I use the term athlete a lot. I use it a great deal when I am talking about the people I coach in BJJ or CM Boxing. In my head, it sums up everything I think is important when training. One of my guys once said to me that he wasn't an athlete. He is older, a little chubby, and is a computer geek. So, in his mind, the word athlete didn't apply to him.
I read him the riot act. The fact of the matter is, it is not what you say or think, but what you DO, that defines you. And he was an athlete. Why did I say that? Because he TRAINED ATHLETICALLY. He put on the gloves, got on the mat, and put it on the line EVERY TIME against anyone, regardless of whether they were better than he was. Sometimes he did well, sometimes he didn't. It doesn't matter. He was training when most of his contemporaries were watching the boob tube or surfing the 'net for porn. To me, that is the test of being an athlete. Don't talk about it, think about it, or (uh oh) write about it. Just do it (to steal an overused phrase).
There are different kinds of athletes. There are professional, or elite level, or gifted athletes. But, if you actually do your part to fight the scourge of couch potato-ism, YOU ARE AN ATHLETE, regardless of age, ability, toughness, or physical prowess. Wear the mantle proudly.
CRAZY MONTH
13 years ago
2 comments:
Nice post Cecil.
Its great when people realise that they're an athlete even if they're the most meek, mild and generally inactive person on the planet.
It gives people such a confidence boost knowing that they're part of a collective which demands respect for even stepping on the mat.
I've always loved the term athlete rather than fighter.
'Fighting' is what you do, not who you are.
I also dislike it when coaches look down on 'their' athletes and call them students. They're not students, ok they might be (aren't we all?) but giving someone a tag/name is a powerful and can be positive and negative.
Viva la athelte!
(Sorry Cecil I went off point a little, you know me)
Adam Adshead
Actually, you didn't go off point. Your idea about the term "student" is right on. All of us are athletes and are trying to become better people. The coach is just someone who has SOME greater knowledge in a given area, not necessarily a more evolved person who is more elite. The terms we as coaches use can build up, or tear down.
To sum up: the term athlete = good, the term student = bad
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