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Girl Fights
TUFF puts women on the mat and in control
FLOOR WORK: It may not allow punching, but TUFF is no watered-down version of the UFC.
Tidewater Ultimate Female Fighting sounds terrifying to someone who avoids confrontation when push comes to shove.
There’s not only pushing and shoving, but there’s enough squeezing to terrify anyone with space issues. At TUFF, that’s something you just need to get over.
TUFF separates itself from the no-holds-barred approach taken by Ultimate Fighting Championship: the women are amateurs using a variation of judo—minus certain submission holds—and safety issues prevent them from striking, punching or kicking.
Some of the TUFF girls come to the first few classes because they "watched UFC and thought it would be a cool thing to try, but want to do it in a way that they don’t get hurt," says TUFF founder Gary Pekoe.
The girls get to fight, but they also get to stay pretty. Still, Pekoe wants them to learn all the moves.
My introductory lesson, in the Virginia Beach facility where TUFF just relocated, starts out with a stretch and a brief foray into boxing. Of four basic moves, I use two—the jab and hook—to fend off my opponent as best I can. The one time I land a solid hit, I rebound and hit the mat.
"Didn’t know you could hit that hard, did you?" Pekoe laughs.
As TUFF grows, the women get a wider base of instructors and amenities.
"We’re really trying to blend the concept of women’s self defense and fitness," Pekoe says.
He plans on including yoga, a chiropractor, and massage therapy. In the interest of making the women well-rounded in combat techniques, they also have someone who can teach kickboxing, and more advanced martial arts.
As for the moves that the girls get to use in matches: Take away kicking and punching and what do you have? Submission wrestling, a style aimed at getting one’s opponent locked into a position in which they’re forced to tap out.
At first sight, videos of the TUFF matches seem to be filled with useless struggles to gain even an inch. Once a girl is actually involved in a lock or hold, however, the struggle is a lot more exciting. Who knew smothering someone with your chest and jamming your shoulder in their neck could be so much fun?
Wrestling takes more than strength. Strategy, patience and flexibility are extremely important tools to cultivate.
The strategy and patience part explains a lot about what I used to think was just uncomfortable closeness. Many times the match seems like a waiting game, shifting only to keep a good hold on someone’s head despite sweaty arms, or to keep knees from slipping out of a solid position. When someone is still, it’s often not because they cannot fight anymore, but because they have an opportunity to consider what’s next.
"You’re thinking and visualizing the moves," explains Pekoe, "what you can do, like chess."
These matches are about getting the other girl to tap out—inflicting pain without physically damaging another person, taking them just beyond the point of endurance.
Much of the time, momentum serves to get a girl out of a lock.
On the mat, I learn that I can take pain, and I can be pretty damn immovable.
"It takes a lot of strategy to get someone worked into just the right spot," Pekoe says, "to where they’re immobilized, or there’s just enough pain being inflicted."
The matches can last up to 20 minutes because there’s no quick, flashy way to end them. No roundhouse kicks to the head here.
Whether she has only taken one dance class, been in gymnastics or volleyball, or has never done anything like TUFF before, a woman who comes to train with Pekoe gains enough experience to change self-perception.
"The women are more confident, just out in restaurants, bars, the parking lot, because they actually are learning to defend themselves," Pekoe says.
Being in such close quarters is intense and very sweaty, but well worth it. I’m already more impressed with myself when I leave.
Tidewater Ultimate Female Fighting’s next live event will be Sept. 20, at Steppin’ Out in Virginia Beach. General admission $10, ringside $20. Visit www.tuffbeach.com for tickets and information.
—Hannah Woodlan
A Salute to Breasts
The 21-gun salute has been an act of honor and tribute since before America was founded. There’s never been one like this before, though. Local artist Lisa Melita is putting the finishing touches on her 21 Breast Salute, a piece that celebrates women’s battles with breast cancer.
For Melita, a studio artist at the d’Art Center in Norfolk, this project is personal. Last January, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since then, her mother has struggled with surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation.
"She is a true and courageous fighter," said Melita. "I am creating this tribute piece for her and also for all mothers, sisters, aunts, friends and coworkers who share a similar story."
The title doesn’t lie—the project is composed of ceramic replicas of 21 real breasts. When Melita put out a classified ad and an e-mail through Komen Tidewater Affiliates, a local breast cancer advocacy group, she was overwhelmed with local women who wanted to participate in the messy process of making a plaster cast of one of their breasts. The women, none of whom opted to remain anonymous, range in age from 21 to 68.
BREAST IDEAS: Melita's 21 Breast Salute celebrates the courage of women who have fought breast cancer.
"All participants have some connection to breast cancer," said Melita. "Self, mother, aunt, sister, friend."
The work will be on view in September and October at various area venues including Old Town Art in Portsmouth, and when not traveling it will be located at Melita’s studio at the d’Art Center. All of the proceeds from 21 Breast Salute,—which will be sold at silent auction—will go to breast cancer foundation Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
And so 21 breasts will travel to area galleries, arrayed against a black background in neat rows of seven by three. Melita takes care to note that this pop art is not for shock value.
"It is not my intention as a professional artist to create a piece that is obscene," she said. "I would like viewers to see the sculpture and think, ‘Wow. These ladies mean business.’"
For more details, go to www.tinykingdom.com/21BreastSalute/.
—Elizabeth Blachman
Hampton Roads Writes
Lauran Strait wants to get people telling their stories. An author, teacher and editor of an online magazine, Strait was teaching writing workshops at the Virginia Beach Adult Learning Center when she realized the need for a stronger writing community in the area.
"Hampton Roads brimmed with more writers eager to improve their craft than I could handle on my own," she said.
And so in February 2008 she founded Hampton Roads Writers (H.R.W.), a nonprofit that functions as what Strait calls a "unifying storehouse" for writers to connect with each other and hone their crafts. The organization offers classes, literary events, one open mic every month and a Web site, www.hamptonroadswriters.org.
Strait and the other leaders at H.R.W. plan to implement a literary conference, mentorship programs with at-risk students and a project to assist senior citizens to write their memoirs.
At H.R.W.’s last open mic at the Central Library in July, 40 readers stood up to share three to five minutes of their work. The event gathered writers ranging in age from teenagers to senior citizens, who read prose, poetry, novels, essays and memoirs. One writer in his early 20s even wrote a poem and a work of "flash fiction"—or extra-short fiction—on the spot. Topics varied from mystery, intrigue and death to canoes, lawnmowing and hunting—and of course those ever-present staples: love and loss.
"The quality of the work at this third open mic was amazing," said Strait.
—Elizabeth Blachman | 
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