Brick by brick

 While reading Will Smith’s biography, he tells a story of his father making him and his brother build a wall from scratch. They had to form and mold each brick and add it to the wall, which took them about a year, considering they were very young. His reflection on this process and the lessons he took included to focus on the individual brick, instead of the gaping hole they were trying to fill. He reflects that looking at the empty space was discouraging, while focusing on a brick at a time helped the project seem more manageable. 

While this is a common lesson, similar to one step at a time, what got me thinking about this story is the image of not looking at the empty space needed to be filled, but instead the individual elements needed to fill the space. Is this a good lesson for how we train in boxing? I think both need to be considered in the journey of training. Focusing on forming each brick is like perfecting individual moves, whether it be a punch, head movement, footwork, speed or power for example. The empty space where the bricks will be placed is in the ring, utilizing those skills in sparring or a fight. Without looking at the empty space and imaging the possibilities, how would we know how to train better and smarter? Instead of looking at all the space that needs to be filled by bricks, which would be overwhelming, it is still important to look at the space the next brick needs to be laid. How big does the next brick need to be? How will that affect the following bricks? Will the continuation of the brick size properly fill the space? 

I think it is important to take in the big picture when we train: what style will best suit my personality and body? How can I utilize my strengths to work for me? How can I neutralize my opponent taking advantage of my weaknesses? If plan A doesn’t work, can I execute plan B, plan C, Plan D? If we only focus on one brick at a time, and not how the bricks fit together, we may be left with a small hole in the wall at the end. If we only focus on individual elements of boxing, we will miss how to fit them together, how they all connect, and how the ring is a blank canvas to create our image of how we want to fight. 

Link to Will Smith’s Book

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