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?