What is your opinion on this? (pressure to fight)

[neijia_boxer]

She got KOed in the first round because she fought a girl who stated this was to be her first amateur as well. Shit, turns out that the girl was a golden gloves champ and had something like 30 fights under her belt. Total BS.

I have seen this happen before too and the guy at the receiving end of the golden gloves boxer ended up with a broken nose. - the promoter and the other guys coach were extremely pissed and did not invite that team again.

sounds like your gut feeling is saying fight another day. I would tell your teacher "next event" because you will feel more confident and ready and body more healed.

BTW- i will be in L.A. again in Late May/early June so we can catch up on MT and Tai Chi. We missed last visit so hopefully this time I can check out your MT gym.

[Juan]

For sure man. Send me a PM if you want to get together and I could also give you the address to our gym.

[Butterball]

Hi guys,

This week I've been going through some stress at my MT gym. One of the guys that was supposed to fight in a full amateur fight has gone MIA and my trainer asked me to step in for him. My trainer has actually ben pressuring me to go amateur since my last fight in January. For one thing it is really an honor that my trainer thinks so highly of me to want me to continue to fight, on the other hand I'm not sure how to feel about the pressure he is putting on me.

Back to the current situation...as I said my trainer asked me this Wednesday to step up and fight my first amateur fight in place of our MIA fighter. I don't know how to feel about this...he knows I've only had one exhibition match and he is asking me to fight an amateur with 3 days of training. Plus I am barely getting over my injured akle that prevented me from fighting 2 weeks ago. He knows I was injured, he was there when I injured it. What's more I would be fighting someone who is younger, probably has more fights, and has been training properly for the fight. I told him that I couldn't do it. But he kept on insisting. To get him off my back I told him I would talk to my wife about it and get back to him. So the same night I talk it over with my wife and she says no way. I email my other trainer and explain why I can't take the fight and he is cool about it. Yesterday, after coming home from my son's welcome dinner to his soon to be high school I get a call from the trainer I emailed saying that my main trainer wants me to take the fight. I again politely say no and explain why I can't/shouldn't take the fight.

It sucks because now I don't even want to go to class. Saturday I'm going to go to the gym while it's open gym time and work out on my own just to avoid my trainer and that is a really shitty feeling. I mean I absolutely LOVE Muay Thai and want to/plan on continuing to fight but when I feel I am ready to step in the ring. I don't want to go into a fight unprepared just to get KTFO to please a promoter who can give less than a fuck about me and to please my trainer who is trying to please the promoter.

What do you guys think? Am I wrong in not taking the fight? Am I being a pussy? How do I handle the continued pressure to fight? I told my trainer that I could probably make my amateur debute this summer when I have more time to train but every time I step in the gym I hear "Juan, you fight amateur next time." I love the my Kru/trainer (not in a homo way) but it's getting to be a little much. I think the pressure is what caused the guy who was supposed to fight Sat. to go MIA.

Imo, if your trainer or coach is putting pressure on you to fight and you have clearly expressed that you do not want to fight; then it might be best to sit down with him and explain clearly that you do not want to do it. If you like, explain why you don't want to do it; but make sure that he knows that that is the final word. I think that as adults who should have a mutual respect for one another, open discussion is the first and best option.

It's not right for him to continuously pressure you into this and it is not everyones goal or place to be a competitor, especially if you are just coming off an injury. An instructor has a certain amount of influence in the gym and it's not right to use it to pressure his/her students.

No way, you are not being a pussy. If you don't want to fight, then you don't want to fight; that's all there is to it. If he continuously pressures you to fight after having a discussion with him about it, then it might be time to put some thought into your future at that gym. If it's worth it to you to stay and put up with the pressure and just train, then stick around. If not.......

Hope that helps some, good luck dude!

[eddie mush]

Juan, if your injury hasn't fully healed and you do not feel like you've been able to prepare properly, DO NOT take the fight. That would just be throwing yourself into a bad situation man...

I feel exactly like this, could'nt have put it better myself.

Martin

[bigphatwong]

It's pretty much unanimous, dude. You want to enter a situation like that with all the cards stacked in your favor, and if you don't feel 100% ready in body and mind to accept this bout, then you are setting yourself up to fail. It's not an ego thing. You already made it pretty clear what his motives are, and unfortunately your well-being doesn't seem to be one of them.

Bottom line is, it's your ass...you're the decider.

