Zig Zach: May 2009

Hey Everyone,

Not sure if you've noticed but I've added to the list of "SPONSORS",a new logo. The one I've added on is 3rdborn. 3rdborn is an independent street & surf wear brand coming out of Bali,Indonesia. 3rdborn was started by Australian,David Eagles who has now been living in Bali for over 10years and has been selling his 3rdborn brand since 2001!! David is no stranger to street & surf wear and has over 20years of experience in design. At one point even working on graphics for the super famous Quiksilver brand for 9 years!! He has since sold 3rdborn to dozens of stores in Australia,USA and Japan!! (Hopefully Singapore soon!) He also has been painting and exhibiting since the 80's!!

David Eagles: Nature's Own

How David came up with the name 3rdborn is as random as how I found out about the brand!?! In 1997,his parents admitted to him that they had wanted two children....and OOPS! Out came David. hahaha The story behind me finding 3rdborn was just as random and just as much an accident! I was out at the Oasis concert in at the indoor stadium here in Singapore and I saw this guy wearing a really cool tshirt with a very stylish Lightning Bolt across the chest. Me being "Zig Zach" thought it would be appropriate to try and get hold of it to add to my collection of Lightning Bolts and Zig Zag tshirts!

The cool Tshirt that gave me so many sleepless nights!! haha

So instead of going up to the guy like a complete dork and a freak I actually loitered around and tried to find out the brand name. (Yeah...!! Like that was a much cooler way to do it!!!!) I managed to find out the brand and it was 3rdborn. That night after the concert I went on google and searched for it and managed to find a website and a contact. So I asked them if they knew which design I was talking about and said that I was more than happy to pay for shipping and whatever else as long as I could get my hands on it!!

Sadly David replied saying that this was an old design and they had sold out of it. I was gutted about it,but....."What's meant to be...will be." He signed off his email saying,"Next time you're in Bali drop by the gym and train kickboxing with us!" haha So we then chatted casually about Marital Arts and it turns out he has trained in Brazillian Jiu Jitsu with one of the early founders of BJJ in Australia...The legendary, John Will!!! When David moved to Bali,he started a Kickboxing class as there weren'tt any proper classes there and he couldn't find anyone to wrestle with in Bali. 8 years down the road his kickboxing classes are still running in Bali with a small group who attend religiously each week to train and keep fit.

After alot of emailing back and forth with David,he has agreed to be one of my sponsors. =) I guess both of us being martial artist and the fact that I really like alot of his 3rdborn designs was a very cool connection. The internet is AMAZING isn't it!? Never met David before and just by chatting and having a cool understanding between us he's agreed to sponsor me =) Thank you very much David,I really appreciate it.

David has sent me 4 Tshirts and I called up a good friend and a very talented photographer,Daniel Lois to help do a cool photoshoot and this is one of the designs that I've selected to use from now on. This will be my new DJ profile picture when I send it out to club promoters whenever they wanna do a flyer or poster.

So if any of you are interested in 3rdborn products and you're headed over to beautiful Bali anytime soon. Check out their store there. The address is:

3rdborn

Jl. Raya Seminyak XSeminyak,

Kuta, Bali 80361,

Indonesia

Tel: +62 361 733 760

If you are not going to Bali anytime soon...! As the aussies like to say,"CRIKEY!!" haha Uhmm oops I meant the other saying thatAussies like to use,"No worries mate!!" You can check out their internet store www.3rdborn.etsy.com to get hold of their stuff. They are slowly uploading images on to the online store as they are busy with their store in Bali and mailing out orders to their international distributors.

Also check out their Facebook fanpage to see some of their older Tshirt designs and to get updates on what new designs are coming in!!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/3rdborn/29260689689

Im really hoping to make my trip up to Bali at some point this year for a nice holiday,some good food,some awesome partying and definetly to hold a Muay Thai seminar for David and his students! Thank you David for becoming a sponsor. Im looking forward to wearing your Tshirts to DJ gigs and parties!!

As they say in Bali,"Sampai Jumpa"

LaterZ

Hey everyone,

So I got back yesterday afternoon from Phuket and been rushing around the island to do some photoshoots and interviews. Ahhh what a tough life!! haha I fought at Bangla Stadium on Tuesday and was only up there for a couple of days. Sadly this time I didn't get to train at all in Thailand before the fight. Works been busy and I can't keep leaving clients hanging all the time....It's not very professional.

So I did my own training here in sunny singapore. Running and skipping most of the time to get my stamina up. Hit BNM a couple of times to hit the pads and bags. Do some strength & conditionng work. So I felt pretty good. I usually cycle to all my clients so that KINDA helps abit I guess? Since I bought my bicycle in the 2nd week of October til today I've done 2118.4Km on it to be exact!!!! Thats a whole lot of cycling.....even the guy at the Treknology shop was pretty impressed when I told him how much I've done on my bicycle!!

