Hindy Weber-Tantoco has worn many hats. She’s a fashion designer, a biodynamic farmer, a holistic lifestyle advocate, a wife and a mom of four. Just recently, she added another role to this list—Muay Thai athlete. In fact, she just fought her first amateur fight and emerged victorious in it.
While Hindy is known as a wellness enthusiast, competing in a combat sport is something her family and her friends in the fashion circle wouldn’t have expected her to get into. So many were surprised when she recently shared her amazing Muay Thai journey in a series of Instagram posts.
Hindy tells ANCX she began practicing Muay Thai before the pandemic as a form of fitness training. “An Elorde Gym opened up in [Ayala Malls] Solenad, Nuvali which is near our place. So me, my family and friends decided to join [the Muay Thai classes] as a fitness training,” she shares.
When the lockdowns happened, they requested the coaches if they would come by their house and give private lessons. “The whole family trained, from my 10 year old, to my daughter, who has mobility challenges,” Hindy shares.
Golden girl
When his now 24-year-old son Lucas competed in an amateur fight, Hindy’s coach teased her about doing the same. “Ikaw naman sunod,” he told her. The idea first came as a shock. “Hindi pwede,” she told him. “Wala akong ka-age diyan.” Besides, she was only after Muay Thai’s fitness benefits.
But two months ago, something dawned on the petite designer. “My birthday is coming up. I’m turning 50,” she told herself. It was time she took on something she hasn’t tried before.
She always had an affinity for martial arts and kung fu which, in her words, is “the art of defense and movement, beating the odds, and standing up for something,” says Hindy. Growing up, she gravitated towards films and stories in the genre. She took up karate and kung fu as a young girl, but didn’t pursue them past her teens.
With the big 5-0 in her mind, Hindy messaged her coach from out of the blue: “Hi Coach. Gusto ko mag training for an amateur fight. May 50-year-old age range ba? Ok lang kung matalo ako. Gusto ko lang mag-try. Gusto ko lang masabi na nag-try ako.” She didn’t remember getting a clear answer but the next thing she knew she was already training for a bout.
How did she tell her family she was getting on that ring? “I didn’t tell them right away,” she says. “I didn’t want any negative reactions. I waited until two weeks before the fight, when my name was already in the roster and I couldn't back out anymore.”
Her eldest at once expressed disapproval when he found out. “What are you doing, Mom? You can't do that. No way. No way,” Hindy remembers Lucas saying.
Hindy’s husband, Gippy, on the other hand, was quiet as per usual. “NR (no reaction) siya at first,” she recalls. But three days before the fight, Gippy challenged her to a sparring. “Hit my face. I don't think you’ve ever hit someone before,” he told her. To which she jokingly replied: “I think I’m gonna like that.”
‘Funnest fight club’
Hindy knew she’d be up against someone who’s 27 years her junior—she would find out opponents are chosen according to weight class, not age. To prepare for the fight, she trained twice a week. In between, she would shadowbox and do sprints to increase her stamina and endurance. “I kept thinking, ‘I don't think I will outpunch her. But maybe I can outlast her.’”
A huge part of the training, Hindy later realized, was also mind conditioning. On the days leading up to the fight, her nerves were getting the best of her. “I was thinking of all the combinations. I was watching videos of women fighters, which actually made me more scared,” she recalls, laughing, talking to ANCX inside her moving van. Professional women fighters, she observed, are so intense on the ring.
Committing to this fight has got to be the scariest thing she’s ever done in life, says the Muay Thai neophyte. “It’s scarier than childbirth,” she offers. “Kasi childbirth is like a natural part of life. Your body kind of supports it and you have your doctors there taking care of you.”
Thankfully, she got a great deal of moral support from “the funnest fight club.” They call their group the Tom Yum Gang, comprised of Muay Thai enthusiasts of all ages. This “Team Hindy” customized caps, prepared banners, even played drums to cheer for her on fight day. She appreciated the effort, but she couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed of the attention. “Wag kayong magdala ng mga ganyan,” she warned them beforehand. “Tapos matatalo lang ako. Nakakahiya.”
Fight day
While everyone was in high spirits at Elorde Headquarters in Sucat, especially the audience, Hindy quietly went to her corner to psyche herself. Once she wore her gloves and headgear, she knew there was no turning back.
Round 1 started out pretty tough. Her opponent’s punches were incredibly powerful. She was in shock that her mind suddenly went blank. “Holy shit, I forgot everything I planned — the kicks, elbows, supermans, turning backfists, all the 1-2-3’s,” she recalled in an Instagram post. “I even forgot to block my head! Insane because it’s what I practice all the time.”
She felt weak and confused. “Fell on my butt after a jab, or was it a hook? My opponent just came at me with full force and it felt like I was drowning in her punches,” she said of the ordeal.
Had her coach decided to call off the fight at that point, she would have agreed. But before she could express any kind of quitting, the bell rang again, commencing Round 2.
Things were happening so fast that everything was a blur. “I can't hear anything. But for some reason, I could hear my son. He was following me around the ring,” Hindy recalls. “Mom, just get up. It's okay. Hands up, cover your face,” she heard Lucas say.
Her eldest son’s voice. It was all she needed to hear to keep pushing on. “I stopped caring about my stance, breaking my nose, or even getting knocked out. I just kept looking for the path in,” she says, recounting the succeeding events. “She came at me with hooks. And wow, she was so strong, I wanted to scream!! To get in, I went for jabs, and then some right hooks, a few knees. Before I knew it Round2 was done and surprisingly I was still on my feet.”
Hardest and scariest
When Round 3 started, her head was clearer and her adrenaline was pumping. "Screw this, man. I didn't come all the way here to lose," Hindy thought to herself. “That's when I stopped being scared and really focused on my combinations." Working on strategic moves, Hindy pulled off two TKOs and won the fight.
Watching the video of the fight, it’s hard not to be moved by how Lucas—who was against Hindy doing this battle in the beginning—attended to his mother in the ring while telling her not to quit. Recalling that moment, Hindy gets emotional. Lucas was her first child. She and Gippy had him before they were married. He was “the kid that has seen us through it all.” Hindy’s voice breaks and she’s in tears. “I wouldn't have been able to do it without you,” she remembers telling Lucas after stepping out of the ring. Lucas’ reply: “I wasn't gonna let my mom lose.”
Looking back at her Muay Thai journey, Hindy says the fight was the hardest and scariest she’s ever had to overcome. But it was also liberating and empowering. "After that, everything else that I'm afraid of, whether it's public speaking or riding an airplane, I'm less afraid of it now," she says. She also felt a quiet inner confidence. “I didn't have to be anything else for anybody,” she says, smiling. “I didn't have to prove anything to anybody.”
Photos from @hindyweber on Instagram