In the interest of maximum efficiency with minimum effort (or maybe just minimum effort), I posted my response to the Building the Perfect Fighter post about Ronda & me here.
Hi,
I'm Ronda's mom (-:
Just FYI, I have three other children,
including one who plays soccer, and I had to smile at your description
of the little ones playing soccer.
You might be surprised to
find that I am in complete agreement about hoping your nephew isn't a
great athlete. It's a hard road in many more ways than you might
suppose. I think being a good parent is helping your children reach
their goals and be the best they can be.
In fact, being best
in the world is what Ronda wanted to do and having been a world champion
myself, I had an idea of how to help her succeed at that. One of her
older sisters wanted to be a journalist - she writes for Fox News
Latino, after stints at ESPN and Sports Illustrated. Another sister
wanted to be a teacher and she is a wonderful middle school history
teacher. The youngest sister is still busy being a kid - and playing
soccer.
Oh, by the way, after I won the world championships, I
got a PhD, started a couple of companies, including my latest, 7 Generation Games which makes educational games to teach math. We
received enough grant money to give it away free to low income schools.
And, I wrote a book on matwork this year. The answer to what people do
in "the outside world" could be to apply that same drive to other
worthwhile endeavors.
AnnMaria (bored in the airport on the way home from a long business trip)
5 comments:
I don't think there's anything wrong with shifting into something not quite human. I know from experience, as I'm far beyond that point myself, and even moreso than Michael Jordan or Mike Tyson. It's so calm and liberating to not be burdened by human ebbs and flows, but just to be going all the time. I'm not even motivated. I transcend motivation altogether and move forward in a "Terminator" like fashion ignoring my emotions and my level of energy altogether. If I don't feel like getting out of bed, I just jump up out of it. I force myself up, I force myself to push and never look back.
I have never read so much boosting/bragging all my life. You no nothing about real fighting. Judo is a great art, but it is not real fighting. Although, some Judo techniques can be very helpful in a clinch. What do you know about MMA fighting - NOTHING. Your only 5' 2" and know nothing about striking and/or very little about other grappling styles.
^ Okay, let's see your belts and world championship titles Mr. Internet Tough Guy.
"Judo is a great art, but it is not real fighting." She's secretly a Kung Fu master. "Your only 5' 2" She can hop around like flea, kick a 6'3" opponent in the head, then grab them while still in mid-air and throw them!
I wonder if teaching a fighter to lose well is important. A teenage fighter could take a few hours a week away from karate, boxing, wrestling, and judo for a team sport like softball where they would be sure to sometimes lose.
Obviously a fighter isn't supposed to lose and losing well isn't a priority. But for a trainer, coach, or corner man, losing is a fact of life. And it doesn't help the fighter's development for a coach to wig out over a loss. The way RJR does.
RJR is the perfect fighter. But that part of her career is already almost over. At least if she sticks to her announced retirement plan, which I hope she does, because female fighters have to give up more for their families than male ones. So the rest of her career will be as a coach.
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