Close up with AJ "PYRO" Lias Mansor

AJ “Pyro” Lias Mansor, 38 years of age, born as a warrior who hails from Kota Kinabalu of Sabah preparing for his upcoming battle in ONE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP™(ONE FC) . He started training in Silat when he was at the age of 10 and his hard work led him to win his very first Borneo Cup and other competitions. He travelled on to Malaysia and held the title of Malaysian National Silat Champion for two consecutive years. He ventured further into Muay Thai as a secondary discipline and participated in competitions in Thailand. Later in his journey, he picked up learning other fight discipline such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Wrestling and Judo. One of the major UFC fighters that inspired him the most is Randy Couture who is currently at the age of 49. Randy Couture is also in a few movies like “Cradle 2 the Grave”, “Invincible” and I’m pretty sure some of you must have seen him in the recent action film “The Expendables 2”.

AJ doesn’t seem too worried when I asked him about his upcoming fight as he has been training really hard for it and seem rather confident. This round up he will be going against Jian Kai “ The Headhunter” Chee who is also a deadly striker. AJ perceives that Kai Chee would be slightly faster and lighter than him but that is not going to stop him. Being a striker as well, AJ knows he has the upper-hand of strength and power in his strikes. He is also well trained in cardio so he has a high stamina and if he sees an opportunity to finish The Headhunter off with a blow, he will go all out for it.

Undergoing strict diet is really tough even for AJ, he tells me that he consumes only a total of 1000+ (which is not normal for ordinary people so please do not try this at home without proper guidance from your personal trainer or local doctors) clean calories in a day as he is cutting his weight down for the upcoming fight. He trains almost every hour of the day to fully utilize his energy and rest enough to survive the next day of training. His ripped and chiseled physique did not come as easy, in fact, when he was much younger he was rather plump. It pays to put in hard work and a whole lot of determination & self-motivation.

Before AJ joined ONE FC, he was and still is a Personal Trainer. He enjoys his job and training his clients to achieve their goal is satisfying. Previously based in Kuala Lumpur Fitness First, and unfortunately, he is now only training permanently back in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. But from time to time he comes back to train his loyal clients in Kuala Lumpur. It is a big sacrifice for him to be away from his job, there is no income coming in to support his wife & family as he is too busy preparing for his upcoming fight.

In AJ’s eyes, qualities of a fighter come from the heart. He added, “Anybody can be trained up and be a good fighter but we also learn to bring our heads down to know shame and to be humble in life. To learn to control ourselves and to control the spirit of a warrior is what pushes me on. Going all out is one thing, but maintaining that fire is far more important. ” Yet another inspiring words.

Off the record Q&A

AJ, you mentioned about your wife?

“Aha yes, she is also my manager now actually. She gets my fight organized and helps me make the deals when I am not able to, like when I’m busy training or working. Nonetheless, I get great support from her till this day and I love her so much for being by my side through thick and thin. *Smiles*”

Awww…  That got me right here, AJ. Do you have any kids?

“Not yet but I am definitely looking to have kids but probably only after the ONE FC. It will be nice to train my kids up in martial arts.”

Intimidatingly, I can see how you would spend Sunday with your kids. Okay, say you are not under any diet or preparing for any fight, what would be the one thing you really want to eat?

“My wife’s home made Carbonara.. *laughs* Man, thinking about it makes me feel so famished. Now enduring the thought of that just makes me drool. *laughs*”

Any favourite colours?

“I am a rather typical guy in this department, so I only prefer dark colours and black is a first choice.”

Cool, so what do you do for your free time when you are not training or at work?

“I would either work out, or spend time with my wife and head to the cinemas. I love watching movies, I can spend my rest days at home watching DVDs.”

So here comes the golden question. How often do you work out?

“Ahhh… because I have clients for 8 hours straight every day, I find the opportunity to work out is when I am training my clients. Or rather, I work out WITH my clients. So example, if my client were to have running today, I would run with them and if my clients have to do some weight lifting, I would do the same with them. It is a way for me to motivate them as well.”

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Again, tickets can be purchased through - http://www.airasiaredtix.com/

Ticket are currently priced at RM345 for VIP which gives the buyer the chance enjoy the exclusive red carpet entrance, access to the VIP lounge and Premium cage-side seating. The other seat categories are priced at RM145, RM95 and RM45. 

Do check out ONE FC’s facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/ONEFCMMA

**Stay tune, as I manage to get an interview with Matt Pelino, an upcoming ONE FC fighter.
Credits and Thank You to Tammy from Esente Communications for assisting me with taking the pictures and for handing me the opportunity to meet AJ** :)

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Life of a Skaterboy - Ganesh

Last week Wednesday, there is the usual basketball game and the weather was looking fine until it reached game time – it rained, like when one takes laxative. Ganesh and I was just sitting at a restaurant hoping for the rain to just subside but unlikely as it would, we continued having drinks and caught up. From a catch up turned into an informal interview – Ganesh educated me about his life as a skater.

Ganesh Venugopal, born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, age 28 this year and currently working as a TV Producer at Prime Works Studio. He has strong interests in Filmography and Photography that he sees as a work of art. Months ago he was also part of the Cleo’s Most Eligible Bachelor 2012 as a contender.

He enjoys facing challenges no matter how difficult it may be as he will always do his best to overcome it. Generously, he shares with me his passion which lies towards skating and to him skating is a challenging sport. He has been skating properly for almost 2 years plus of consecutive experience and all this skill he currently possess is based from his self-taught and persevered attitude.

