but that's the story.

It would be interesting to do a comparative study between males taking part in weight-specific sports and males taking part in sports such as rugby or soccer where weight-loss is not so central. Or indeed if males in sports like American football or rugby are under the opposite pressure: to bulk up.

From what you know in your sports, do you think women are more prone to problems than men when it comes to weight?

NOTE: using Acuna's photo not meant in any way to imply she has weight problems, eating problems.

Audio: Why do we box?

Interviews with Irish pro-boxer Christina McMahon, Australia Muay Thai fighter Kelly Simon and a few boys including Irish pro-boxer Willie "Big Bang' Casey - talking about Why We Box.

This is a short set of radio interviews I made a while ago and have just put together. Enjoy! 

  Why do we box ngriffin 2010 by niamhg

13 reasons women should box

This is an inspiring speech from one of my 'online training buddies' Lisa Bledsoe over on The Glowing Edge. Given at the Ignite event in North Carolina, USA, her slides in the background are great! If you've ever had a secret yearning to box, this might tip you over the edge.

I interviewed Lisa here if you want to know more about her boxing career. 

Got any more reasons to add to the mix?

Mary Kom wins again at Asian Cup

Mary Kom pic Glamour Indian

Indian boxer Mary Kom won gold in the 48kgs division at the Asian Cup yesterday. This was her fourth time taking the title, beginning to be bit of a habit. She beat Kim Myong Sim from North Korea in the tournament, running in China at the moment. 

Mary Kom with her medals

Her website reminds us she has already won five World Titles and somehow finds time to mother twin boys as well, hope her husband helps out a lot! 

Unfortunately the 2012 Olympics will not include a 48kgs division for women. As this is the first year they are including us, there are only three divisions - compared to ten for boys - to start with. They are: 

Fly Weight (48-51kg), 

Light Weight (57-60kg) 

Middle Weight (69-75kg) 

I'm sure Kom will be gunning for one of the 36 slots  - 250 men - but it will be a big ask to get in the ring with women that much heavier. For those of you not initiated into the madness of boxing, fighters usually 'walk around' a good bit heavier than their fight weight and then come down to meet the requirements. So Kom could be aiming to fight at that heavier weight, feeling sluggish and out of sorts. That said, she has a year to prepare so you never know. I'd love to see her take an Olympic medal to add to her amazing story. 

More on Kom here. 

Let the countdown begin

I found this on Vimeo earlier this week, great to see the hype building up around women boxers for the Olympics next year. Enjoy -- and have a great weekend!


First Assignment: Women's Boxing 2012 Olympics from Montana Mann on Vimeo.

Ukrainian Women in Sport: Video

Today is the 25th anniversary of the tragic events in Chernobyl, Ukraine. There was an interesting article in an Irish paper here on how people are coping with the aftereffects: Chernobyl the fallout

These are some of the Ukrainian sports stars I found this morning. If you know of anyone else, please leave a comment!

Women's European 60m final Oleysa Povh in 7.13
 




Best-ever celebration - Gold Medal in Wrestling Athens Olympics 2004


 Valentina Semerenko (Ukraine) comes 3rd in 2011 Biathlon


Amateur Muay Thai world championships 2010 Diana Yakovlev (Ukraine) - Kunones Chantelle (USA) 


 Gymastics - one of most popular women's sports in Ukraine

From Karate to MuayThai with Denise O' Connell, Ireland

Denise O’ Connell started her sports career with Shotokan Karate but after watching one session of MuayThai knew that was her real passion.

Denise O Connell, Sitjaipetch Gym

Denise trains in Ireland – along with some of the other Irish fighters profiled here – and says: “Every time I fight, afterwards I say that’s it now, no more. Then my trainer asks me and I say yeah, sure, I’ll do it.”

At 6 foot 1 inch (1m 85cm) and 76kgs, Denise carries her strength easily now. But she says it’s wasn’t always like this. Without training, she says she puts on weight easily. Last year, while travelling and working in Australia (a typical rite of passage for young Irish people) her weight shot up to 96kgs. I met her at a fight-night in March, and she had lost the weight in less than three months. She just grinned and said: “Yes, I was living in the sweat-box. I had Weetabix for breakfast, protein shakes during the day … and often ran while wearing the sweat-suit as well.”

She won against her Scottish opponent that night, but says one of the highlights of her career so far has been the week at the Amateur European Championships. She says it was a “brilliant week” and she was proud to watch fighters from countries like Russia in the ring and think: “I can do that as well, great.”

But after five years of Shotokan, doesn’t she miss it? Apparently not. “I did some competitive bouts in that, but you only hit someone once. It’s a points-game. After one training session of the MuayThai, I never did karate again.” That said, she does have an interest in UFC. She says it’s harder to get fights in boxing as she is in a different weight category to many of the girls competing at the moment. So we might see her adding a third sport to her list someday.

