Fighting & Randy Couture

By Lu

I'm sticking to no talking about food for awhile. At least, one of us can keep her words! We are not only about food. There are so much more to culture and the great things in life other than delicious Bakso, perfectly seared foie gras on a toast point, Beluga Caviar with a flute of Louis Roederer Cristal.....

Well, maybe there are not much more out there better. Yet, I'm still not going back to talking about food just yet.

I'm going to talk about Fighting. You probably would say, "are you kidding me?" What could I possibly know about fighting?! Well, not much. But, I can definitely talk your ear off for an hour or two.

I'm not sure what is my obsession about fighting; but, for a girl, I have always been into martial arts and fighting. Not necessarily practicing it, but merely a fan of it. My grandpa from dad used to read Kung Fu novels written by an Indonesian Novelist, Ko Ping Ho. I remember watching my grandpa sitting on his front yard, watching the street, smoking his tobacco joint he rolled himself, and reading one of Ko Ping Ho's books. He would then tell me what it was about and I was his captive audience.

Then, later I was totally into Wayang books - Hindu mythology comic books about the epic "Mahabharata" and the war "Bharatayudha." I learned about all these Indian warriors fighting the biggest battle known to man at the time, the Battle between Brothers - or cousins I should say over a kingdom. I learned about each character's weapon and supernatural ability. It just fascinated me. I thought even though Bima had the huge gada (mace), I thought the crazy spinning arrow called "Sudarshana Chakra," the weapon of Lord Vishnu that was given to Krishna for the war, was the bomb. That thing was like a super weapon at the time, spinning serrated disk as arrow head that can tear anyone easily!

My Junior high years, I was watching Kung Fu Series like "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and "To Liong To - The Legend of the Dragon Slayer." I would go home from school and watch the series even before doing homeworks. I didn't remember my parents being so strict about tv at all back then, which I was grateful about. This was back when Beta video tape was the latest technology. Each series could consist of 30 to 40 tapes so you can imagine how many hours I logged in front of the tube.

When I came to the US, I realized that fighting and martial arts aren't only an Asian thing. Of course many people would associate many martial arts like Kung Fu, Karate, Muay Thai Kickboxing, and Tae Kwon Do to Asia. I did. When I thougt of Kung Fu, I would imagine an old Asian guy with white hair or a bald Shaolin monk kicking butts. But, then I discovered an American phenomenon of professional wrestling. I was way into WWF (WWE now) at the time and was totally hopelessly in love with Triple H. I used to watch the video of Degeneration X and made X mark the spot sign on my crotch. I watched it still way into my twenties. I even dragged Mark to a couple live events to see my beloved Tripe H and Shawn Michaels. I know it's fake, but I really didn't see anything wrong with beautiful ripped half naked men parading around in a ring.

Then in college I also started to watch The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). I was totally fascinated with mixed martial arts (MMA) as I loved that movie "Best of the Best" with Eric Roberts...hahaha ya I know. They probably still play it on USA late night. But it was so cool to see a fighting championship like that. MMA is even cooler as they combined several different disciplines to make the best defense. Looking at a small guy like Royce Gracie just beat every body (even some bigger than him) was out of this world cool. I think even the mixed martials arts nowadays is a true art. It takes a real serious strategy in coming up with the best game plan to win. It is also interesting to see who will fare better in a fight between disciplines, for example - a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu grappler vs. a stand-up boxer. Even with video games, the only games I could stand are fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Soul Calibur. Watching UFC just reminds me of a great video game, yet it is real.

I know UFC is so mainstream now and lo and behold, every one a fan. It's not that cool anymore for a girl to be a fan or know about it. Even so, I can't give my attention to the other league of fightings like Strikeforce (though my other favorite fighter, Dan Henderson is fighting there).

But at least one satisfaction I got is that I had good taste and others followed. I remember there was a time when guys could have their jaw on the floor listening to me reciting fights, techniques, stats of my favorite fighters. Those days are over as even now, I am a little behind on my latest UFC stuff. Just lost a little interest because it is just so in your face.

When anyone asks me who's my favorite fighter, I will answer with conviction - Randy Couture. The only thing I could say I was grateful about knowing UFC back then was that I had the opportunity to watch Randy fought his greatest battles. It was just a real pleasure watching Randy fight. He's just such a nice guy and he always smiles. He's still fighting now and I can't believe he's going after Lyoto Machida on April 30. That is going to be insane! I hope he beats him.

One thing I learned about Randy - nice guys do not finish last. He didn't have to act like Tito Ortiz boasting and showing attitude to win. He didn't have to have theatrics like Rampage Jackson to be a champion. Though I love Rampage Jackson, Randy has a special place in my heart. I was just so happy I did witness the events when he beat Vitor Belfort, Chuck Liddell, Tito, and Tim Sylvia...OMG. That's all I could say. Back in 2007, Randy was the underdog fighting against the Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia. Randy was much older and Tim was this scary looking almost 7 feet tall guy. When Randy beat him, I screamed in joy and knocked my red wine glass onto Michael and Helen's brand new white carpet. Oupsie Daisy.

I love Randy so much, my friends Helen and Michael, got me an Xtreme Couture hoodie and Randy's action figure for Christmas one year. I love him so much I went to see The Expendables. Oh, Randy..I love you. You watch, I bet that action figure will be worth a lot of money someday!

Well, if we're going to talk about top shelf fighter, I can't think of a better guy to mention than Randy. Yes, I'm sure Anderson Silva and GSP are great; but Randy holds his own place in the Hall of Fame. He won 2 belts in different weight classes. He is in his late 40s and he is still kicking and fighting. He beat men half his age and he seems to be getting even better as he grows older. He's extremely good natured, big nice smile, and he has the most beautiful cauliflower ears out there. There's a reason people call him "The Natural" and "Captain America." To me, he is one true athlete that can be called an American Hero. He's an examplary of a role model. Now, Randy - please do not pull a Tiger Woods or Michael Vick after I got done saying this.

What I got from being a fan of fighting other than the entertainment were: Competition push you to be better. You have to practice and learn and be better. I also learned that you can win the right way and it would feel so much better. Plus, people remember you for it. Fighting is not only about beating the crap out of each other. It is not about the violence. My parents practiced Chi Gong, and other type of Indonesian martial arts in the past and from that I learned the more you know how to protect yourself, the more you're content with your inner energy. You project that peace out to the world and people would actually leave you alone.

The best thing I saw from the greatest champions out there is that the better they are, the more humble they are. I could say that about Randy. I could say that about the crazy Beggar Warrior from the North, Ang Chit Kong, from the Legend of the Condor Heroes. I also saw the same from watching Ip Man, Bruce Lee's Wing Chun teacher the other day on DVD.

Though I can't say I know how to fight, I can say I took away the deepest meaning of it and it made me a better person. Still, don't mess with me cuz I'd poke your eyes out.