What am I? An English teacher. And
Professional athlete. What is a professional athlete? Using your body. Daddy said get an education so you can use your brain instead of your body. But athletes need their minds, too. Athletes are masters of something.
The old, stupid me was stronger, I think. The me who said, “I can never lose!” I’ll go spar 5 more rounds. Oh, injured this and that. But keep going. Wreck my body a little more. Was I really stronger then? Or did the standards rise? Martial arts turned into martial science. I generally got B’s in science class.
Uematsu: When you’re young, like twenty years old, you think you can do anything. As you get older, you come to realize stuff.
Katsumura: I don’t think I could handle taking another year off to get surgery and let my knee heel, and THEN take another fight. But when the doctor said it might heal without it, I decided to put off retirement a little longer.
The body gives out before the heart does.
Uematsu: I wanted to fight longer. I would have kept going, if I hadn’t torn my ACL and other stuff.
Katsumura: Oh, it’s not healing!
Mom: Oh, be careful honey. 🙁
Dad: You know I don’t like your fighting stuff. Well, good luck, be careful. Whamp her.
boss: You’re not a professional fighter are you? You are? But you work. I thought professionals support themselves with their profession.
MMA ages the body at twice the normal speed.
Pat Miletich: You gotta think you’re gonna win no matter what. You’re the predator, not the pray.
Ricardo Liborio: The key to doing well in competition is to accept you can lose. You can not perform. Take the pressure off and you’ll do better. You can do well.
The Fighter’s Mind by Sam Sheridan: Great champions don’t always win every fight, but become memorable because they overcome great odds. Look at Randy Couture.
You have to know deep inside that you’ll have your time to shine, that your day will come.
Fighting is more than a sport. Sam Sheridan was right about that. It combines rules and the sport aspect with the life-or-death struggle. That’s what makes it so exhilarating to do and watch. So heavenly to win, and so hellish to lose.
You have to put in ten thousand hours of practice in order to reach excellence.
If your body feels good and your mind feels good, is it guaranteed that you’ll win? No. Have people fought sick and out of shape and with broken limbs and won? Yes.
Why do I fight? Because I love to fight.
Nathan: Why do you love fighting? You’re no happy warrior unless you’re happy to be a warrior. Am I mistaken? I thought a warrior doesn’t fight for victory, a warrior fought for what she believes in, and for the fight itself.
Toda-san: Don’t worry! You’ll win, I know it!
Jason: So is it okay if me and Max are screaming at the top of our lungs at you?
My perspective and feelings about fighting have completely changed over the past few years. Should I try and go back? There’s no going back in time.
Megumi: I had hurt myself so I couldn’t really practice so much before the fight. So I’m glad I got the submission win quickly!
Moriyama: Resting is part of training, too.
Ben: Resting is also training, you know.
Osawa-san: Roxanne, resting is a part of training!
Kunioku: Resting is also training.
Shouji: BJ-san, he trains three times a day, sometimes! He goes every round!
Sarah Kaufman: Yeah, I train three times a day….
Mizugaki: After the morning sparring, I’d go home and then do night practice…
I want to become a super hero.
Dad: You should set different goals.
Kunioku: Hard work and dedication. *thumbs up*
Celine: Don’t forget who you are!
Mama Odie: You gotta dig a little deeper. When you find out who you are, you find out what you need.
This year, I’ve already decided that I’m going to become champion. This next fight is the first step to achieving my goal. Goals are important. Fighting Hashi is the fight I want the most right now, and I’m going to win. I have many obstacles I have to overcome. I accept the posibility that it might not happen. But I relish the opportunity to try. I’m scared I won’t perform well. That’s why I have to do it.
Always do something you are afraid to do.
That’s the only way you can grow as a human being. As they said in the book “Catch 22,” if a soldier isn’t scared, he’s either stupid or insane.