Woman literally fights off her demons
KUSA - Lauren Sugihara was living the dream of many young women. A professional deejay known as Ms. Vicious, she was in Hollywood, enjoying the “scene” when she hit the moment only other alcoholics can understand.
“(It) got to a point where I was suicidal,” Sugihara said. “I was just not on a very good path. I wasn’t a very honest, good person.”
A little more than a year later, Sugihara’s remained sober, in part thanks to training for a different kind of fight.
“I started kickboxing, originally, as a way to get me sober,” she said. “I thought that would be able to get me sober because I would be training so hard, I wouldn’t be able to party.”
Daily workouts at 3-D Martial Arts under the guidance of former kickboxing champion Clarence Thatch helped transform her life. After months of training, Thatch believed she was ready for her first amateur fight, against an experienced amateur fighter with a third degree black belt in karate.
“She has great perspective,” Thatch said after a recent workout. "She has goals, she has desires.
“The best thing about training Lauren is she adapts. We teach people to adapt to every situation in the ring. If they can’t make those adjustments, it’s sad to say some people will never be fighters, but she adapts, not just to fighting but to life. If they can deal with life, they can deal with just about anything,” he said.
For 11 years, Lauren fought the demons of alcohol and drugs, pushing her friends and family away in the process. Her mother, Virginia, chooses to remember the daughter who stood up for other kids on the playground rather than the numerous unanswered phone calls as Lauren became an adult. Now, she’s ecstatic her daughter is standing up for herself.
“Lauren is an inspiration for me,” she said. “She’s spent a lot of years being afraid of many things, running away and she’s facing her fears now. Facing her fears in every day life is the more courageous thing.”
As she entered the ring for the first time last month, Lauren did not know what to expect. She’s heard those people who said “you’re going to mess up your pretty face, cute girls shouldn’t do this,” but isn’t listening to doubters. Win or lose, she believes the result for her is a positive one.
“All I know is that for once in my life,” she said, “I’ve seen something through.”
After being knocked down by her opponent Lavida Givan in the first round by a push kick, Lauren fought back. A flurry of punches and kicks and the woman, who will be photographed for a Playboy centerfold in the near future, turned the bout around. A series of punches knocked Givan down, left her wobbly and Lauren Sugihara with a TKO win.
The woman known to her friends as a “fighter” has won this one bout. A daily battle against alcohol continues for the rest of her life.
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=66508 - Original Story
http://www.djmsvicious.com/default.htm - Her site, mildly NSFW.
Haha third-degree black belt in karate lost to someone training around a year.
