Time to spar!

One of the main challenges for female fighters in Ireland is finding people to fight. A definite flaw in the plan you might say. So lately some women have been working around this problem by arranging all-women sparring days around the country. The first one was organised by MMA fighter Aisling Daly in Dublin, and the second took place this week in Cork.

Organiser Lorraine Horgan said it was a great day out. She joked that as this was only the second event she was worried no-one would turn up but in the end with women travelled from all round the country to take part.

"All the girls were delighted," she said. "And best of all they're keen to keep it up, we had people from Kerry, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Tipperary and Limerick."

The mix of established fighters and novices worked well as the more experienced women gave out tips and showed off their fight technique - leaving up to novices to step up and take on some new challenges.

"One of the girls who came down from Galway had her first experience of sparring here, " said Lorraine. "She said she never got kicked so much in her life. We do spar with the lads normally, that's what makes you tough at the end of the day but it's important to know what it's like to spar with someone your own weight."

For information on the next All-Women Sparring Day, contact Lorraine on her Facebook page here.  

Thanks to Cecile from Ces the Day photography (in T-shirt here!) for the photographs! Lots more great shows on her website: Ces the Day