Not the face! Not the face!

Spotted a quotation that resonated with me in one of Dave Trott's recent campaign blogs, from Mike Tyson:

“Everyone’s got a strategy, until they get hit."

It reminded me of Buddhist Ben, a Buddhist called Benjamin, who visited our School early on in the year to talk about "mindfulness". I was more interested in his martial arts titles, and his streetfighting past, and about the kind of mental state one needs to own or achieve in order to take a punch in the face without falling over, or at least falling to pieces.

It's easy for us to fantasise about it. Some nasty type squared up to me recently at a bus stop for accidentally getting in his way, and I've thought numerous times about knocking him out with one blow, or alternatively wrestling with him and pushing him into the road into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

Of course I just backed down and apologised straight away. I didn't even say what I wanted to say, let alone do what I wanted to do.

The best-laid plans of mice and men etc.

And that's why I find boxing so fascinating. I can't stand youtube videos of painful pratfalls and skateboarding spills, or people getting hit in the face. But I can watch Manny Pacquiao overcome an opponent with skill, speed, strength, bravery, and aggression with no revulsion and a great deal of pleasure.

And it's because they embody an ability we wish we had ourselves - to remain professional and keep to a plan under the most extreme pressure.

(disregarding ear-biting abberations, obviously)

You could say the same about football to an extent - it's not about playing the perfect pass, it's playing the perfect pass with big men running at you from all directions. But I don't think any sportsman comes under the kind of relentless, violent, pressure as a boxer (and, I suppose, other martial artists).

I'll never be like Mike Tyson. In so many ways.

But I can try to emulate that attitude - not aggression, but just a focused mindset that adapts and changes and reacts and defends, but never wavers from its single-minded purpose.

I'll just try to do it without raping a stripper or converting to Islam.