Combat girls and their fighting spirit

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is not everybody’s cup of tea. But these gutsy women from the region decided to not just train but also excel in the sport which calls for both physical stamina and mental resolve

Quotes

My major inspiration is Ronda Rousey, a judoka of international repute and an MMA fighter. She brought glamour to the sport.

– Mankomal Kaur

Mona

When Ritu Phogat won her debut MMA international fight, sitting in her living room, Mankomal Kaur was cheering her on. With a dream to do something different, Mankomal moved from Anandpur Sahib to Chandigarh. Despite having an eight-month-old son, she started training under Gurkaran Singh Shawney.

One year later, as she participated in India’s first X1 Women Fight Night in Mumbai, she emerged the flyweight champion! “Holding my son in my arms post the rigorous bout was a feeling hard to explain in words.”

Ritu’s win has given Mankomal’s dreams new wings, “I train every single day; about two hours in the morning, same or more in the evening. Though MMA for women is still picking up in India, internationally it’s an open field.”

Great grip

Preeti Rana is another girl from Chandigarh who is making the rounds at national fights. Straw-weight title belt in grappling in Knockout Fighting Championship, Delhi, second in Women’s Fight Night Cage Championship in Mumbai and in an MMA Championship in Chennai, this ju-jitsu fan loves combat. “Training all these years, I can guarantee that once anyone is my grip, I am not letting that person get out alive!” laughs the girl, who has Valentina–the Bullet and Amanda Nunes as her idols.

On Instagram, many guys chase and challenge her, and this petite but strong girl is raring to have a fight with them. “Training under Suraj Kabir Verma has made me what I am, though I absolutely hate the diet control that goes with training! But I indulge soon after the championships, before I am back on a rigorous training schedule.”

Dogged determination

Aparimita Bhatia got into martial arts to learn self-defence, before the lure of MMA made her participate in championships. Second place in Women Grappling Fight Night in Mumbai, Aparimita shies away from sharing that originally from Jind, Haryana, she moved to Chandigarh to train. “Girls from my state win so many medals that people have started believing that we inherit strength and stamina at birth. I would like to bust that bubble; it’s our sheer hard work, determination and number of hours we put into training that makes us winners.”

While fighting in a cage for titles is another case, this girl felt all the rigorous hours that she spent training were worth it post an incident in Amritsar. “My parents were walking ahead of me and a man grabbed my chest. In my natural reflex, I hit him so hard that he started bellowing right in the crowded market.” As people joined to find who hit the man so badly, she slipped away with a smile! A boxing fan, she finds her idol in Mary Kom. “Her continuous, unstoppable punches are exemplary. If one is focused on one’s aim, there is no stopping; just like Mary Kom, who continues to rule the ring post marriage and kids.”

Mental prowess

Sukhmani Sidhu initially took up MMA to get fit. “Seeing girls take to MMA, I am tempted to try my luck in the cage.” An artist at heart, she insists that it’s not just physical power that she is proud of, but also her mental resolve. “Any sport helps one tame the mind, MMA offers an added advantage of self-defence” she says.

Practising martial arts from rather early on, third grade to be precise, lure of Fight Nights is not lost on Ananya. Ritu Phogat making her international presence felt made her look for opportunities in this arena. “Martial arts for me stand for health – physical and mental.” Training at Extreme Martial Art among boys and girls, Ananya admits, “When we train together, sometimes I crave I had more strength when I see boys do more push-ups, but then they are no match to my flexibility!”

While Phogat chose Rahman’s Vande Matram as her walkout song, Aparimita takes pride that its Dhaakad hai that plays when she steps into the ring!

mona@tribunemail.com