User talk:No1FazenFighter

Shane Fazen
The one and Only, Shane Fazen! When I was young, I couldn't catch or throw a ball, so my dad recommended martial arts. I was only nine-years old when he took me to the same Tae Kwon Do instructor he got his black belt from. I loved it. But I started taking my training more seriously as I got older, because I noticed how common street fighting was in my neighborhood of Philadelphia. Kids would gain power and recognition by fighting. The more fights you won, the more respected you were. I used the techniques and athleticism from TKD to keep myself at the top. I continued to train hard, so I could dominate both competitions and street fights. At the age of 13, I got my black belt. I did compete in point-match competitions, but I wanted something with full-contact. I was also starting high school in the heart of the city (Charter High School for Architecture and Design), so I wanted to thicken my skin. After some research, I found a mixed martial arts gym a few miles from my school. I decided to walk over to check it out. This is where my heart belonged. The loud cracking of pads, a bunch of heavy bags, dudes covered in tattoos, blood and sweat -- rugged. I trained for a year, before my first local amateur match. After that, I was hooked, and started traveling across the nation to fight. When I wasn't studying at college (West Chester University, and then Temple University), I was training or fighting. I wanted to devote more of my time, so I dropped out after my third year of pursuing a degree in Athletic Training. I trained a little bit of Jiu-Jitsu, just to gain familiarity. Once comfortable, I cornered my first MMA match for a young MMA fighter, who one by unanimous decision. I wanted more, though. I wanted to go to the homeland of Muay Thai, and get the best training in the world. So I booked a flight to Bangkok, Thailand in 2010. It was in the midst of the political riots, and the American embassy forbade any tourism, because it was shut down for security reasons. I went alone. Three weeks into training, we went to watch one of our trainers fight. He was the last match, so I was struggling to stay awake. A Thai fight promoter came up to me, and asked if I wanted to fight in Thailand. "Of course!" I said. "Okay, you fight him. Tonight," he said, pointing at a long-haired Thai boy. "Tonight?" I thought to myself, panicked, but smiling on the outside. I wasn't prepared: I didn't have shorts, hand wraps, and I was so tired. But the adrenaline woke me up. I never got braces as a kid, because I always thought I'd get my teeth knocked out in a fight. Today may very well be that day, as I didn't have a mouthpiece, either. We fought at around 2am, and I was confident I would win. The first two rounds were slow, as most Muay Thai fights are. But in the third round, he caught me with a spinning elbow, which put me on my back. All I saw was black, then the ref standing over top of me. I jumped back to my feet, but all I wanted was for the ref to stop the fight. My face was numb, and my vision was still spinning. Before I knew it, I was walking towards my opponent again. I knew I had to get my points back, but I was afraid to get hit again. I continued to lock him up, and slam him to the ground. The fourth round came, and I was sick of fighting. My trainers told me to forget about kicks, and just punch my way to victory. So I did: right hand to the body which hurt him, and a left hook to the head which put him down. I won my first pro match by KO. I didn't realize it until the next day, but my foot was badly injured. I wasn't able to train without immense pain. Not to mention, my face looked like the elephant man from that elbow. I came home, and got x-rays on my foot. No fractures, but the pain was still very bad. I decided to get into boxing until my foot healed. Except, boxing proved more interesting and entertaining than I had anticipated. I never knew about the science and sweetness behind boxing. And my trainer was awesome. We bonded, and started competing in amateur tournaments around Philly: Mid-Atlantics, Golden Gloves, and other underground tournaments. Bonding with my trainer, I realized now, that more than anything, I wanted to train others. I loved the thrills of competing, but I wanted to see others make it to the top, under my training. So here I am making Fight Tips.