Do you know anyone else who moves between different sports?

Caley Reece Australian MuayThai fighter

On Saturday two of Australia's best MuayThai fighters Caley Reece and Heather O' Donnell square off again. The Domination event features some great fights but this is the one I'd love to see. I had a cyber-meet with Caley  - thanks for making the time! 

Her fight record record stands at 31 wins from 36 fights, and the trophy cupboard holds the WMC 57kg Western Australia title,WMC 57kg Australian title, WMC 57kg 2x Intercontinental title and 56kg WPMF world title ... so far.

You were lined up for a world title fight against Alla Ivashkevich from Belarus recently, what happened there?

Yes, it was all a bit of a whirlwind couple of weeks. Darren got the call from Thailand  -- Alla and I were the top two contenders to fight off for the WMC vacant title at 57kg. This of course was exciting news for us but Alla's trainer emailed about nine days before the show and said she was injured and also having trouble with 57kg so she would not be coming to fight. I was disappointed of course as I was training hard and also training around some injuries I got from a car accident three weeks before the fight. But the title will be up for grabs on our show (in Perth) on June 25th.

The promoters got Nong Tran Detract from Thailand as a replacement. That looked like a tough fight, how did you feel it went? 

She represents Thailand in the IFMA World Games and won at the Asian Championships so she was good. Nong Tran's had about 60 fights so it was good fight someone with that experience. The fight was a good Thai style fight, she had nice hard kicks and was strong in the grapple as most Thais are!

Caley Reece vs Nong Tran Detract pic Into the Zone

You've had some nasty injuries over the years, how do you cope with being side-lined? 

Yeah, I've had my fair share of injuries but we all do. The shoulder has been the worst  (dislocated in 2002, it often pops during training) and I've got arthritis in the joint on the top of my foot . I've had that now for about  two years. It sometimes plays up quite badly but it's usually your bumps and shin-bruising after fights that linger round for a few days. 

When you started fighting you were manager of a Health Clinic as well, but I hear it's all about Riddler's Gym now? 

I'm full time at the gym now doing all the office side of things. It's great as it allows me to train at different times. We have just started doing the EPIC shows together which is a new form of stress I haven’t experienced yet!! Fighting on and promoting a show….eeeekkk not for the faint hearted!!

Caley and Darren Reece

And you got married earlier this year ... to your trainer Darren Reece. Is it strange doing everything together?

Umm, this is a hard question actually. The hardest part of being married to my trainer and also working together is the fact that it's Muay Thai 24/7. We have to learn to switch off from it and still do the normal things in life! As for in the gym, we work well together 99% of the time…. There's always that 1% though! hahaha

Caley Reece doing Ram Muay before a fight

Finally, Saturday's fight. When we talked in 2008, you said Heather O' Donnell was your toughest opponent. Has that opinion changed?
I have had some really good tough fights since we spoke last so yes, it's changed a little. I've had some really good close high paced fights with Nicole Brolan. Our fights were always so close and fast paced from round one.
Another hard fight was Valentina Schevchenko from Peru (originally fighting for Kyrgyzstan) in the Sport Accord Games in Beijing.
Valentina is super experienced with over 300 fights and was the first southpaw I had faced so I had a lot to work out in my fight with her. I lost the fight but it was a good fight which I'm happy with. I've seen her absolutely demolish people so I was proud to have held my own against her, that’s for sure!

Wishing Caley and Heather O' Donnell the best of luck - should be the highlight of the night down in Perth.

Women sports stars in adverts How to do it right

So finally, here is the World Champion amateur boxer Katie Taylor in action with two musician-types. I LOVE this. And yes, I know it's an advert and that makes me shallow but it's so unusual to see a woman athlete just doing her sport without any frills or faux-sexy shots. Have to say I'm not a hundred per cent clear on the link between the two guys and Taylor - any muso fans out there who could enlighten me?

This blog is not sponsored or supported in any way by product-makers. It's nice to be nice to companies who realise we just love sport and don't need any crap. 




You might also like the mood in these ads.

Surfing and MuayThai with Vicky Chan

Surfing sells itself as the mellow sport while MuayThai screams full-contact. On the surface they don't have much in common but Vicky Chan uses one to prepare for the other and loves both.

Vicky Chan winter surfing Ireland

She says: “I enjoy boxing, I love the people up there and I love the fitness of Thai Boxing. It really helps with surfing.”
She’s been learning MuayThai at Sitjaipetch Gym in Ireland for nine years and surfing for two. Her favourite beach is Garrettstown but she loves travelling to Cornwall, Scotland and up to the northern Irish beaches.

