Inspiration

“One More Round”

“Gentleman” Jim Corbett was famous for not only being a world champion, but also for his contributions to the sport of boxing, politically and scientifically.  Gentleman Jim (no relation to Sensei Corbett) helped to bring boxing to the attention of the public and politicians so that the sport became legal (similiar to the battle that MMA has had in the late 1990′s and early part of this millenium).  He even served jail time for his participation in matches.  He bettered the sport by popularizing the influence of footwork, the use of the left hook, and even the use of handwraps.  Read more about him here.

Notwithstanding, Gentleman Jim provided those of us training in the martial sports, or any endeavor for that matter, inspiration to have the will to suceed.  A famous quote by him is,

• “Fight one more round. When your feet are so tired that you have to shuffle back to the center of the ring, fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired that you wish that your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round – remembering that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped.”

Click HERE to hear a minister relaying Gentleman Jim’s attitude.  Note, he does not mention James J. Corbett in the oratory that is about his battle with the great John L. Sullivan.

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Dan Gable

The fact that Dan Gable won a Gold Medal in the 1972 Olympics is not why references to him have been added to this page.   It is the fact that, much like Gentleman Jim, he had one of the best training ethics of any combat sportsmen, ever.  See the following quotes:

Gable on Goals:

“I’m a big believer in starting with high standards and raising them. We make progress only when we push ourselves to the highest level. If we don’t progress, we backslide into bad habits, laziness and poor attitude.”

Gable on Priorities:

“When you finally decide how successful you really want to be, you’ve got to set priorities. Then, each and every day, you’ve got to take care of the top ones. The lower ones may fall behind, but you can’t let the top ones slip. You don’t forget about the lower ones though because they can add up to hurt you. Just take care of the top ones first. In 25 years as a head coach and assistant, I think I might have missed one practice. Why? Because practice is my top priority. A day doesn’t go by when I don’t accomplish something in my family life or my profession because those two things are my top priorities.”

Gable on Hard Work:

“The obvious goals were there- State Champion, NCAA Champion, Olympic Champion. To get there I had to set an everyday goal which was to push myself to exhaustion or, in other words, to work so hard in practice that someone would have to carry me off the mat.”

Gable on Raising your Level of Performance:

“Raising your level of performance requires a proper mentality and meaning from within. This gives you the ability and drive to work on the things necessary to go to a higher level. When people ask me how to raise their level of performance, the first thing I ask is, How important is it to you?”

 

from http://www.dangable.com/ 

Follow this link, http://www.flocasts.com/flowrestling/coverage.php?c=66&w=0&id=4385, to a video interview where you can learn more about his work ethic.

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Lessons from the Lord of the Ring

from http://www.gitomer.com/articles/ViewPublicArticle.html?key=ajcdMibak3NN92qRllwkIQ%3D%3D

I sat down to talk with Drew Brown, the first black jet fighter pilot in the Navy, a decorated war veteran, who was raised on the streets of Harlem. He went to school at Southern University, played basketball for the Harlem Globetrotters, and wrote a book called You Gotta Believe!

Subject of our discussion? Boxing.
More specific, Muhammad Ali.

“When I was a kid, my father made me sit in the corner,” Drew said with an all-knowing smile. “Oh, not the corner you’re thinking about. I’m talking about the corner that Muhammad Ali sat in while he was winning or defending the heavyweight championship of the world.”

Drew’s dad was Bundini Brown. Bundini was Ali’s trainer, and in Ali’s corner with Angelo Dundee for every major fight of Ali’s career. So was the young Drew Brown. Drew was there at the fights and at the gym where Ali got ready and trained to become a world champion.

Can you imagine being ringside for the career of the greatest boxer of all time? I wanted to hear every story. Liston, Frazier, Foreman, and Norton. I wanted to hear about the fights.

Like all boxing fans in the ’60s and ’70s, I loved Ali. His style, his speed, his swagger, and his confidence. Yes he was controversial, but that did not detract from his skills. He fought like no other. He was a warrior. And still today, he is the most recognized name in the world.

After about half a dozen stories, I challenged Drew to take the stories and convert them into lessons. “What did you learn from sitting in the corner? What did Ali’s career teach you?”

“I never thought about it,” he said smiling.
“Think about it, I want to know the lessons,” I challenged.

Drew began to talk, and I began to write. Here are the lessons he learned sitting at the feet of Muhammad Ali and observing his actions. Think about how you might be able to model Ali’s habits in your sales career:

1. He got ready to win. He trained to be a champion, not just win the fight.
2. He simulated the fight environment for months before the fight. He had sparring partners that pushed him to the limit. Many later became his opponents in the ring.
3. He had a victory strategy that he prepared and practiced every day.
4. He was healthy. He ate right and exercised right. Never a weight lifter, he just got in fight shape. Fight ready.
5. He psyched himself up every day. Winning starts with your mental attitude and self-belief way before your punching power.
6. He was the master self-promoter for his sport, and for himself. He proclaimed that he was, “the greatest of all time.”
7. He always believed he would win. Self-thought and self-belief were his secret weapons. (His jab and powerful right hand came in handy as well.)
8. At the fight he psyched his opponent. The pre-fight stare-down was without peer. He often used his mental advantage to gain a physical advantage.
9. During the fight he was not just punching or boxing, he was a student. When the bell rang, Ali was looking for the weakness of his opponent, and exploiting it.
10. His mantra was: punch hard, punch fast, and dance.“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” was not just a slogan, it was a style. His style. He set THE standard for skill, and the benchmark for how to fight. He was a heavyweight dancer. One-of-a-kind.
11. Even though he would predict an early knockout, Ali was prepared to go the distance. You don’t have to knock someone out, but you do have to win every round.
12. He had passionate, loyal fans. Still does. He was a loved champion. Still is. “Ali! Ali! Ali!,” the crowd would chant. (I was one of the chanters.)

“I watched him win. I watched him lose. I was privileged to watch the greatest fighter who ever lived. But I didn’t just watch, I learned. Some lessons I saw, and some I looked back to discover,” Drew explained. “But every lesson has value, and every lesson helped me in my career, whether it was in the military or in the office.”

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