fciwomenswrestling.com article, Wikimedia photo
A song communicated from the heart with passion, truth and real life experiences can become a timeless masterpiece, often quoted and never forgotten.
Four Tops – Motown
Never you mind if I, Don’t tell strangers passing by
If I don’t brag, If I don’t brag or boast
Click my glass and say a toast
About my love for you, How it runs so deep and true
Yes, Still Waters do run deep.
When I enjoyed watching the wrestler River of Virago fame, a slender princess with long dark hair cascading down her back, I often thought of this song.
A commonly agreed upon definition for Still Waters Run Deep, a melody sang so beautifully by the Motown 1960’s soul sensation, the Four Tops; means that people who are calm and tranquil on the outside, often have a strong, “deep” personality.
This seemed to epitomize River.
Before a match she was often initially quiet and observant but would later relax and even engage in some gamesmanship especially, when she wrestled her sorority sisters in Yana and Grace, two competitors she seemed to get the best of.
One of my strongest memories of River was when she wrestled for Video Sports Limited and was the Queen of the Ball, after defeating her opponents, one of whom was Grace; she would later hug and kiss them.
Now that’s deep. Waaaaaay deep.
She was also described as the uncontested star of public events during 2002 at both Tigra’s and Les Femme Fatales (with two victories over Christine Dupree).
A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.…Eleanor Roosevelt
Top Northern California recruiter Isamar Gutierrez had this to say about her and Yana Jordan.
“River and Yana are great personal friends who train together in Gracie jiu jitsu. These women know and use chokes and joint locks that we typically ban as our women just aren’t trained to take them and know when to quit before getting injured -so this is rougher than 90% of what we normally produce. And there is no quit in either one.”
Her mentor, friend and women’s submission wrestling industry legend Helen Von Mott once expressed in an interview that River is a black belt in karate, had studied Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and taught courses in Filipino stick and knife fighting.
She continued by expressing that she could easily kill most men with her bare hands, though she doesn’t look terribly intimidating. In her domination matches she likes to showcase her martial prowess, by using controlled strikes and pulled punches, narrowly missing the clients face and or vital organs.
River is Eurasian and was born in the Philippines.
Female Competition International has traveled with you many places but this is the first time that we take an excursion into the Philippines.
Makati
“The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 7,107 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila while its most populous city is Quezon City; both are part of Metro Manila.
Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons, but also endows it with abundant natural resources and some of the world’s greatest biodiversity.
With a population of about 100 million people, the Philippines is the seventh-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world.”
Thank you Wikipedia.
Manila at Night
At this point we would typically extend a tour of the many wonders of this paradisiac land but as of this writing, “The United States of America Department of State-Bureau of Consular Affairs has warned of the risks of travel to the Philippines, in particular to the locations of the Sulu Archipelago, the island of Mindanao, and the southern Sulu Sea in a renewed and revised Travel Warning dated 20 November 2014, because of continuing threats in those areas due to terrorist and insurgent activities together with conflicts between Muslim militias and the Philippine government. In 2009 this region was declared the world’s most hazardous area for journalists by the Committee to Protect Journalists, a massacre having occurred twice in this area – once in 2009 and again in 2010. Travelling to the Sulu Sea region is dangerous and strongly discouraged.”
Unfortunately, in some regions, that is what has occurred over there. Having said that, I know some people who still travel there without incident but they are Filipino nationals who know the lay of the land and have family or contacts.
Here in America, a different and much better experience has unfolded.
I can speak to my own great experience among Filipino American society having spent my high school years at Westmoor in Daly City, just south of San Francisco, whose population is majority Filipino.
There are so many tasty, mouth-watering Filipino foods to enjoy that at parties and gatherings is was hard to pick but my two favorites were Adobo, a dish of meat (often chicken and pork) cooked in vinegar, salt, garlic, pepper, soy sauce and other spices along with Pancit.
Pancit Palabok is served mostly at birthday parties and swells with flavor and rich textures.
Chicken Adobo
The noodle dish is layered with rice noodles, a rich orange sauce made from shrimp broth, pork, hard boiled eggs, shrimps, chicharon (pork rinds) and sometimes oysters and squid. Enjoy the rich sauce of Perfect Loaf Bakery and Café.
Hmm, brings back lots of warm memories.
So does River.
Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.…Stewart Udall
As of the latest research that can be found, River lives near San Francisco.
What also impressed me about River was that she seemed to have a well-developed spiritual side that extended to a love for a clean and healthy environment.
For someone like myself who has followed and studied fully competitive women’s wrestling for over 20 years, if River had decided to stay in the game, there is no doubt that today she would be a Hall of Fame female submission wrestler.
We certainly wish that River’s wrestling resume was more extensive and that she had competed longer but as with many things in life, our experience with her emphasizes the importance of living in the present and appreciating the moments that will soon vanish.
It tends to make life a richer and more meaningful experience that like still waters……runs deep.
~ ~ ~
Sources
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Sources: brainyquote.com, Wikipedia, fciwomenswrestling.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com, FCI Elite Competitor, https://femcompetitor.com, photos thank you Wikimedia Commons.
http://wikitravel.org/en/Philippines
http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/eat/40-delicious-filipino-dishes-157035
http://www.lesfemmesfatales.com/live_event2009.php
http://www.videosportsltd.com/pages/V083.htm
http://67.159.222.79/interviews/helenvonmottinterview.htm
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PamalicanMainBeach.JPG#mediaviewer/File:PamalicanMainBeach.JPG
