Behind the bright lights, Mara Aquino is secretly a ninja

TO THE EYES of the MLBB and sports community, Mara Aquino is the energetic host who knows how to hype the crowd with her antics.

But behind the scenes, there's more to Mara than just her ability to light up a spectacle. Just like Bruce Wayne becoming Batman, Mara has a colorful personality in the public's eye, but she's secretly a ninja when the lights are out.

The MPL host has always been fond of martial arts, and she recently discovered a new love for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

She's even a fan of Kung fu-centric films, like Ip Man starring Donnie Yen, and animated shows like Naruto.

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Mara Aquino: "I've always wanted to be a ninja."

"Fan ako ng mga martial arts movie. I love Ip Man. Super love ko, to the point na kumuha ako ng Wing Chun dummy. I have a Wing Chun dummy, but I don't know how to use it because kaunti lang nagtuturo ng Wing Chun," she revealed in an exclusive with Spin.ph.

"Actually binibenta ko siya kase it takes up so much space in my condo. My condo is small, and the Nara Wood (Wing Chun Dummy) is so big, tapos walang nagtuturo."

Then she later revealed her inner fondness of becoming a ninja.

"You know what because of watching animes, I've always wanted to be a ninja. That's also why I wanted to take up weapons fighting, parang Tenten sa Naruto."

She even had aspirations of becoming a professional martial artist, bringing pride to the Philippines, saying: "Noong bata ako, gusto ko mag-compete sa mga Asian Games."

PHOTO: Mara Aquino

Idolizing Ronda Rousey

But for Mara to truly begin her path in martial arts, an inspiration was needed and that came from her experience in attending sporting events.

"E diba kasi, I used to cover sports. I used to be sa Sports 5, PBA, URCC, and those MMA fights, I used to cover as a reporter. When I used to watch them, I was always so impressed, na ang galing naman nila, ang galing nila. Sanay tayo kay Pacquiao, boxing, right?"

She added: "Pero ang galing na the way they take it, akala mo, nananalo yung isa, yun pala, lamang yung marunong mag-Jiu-Jitsu, so na-figure out ko."

And it wasn't just limited to her experience working in the local scene as she has keenly followed the international scene, to the point where she idolized the greats.

Mara Aquino on Ronda Rousey

Her idols in martial arts? Former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion, Olympic Judo medalist, and WWE superstar Ronda Rousey, and American BJJ gold medalist Gordon Ryan, would serve as her role models.

"Syempre, Ronda Rousey. Ilang beses nang nag-champion and I thought, Wow! that girl can take anybody down. I'm no Ronda Rousey, but I wanna be able to be so good and have someone say, Wow! she's so good, I wanna do that also."

"Kasi usually dati ang MMA, pang guys lang, di ba?" reflected Aquino.

"May isang martial arts guy, si Gordon Ryan, ang cool niya because before he gets into the octagon, he will say, 'Okay, I'm gonna make him submit sa armbar, sa kimura, sa triangle."

"He predicts it, and then that's exactly how he defeats them. He predicts how he will defeat his opponents. So I found that to be a specific talent. I found that to be such a great skill."

Given the amazement she experienced, a sudden realization came to her mind.

"If you're impressed by something, why not try to do it yourself? So instead of saying, 'Ang galing naman nila,' gusto ko, 'Ako na yung magaling!" and it's never too late to start," said Mara.

Thus her quest of learning new jutsus began.

PHOTO: Mara Aquino

Entering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Mara's venture into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) was a random encounter as she discovered a newly opened gym, Deftac Verde in Pasig.

"Actually anong nangyari dun? Pumunta ako sa gym. Nakita ko may gym, literal, pumasok ako, tapos I was like, 'Oh, you guys just opened!' Sabi nila, 'There's a class in one hour.
Do you want to join?" explained Mara.

While many would throughly think about their decision, Mara didn't hesitate to join the class especially when she discovered that her mentor is a Hall of Famer.

