A Reason To Fight: Our WHY

“Boxing is a kind of magic. It gives discipline to the wild. Strength to the weak. Confidence to the shy."

 There’s so much more to boxing than trying to hit a moving target, whether that’s the pads or an opponent. The sport is as much mental as it is physical. When training, you are conditioning your tolerance to the physical demands, while growing in strength, speed, skill and co-ordination. At the same time you are also training your focus, your resilience, your confidence, awareness and emotional control. When you’ve exercised the body from top-to-toe, you have exorcised the mind. The workout will leave you calm, clear and collected.

And in competition, you live in the immediacy and fullness of every moment. The moment you finish, your awareness to what’s happening beyond the ring returns and your focus shifts to acknowledge what’s just happened; you did it. You breath in strict accordance with what your body demands, while you come to terms with how far you just pushed yourself beyond comfort. And then it hits you - you just went somewhere you’ve never been before. You are in a new landscape of self-awareness, where what was previously impassible has now been surpassed. That’s when the glee of self-satisfaction rises through your abdomen and the sweet joy of freedom shines from your face. Freedom from your own, self-imposed restrictions. You now know you can go further than you once thought. Elation and joy, followed by gratitude and humility.

There is great depth and meaning to this sport. It transcends the physical and seeps into your way of being, day-to-day. It helps you develop not just in strength, speed and endurance, but in your confidence, self-awareness, capability, mental fortitude, and sense of self.

We all need a reason to fight. This is our anchor when times get tough. Most folks have little insight into what ignites their day-to-day behaviour. Boxing will ask you how far you’re willing to go and help us tap into our why. Boxing will reveal how much more you are capable of than you may have believed. This realisation directly impacts our self-efficacy in daily life. If may be tough, but we’ve all and always got one more round, attempt or push in us. We can get it done. 

Nothing says boxing like resilience. Being resilient means we have the motivation to rise and try again, in the knowledge that we either win or we learn and try again. There is no harm in feeling your emotions when knocked back in life and acknowledging the disappointment. In boxing, as in life, we always have a 10-count and every set back is a set-up for a comeback. The confidence in knowing this gives us the courage to take risks - The courage to work towards long-term goals and dreams. 

In the short-term, we should celebrate our victories, no matter how small, frequently.