The Brutal Honesty of Combat Sports

A few weeks ago I got a whatsapp in from a former client that was with us on and off for the entire lifespan of Wild Geese.

And his question has been rattling round my head ever since.

Marc says:

“Hello mate,

I’ve been thinking ( which is as we know terribly dangerous) so I had my second jujitsu competition this weekend which didn’t go as well as I’d hoped, this is fine and we roll and we get better.

But what got me thinking a bit was why it sucks losing in martial arts more than in other sports.

Like I’ve played a lot of sport both solo and team and losing is never great ( at least if you’re a competitive SOB like i am) but a solo loss or a team loss both hurt kind of the same, maybe not exactly but ball park.

Martial arts is way worse and I’ve been noodling over why, it might be the primal thing of someone humbling you in the pack and letting you know ‘what’s up’ but I think it’s the difference in the exposure you have in combat competitions.

If I’m running or swimming or kettlebell lifting you have 8 other people in the spot light at the same time as you and if you lose, it sucks but it’s almost like the disappointment is spread across the seven people who didn’t come first.

In ju-jitsu or wrestling or amateur boxing etc from the first match it’s a 50:50 and you win or lose and every match is like a final and if you lose the spot lights only on you.

And that’s different, and it’s strange and it’s cool but I’d never given it so much as a fleeting thought until the last day or so, so I thought I’d ask and see if that sort of differential in competition mindset was something that’s cropped up when you’ve been training people?

Hope you and the family are all keeping well up north. Can’t believe the big lad is 17, that aged me something rotten 😂”

As always, I love hearing from my community, especially when you send in a great question or discussion point.

So what is it about Combat Sports and martial arts?

I’ve been racking my brains since getting the question and this is what I have come up with.

Most sports, such as running, triathlons, kettlebell sports, even Hyrox and the like, these fall under “Individual Sports”

It’s you against you.

And the value of these sports isn’t trying to win, but trying to improve on last time. They’re personal challenges.

Even at the elite levels where competing for a top spot is a thing, most of the guys talk in terms of this performance compared to their previous performances.

Team sports, Rugby, GAA, Hockey and the like, you are part of a group, you’re one cog in a larger machine, nothing can be 100% your fault as it would be in an individual sport.

And then there’s the combat sports.

They are individual sports. But you’re not competing against your last performance.

You are competing against another human being, eyeball to eyeball.

All your preparation, your skills, your speed, your power, your conditioning, your footwork can be be countered and there’s nothing you can do about it.

You can have all your abilites negated by someone smaller but with better timing, someone less technical but faster.

Your best efforts can lead to nothing.

It’s like nothing else.

You can loose a at a track meet or on the lifting platform, but still score a PR

You might lose a tennis match but still win or return a few serves to be proud of.

But when your being negated in a fight, it’s like being a child again, a kid wrestling his dad.

Not only that, because it is a fight, it always feels that bit more personal, yes, you do get used to that, if you grow with martial arts as your main sport, then yeah, it feels more normal.

But coming to martial arts from another sport, that will be jarring.

I’ve said it before and I haven’t chamged my mind, martial arts competition is the purest of all forms of competition.

It’s neither simple, nor easy!

Regards

Dave Hedges

www.davehedges.net