Mia St. John wins WBC Title

We Won!!! Well, actually Mia won, but for the record she couldn't have done it without her "seconds". Seconds, or better put- 2nds, refer to the boxer's team. The team consists of the Trainer- Charles, Assistant Trainer- me, and the Cut Man- Sergio.

Next time you watch a boxing match, pay attention to the coordinated effort that goes into taking care of the fighter. It's absolutely amazing. I'm used to Taekwondo matches where our player (as we call them in Taekwondo), comes back and it's the coach and the athlete. On the other hand, a Taekwondo player is not taking the same facial beating that boxers endure.

If you watched the match on TV, you probably missed my job. No worries... I'll cover it right now.

Click, Click, Click. That is the 10 second warning. At this point, I pick up the stool, double check that I have the jar of vasoline in my pocket. The Cut Man has the ice pack and the trainer has got the water.

DING... In one consorted effort, three men are in the corner, 1 in the ring, and we're prepared to cool the fighter down, temporarily close cuts, bring swelling down, stop bleeding, hydrate, add vasoline, and oh yeah... offer some good boxing advice. It takes about 3 seconds to have all three of us in place.

DING... Mia stands up and we need to be gone! If we're not out of the ring within a few seconds, Mia could be penalized. Prior to giving a penalty, the referee gives us the command, "2nd's out!" At that point, we MOVE and the fight continues.

As I mentioned yesterday, we were a little nervous about the crowd of 20,000 people. Quite honestly, seeing the crowd last night, there was no reason to be worried at all. Mia esta muy famosa aqui. She is a national celebrity. Mia's face appeared in every newspaper and news channel in Mexico. As a matter of fact, the governer of Zacatecas, a state in Mexico, sent her an enormous bouquet of flowers. If that wasn't enough, the governer had her representative- Juan Carlos, make sure we were well taken care of.

Today, Juan Carlos and his chauffeur took us on an amazing tour of the Azteca Pyramids. I took some fun and exciting video while racing my sister to the top. Unfortunately, I haven't converted the video to put in this blog.

After the pyramids, they treated us to an amazing dinner in the historical district of Mexico City, right next to el Capitale. The restaurant itself, Cafe de Tacuba has an amazing history. Once originally a monestary for monks, then converted to a cafe'. It became a famous cafe' in the early ninteen hundreds where many political figures once ate. In fact, some of them were even gunned down in this cafe' because of the corruption in the government in the 1920's and 30's. I'm sure that corruption is all better now.

Tomorrow, I will be heading back to Boise. I really do enjoy the culture and musica de Mexico. I also enjoy walking or riding my bike alone in Boise and not worrying about a thing. There was actually nothing to worry about on this trip, mainly because we were treated like royalty by the state of Zacatecas. It does look as if we will be returning in November, but this time to Zacatecas itself, for one more fight. I do plan on bringing my entire family this time so they can learn more about the culture of my mother. My mother actually grew up in Zacatecas, and her entire family still resides there. It's going to be quite the cultural experience for us.

See you soon!

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson

Chief Master Instructor

The Academy of World Taekwondo

Ph: 208.381.0587

http://www.FreeKarateLesson.com