My question is this: have you ever taken a beating? But more importantly- what did you learn from it? My best lessons don’t come from my victories but from the oooh-what-the-hell-happened-what-day-is-it aftermath. I’m interested in hearing from others what they took from their learning experiences.
Experience arguably being the best teacher, I’ll share a moment of shame from the past.
A few years before I began training in the martial arts I was invited to an underground fight club. It was just a converted house owned by some strip club owner with a ring in the basement. The rules were sparse: you wear (what I now see frequently in the MMA) light gloves and you fight until you’re done- no rounds. You’d get 150 bucks if you win and a foot in the ass if you didn’t.
Sounded like fun, so I went in figuring I’d make a little money. My opponent got cold feet and walked out, so they offered me an alternative: fight three little guys. I’m a big galloot and I’d gotten myself psyched up enough to actually step into the ring, so I went along with it. I’m 320 pounds and 6’1 (no bucket of lard, but not the Soloflex commercial guy by any means) and the heaviest little guy was 140. I didn’t have to fight them all at once, just consecutively, so endurance was going to be an issue.
Surprisingly I put them all away and had some money in my pocket. They offered me one more fight for more money and I agreed without thinking to ask the particulars (idiot me).
The next guy looked to be about 185 pounds- but seriously cut, and had a demeanor of real experience: something I sorely lacked. I was more winded from the previous fight than I had anticipated and he pretty much laughed as I attempted an attack. After dancing me around the ring for a minute or two he finally released the hounds and it was like walking into a buzz saw. Chinribseyechinbackthighthighskyearthskyearthouch.
Once the nasty bucket of water was dumped over me and the bells stopped ringing in my head I was able to take better stock of what happened.
Apparently size doesn’t matter worth a damn if you don’t have anything to back it up. I felt like an 18 wheeler with no rubber. I could make lots of noise but it wasn’t getting me anywhere. It wasn’t too long after that I was searching out fighters with real skill and absorbing every lesson of worth I could get my hands on.
So anyone have anything funny/tragic they’d like to share?