I read an interesting e-mail the other day. The author wrote about the ‘free-loader community’, specifically in the area of weight training/physical conditioning and how one coach was getting tired of the ‘Give Me, Give Me, Give Me’ attitude. He mentions that people want to be ‘told’ the answers instead of reading, instead of watching, instead of researching, instead of practicing - instead of doing the work!
I, too, get tired of the same people who ‘want’, but make no real effort to improve their skills. Oh, they may go to the range once in a while, or hit the gym once or twice a week, or even read a book. But there’s no real commitment when it comes to training and practice. I see it on the range and I see it in the gym/dojo. They practice what they do well but not what they need to improve upon – they do what’s easiest or most fun for them. You cannot be hand fed the answers. You have to want to spend time reading, listening, watching, learning and doing.
Many of the readers by now have discarded this already or will say I’m not being sensitive or understanding enough. Weak and lazy is a choice, not a genetic curse. Being strong, hardworking and less accepting of excuses are choices as well. Weak minds have weak excuses and it bothers me to listen to excuses and consequently, I have little time for the excuse makers.
I often hear, "Oh man, I'm so busy ..." Got it. Me too. We all are. But many still make the choice to keep skills sharp and do some physical training. If you have made the choice to carry a gun for personal protection, you need to know that shooting a gun and fighting with one are two significantly different things. If you truly believe that going to the range once a month or less is going to keep you ready for a gunfight, you are beyond delusional. Same thing with going to the gym – one workout a week won’t cut it.
Even before I fought professionally, I worked hard! Five days a week in the gym. Sparring, weights, running. We trained outside when the gym was closed – rain, shine, cold – it didn’t matter. The gym wasn’t air-conditioned and the fans were too loud so we kept them off. We even trained on dirt floors. Later on, the training moved to six days a week. But I improved and got stronger. When I began shooting seriously, our team was training 2-3 days a week. 3-500 rounds a session were the norm. Hours of dry-firing. Since we were shooting revolvers, we all developed serious callous on our trigger finger. But we got better.
President Teddy Roosevelt said, “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty….” No one respects free. No one respects easy. All that free or easy stuff still requires you to pay at some point. You’ll pay with time, energy and eventually doing the training if you want to become better.
You're either in or you're in the way.
Don’t be in the way.
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