I wasn't super into video games as a kid, but there were certainly ones I enjoyed. I hated car racing ones (because they are boring and I suck at them, though MarioCart has many redeeming factors...even though I suck at it), and quest games like Mario, Donkey Kong, or Sonic the Hedgehog only held a limited appeal for me. Fighting games though, I could spend hours playing or watching other people play those!
The game that got me completely hooked was actually a quest-fighting game, that I can't remember the name of. All I know is that it wasn't on Nintendo as we'd have to rent the gaming console whenever we wanted to play it. It seemed to be based around a drug deal gone bad, and the players had to fight off all these gangster goons and eventually confront the big boss. So you'd basically go around knifing people, and the reason I loved playing this game so much was that there was a female character, and I could actually, with a great deal of effort, beat the big boss. I knew that I shouldn't enjoy the game as much as I did, but secretly, I was always itching to play it. But that was one of those video games that, as the consoles improved, never quite made it out of obscurity. Eventually, we moved on.
My brother and his friends seemed to especially enjoy playing Mortal Kombat. And sure, you could kill people in strange and gruesome ways, but for some reason Mortal Kombat was always a bit meh for me. I'm not sure exactly why, but if I was to take a guess, I'd say it's because the female characters never really did it for me. In fact, the only female character that sticks out in my mind is Sheeva, and no, that's not attractive!Now Street Fighter was a game I could get behind! I loved the characters, I loved the story line, I loved the different settings, I loved the secret moves, I loved everything about it. So yes, when at the Secret Wars finale Scale chose to depict Ken Taylor getting his ass handed to him by Ryu, he won my vote, and the crowd's vote, and the judges votes, and therefore, the 2011 title. Much to Lady Cop's (and many others) outrage.
I stand by my vote. Sure, Ken Taylor is an amazing artist, but he's an illustrator, not a street artist. And Secret Wars is about street art, so it's rather fitting that it was won through a street art depiction of a classic Street Fighter battle. Of course, I was already partial to Scale due to his use of Hello Kitty in the semi-finals, and I already had something against Ken Taylor as I lost a bet over what he was drawing in the semi-finals...
The characters in Street Fighter, and I'm thinking Street Fighter II specifically (does that show my age?), were all really interesting and gave you different tactile advantages (and disadvantages) which made it fun to play around with being each one. It should come as no surprise though that my favourite character was, and will always be, Chun-Li. With her long, brown hair, short, blue tunic, and legs of lightening, I was hooked. She'd kick your ass 9 ways to Sunday, then giggle and prance around as the medics carted your broken body out of the ring. This was a woman you did not want to fuck with. And I wanted to be her!
Chun-Li's legs were always a source of fascination for me. They were so... massive and red. Ah, the crappy graphics of old school video games. <3 The point was, she was a total powerhouse, and if you had any doubt, all you had to do was look at her legs. I was always slightly horrified when I'd see her lose a fight. How could those taught, raw, red legs be lying limp on the ground? Defeat is not a word that exists in those thighs!
Chun-Li was more than a secret object of lust for my young, clueless, closeted lesbian self: she was an idol. She was the first female fighter, and she was taking on the big boys! And while she was sexualized and infantilized, she was still a fighter to be taken seriously. Maybe because her legs were so red, it seemed like she could be wearing tights. I understood that she wasn't, but I felt like I had the option of envisioning her as having clothes on. Of course, as the newer versions came out, Chun-Li has became reduced to one of the now ridiculously sexualized 'girl fighters'. I mean, come on! Cammy? What military regiment issues a g-string body suit as it's combat gear? And yes, Elena with her long legs, brown skin, blonde hair (as all African warrior princesses have, of course) and white bikini was super hot, but none of the other female characters ever inspired me the way Chun-Li did.
So why is Chun-Li suddenly on my mind? Because of my own fitness quest. Over the past 18 months I've gone from being sedentary to becoming an athlete. The transformation has been incredible. I'm shocked at the body I see in the mirror at the gym now, at how much it has changed in just the past 6 months. I am amazed by how trim I have become. I've still got a ways to go, but it's clear that if I stick to it, eventually people will stop being so fucking surprised when I tell them exactly how hard I train.
There's lots of different body types that I could work towards. I could just focus on losing the fat and doing a general tone-up, but no, that's not what I want. This journey was never about getting thin; it was about getting fit. Well, appearances may deceive, but there's no doubting my fitness when I get in the pool. I love the sheer physicality of my life now. I love that I can just do things now.
Of course, there's still a long way to go. While I can certainly give the average person a run for their money, I want more than that. I want to give fit people a run for their money. I want people to be able to take one look at me and know that I'm hard core. I want Chun-Li's thighs!!! And you know what? I'm gonna get them!
This brings a smile to my face and twinkle to my eye.
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