Japan trip part 3: Thursday and Friday UFC Fight week

Thursday Sep. 18th, we met at 9 AM to take a bus to the Saitama Super Arena. Burt wanted to visually check out and plan locker roms and stuff. He was really making a big effort to explain things to me, like how things are done and why. I feel like I’m getting training to get some skill.

He had me take notes for him. The guys are being super nice to me. I’m trying soooo hard to do well, though. I guess they can see that.

I was useful because I talked to fighters and security guards and the driver. 😀 😀 I’m so glad I was useful.

When we got back, I was chatting with Rin and her trainer before my lunch break, and Fumi-san walked in to translate, but then LEFT, saying I would be better since I was a woman and spoke English better. I was kind of upset because I had stuttered a little bit in Japanese so I was embarrassed because I didn’t want Rin to feel like I was doing a bad job. 🙁 I did half the interview and then the dude asked about ‘being creative.’ She was very creative with her self-marketing. I didn’t know how to say that! I was just going ” uh uhhhhhh ” when Fumi-san came back, so I said, “How do you say creative in Japanese?! Help me!” and left him to do the rest. *facepalm* ug I was doing fine until then, too. So embarrassing.

I went swimming for 15 minutes (I used a timer). A constant battle to burn off all the yummy Japanese food I was chowing down, stay in shape, and gain muscle via weight training. LOL Then help the Fighter Relations Team set up the weight check and sponsor check area. After that, I was free for the evening!

So I ate an onigiri rice ball, oden, and veggies, and went to HEARTS. Got lost in Shinjuku station so Brittany came and met me at the station. LOL I watched the ‘conditioning class” and participated in the beginners class, sparring after that.

Osawa-san, who used to be my striking coach like 6+ years ago, taught us this stepping technique which I liked a lot. Then a technique confused me and I got frustrated. x_x

I got to spar with Brittany, and also Osawa-san! It’s been like 6 years. How awesome! I did much better than in the past, obviously. It was so great to spar with him after so long. But he still dominated. He also put me against some other pros in the class, and this one guy toyed with me by putting his glove on my forehead and just following me. (rather than hitting me) PISSED ME THE HELL OFF. FIGHT ME, don’t just humor the girl. @#)($@#$#@ Like a big bully putting his hand on the little kid’s forehead to keep him away. How rude! I hit him a few times well, though. And I get it – the first time sparring with a girl, you never know how hard to go. etc etc all that bullcrap.

Overall, it was fun. Until I nailed one guy with my bad foot (swollen from my fight) so I had to stop. But we had gone from 8:30 to like 10:40ish. But thank you for the training and hospitality, Osawa-san!

So we were just going to take the picture when this guy comes out of the shower, and Osawa-san is like “Hey, get in!” He was in his underwear which was….very…tight. I was like, “Hang on a second.” I made them wait while I ran to the shelf to get a glove, which I placed…strategically. Now the picture is kid-friendly. 🙂

Hearts is conveniently located ten minutes from Shinjuku station and Osawa-san can speak English, so if you are ever in Tokyo, stop by! http://www.hearts-mma.com/

Brittany and I took a taxi back to our hotel.

Friday the 19th, Fight Night Japan weigh-in day!

It was weigh-in day! We were scheduled to meet at 10:30, so I had breakfast with Brittany and we did coin laundry. By the time we got back, I had to go.

It went okay. The first day, we gave wrist bands to everyone. On Fight day, though, only people on the list get wrist bands and Burt has stressed this over and over and over.

So we loaded everyone into the dressing room, and Burt gave his speech. Shu actually translated that….he did a much better job than I could have. 🙁

But Burt seems to have a lot of confidence in me. Anyway, I had to make sure the blue corner got out first, and then the red corner. Either he forgot to call Rin and John’s name, or they didn’t hear him. 😡 And I was scrambling to make sure they got seats on the bus. But that’s our job, because nobody is perfect. But Burt is awesome.

Then I thought I was staying behind because he had said so, but then he yelled, “ROX! Get on the bus! GET ON THAT BUS!” So I literally leapt to obey. I hadn’t peed or packed a drink or snack or anything. LOL #unprepared. It was cool to be behind stage.

Never once did I ever get to see the main arena with fans, at weigh-ins or during fight day. LOL oh well, I’ve seen plenty arenas. 🙂 This was when they were lined up at weigh-ins and the announcer said, “And now next up on the scale is…… KANEHARA!!” or somebody, and we got to say, “Okay, you’re up! Go!”

It was funny being the person standing there ordering people around.

So everybody weigh-ed in successfully. Funny to see Usami-san put armour on Rin.

Just a side note, I tried to find a pic of her in armor and couldn’t find anything until I searched in the Japanese language. wth? Don’t Americans think it’s interesting? XD

Then we went back and it took 40 mins by bus.

After we got back, we had to wait an hour to have a meeting with Ricky, who is awesome and super nice to met (well, everybody is), and then I went to Kawasaki to hang out with Goto-san! 😀 Yay, my Japanese uncle! Thanks to talking to him on Skype every week, my Japanese language skills haven’t deteriorated too much.…