The 12 Blogs of Christmas: Heart

Happy Holidays to all the LMTers out there. I wish the best for you and yours this holiday season. I'm still recovering from Thanksgiving and with Christmas right around the corner I decided to do a series of  twelve short blogs leading up to that wonderful night when old Saint Nick leaves you boxing gloves, mouthpieces, and Judo Gi's under  your tree, or something like that. Don't judge me...

Me and Pam after a private session.

    On the first day of Christmas nobody gave me anything, because you can't teach heart. As combat sports go, there are those that plan on fighting and those that don't but are  just as addicted to the training as  those preparing for battle. Training at least four times per week and sparring with sharks on a regular  basis without fear. The biggest thing about combat sports for people like this is they don't have to do it, risking injury with no set goal other than to do something athletic that they enjoy. People often start  doing a little contact and quickly decide that maybe they should  stick  to tennis. Others get injured and limp away with the mentality that it is just par for the course. In most cases it's weekend warrior types of guys ready to fulfill their testosterone fueled dreams, but not in this case. In this case it's just Pam. Yep, 1st grade school teacher, Pam. I've watched Pam get her nose broken twice and leave a healthy deposit of blood on the canvas and as soon as possible be back in class working on her technique. She is the epitome of heart. She could be kayaking, or mountain biking, or Yoga but she loves Thai boxing and has been consistently getting better and giving the boys a hard time on a regular basis. Now she's doing private lessons and putting it all together nicely. It might seem like nothing but after looking at her with blood dripping from her nose and tears pouring from her eyes, and watching her stand back up and keep fighting it just validates everything I believe about heart. I've watched muscle bound grown men quit on their stool in the
corner because they, "can't  breathe". While  everyone is running around TRYING to be a badass, I would rather just be like Pam and have heart.