I’m back.
I’m writing this as a full time coach / part time graphics dude now and not the other way round. What a ride its been transitioning to this point. More on that later.
When Sarah and I worked our asses off, saving our pennies to go and train in Thailand for a precious few weeks of the year. We’d always leave around $10 for lollies for the Thai kids at the camp. On the final days training we head up to “11” and buy 10 bucks worth of mixed lollies, hand the bag to the head trainer Mr. Chen and the 15 or so kids would line up patiently before receiving their fair share of the loot. They’d then sprint off in all directions and swap their favourites with each other. Not once was there a scuffle or disagreement as to who got this or whom got that, nor was there ever a complaint. They would individually thank us and nothing brought more joy to our hearts than seeing their smiles. These young fighters had the discipline that would put a professional athlete to shame, they trained 6-8am, went to school, trained again from 3-6pm and then happily cooked dinner for each other and the falang staying at the camp, all the time egging each other on just like normal kids should. Now before I get bombarded with complaints about our culture differences, i’m very aware of the different circumstances and privileges we and our children are brought up in. (I strongly urge all school leavers to live abroad for a little while and see what the rest of the world is about).
Where am I heading with this?
Whilst diligently training and progressing leading up to a fight, we’d gain confidence day by day. As soon as a whiff of too much confidence or arrogance appeared the coach/pad holder would literally cut us down and remind us who was in charge. I loved that. Some days a big shot, loud mouth with a little bit of knowledge/experience would show up to the camp and the owners would snigger and throw him to the lions. We’d all pull up a bench and watch the humiliation. Egos were broken. They’d soon learn not to question the coaches.
We followed a program prescribed each day by the trainers and trusted their guidance and trusted the process, knowing that come fight time we’d be so well prepared there wouldn’t be any doubt as to who the winner was. Lying in bed aching after 7 hours training per day, we’d envision our hand raised at the end of the bout with enough self belief and confidence that nothing would change that outcome. Yes, there were hurdles to jump over along the way…..Pain? Always, Injuries? Without a doubt.
In a world overloaded with in-your-face social media and way too much information, it seems that everyone has the next best answer, a new program, a new method, or better yet an excuse… There are thousands of programs out there and any program followed correctly will get results. The choices are endless and thats where it breaks down. Too much choice, an un-coachable, know-it-all attitude, coupled with a little bit of knowledge = recipe for disaster or more to the point, no recipe at all. I love the free thinking world we live in and personal choice is your privilege, but have you followed a program for longer than a few months? Have you given 100% each and every day, trusting the process. Be it work, sports or play did you have the discipline to finish what you’ve started? Those Thai kids didn’t question their mentors one second and half of them are world champions already.
Cal.
P.S. After finishing my 5th and brutal 5-minute round on pads one day at the camp, I made the mistake of touching the older head Thai trainer on his head post bell. Laaaaawd did I pay for it. 1 hour later lying in a puddle of mixed sweat, pee and tears, I learnt respect.
itwasloveatfirstfight 