I Guess This Is More For The Trainers

[Chris Nagel]

Let me get this straight, you got a guy that's new to boxing. He's punch shy and you're thinking of how you should call him a pussy?

[Trainer Monkey]

Let me get this straight, you got a guy that's new to boxing. He's punch shy and you're thinking of how you should call him a pussy?

There is a difference between punch shy,and punch afraid.
And you will see it,when you see it.
Punch shy is having human survival instincts
Punch afraid is not having the gear where you ignore your own instincts.
You can see the difference after awhile
You dont actually call anyone pussy,you nicely pull them aside and say,"Kid I hate to say this,but I dont think this games for you"
But any trainer whose honest with you will say,if your still conscious,and dont get up with a look in your eye that says,"Right,Ill do you for that"
They think your a pussy

[Sharla]

The thing I don't understand id why you would be able to tell on the first day.

I've never been in a gym where they have anyone facing punches until they've been training at least a couple of months or have previous experience in a gym.

I wonder the same thing about reflexes. If the reflexes haven't been trained yet how would you know how fast they'll become. Potentially a lot of people who appear slow or awkward when learning something new will be fast and competant after a period of time.

Almost no matter what I was doing I'd be suspicious of anyone telling me a particular occupation was not for me on the first day I attempted it.

[Trainer Monkey]

The thing I don't understand id why you would be able to tell on the first day.

I've never been in a gym where they have anyone facing punches until they've been training at least a couple of months or have previous experience in a gym.

I wonder the same thing about reflexes. If the reflexes haven't been trained yet how would you know how fast they'll become. Potentially a lot of people who appear slow or awkward when learning something new will be fast and competant after a period of time.

Almost no matter what I was doing I'd be suspicious of anyone telling me a particular occupation was not for me on the first day I attempted it.

I'd be more suspicious of someone who knows looking at you,you cant do something,who's still willing to pocket your training money anyway.

Perfect example,Brian Strege. Dude your 40,and youve never had a fight in your life,its nice to dream,but your only dreaming.
Somebody booked him for a pro fight,which understandably, he lost,badly.
Slow and awkward is fine,there's alot to the sport to learn,but there's alot of things you train yourself to look for,one of the biggest was amply described by Ron White(a comedian,but he got it right) "There's alot of quit in that boy"
A 5'4" 30 year old might have allways dreamed of playing defensive end for the Packers, but Im not going to waste both our time, and take their money to teach them something ,and lead them on,for something they'll never really be able to do.
Daring to dream is great,lord knows Ive done more then most people even aspire to. But taking someones money for training, when any one with two eyes can see they cant do it is damned nigh criminal.
When I was a kid, I tried to play the cello to please my grandfather who was an accomplished classical violinist. My interest was negligable, my feel for the instrument was microscopic. My cello teacher,and myself could have spent many an hour doing something constructive with both our time if she had just said,"Have you ever considered the guitar?" right from the get go.
If everybody could do everything,they would. One of your jobs as a trainer, is to look at a guy,and save their time and money. Alot of guys just take the money and train them anyway,thus the thoughts behind the starting post. I dont like doing that, and I can usually see on day one.Ive talked to other trainers on this privately,and they all confess,"Yeah, you can tell"
What enthused me about this kid,is how he responded to working the focus mitts. I guess something alot of fighters dont realise, is most trainers throw up a test to see what they have. I use the mitts. They can be very frustrating for a new fighter, you want to see the look in their eyes when you run them around with the mitts. You dont expect perfection, but what you dont want to see, is them dropping their hands and letting out a big sigh every time they get schooled on them. It reaks of OK I'll try again,but I dont want to.
No heart
And in the ring,some days all you have is heart on your side.
This kid would get frustrated and annoyed,but he responded by locking down and just trying harder.
Thats what you want to see.

[Salty]

The thing I don't understand id why you would be able to tell on the first day.

I've never been in a gym where they have anyone facing punches until they've been training at least a couple of months or have previous experience in a gym.

I wonder the same thing about reflexes. If the reflexes haven't been trained yet how would you know how fast they'll become. Potentially a lot of people who appear slow or awkward when learning something new will be fast and competant after a period of time.

Almost no matter what I was doing I'd be suspicious of anyone telling me a particular occupation was not for me on the first day I attempted it.

I'd be more suspicious of someone who knows looking at you,you cant do something,who's still willing to pocket your training money anyway.

Perfect example,Brian Strege. Dude your 40,and youve never had a fight in your life,its nice to dream,but your only dreaming.
Somebody booked him for a pro fight,which understandably, he lost,badly.
Slow and awkward is fine,there's alot to the sport to learn,but there's alot of things you train yourself to look for,one of the biggest was amply described by Ron White(a comedian,but he got it right) "There's alot of quit in that boy"
A 5'4" 30 year old might have allways dreamed of playing defensive end for the Packers, but Im not going to waste both our time, and take their money to teach them something ,and lead them on,for something they'll never really be able to do.
Daring to dream is great,lord knows Ive done more then most people even aspire to. But taking someones money for training, when any one with two eyes can see they cant do it is damned nigh criminal.
When I was a kid, I tried to play the cello to please my grandfather who was an accomplished classical violinist. My interest was negligable, my feel for the instrument was microscopic. My cello teacher,and myself could have spent many an hour doing something constructive with both our time if she had just said,"Have you ever considered the guitar?" right from the get go.
If everybody could do everything,they would. One of your jobs as a trainer, is to look at a guy,and save their time and money. Alot of guys just take the money and train them anyway,thus the thoughts behind the starting post. I dont like doing that, and I can usually see on day one.Ive talked to other trainers on this privately,and they all confess,"Yeah, you can tell"
What enthused me about this kid,is how he responded to working the focus mitts. I guess something alot of fighters dont realise, is most trainers throw up a test to see what they have. I use the mitts. They can be very frustrating for a new fighter, you want to see the look in their eyes when you run them around with the mitts. You dont expect perfection, but what you dont want to see, is them dropping their hands and letting out a big sigh every time they get schooled on them. It reaks of OK I'll try again,but I dont want to.
No heart
And in the ring,some days all you have is heart on your side.
This kid would get frustrated and annoyed,but he responded by locking down and just trying harder.
Thats what you want to see.

One of my favourite quotes is "A warrior does not give up what he loves", I think this is what TM is alluding to. They have the desire to be better and will continue to train there ass off day in day out, as they have the passion to be great.

[Trainer Monkey]

Very close to on the nose Salty.
You can see it in their body language and in their eyes.
The best thing you want to see in their eyes is,"Ill do it just to prove you wrong".
Because you know if that kid gets caught on a flash knockdown(and they happen all the time) when he gets up he isnt going to be scared,he's going to be seriously angry.
He gets up scared,he'll revisit the canvas,allmost guaranteed.
And if any trainer tries to tell you he doesnt look at some aspirants and they think,"Oh you great big poof" theyre lying to you.
You dont say it, but you sure as heck think it.

[Sharla]

If you can see that somehow they don't want to be there and don't demonstrate real interest from the beginning I guess that I understand.

Being punch shy or slow on the first day I don't think is a fair representation of what a persons ultimate abilities might be.