I understand,  it's violent.

I understand it goes against all of our social norms.

I understand it contradicts everything we teach our children.

I understand,  It makes no sense to the civilized mind

I understand it fosters a dangerous mentality.

I understand it highlights the hypocrisy in our society.

I understand and I apologize if this rubs some people the wrong way or makes other people look at me differently.  But I love the sweet science of pugilism.   I know this contradicts the spirit of mental, emotional, and physical health and I know there is no reasonable way to explain my love for boxing, so I won't.  I'll just tell a short story.

When I was young, we lived in a tough neighborhood.  I did not realize it then because I was in it.  (Does the frog realize it's in a pot of boiling water?  The answer is no because the water is warmed slowly to a boil) . That was me.  Some of my friends reminded me after we moved, how much I fought.  Like every day,  apparently I was the ring leader and pretty good with my hands.  Then my parents saved us by moving us to a “safer, nicer” neighborhood.  And it was safer and nicer.  But for every me, there were 1000+ people who did not look like me.  And yes I fought every single day to protect myself.  It's weird, as I reflect, initially, I fought people that did not look like me,  because I did not belong and they did not want someone from the “hood” there.  But then,  I started to fight the few that did look like me.  I think I was trying to belong to two groups. One group of “acceptance” and the other group of ”validation”.  

I'm sure we all have dealt with similar struggles.

As I matured,  I understood how to better manage these two worlds.  So my fighting tapered off from every day to once or twice per week.  And that was my life from 4th grade until 8th grade.  Fortunately,  I did not have too many fights in High School or College.

I know right, get to the point Vecus!  

After I read the book  “The Art of War”  I learned to appreciate the science of boxing when looking at it through the lens provided by the author, Sun Tzu.

(Yes, yes, I know the first principle of the book is if you have to go to war, you've already lost)

but if you're in a war...

Keep you, enemies, close...

When you are weak, be strong.

When you are strong, be weak.

War should be fought strategically and psychologically.

Etc, etc, etc

So if I offend you because of my love of boxing,  please love me for my other endearing qualities.

If I don't offend, you because of my love of boxing, enjoy the super fight tonight.

Have a great Saturday!

Stay safe!

vecus.net