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Esse Quam Videri
30 Sep 2008 6:56PM
Esse Quam Videri is a Latin phrase which means ‘To be, rather than to seem’. It has always had a significant resonance for me as I like to apply the philosophy of this phrase to many areas of my life. The most obvious of these is in MMA and those of you who hate to see bodybuilders swaggering about in Tapout/UFC t-shirts will appreciate my point. (I personally have no issue with anyone wearing branded clothes at all I must stress that). However, from the moment I started training was aiming at some point to get in the cage and fight, after 2 months of training I was badgering Pep about when I could feasibly fight. Since my first professional fight I have been proud of the fact that ‘I am, rather than appearing to be’ a fighter. Win lose or draw I would still be proud of that fact. It is quite probably this pride in ‘being’ that lures fighters back to the ring time and time again, even when their records are poor. Believe me when I say I’m counting on nothing, I know it could be possible for me to lose my next 10 fights and end up being one of those guys.
The same phrase can be applied to professionalism in MMA and also to my full time job. It would be easy to strut about as a fighter at a show appearing for all intents and purposes to be professional. But the role of a fighter goes much deeper than that. It’s not even about the training and commitment a fighter may put in to preparing. I’m sure there are many promoters who would buy me a drink for saying this (bottle of Corona to save you asking). It’s about reliability and honesty in dealing with the business end of the fight. Reliability certainly seems to be an issue in British MMA, there are so many shows that are near disasters due to last minute pull outs. The fighters who do that for selfish reasons are not and never will be true professionals and the sport could do without them. To coin yet another phrase – ‘it’s not the job you do, it’s how you do the job’. I have faith that these aren’t hollow words from me, as I’d hope I am considered honest and reliable in my dealings with different promotions.
I went to the M1 show organised by Cage Warriors on Saturday to watch, not fight. Ian Dean had bust a gut trying to arrange a match up for me as he wanted a prelim fight to open the evening, but to no avail. I spent the whole night keeping a tight grip on my chair as I really, really wanted to be in that ring. There were some fantastic performances that night, in particular Jim Wallhead’s as he demolished a BJJ blackbelt in no time. The fight between Christian Smith and Cliff Hall was a belter as well, Christian producing a really classy, well rounded performance. I think it’s fair to say that for all 3 of those guys fall into the ‘be’ category as opposed to the ‘to seem’ one. It was a good show, very well put together and something I’d love to be involved in next time it rolls around. (Crosses fingers and hopes someone at M1 reads this blog J).
I mentioned in my last blog that I’d had a hard week last week and it had been an ‘emotional rollercoaster’ this week has continued much in the same vein. I thanked David, Matt and Pep before for their coaching/managing ability and what they’ve done for me in an MMA context. I’d like to thank them again, this time for their understanding in listening to and discussing some deeply personal issues I’ve had. They may not feel like they’ve done too much, but sometimes listening and reacting the right way is enough. ‘To be’ a friend, ‘rather than to seem’ like one is never more applicable.
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