{"id":343523,"date":"2021-05-05T06:03:06","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T20:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=343523"},"modified":"2021-05-05T06:03:06","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T20:03:06","slug":"trench-tech-waiting-on-the-word-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/trench-tech-waiting-on-the-word-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Trench Tech waiting on the word \u2018go\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_343525\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-343525\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-343525\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Trench-pix.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"592\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-343525\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andres \u201cThe Tanapag Beach Bad Boy\u201d Camacho, right, jumps to block a high kick from Tinian\u2019s Austin John King in one of the undercard bouts in the Rites of Passage 23: Beatdown held last April 27, 2018 at the Marianas Business Plaza. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s been a long wait for the mixed martial arts enthusiasts at Trench Tech Inc., one of the CNMI\u2019s premier martial arts gyms, and sadly, that wait is not yet over, according to Trench Tech owner and operator Cuki Alvarez.<\/p>\n<p>They haven\u2019t had a proper show in over two years and circumstance hasn\u2019t been kind recently. \u201cThe last time we had a show was before [Super] Typhoon Yutu,\u201d said Alvarez. \u201cAnd Yutu messed up our whole infrastructure, and Saipan was shut down for more than a year&#8230; And what happened after that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>COVID-19, of course.<\/p>\n<p>Trench Tech\u2019s MMA matches are a display of pure human strength and agility, showcasing fitness and fighting prowess on a level rarely seen outside a ring. Those fights are sheer excitement incredibly popular. \u201cWhenever we have a show, we pretty much sell out the house,\u201d said Alvarez.<\/p>\n<p>Which is the problem at the moment. \u201cWe still want to have [a show], but we\u2019re at the mercy of social distancing, as packed as mixed martial arts fights are. Events in the octagon are, by necessity, close-in viewing, and really, the audience is a primary component of those events, soaking up intrigue and build hype in return. Without attendees, an MMA match just isn\u2019t the same. Current restrictions mean that gathering that many cheering people just isn\u2019t possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, the MMA community\u2014fighters and fans\u2014continue to wait. The moment they get word that the restriction is lifted, we\u2019ll see a comeback for the ages. The MMA community is ready and eager. In the meantime, Alvarez\u2019s gym is training every day, getting strong and teaching its members to love martial arts for the joy of the sport. Trench Tech is staying active and in the game with youth MMA classes, which started just last month, and yoga classes for adults and kids.<\/p>\n<p>The CNMI hasn\u2019t had an MMA event since Trench Tech hosted the Rites of Passage 23: Beatdown held in April 27, 2018 at the Marianas Business Plaza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s been a long wait for the mixed martial arts enthusiasts at Trench Tech Inc.,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":343527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[595],"class_list":["post-343523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-trench-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}