November 12, 2015
the above is a photo of Pi Mutt wrapping my hands some time ago
This afternoon Pi Mutt gave me some tough love at WKO. We did a million rounds of padwork and the last few were sparring. He knocked the wind out of me with a kick to the ribs (totally my fault), but I got my shit together and came back to finish out the round, ’cause I’m a stud, But then in the sparring rounds he wasn’t letting me out. If I kicked him, he kicked me – nothing for free. You know, like a real fight would be. I was a bit overwhelmed and knew exactly how good this process is for me, how valuable it is to have trainers like this to push me, but I pretty obviously was crying in the ring. I mean, I sweat enough that if you’re completely dumb you might not see it… but trainers aren’t dumb. They see everything; they see shit you don’t want them to see.
So I finished out the rounds, Pi Mutt explained why he was pressuring me so much, “if you kick me, I kick you; I not let you out. Understand? If you want to kick me you have to think, how can I kick him and he cannot kick me?” I totally understood and appreciate it. Then went to the bathroom to cry, like an adult. When I came back I made sure to make eye-contact with him and smile. He leaned against the corner of the ring for a break between rounds with this other guy and he looked at me. Just really looked at me and said, “Sylvie, you okay?” I told him, “today no good… but tomorrow, ja kaa khun,” (tomorrow I kill you). He nodded approvingly, reached over the ropes and shook my hand, officiating the promise, and said, “good.”
Here’s the lesson: your trainers don’t care if you cry or if you suck in training that day; they only care if you give in to those things. It was the same when a year ago Pi Nu told me I was no good that day and I said, “yeah, but that’s okay; I’m good most days.” And after that he just believed in me. Same with Kru Mutt today. He just wants to see that I will push back, even if it’s delayed. If you put a seed in the ground and it dies, you just buried it; if it grows, you planted it.
Posted In
Muay Thai
