Last night at Killer B Combat Sports, we had some hard sparring going on between new guys and some intermediate guys. A few of us from the A class crew watched. It started off ugly and got worse. One of us watching said he would have stopped these rounds a few rounds ago. I told him to wait and watch.
After about 6 rds, some guys stepped off the mat and were done. The guys that stayed started to make adjustments and were doing better. It was still ugly, but little things were changing and the contact was getting better. The layers got stripped off these guys and they had to fight. They were dead tired and couldn’t muscle their way thru anymore. Their bodies were hurting from the damage, so they started to protect themselves better. Adversity was making them better.
Sparring is unforgiving. In time you will be broken and if you keep coming back, you will be rebuilt better for it. This is the process every fighter goes thru. You survive the struggle and start to thrive under fire or you quit and go find something else to do with your time. This is not for everyone, and I have no problem saying it. I don’t fault those this is not for, they will all do things that are not for me. We are who we are and we all subscribe to what we subscribe.
For those that stepped off the mat, they lost an opportunity. Who they are right now is somebody that can quit. Those that stayed on know that they can endure and their desire to improve is greater than their ability to quit. There are levels to this and in time we strive to get everyone in the place where stepping off is not an option.
Training lets you know who you are in very simple terms. You are somebody that goes for it, or you are somebody that is not prepared to endure. Oversimplification for sure but very real and true. If you want to be good at anything or accomplish the great things, you have to be able to endure and figure out the way to to win or at least outlast the competition.
I am not speaking down to any of you that do not have it in you to endure and not putting those that do on a pedestal. I am speaking about the struggle we all face each day. We are constantly faced with the opportunity to endure to achieve, or to quit and fall short. Be analytical about who you are and do the things that give you the skills plus strength to endure what you will get you the results you truly want.
Brian Wright