Never the less, it was pretty frustrating for him as it took him 7 months to jump with the board because he had no one to teach him then. Now with YouTube around, things are made slightly easier to understand and to learn the schematics.  It was initially a sport he could do on his own and all he needed was a Skateboard and his pair of Skater Shoes which he always puts on every day. 

This sport has been around for a good solid 20 – 30 years in the international region, perhaps even more. But, there are two types of skating – Vertical Skating (Half-Pipe) and Street Skating/Freestyle Skating. Many people know Tony Hawk – he is well known in the Vertical Skating scene. However, naming a Star Skater who is amongst the Masters of Street Skating would be someone like Rodney Mullen who so often creates his own tricks as a past time and he is currently at the age of 46. Not forgetting Killian Martin who’s an expert in freestyle skating. We also have a local champion skater in Malaysia by name of Padin Musa. These people are what inspired further Ganesh to be even better in skating. 

Q&A

What’s the craziest stunt you ever pulled in your years of skating?

“I would say a Line stunt where you perform a series of successful tricks – It was first a ‘Front Pop Shove it’, ‘Rear side Pop Shove it’, ’50 – 50 grind on a flat bar’ and a ‘Kick Flip’ respectively.”

What’s your advice to the young skaters out there who recently started this sport?

“Learn how to ride the skateboard would be an excellent start. Wear a proper gear and start up with some protective gear. Keep practicing it and understand the working mechanics of the board. Always have your board wherever you go cause you will always find an opportunity to skate. Be open to learn from other skaters who are more experience.”

You mentioned skater shoes, any particular brands you would recommend? Also, how much would a start up gear cost?

"Skate shoes like Vans, DC or Nike. Well, If you are serious about the sport then do go to a proper skate shop to get a decent setup. A basic setup would cost roughly up to rm600."

  

Any methods for the young-bloods to keep themselves motivated?

“Hang around with other skaters and make new friends as they are all generally friendly. It is also recommended to search online for a skating community like www.skatemalaysia.com. Watch youtube videos they help a lot, like a lot… It would also be good to do some reading on Trickypedia or Wikipedia. You may fall a few times definitely, but never be afraid to try again.”

Inspiring words Ganesh. So where would you recommend people to skate, especially when you are just starting up?

“Hmm, there is one in Shah Alam called Extreme Park, one in Putrajaya called Challenge Park and around here in Bukit Kiara there is the Rakan Muda Club. They could also skate in any family parks when they are feeling more comfortable with the board.”

Ganesh also recommends these few shops for you guys to check out for your gear below:-

Wheel love – Subang

Cool Element – Times Square

Zone 5 – time square

Thank you Ganesh for your time and it has been a good share and personally hope that you continue skating and advance further for more neat tricks! Cheers buddy!

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Fight Demo With ONE FC Fighters - Peter Davis & Eric Kelly

The other day I was given the opportunity to attend a demonstration of basic fight style used in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). What more to ask as it was shown to the bloggers and media by the two star fighters better known as Eric “The Natural” Kelly and Peter Davis. Eric Kelly was trained in the arts of Boxing, Wushu, Acrobatic Yaw-Wan Kickboxing as well as Jiu Jitsu, whereas Peter Davis is more proficient in unorthodox Chinese Kung Fu (Wuji Chuan) along with Jiu Jitsu ground battling skills.

"Tools of Trade"

"This is how we Roll"

Bloggers/Media getting comfortable

Stepping into MuayFit was like a ‘Fun House’ to me as I see gloves, shin-pads, punching bags, pull-up bars and focus mitts lying about. All those ‘toys’ brought the kid out in me and like any kid I started playing with them toys as I personally enjoyed martial arts. The demo session began as the fighters walked in to greet all of us, as well as taking off their shirts – it means business. 

Peter Davis showing a Block

"A raised knee into the sternum"

Eric Kelly performing a back-throw

Peter’s future stay in One FC and in contrast to his modeling/actor career, Peter definitely seem torn between both worlds as he has to manage a lot of things like training for the fight, preparing for photo shoots and even acting in his upcoming film with a working title of Wuji or Without Limits. One of his previous local works was called Sell Out – Do check it out. Peter is fighting for the Malaysian Flag, our fellow countrymen!

Bloggers having a go at it

Eric Kelly who hails from Philippines may seem soft spoken and who is also a very gentle loving father, but when he is in the cage you can feel his fire and focus in taking his opponent out. Still the undefeated, will be facing a friend of his Honorio “The Rock” Banario. It is going to be a tough fight but they both understand it is now their job to take each other out. (I’m rooting for Eric Kelly) 

Ground Game

Bringing in more news from ONE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP™ (ONE FC), Malaysian National Featherweight Championship tournament will begin on the 2^nd of February 2013 live in Stadium Putra in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Four professional fighters with different fight disciplines will bring it on against one another in the cage of ONE FC: RETURN OF WARRIORS!

Fight card current shows an interesting start with-

Raymond “The Rocket” Tiew VS. Melvin “Overkill” Yeoh

AJ “Pyro” Lias Mansor VS. Jian Kai “The Headhunter” Chee

Thank you EssenteCommunications for the invite to yet another awesome experience.

Also, tickets can be purchased through - http://www.airasiaredtix.com/

Ticket are currently priced at RM345 for VIP which gives the buyer the chance enjoy the exclusive red carpet entrance, access to the VIP lounge and Premium cage-side seating. The other seat categories are priced at RM145, RM95 and RM45. 

Do check out ONE FC’s facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/ONEFCMMA

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