Boxing life skills: Part 1
Look around, listen, and you will see and hear boxing everywhere. You will come across its idioms almost every day. You will use them yourself without realising it.
Blow-by-blow and toe-to-toe, knockouts and down and outs. You can throw in the towel or come out swinging. Get good people in your corner and don’t hit someone when they are down.
Why has boxing seeped into the zeitgeist so much?
I’m not the first to point this out, but boxing is a metaphor for life. If you want a real slice of life; a life-changing, learning experience — I prescribe time in a boxing gym.
I have spent so many days and nights in these magical places. I thought I'd share some of the life lessons I have picked up along the way.
Fail to prepare — prepare to fail
Like life, what you get out of boxing is what you put in. At competitive level, it is the ultimate lie-detector test. If you haven't prepared or have cut corners, boxing will find you out. Elite talents may get away with it for a while, but there will always be a reckoning. Mike Tyson found this out the hard way at the Tokyo Dome in February of 1990.
It's not only physical. A boxer who knows they have not prepared has that debilitating doubt at the back of their mind.
This same principle carries over into everyday life. Whether it be a test, interview or other comparative challenge — your best is all you can give. Knowing that you have done everything in your power to succeed is a powerful mental tool. This positive mindset can relieve the pressure in stressful situations.
Leave your ego at the door
Lose the ego and you gain so much more. Boxers come in all shapes and sizes and from many backgrounds. But most speak a universal language, and a big part of this is humility and self-deprecation.
We all have our strengths and weaknesses.
Tall? We will help you to accentuate your advantages. Small? We will turn your disadvantage into an advantage by developing a style that works for you. This is the magic of boxing. It is the ultimate, egalitarian endeavour.
Learn to laugh at yourself. Good-natured ribbing comes from a place of love and respect. It's a cliché, but if we were all the same, life would be dull. Boxing celebrates diversity and allows you not to take yourself too seriously.
Get along to get along
A boxing gym is a microcosm of habitual, cooperative life. Nobody has time for the martyr, bully, prima-donna or Machiavellian schemer. Being a part of a boxing squad was a thrill and an honour. I made friends for life. A good squad will support one another. This fosters what I call a 'squad mentality'.
If you put the collective before yourself, it will not go unnoticed. If you take cheap shots at others expense, that will also get noted.
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable
Life is tough. At times you may need to ask for help. There is never any shame in that. In fact, it takes a very special type of bravery. But there is a difference between that and victimhood and fragility.
Boxing and its associated training can take you to dark places. Your will have internal conversations all the time. Humans are efficiency machines. We search for comfort and convenience. Our minds adopt a natural position of self-preservation. It tells us to stop when things get uncomfortable. Overriding that default setting is a skill you can develop with practice. Master it and you will dip into reserves of mental and physical strength you didn't know you had.
Adversity in the safe parameters of physical exercise works like a vaccine. It helps to inoculate you against the everyday adversity that will come your way. Being adept at digging deep in uncomfortable situations is a transferrable skill. When you've boxed or trained as a boxer, it's easier to deal with life's slings and arrows.
Conclusion
Celebrate your successes with humility. Treat your setbacks as an opportunity to learn. Build a reservoir of inner-strength you can dip into when you need it. Boxing training is a continual cycle of making minimal gains aimed at getting better. Just like life.
