I Love The Work

Yesterday my first time sparring in nearly two years and after my first such long lay off of real training.


I love combat sports, what do I love you ask? What I love most is that it's a completely individual sport, you are the only one throwing punches, kicks or going for an arm-bar. Sure your training partners and coaches help you but in the end it's all you. There are no teammates to screw up or to aid you. All your training is up to you, you can not do it or you can do it, the decision is made by you.

I love that there is always some way you can improve your skills and many ways of doing it. You can work on improving you footwork, you could shadowbox, isolate certain steps and drill them, use the duck & weave rope, circle the heavybag as you hit it, spar, jump rope, use agility ladders, run patterns, or even plyometrics. And that's just ways you can improve footwork alone, and there are so so many other facets.

I love that there is a myriad of ways you can improve you physical condition for fighting. If you lack strength you could lift weights, do bodyweight exercises, isometrics and if you a grappler the practice of your sport will even help your strength. If you lack endurance the practice of the sport will always help but you could do high reps, circuits, minute drills, and more. If you gas all the time you can run, sprint, minute drills, circuits, spar and many more. Even if you don't have any glaring weakness you can always bring any attribute or skill up.

I love that there are even things you can improve that you don't even see during a bout, there are traits that are intangible you can improve. Your discipline is the most important but there's also focus, reflexes, spatial awareness, rhythm, and timing.

Competing is a chance to measure yourself to another man, in all these traits and more to see who is better at this. It's a chance to see what your made of, to do something few will ever do but many will dream of and wish they had what it takes to even come close to doing it. It's a chance to show your friends and family what you can do.

So I guess the real question is, why wouldn't I love combat sports?

AGGRESSION

Aggression is the red-headed step child of human traits. Everybody just wants to beat it and call it names without taking the time to get to know it more intimately.

 

Aggression has many forms and disguises. That guy with 700lbs on his back squatting, grimacing and grunting. That nerd tucked away in the non-fiction corner of the library reading with papers strewn about the desk, who's there every day until closing. The professional that is racking up certificates and P.H.D's building his portfolio. The perfectionist at work that won't stop a job until it's perfect in their eyes. The mother tearing a new hole in some idiot for putting her child's life in danger. The boxer that is throwing flurries or the mma fighter going for an arm bar. The guy typing at his computer spewing out examples to make his point. All these people are exhibiting a form of aggression. Aggression is not necessarily a bad thing, aggression drives us to better ourselves, to change the world, to re-shape what is into something better, to accomplish things.

 

Some things in life don't just fall into your lap, some things you have to pursue. Throughout time people who knew how to direct their aggression down a certain avenue where successful beyond what one might expect. I doubt anybody hasn't heard of Sigmund Freud (who tirelessly hit the books, experimented and aggressively ass kissed his way to become a renowned neurologist), Genghis Khan (who really isn't as bad a guy as one might think, he did have some noble goals, he may have been a touch mean though), and Hitler (he aggressively worked his way up through countless political circles to get to where he was, he was an extremest but you can't deny he was successful) just to name a few.

In my humble opinion, if your looking for success in anything you should do it aggressively, with focus and clarity. It won't fall from the sky so quit looking up and buckle down. If you want to lose weight or gain strength or muscle hit the weights, the track, circuits, whatever you do do it hard.