English translation

Main Headline: Lawyer by day, boxer by night

29 year old Lee Xianwei is a lawyer without any background in boxing, but he has since trained for 3 months and up to 54 hours in total, in preparation for the upcoming White Collar Boxing competition in September, organized by the local sports company, Vanda Promotions. It is Mr Lee’s first time competing in such a competition. He talks about his bruises and how clients and colleagues think it’s very interesting that he is participating in this event.

In total, 16 competitors are taking part in the event, and they are all are required to undergo 3 months of intensive training at the Vanda Boxing ring 3 times a week. Xianwei will find out who he will be competing in tomorrow at the weigh-in.

Subhead 1: White Collar Boxing participants are all Professionals

The participants in this year’s white collar boxing contest are all professionals – Lawyers, Marketing directors, Auditors. White collar boxing originated in the US in the 1990s with white collar boxers taking to boxing as a form of exercise and to stay fit. Vanda Promotions brought the sport to Singapore 4 years ago. Apart from Singapore, they also organize similar events in Hong Kong and Melbourne. This year’s event to be held on the 17 Sept at the Suntec Convention Centre has attracted 1200 spectators.

Subhead 2: Female Boxers not afraid of getting hurt.

White collar boxing is not just for men but for women too. 30 year old Becky Vinden from the UK may be small in size but she’s not afraid of taking a hit. She may get bruised during training but she is not afraid of getting disfigured.  She said getting injured is part and parcel of the sport. What is important is she is fitter and stronger after 3 months of intense training. She also says people think boxing is about brute strength but on the contrary, technique and reflexes are important. Its not just about strength but also using your head.

Lawyer competes in boxing for charity

Singapore’s Vanda Promotions, a local sports entertainment company, is organizing a white collar boxing competition in September this year to raise funds for a surgical centre, so that the children there can enjoy free medical checkups. 29 year old lawyer Mr Lee is one of the competitors taking part in the event. He gets injured from time to time during his boxing practices but clients and colleagues are intrigued by what he does and his company is very supportive of him. To prepare for the upcoming competition, he has to go for intensive trainings 3 times a week, each lasting up to 90 minutes. He says that he is doing all these for the sake of charity.

Subhead 1: Xianwei’s girlfriend warns him not to lose.

Xianwei will have over 30 people supporting him on fight night but he is nervous about the fight as his girlfriends has warned him not to lose. Xianwei is the only Singaporean participating in the fight and his tactic on the night will be to maintain composure and avoid his opponent’s attacks.

Subhead 2: Small in size but still competing.

Becky Vinden from the Uk may be small in size and usually dresses in skirts for work but she is not afraid to don boxing gloves and compete in the ring. She has gone through 3 months of intense training to prepare her for the fight and despite suffering a few injuries in training, she is not afraid of getting hurt. Her opponent will be 31 year old Zuzana from Slovakia. She is normally not used to the limelight so it’s quite a challenge for her to fight in the boxing ring in front of a huge crowd. She is happy though that through the training, she feels stronger and now runs faster when she goes for jogs.

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- Fencing (the agility and sharpness)

- Golf/Tennis (the technique and hand eye coordination required to throw a punch is similar to that of swinging a club or racquet)

- Rugby (the contact)

- Running (the cardio endurance and leg strength)

Inside the camp, speaking to my other training partners, it appears that as we lift the intensity of replicating ‘fight scenarios’ increasingly more of us are picking up niggling injuries such as elbow soreness (for one of the particular older lads), and sprained/dislocated fingers. Its all part of the game and speaking to a coach who is an ex professional boxer he was telling me that its very rare for anyone to step into the ring 100% fit especially if you have been training hard. Makes sense I guess….

Finally, it appears that this week we should find out who we will be facing in the ring come 4 September. So keep an eye out for the fight posters on the Vanda website.

Have a great week.

Yours in the Ring,
AW

P.S. Total word count: 267

A few weeks ago we had the photo and video shoots which were accompanied by interviews. I must admit it’s a pretty strange feeling having to stand in front of a few cameras and answer questions about something that you have not experienced before. I was glad to get it out of the way. It will be interesting to see how the videos turn out on the night, as some of us said to each other after the shoot, “I really hope I didn’t make a d#%k of myself!”

On a personal front, things are going well, a few minor niggles from the training and sparring but I will be good to go. At the moment I am trying to focus more on getting in quality ring time to get me comfortable with seeing fists flying at me and getting ‘fight fit’. I have successfully avoided any grog for the past 2 weeks and will carry this through until the fight.

One last thing, Go the Wallabies this Saturday night!

Yours in the ring,
AW

P.S. Total word count: 266

Tonight, I found myself negotiating the jungle of umbrellas along Queens Road, in Central to make it to the gym. As I am sure those of you who live in Hong Kong and are a bit taller than the average person on the street you at some stage have been poked in the eye by the stray umbrella spoke. After a while it does start to get on your nerves. Although tonight I realised it does serve a hidden purpose, by the time I arrived at the gym I was pretty agitated (not to mention soaked like a wet dog) and ready to unleash this pent up aggression on the bag and pads.

As the fight imminently draws closer and closer training is now more focussed on sparring which I personally find the most enjoyable. Matt our trainer likes to replicate a fight scenario by pushing us through rounds of 3 minutes followed by a 1 minute rest. Needless to say, time flies past and before I know its time to put the mouthguard away, unwrap the hands and get home for some much needed R&R.

Last entry I touched on the nutrition aspect of the fight preparation. This week I thought I would delve into a bit more detail. I find that with being so active that I am constantly hungry. And as a result, I eat 5 meals throughout the day. Most people think that this is a dream, but let me assure you, it isn’t as fun as it sounds! Here is a typical guide of what I eat on an average training day:

Meal 1:  Protein Shake, fruit (apples or blueberries), oatmeal

Meal 2: Handful of unsalted nuts and a can of tuna in mineral water

Meal 3: Salad with chicken breast and turkey or tuna and some whole-wheat bread

Meal 4: Can of Tuna and some fruit

Meal 5: Some protein either: Fish or Chicken, vegetables or salad

Basically I try not to eat anything which comes wrapped in plastic that has a used by date, thus avoiding as processed foods as much as possible. I have found that eating foods in its whole state is best as you avoid taking in anything that your body doesn’t really need and can’t process.

I find this amount of food keeps my body and mind fresh and ready to take on the training load of each day.

Yours in the ring,
AW

P.S. Total word count: 453