Sagat Cosplay

SAGAT COSPLAY

The Costume

Streetfighter II will always be one of my all-time favorite games. Having graduated high school in 1997, I had about 6 years of Streetfighter II experience in the arcades during my teenage years. Growing in San Diego, home to what is probably the largest annual Comic Convention in the US, I received a lot of early exposure to "cosplay". For you non-nerds, cosplay is short for "costume play" & basically involves dressing up as your favorite character in a work of fiction. This does not necessarily mean that you have to draw inspiration from a piece of literature. Cosplay characters are drawn from video games, movies & other media forms as well. My interest in cosplay & Streetfighter naturally drew me toward doing Sagat. While not my best playable character in the game, I would have to say he's one of my favorites. Akuma would be the only one to beat him, so look out for my Akuma cosplay someday! I'm always scrambling around Halloween on what to do & this came to me as a pretty easy costume to put together. A set of kickboxing trunks, a ring robe, two hand wraps and ankle braces (not shown) were fairly cheap from Amazon. I sourced an eye patch from a local party store as well as some scar makeup (also cheap). Just under $60 achieved the "Tiger" look!

Fitness, Confidence & Cosplay

A confident person does not need to bolster their own ego by putting down others. Generally at any Halloween party or convention, everyone is there to have a good time & show off their creativity via costume. Take pride in your work and do not put down the efforts of others. The same sentiment should exist in the gym. Everyone at your chosen workout facility is there to improve themselves. Always try to help foster a positive environment and develop a sense of community. In fitness, with cosplay or whatever hobby you may be into. Cosplay can involve an element of fitness but primarily requires confidence. Even if you are lacking in the "fitness" part, pour your soul into your costume & wear it proudly. Get immersed in your character. People will look past whatever differences you may personally find between yourself & your cosplay. In the case of most superheroes or heroines, they are usually depicted with killer bodies & often times have greatly exaggerated proportions. Most people cannot even come near the actual rendering of these characters. So do not hold others up to those impossibly high standards, especially if you do not hold yourself accountable to the same rules. Positive feedback on your cosplay may boost your self esteem & help lessen the presence of any body issues. It could be the kick in the pants you need to get into better shape for your next piece. The benefits of your newly found fitness will extend into way more areas of your life than just cosplay. So the next time you're on the convention floor & you see that chubby girl rocking a kick butt Harley Quinn, go tell her how bad ass she looks and get her number. She could be the one to come back next year with a rocking body & a swarm of drooling nerds around her. And even if not, she's probably just a cool chick anyway, which is all that matters in the end (plus, who doesn't love Harley?).