Fight night felt DIFFERENT this time. I really didn't feel like I was there to fight. Maybe coz my mates Dan and James who came up with me were there partying all the time and coming back with funny stories the next day and it kept me amuzed and my mind off the fight. haha

I arrived at the new Bangla stadium and I told the staff at the door that I was a fighting tonight so they said ok check your name. I looked and saw "Fighter - Singapore FIXFEC" hahahahhahaha Right the thai's can't seem to ever get my name right...Phi Phi was "SIXSAX" and now it's "FIXFEC" hahaha So I got in and it was already the 3rd fight of the night and Bao,Bangman's son was fighting. Bao won his fight on points and looked good doing it kicking,blocking and clinchng his way for 5 rounds!! He has improved alot since his younger days. Who wouldn't if your dad was Bangman!! haha

I was fight number 5 so after Bao's fight was over I got ready. Met my fighter as he was getting ready and I just smiled at him politely. He acknowledged. I saw he did't look as fit but then again neither does Bangman look fit and he's won almost all his fights still with bloody knockouts!! So never underestimate any thai!! Bangman gave me some advice on what to do in the fight as he taped my hands. Hands taped,oiled up,warmed up and before you know it,I had my arm bands tied on my arab headress over and down we went to the ring.

Did my full wai kru this time and got a good cheer from the Thai's who always appreciate when someone does a good Wai Kru. Bangman says a prayer for me as he removes my headdress and off it was Rd 1.

We both started out just slowly testing with kicks,push kicks. He hit me with one or two kicks and felt pretty strong. I went for his back leg a couple of times with some hard low left kicks and it kind of bothered him abit. He landed a left kicks on my glove and I remember thinking.."Bloody hell he's pretty quick with that,right hands up!!". I tried to high left kick him and he leaned back making me miss. I could really tell that me not sparring in my preparation for this fight was not a good idea!!! I just felt awkward and couldn't gauge my distance and felt abit jumpy when he came in close. We got tied up in the clinch and he tries to elbow me but doesn't hit. Ref breaks us up and I go back to working the low kicks. He threw a punch combo and finished with an Elbow. And Im glad I had my hands guarded high up coz I felt that Elbow on my left glove and I thought,"Right he means business..." so I gave him a little smile and a shrug to wind him up abit. We were close to my corner and he lands another left kick and I didn't manage to block it and so I contered with a right low kick to his standing leg hard!! And then the bell goes.

I get to my corner and Bangmans saying to me,"Take your time you're doing good just block and see what he's got to give. Don't miss kicks and don't rush.Take your time and wait for a good chance then work the elbows."

Round two starts and I do low kicks again. Making sure I land them even if he blocks at least it's doing SOME damage and it looks better to the judges when it lands!! I had to stop making him look like the better fighter!! I kinda sensed he wanted to stay on the outside and kept using pushkicks to keep me away. I tried to kick and he lands a push kick throwing me off balance. Im feeling abit annoyed at myself now. I try breaking the distance and come in with a push kick and kicking his inside of the left thai. Then landing hard low kicks again. I tried another left kick to the mid section and and bloody hell of course it misses he couters and I brought my leg up in time to block it!!

Grrrrrrrrr I felt really rigid and really bad with getting my range. So I said to myself "Right change of tactics see how he likes me in close then?" I step in with a Jab and he sticks his arm out to hold me out and I did the "B-man Special" on him!! Bangman is the elbow specialist!! I always work elbows soo much with him when we're training together and there was one of the techniques that he drills into me all the time. And I put that into good use this time....I land an elbow HARD on him and he goes DOWN Im actually surprised he got up again. After that I knew that right hes doesn't like me up close I keep pressing in and changed worked the punches,knees and elbows dept. I pressed forward and landed a straight knee and as I threw a right elbow he leaned back and I miss..."D'OH!!" He actually elbowed at the same time too and mised me so was pretty lucky!! He counters with a kick and i just stay close to him. I tie him up and land another elbow again on him but he shrugs it off. He presses forward knowing that he's down on points he's ready for a right elbow so I switch and step in with an uppercut elbow and it misses him by an inch. We get tied up in the clinch again and I slip out and land an elbow that catches him!! I see him falling and as he goes down I throw another one. Ref gives him an 8 count and I press in again I fake with the right and throw a short left elbow. I dont really think it hit him but I think he had enough and didn't wanna risk getting hit by anymore elbows. FixFec wins Round 2 Knockout! =)

Bangman was very happy with my performance. He said that I did everything we had trained before and put it into good use this time and I looked realy strong in the fight. I thought I did well and the only thing I would work on was the distance and my reaction. This is why sparring is so important when preparing for a fight. You see your opponents moves better and notice things better!! You don't get so jumpy and nervous when they move in.

So I sat down to watch some of the fights and took pictures with some of the crowd who approached me. There was an english couple who actually were on holiday and recongnized me from Contender Asia =) haha There were two swedish girls who sat infront of us and congratulated me and I just made friendly conversation and said yeah I've been to Sweden and all that. And turns out she actually trains,runs her own gym and used to fight too...and funny enough she knows EVERYONE that I know in Sweden!! From my brother Yukay to the Playboy Hugh Hefner of Sweden....Bingo!!! But yeah it's a smaaaaaaaaaallllllll world. So who knows maybe next time Im in Europe I'll get to do a seminar in Sweden!! =) She also writes a blog but it's in Swedish!!!

http://www.fightplay.tv/author/susanne

Right so I got out of this fight injury free!! =) So I'll mayb try to get another fight in 2 or 3 weeks time. We'll see. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted.

Many thanks for dropping by Laterz!!!!!!!!