Motivations

What motivates a boxer? What drives a person to get into the ring and knowingly get hit by another person? Why spend so much time training, restricting your diet, limiting your social life, not drinking? Everyone has different motivations, and competing in boxing is a great way to accomplish personal goals, such as weight loss, getting in shape, overcoming fear, doing at least one boxing match to check off the bucket list. 

Boxing reminds me a lot of religion. The discipline, the commitment, the asceticism. You cannot truly compete in boxing without a complete giving of your entire self to the sport, not just your body, but your mind and arguably your soul. I converted to Judaism later in life, and I completed an adult b’nei mitzvah (it’s the bat mitzvah teenagers do as a coming of age, adults who never did one when younger do an adult version). I had to give a speech about that week’s Torah portion. The portion talked about how the priests had to purify themselves before going into the temple to do their priestly duties. Not the most thrilling Torah portion, but one I could relate to. Boxing is all about purifying yourself before you fight. Your mind and energy are constantly focused on boxing. Your body is treated like a temple, filled with pure foods, no alcohol, lots of water, and constantly exercised. You cannot enter the ring with extra symbolic ‘weight’: your mind and emotions have to be engaged on the task ahead. Outside baggage can weigh down your reactions, ignite your emotions in a destructive manner, and cloud your mind. I always try to avoid verbiage that arouses anger in my fighters before a match, as anger can be a slippery slope. It can offer adrenaline and power, but it can also cause a fighter to gas more quickly, lose their cool and technique, and lead to less helpful emotions. 

When I fought I always felt like I was fighting the thoughts inside my head, the doubt, the rejection, the insecurity, and the future fiction I thought would happen if I lost the fight. I wanted to prove that I wasn’t that person inside my head. I was strong, capable and in control. I thought that defeating the person in front of me would help neutralize my internal demons, as every loss only added fuel to the fire. Ironic thing was, as I started winning, building a fearsome name for myself, I was still the same person after the fight. The quelling of the negative thoughts came from the training, both mental and physical. I realized the motivation was never the fight itself, but the journey leading up to it. Fights come and go, but I remained the same. The training changed me. That’s what I love about boxing, the religious aspects. The practice and commitment of your whole being to discipline and work.