Lessons from the Ring

There’s nothing quite like getting punched in the face and it took me almost 4 decades to find out. Having trained for a little over 3 years and lost in a couple of exhibition bouts, I’ve realized the following:

1. Technique & Pacing > Strength — Its not the strength/muscle that’s behind the power of the punch, but knowing how to throw it efficiently. Going for the knockout punch right from the get go or throwing punches like your favourite movie star are sure fire ways to run out of fuel and be useless after a grand total of 50 secs. Pacing yourself and using the right technique (to move, defend or punch) are key.
2. Defense is King — While its the punches that look cool/cause damage, having a good defense is primary — its hard to throw punches when you’re lying face down on the floor. Moving away from the range of punches or blocking it well not only wastes the opponent’s energy but also demotivates him. You can make him look like a fool swinging at the air and/or frustrate him to the point of coming closer and open for you to counter.
3. Eyes Wide Open- Its surprising how the body/mind reacts to fear and tries to shield you by stopping you from seeing whats incoming. While this is the natural instinct, there’s nothing worse you can do than averting your eyes from the opponent and/or throwing your punches wildly. Reminding yourself to keep your eyes on the opponent at all times needs repeating every time.
4. The nervousness, hell I’ll say it, the fear of being punched peaks before each round of sparring no matter how many times I’ve done it before. You step in the ring regardless. Reminding yourself that the other person also has similar emotions helps.
5. You can handle being hit and continue to fight — life doesn’t stop with a punch. Neither does the fight, you can carry on. In fact, it kind of liberates you knowing the limit to the hurt that can be inflicted on you.

After all this you do reach a point where even if you don’t necessarily “float like a butterfly”, you atleast don’t feel out of place in the ring and that gives you a sense of confidence that can only help in other areas. The punches still hurt the same though ……..