[dragontigerpalm]

Like others have said - you have no cause to doubt yourself.
Sit down with your trainer and thank him for the honor and respect he has shown you and for the confidence he has in you by asking you to take the fight. Explain that even though you have been healing well you are still not fully recovered. Then, as you've already expressed your desire to fight, let him know that you would eagerly step into the ring once you're fully healed and can properly train pre-fight. If he respects you then he should appreciate your honesty and respect your decision.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

juan -

maybe you're ready for the next step and you are being gently ushered to it?

The tree that does not bend, does not grow...so to speak.

what is the goal of a muay thai training path after all? I'm certain it's not plateauing at a point and staying there though.

[Chris McKinley]

Perhaps there is a misunderstanding out there that Juan's decision has something to do with bravery, willpower, willingness to take on new challenges or similar such concerns and sentiments. It does not. The decision hinges on how great a risk participating in the fight will be to an already injured ankle, and therefore which choice is in the best interest of his health. This kind of choice has nothing at all to do with the previously mentioned sentiments. In fact, it should be made dispassionately and objectively as much as possible.

Perhaps after Juan's injury has healed completely it might be fair to state that all those other subjective concerns become the basis of the decision, and Juan can then make that choice based on his subjective preferences. Right now, though, it's about whether or not fighting would exacerbate an existing injury.

[dragontigerpalm]

Chris, it's this part of Juan's first post that people have responded to:
"What do you guys think? Am I wrong in not taking the fight? Am I being a pussy? How do I handle the continued pressure to fight? I told my trainer that I could probably make my amateur debute this summer when I have more time to train but every time I step in the gym I hear "Juan, you fight amateur next time." I love the my Kru/trainer (not in a homo way) but it's getting to be a little much. I think the pressure is what caused the guy who was supposed to fight Sat. to go MIA."

[Chris McKinley]

Yes, I know...I read it and responded to it already. Whether it might be Juan or someone else having the misunderstanding doesn't change the fact that the real decision is a medical/health one at this point. That would still be true even if Juan himself still thought that the decision was about issues of bravery, him being a pussy or not, or other subjective concerns. Until the injury heals, the decision is a health issue. After that, it may be about whatever else subjectively colors the choice.

[dragontigerpalm]

I misunderstood the intent of your post but I do agree with you that healing is the priority.

[Juan]

Hey guys,

The decision has to do with both the health (injured ankle) and bravery aspect (feeling like I've trained properly for the fight). Not that I'm not ready to step into the ring, it's just that I'd like more than 3 days notice to fight. Also, I keep thinking my ankle is okay but today I did some hard sparring and my ankle feels sore all over again. Not as bad as when I fist popped it but definitely worse than it would feel from regular hard sparring.

The issue is also been able to step into the gym and have a regular work out without being pushed to fight. I don't mind fighting, in fact I'd like to do some more. But some days I just want to go in and work out. Some days I just don't have to have someone on my back pushing to fight. I promise I will, just give me the time to train and also give me some rest in between. Although I didn't get to fight three weeks ago due to an injury I went through all the training that I would have for a fight. For those of you that have fought before, you know how grueling that is both physically and mentally. Give my body and mind just a little bit of time to rest.

Anyways, just to catch you guys up on what happened...I went to the gym Saturday during open gym time hoping to avoid both my trainers but they were still there. They were both cool with me and my main trainer even tried to joke with me a bit. The guy that was MIA actually showed up after they left (he is the one that is on the video boxing w/me) and we both vented about the pressure. He is thinking about leaving and going to a boxing gym because of the pressure. I don't think I can leave because I've made too many good friends, and genuinely like the training and my trainer despite the pressure. I went to class today and our trainer was cool. He mentioned there is a fight coming up in June but didn't say anything to me. Maybe he's backing off a bit or maybe I've been dropped from the fighter's list, I won't know for sure for a couple of weeks. For right now I'm going to take it one day at a time. I have an appointment to work with our boxing coach this Wednesday so I'm really looking forward to that.

Again, thanks for listening and your input.

[Andy_S]

Two points:

(1) Your call. If you are a father and husband with a day job, those are priority numbers one, two and three; MA is a distant four. Secondly, if you have an injury and don't let it heal, chances are it will become chronic. Thirdly, there is a courage in saying 'no' under pressure, so don't feel you are chickening out.

(2) OTOH...if you are training at a fight stable, whose raison d'etre is to breed fighters, then it is understandable that the guy wants to throw you into the ring and find out if you have the right stuff - ie are going to become someone the gym should be investing time in - or simply put you on the back burner as a recreational student. If you take the fight, that will later count in your favor as a form of loyalty to the gym and the trainer.

Personally, I would say Number One trumps Number Two. You have your priorities straight.