The Warrior's Code of Combat Sports

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     Recently, I've been watching a few boxing videos here and there. Watching great fighters, good fighters, and some not so good fighters. I can confidently rate them throughout the years as an avid fan. I can distinguish a deal of difference that separates those three categories. There's a lot of factors to be added into the equation and one aspect that I would like to discuss is the Warrior's Code.

     During ancient times, there were several forms of Warrior's Code at place just like the Samurai Class of Japan or the Maharlikan Class of the Philippines. Ancient warriors maintain certain aspects of Warrior-hood in order for them to continue to be distinguished as such. We've seen warrior's before. We can easily spot them through their actions and their demeanor. Here are my humble observations of a "warrior" in which I'd like to call as the "Warrior's Code of Combat Sports."

     Because the idea is so broad, it is not limited to just boxing alone but to all combat sports if applied accordingly. All great fighters must have this. It is the essence of their greatness. A good fighter may have this but sometimes it gets limited to only this, and for this reason, these fighters do not transcend through their probably greater potential because they get stuck in this one thing and they don't learn other more crucial aspects of the fight game.

     Again, this is just one aspect, and if you aren't paying enough attention to my post, you would probably suffer the painful consequence of an inevitable beaten fighter. The Warrior's Code of Combat Sports is simple.. yes it could be slugging but it also could be boxing or a mix. It is..

1. The idea that when a fighter lands one on you, you give him three or more. (Make payback time a habit)
2. Never put your hands down.
3. Keep yourself in front of your opponent, never back up or run.
(If you're hurt don't fool yourself, move away or clinch!)
4. Taunt your opponent into a brawl. Disrespect him.
5. Trade punches and make sure to hit the last punch of the exchange.
6. Make your opponent lean back against the ropes - at least 50% of the time. 

     These are probably foolish choices to make in the ring but it is one hell of a statement. It is always best to fight smart, but if you feel like you're lacking a little bit of greatness, you should probably give this a try. After all, only a warrior would dare to do these tricks in a fight and showing these warrior-like characteristics will earn you a lot of respect. Before I end this post, I'd like to leave you all with the final and most important of the Warrior's Code, and that is to..

7. Never give up - 100% all of the time.

Photo: Chuck Wepner missing a wide right hand on Muhammad Ali. Definitely someone who never gave up despite the odds. Earning the respect of Boxing fans around the world.

Olympic Controversy: Barriga - Zhakypov

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Philippine Olympic Boxing is now saddened of Light Flyweight prospect Mark Anthony Barriga's defeat against Kazakhstan's Birzhan Zhakypov. Barriga, who had defeated Manuel Cappai of Italy on the score of 17-7, made the entire country dream with his quest for the elusive Olympic Gold Medal. I for one, although envious, had my hopes up with his ride for Olympic greatness. I wanted him to win the Gold Medal, but as it turned out, Lady luck seemed to go against the Filipino prospect. Barriga from the Philippines lost with a score of 16-17 in favor of Zhakypov from Kazakhstan. It was a controversial decision that sparked some interest and fascination between Olympic Boxing fan's like myself.

Round 1

Earlier rounds seemed to favor Barriga with his consistency and willingness to throw punches on his opponent. Actively, I would say Barriga was more aggressive, as Zhakypov was more reserved yet accurate. It was a close round. The judges had it 5-4 in favor of the more accurate Birzhan Zhakypov of Kazakhstan.

Round 2

Again, Barriga was the more aggressive fighter. He threw lots of punches that worked into his favor as the the Kazakhstan fighter seemed to stay idle and relaxed throughout this round. Barriga outlanded his opponent by 8-10, his aggressiveness, hand speed, and counter punching skills carried out in this round.


Round 3

A determined Birzhan Zhakypov turned his pedal to the metal. He was more aggressive than the Filipino contingent for the very first time. Barriga looked to counter punch his opponent as Zhakypov was coming in. Both fighters seemed to wrestle each other in deep anticipation, sensing the urgency that their Olympic dreams may come to an end tonight. There were moments where both fighters kept falling down, as they were coming in. Referee Roland Labbe of Canada then decided to give a two point advantage penalty on Barriga for wrestling. The score ended in a steady 17-16 in favor of Birzhan Zhakypov of Kazakhstan.

Final Thoughts

The decision is definitely unfortunate for the Filipino contingent. He should have won this match if the referee never gave the deduction with a score of 16-15. Again, I don't criticize the rules and favoritism thereof of the Olympic community, but this is just outrageous! I cannot stand to watch a fighter being blamed entirely over something which is not entirely his fault. It reminded me of the Hopkins - Dawson debacle. This is the same instance wherein the decision of the referee irrationally ended the fight. It was never a pleasant thing to watch.

Why don't you just let the fighters win it the way fighters must win it, not by some reckless decisions, created by certain officials, to enforce a point system that irrationally ends the fight like this? For the most part, the better fighter was Barriga despite his deterioration in the final round, in my opinion. I'm not becoming a sourpuss just because I am Filipino. I am not biased. I am just like a lot of sports enthusiast out there who does not want to see people staining the fight game like this.. The same fight game that combat sports athletes like myself cherish and get an inspiration from.