"I joined right away and then right after I signed up, I found out yung prof, he's a legend.
His name is Richard Lasprilla and he is a legend. He's like the 'Dancing Devil.' Famous siya sa URCC and I thought, I need to take the opportunity to be able to be taught by one of the Hall of Famers."

And to add to her excitement is the fact that his name echoes around.

"It's not often na yung magtuturo sa'yo is one of the people na, [would attract] other chapters, to go to our gym, just to be taught by him. So why would I miss that opportunity?"

"I mean, he's not Bruce Lee, pero if Bruce Lee was alive, and Bruce Lee was teaching, won't you take that opportunity?" Mara expressed.

But it wasn't just the legend of Richard Lasprilla that heightened Mara's newfound interest for BJJ as her experienced brought a lot of insights. Upon honing her skills, she realized that BJJ is the most complex, yet rewarding.

"Right now the most difficult is [Brazilian] Jiu-Jitsu and that's why I love it! Number one, it's super sweaty, you're rolling on the ground with a bunch of sweat, and it's training your mind na huwag kang masyadong ma-arte," revealed the MPL host.

She further explained: "Tapos there are a lot of people stronger than me, heavier than me, taller than me. So it's really challenging right now and I'm learning from scratch. Jiu-Jitsu is very challenging, especially for a skinny person."

In addition, the science behind BJJ likewise brought a lot of smiles to Mara who further described her experience.

"Tsaka ano siya, physically demanding. Pero I like the idea na Jiu-Jitsu kasi parang chess, and not a lot of people know how to do groundwork, diba? They know how to punch and all that, pero [iba] pagdating sa ground. Parang learning chess and physics at the same time, but your ability to use your own body as science."

"So you do everything, rolling on the ground, doing locks, isn't that so interesting? So you take somebody down, then you do certain locks, you use their own joints against them, you use their own body parts against them. Basically, you are your own weapon. That's super interesting," she gleefully narrated.

It was such an exhilarating experience for Mara who told Spin.ph that she didn't just attend one BJJ class.

"I go to two classes, Gi and No Gi. Gi is with uniform, no Gi is parang ganyan, like everyday application. Sa sobrang interested ko sa kanya, sa Jiu-Jitsu, I signed up for both."

PHOTO: Mara Aquino

Grandmaster Mara

While she currently enjoys her BJJ journey, Mara has also been involved with other practices such as Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) and Muay Thai. The former is her favorite discipline given the use of weapons, but most importantly, its legacy.

"Pinaka-favorite ko? Filipino Martial Arts (FMA), kasi may mga weapons," said Mara. "You learn from Arnis, Kali stick [fighting], from there you learn the knife, then mano-e-mano."

"Nakakatuwa kase yung Black Panther, ginamit nila FMA. John Wick? FMA! Natutuwa ako na yung mga Hollywood movies, Hollywood stars, nagte-train sila ng FMA. So that's something particularly that I'm fond of," she elaborated.

And as she went on discussing about FMA, she hinted on her aspirations to reach the highest accolade in her career.

"Actually, dati yung goal ko nga was to be a grandmaster, pero ano e, hindi ako nakakapag-train. I wanted to be a female grandmaster, pero that takes years, that takes decades."

Hopefully a day will come when Mara officially becomes one, however it doesn't just end there as the MPL host revealed other potential milestones.

"I feel like life right now is a collection of skills, collection of talent. I wanted to add another talent that's totally far from currently what I'm doing, and I want to be able to, let's say, spar with a guy and take them down. I want to be strong," she said.

Then there's her added dream of showcasing her skills and competing in events.

"I have my eye on competing, hopefully in the future. But of course, I have to consider the fact na baka mapasa ako, mabali ako, and I have work. It's something that I want to be good at."

And perhaps she can also involve the other MPL casters in her passion.

"If they (MPL casters) could, pero they're so busy. Like, I would love for them to try martial arts. Tsaka, it's an activity that gets your serotonin going, your dopamine increases," narrated the MPL host.