The Olympic Swimmer & The Life Guard

The other day someone asked me if I would train them to fight in a MMA match. I explained to him that I had a different view. I told him that I train people to live, not to fight and although there are many aspects of class that are physical and involve combat training, that aspect was a small part of a larger picture. At first he looked a bit confused and then a look of almost disgust came over him like I was trying to pull some Kwai Chan Cane philosophical BS on him or some how attempting to mask that I couldn't fight or that my classes were not practical because we didn't train to fight in the cage. So instead of challenging him to a duel or something crazy like that, I explained it to him another way. I told him that I train Life Guards, not Olympic Swimmers. Both train to be good swimmers and although the Olympian could probably win in a competition against the life guard, that's not how or why the life guard does what he does. Life guards learn to swim for altogether different reasons, reasons that out weigh merely personal gain. Yes, both need to know how to swim and how to swim well, but the life guard also learns many other things. They learn more than just how to be the best, fastest swimmer in the water. They learn about saving lives; how to protect and defend themselves and others. The training is different, they learn different things and more importantly they have a different focus. It's not about the competition, it's so much more than that. It doesn't mean don't be the best you can be or don't learn functional techniques. It means look to the larger picture of what you want your training and more important your life to be. I am not trying to take anything away from what it is to be an Olympian because I do have a lot of respect for them and any athlete that pushes their own limits and gives it their all (I myself have competed numerous times in my day), but a competitor has a short shelf life and after its all done, win or lose, what's next?? What is the bigger picture? Is the path your on... the way you train... the way you live sustainable? Are the things you do today bringing you closer to being happy, more fulfilled tomorrow? Do your actions bring you peace of mind and help you with life or is your training just helping you to win your next competition? How many 55 year old boxers, wrestlers, or MMA competitors do you see? Are you a protector/defender that trains for life, or a competitor that trains for your next victory. Isn't there always someone a little better? Someone younger, stronger, faster or in better condition waiting to knock you off your throne. At one time Muhammad Ali was young, cocky and the best boxer in the world, where is he today? Do police officers and soldiers have to be world champions to serve and protect?

So, I will leave you with the same thought that I left the young MMA enthusiast with: You don't have to be the best, fastest swimmer to be a life guard. Although you will have to learn to swim.

~Craig

Comments

  1. BabacitaNovember 6, 2008 at 5:39 AM

    Very nicely said.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 24, 2008 at 7:46 AM

    Very well worded, that in and of itself was why I enjoyed training with you so much! Hope to do it again someday.

    -T

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Uncomfortable Situation

Image
  Funny pic (and movie) about a not so funny situation… In training as in Life, it’s better to treat people with dignity and respect. However… What does that look like in the moment? Being that I’m teaching a Women’s Assault Prevention and Response Workshop this weekend - it’s probably a good time to talk about… Uncomfortable Situations Let’s talk about training at the academy for a minute… We run open co-ed classes at the local academy. What does that mean? Men and women train together, but we don’t stop there. People of different skill levels, backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual orientations, careers, religious beliefs, political affiliations, ages, injuries, pre-existing conditions, life experience, training expectations etc. etc. train together! We ALL work together! Overall, I think it’s better this way. Of course sometimes there’s static, you know, conflicts, and misunderstanding. When something happens, most of the time it’s just that, a misunderstanding… Sometimes people ...
Read more

What'd You Say?!

Image
  You ever have a conversation with someone who really lifted your spirits? How about having a conversation with someone who’s a real downer?! We spend a lot of time talking to people. Matter of fact, talking is one of the most under rated and under trained aspects of protecting yourself. It’s much better if you can talk your way out of a bad situation, rather than having to resort to some form of physicality. This is why we spend so much time on sharing effective communication frameworks in the PeaceWalker course. But All of that Aside… When we think about communicating, we often just think about talking to other people. We forget how we talk to ourselves! You may have heard it called, “Self talk.” All day long we talk to ourselves. We carry on an inner dialogue in our heads that only we can hear. Unfortunately, this means it's very easy to be hard on ourselves. There's something about privacy which makes it easy to say the things you would never say out loud to another living...
Read more

Cracks in Your Foundation?!

Image
  Last night we had one of our weekly coaching calls for the PeaceWalker Evolution Course. What a great call! Rob and Jenn, a couple of the Level II - Momentum folks (people who graduated from Evolution last year and came back for the second Level.), were tasked to run the meeting as part of their training. I must say, they did a stand up job! The topic of discussion was building an Unshakable Foundation. WTH is that!? It’s basically the way you live. Your habits. What you do in your day to day life. How do you train your… Body  - Your physical health Mind  - What you’re filling your head with Mouth  - How you’re communicating Heart  - How you foster your relationships Why?! Without a solid foundation it’s difficult to remain balanced. When you are not balanced, it more difficult to stay calm, cool, and collected, (especially) under pressure. As I often say,  “You can’t hide crazy.” (It eventually comes out!) Regardless… You don’t have to be in the PeaceWal...
Read more