A word of advice to referee's who work in combat sports.. Please, never ever deduct a point from fighters. Think of it before you do it, and if you do it, please let it be for illegal blows. If you recognize a fault, be sure that the reason for it is entirely one's fault. I know that this sport in itself is sometimes imperfect, but let us try and get things right. When a fighter steps inside the ring, he has only one opponent in mind, not the referee, judges, or the crowd. It also only depends if other than his opponent, he creates another in himself.

Picture: Filipino Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga delivers a straight right hand over Italian Olympian Manuel Cappai in the London 2012 Olympics.

8000th views and its Statistics

Happy 8000th! As this blog reaches the 8000th mark. I have to thank all the people who supported this blog, internet people who have one way or another miraculously stumble here, and I want to thank God for giving me the inspiration each day in making a difference to the world even in small steps like this blog. It's been a long time since I talked about statistics in my blog, and the United States of America was the top readers of this blog a few years back. Although, something has changed over the past couple of years and the Philippines(my native country) was marching steadily up into the spot on where it belongs today.

Here is my top 10 blog viewers.

Page Views by Country:
1. Philippines
2. United States of America
3. United Kingdom
4. Italy
5. Canada
6. Russia
7. Australia
8. Germany
9. France
10. India

     In the past, I had to just include the Top five, but since my number five and the rest of the numbers downward holds so close in each others views that I had to include the entire list. By Browser, people who read my blog used the Internet Explorer more, followed by Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and etc. Through the means via operating systems, Windows is the clear winner by a landslide in this category, followed  by Macintosh, Linux, Android, iPhone, and etc.

     First and foremost, I want to stress out that this blog isn't about blog views and statistics. This blog is created to help inspire the human framework and encourage its readers to believe that anything is possible. Helping people have that extra amount of faith rippled into their work ethics. Just as Muhammad Ali would put it, "They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger." It is through one's determination.. this trait alone that will carry anyone, despite obstacles, failures, and limitations, into becoming something more.. of a Champion. Have a nice day!

Picture: A world view, of the all-time audience statistics of this blog.

5000+ views and counting!

I have been waiting for the 5000th reader to have actually read this blog or just accidentally went by this part of the web! In the past, I have written a post of getting the 3000 views, but after a few months turned 4000+ in a hurry, and embarrassingly, I haven't wrote a post as much at that time. So I thought to wait for the 5000 views before I talk about this again. Talking about blog views too much, isn't what the spirit or the intention of this blog was created. This blog only serves as a purpose for inspiration. It really gives me a boost and inspires me to know that my thoughts and ideas are heard throughout the cyberspace, even in a steady pace. A lot of things have changed in this blog especially its statistics. My Top Three readers of this blog was previously, 1. United States of America, 2. United Kingdom, and 3. Philippines. Just recently though, Philippines have racked up the second place in the statistics of this blog. Perhaps because I delved into much more Filipino-related writings recently, especially with my post on Rizal, which has got great recognition from its first publish. Just recently, I have discovered that I do possess part of the bloodline of Rizal, from my mother side of the family, which is the Cruz. Learning this brought me to another sense of pride as a Filipino. I also would want to apologize for talking about more personal matters too much, that it took much of the relevant things people prefer to be reading. *chuckles* I also will be posting a lot of predictions, thoughts, and commentary, regarding upcoming boxing matches. Please do watch for it. You may also earn a fortune by this. (If you are thinking of betting it on boxing, that is *LOL*) Anyhow, this blog will continue on, with its vision to inspire the world, to be a champion. Nothing is impossible! To all avid readers of this blog, thank you for your support. Seeing the view count move, is just enough to help show your support. Thank you very much!

The Statistics

The latest services for blogger.com, includes some of the most important and interesting programs, that will help bloggers, like myself, have an easier time, and a more complex view on certain functions, that will help us get, up-to-date to the progress of our blogs. The only feature that I am very interested was, the blog statistics. At first, I was not confident in using it, because I felt that, maybe, my blog hasn't had a view, except myself and some of my classmates who were interested. To my surprise, I have about more than one thousand views, and most of them, from foreign countries, outside my native Philippines. Looking at the statistics, this is what I have discovered..

My top ten, All-time Audience Statistics
1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. Philippines
4. Italy
5. Australia
6. Poland
7. Canada
8. France
9. Germany
10. India

From the statistics above, frequent visits are from United States, United Kingdom, my country the Philippines, and Italy. The most viewed post from my blog, is a post, entitled, "Power in Punching" and pretty close with another post entitled "Boxing Weight Class Divisions", and a few one's from the posts.. "Philippine Boxing Legends", "Reflexes", and "Pacquiao-De la Hoya". The top referring site for my blog is google.com, and the local counterparts of it, in United Kingdom, Italy, and Australia. Facebook, is rank four, to my referring sites.

Final Thoughts:
I want to thank each and everyone of the people in this planet, who is reading this blog. You truly are, my inspiration. Things like the statistics, make me feel like, being heard, and it has made me proud, as a blogger, and has given me the inspiration to continue this blog. Looking through the statistics, it is evident, that all the countries who are attracted to my blog are all English-speaking countries. Therefore, I will take the challenge in writing spanish, in order to attract hispanic countries as well. I have learned that, people are more interested in boxing functions, and especially the topic of power. All I can say is, you found the right guy to trust, in these kinds of information. For just this moment, I am speaking, as a blogger. Again, I want to thank you, world!!

Picture: A world view, of the all-time audience statistics of this blog.