|
|
|
|
Fall down seven times get up eight
12 Mar 2009 11:27PM
That’s an old Japanese proverb and a truism for any MMA fighter who’s worth watching. Or as Rocky Balboa also said “It’s not about how hard you hit... it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward”. The sentiment is essentially the same thing. The value of a fighter lies not in his ability to win but rather his ability to deal with defeat and move on. There are very, very few top level fighters who have two zeroes following their win column. Off the top of my head in the UFC there is only Lyoto Machida with no numbers in the ‘lost’ column. This says a lot, not about Machida, but about every other fighter who competes at top level and also about the nature of MMA as a sport. They have all had to deal with losing, whether by decision, submission or (T)KO. Losing is part of sport, part of MMA and part of learning and improving. Yes, fighters with few losses are very good, but I have in many ways, more respect for those with plenty of L's as they've had to pick themselves up and start again so many more times... and that takes real heart. I lost two weeks ago and make no excuses for the loss. I lost, he won. Simple maths really. In my mind the reasons for losing are relevant only in preparing me for my next win... it’s already fuelling the fire.
I’ve had a really bad chest infection for over a week now, I felt the first tickle the Monday after the fight and I have been cursing my luck and whinging and moaning about not being able to train or exercise at all ever since. I’ve had sleepless nights where I’ve been hacking and coughing so hard I’ve been dry retching and waking up with aching abs. Not nice. I’ve had all sorts of wise advice and suggestions that it’s my body ‘demanding’ a rest and that I train too hard. Rubbish. My immune system may have crashed and burned to a virus which triggered the infection, but my training for that last fight was nowhere near the intensity it has been previously. I have made myself ill before when training, but I suspect it was not the training so much but gaps in my diet and not resting and recovering properly which really caused me to get ill.
I have over the last week given serious consideration to knocking myself out just to get some sleep, but I have also considered the fact that this chest infection is the best thing that could happen at the moment. I have had a turbulent year to date, particularly the last six months and my job is also very demanding. On top of this I have not given my body a real break and my mind even less time off. I have frequently used the word perspective in my posts and it’s a healthy habit to keep my work/life/MMA balance in perspective... though it is so easily lost in the timetable of my week. This infection has though, forced me to rest. While my airways feel like they’ve been used as a chip shop’s air filter the rest of my body has had a nice long rest. Twinges and aches have subsided, little pulls and knots have eased out and my joints don’t feel like they need oiling. In short I’m ready to start training in earnest for fight number six (whenever that may be). I will though be patient and wait till this infection is fully gone before throwing myself fully into fight preparation. Slowly, slowly catchee monkey.
The proverb at the start could easily be applied to MMA in another context to the one it’s intended. Physically preparing for a fight is very taxing and I’ve mentioned before about putting oneself through the ‘darkness’ to benefit fully from the ‘light’. This is not just a metaphor for the mental fortitude needed for fighting or the ‘warrior’ spirit it was aimed to engender. It’s also relevant in how willing you are to put yourself through the agony of the conditioning, the horror of sparring and pressure drills and the constant niggles, aches and pains....then to do it again... and again... and again. That said in my case it’s probably more relevant to my immune system!
To round off with another quote that applies to what I’ve written and certainly reflects the sentiment of the last four paragraphs.
“Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price.”
Thanks to John Hammond for the pictures from my last fight at Gladiator fight night. Check out Ross Pointon’s new website designed by John’s company ‘Stars and Heroes’.
www.rosspointon.co.uk
www.starsandheroes.com 01782768007
|
|
|
|