Balancing Sport and Living
I asked which is harder, catching big waves or getting in the ring. Vicky didn’t hesitate: “If you miss the first wave, you can go again but not in a fight. I get stage-fright, it can be terrifying … scarier than the time I almost drowned.” That would be a ten for boxing then.
At 39 she feels it’s getting harder to keep both going to a high standard. Her surfer-husband would love her to give up the gym and concentrate on the beaches. Vicky says she has more responsibilities now, and when she has a fight everything else has to stop. This can make things difficult for people around her.

Cross-Training Works
Lots of surfers use yoga for their flexibility and strength. Vicky says ThaiBoxing does the same for her. “The upper-body work complements the surfing. From training you get strong, flexible and have a good core. And you learn to block punches. So when a wave is crashing in on me, I know how to take the impact and how to recover.” She says she’s seen surfers working with weights and pulleys to prepare for long paddles but she has all that from boxing training.

Vicky Chan before a MuayThai fight

Scary Moments
But in spite of her fears about boxing, some of her worst moments have been out on the water. Last summer she took the board right in her face, coming up covered in blood. Laughing she says: “I was dazed but all I could think about was Jaws, I had this cartoon image of a shark in my head.”  Luckily real-life sharks are a rarity in Ireland.
On another busy day she was caught in a rip and flailed about for almost 90 minutes before crashing to safety on the rocks in the north of Garretstown. She remembers thinking the waves were too big for people to get out to her, and how relieved she was to flop onto the rocks.

Final Thoughts
“Choose? No, I couldn’t choose . I’m not brilliant at them really, but I enjoy both.”

MMA at 52?

I've been reading That Girl is Funny for a while, but only realised yesterday that Cheryl Ragsdale is 52. And have to admit I'm ageist, who would have thought you could take up a sport like Brazilian Ju-Jitsu (very) late in life and love it so much?
Cheryl, a former management consultant started training to make some health changes in her life and ... well, watch the video and you'll see.
Best quote: " You don't need strength, you just need to know how to leverage people."  

Do you know anyone else taking up intense sports at an, umm, unusual age?

Irish MuayThai fighter Siobhan Foley

On Saturday March 19th I caught up with five Irish MuayThai fighters and asked them about their love for boxing. This is the first of the interviews from that show. 

Competing at 57 kgs, Irish MuayThai fighter Siobhan Foley has been training for five years but just starting her fight career. Like many women involved in martial arts, she had no intention of fighting at the beginning, it was all about the fitness.

"I never thought I’d do it," she says in the dressing area behind the fights. "My first fight was the best and the worst moment of my life.” Now with seven fights behind her, she is getting used to being in the ring. Siobhan started in the amateur circuit – they wear a helmet, shin-guards, a chest-guard and elbow-pads as well as using 16oz gloves.

Saturday’s fight was C-class professional which she much prefers. “I loved it, this style is much better.” Of course professional in Ireland doesn’t mean the same as in Thailand where fighters don’t have any other income. Here it’s just about wearing protection or not, and how long the rounds are.

Siobhan Foley (kicking) vs Sophie Gallagher, Scotland

Siobhan works a regular 9-to5 with Bord Gais and heads to training in the evening. Before this fight, she added in daily 7am runs to the routine. It’s normal in MuayThai to fight at a lower weight than you “walk around at” so for Siobhan this means dropping from 62kgs to 57kgs – running, running and running.

She says: “I feel lighter of course at 57. It’s better so I can fight better too.”

There are more women taking part these days but that’s still a relative number. Siobhan says it can be very hard to get a fight – fighters need to have a similar record and weigh the same – and even harder to get one just at the right time for yourself. She fought a heavier girl (about 7 kgs) once but says never again: “I could feel it the next morning, my legs were so sore because she was kicking that much harder.”

So her next fight isn’t sure yet, but with shows taking place every month around the country, she’s hopeful the wait won’t be too long.

What is this sports advert about?

Irish boxer and three times amateur world champion Katie Taylor has been busy making an advert with Lucozade Sport. It will air on the 12th of April during the Champions League quarter-finals. Great exposure for Taylor and women's boxing. 

Scene one from Taylor's ad

I'm not sure what the actual advert entails but have been told that it also involves two "well-known artists from the UK and US music scene". Curiouser and curiouser as Alice would say.

Scene two Taylor's ad

I used another shot yesterday here. Any thoughts on what they are actually doing here?!

Wordless Wednesday

Boxer Katie Taylor behind-the-scenes new ad with Lucozade

Wordless Wednesday is a group of bloggers who give words a rest once a week.

PS - more sneak photos tomorrow thanks to Lucozade for sharing!

Happy International Women's Day

It's women's day here every day but in honour of the occasion here's some of the photographs you liked the best:

Stephanie Gilmore, Australia - ripcurl pic

Hurling pic Lorraine O Sullivan

Anne-Flore Marx Swiss pic matt george

Nikki Kelly NZ pic playak.com

Caley Lewis Australia pic riddlers' gym

Mary Kom India pic IABA

Are you doing anything special this week for Women's Day, March 8th 2011?