My trainer has a saying "work beats talent when talent doesnt work".
The gyms culture as a whole dictates how hard an individual works. In our gym, we try to make it clear to everyone that no one is more or less important than anyone else. The person who does the fitness class on a Tuesday and cheers at the fight nights should have the same status as the most experienced fighter, as one cant exist without the other. You dont get far without sparring/rolling partners, pad holders, corner men. Its not an individual sport at all and people need to know it. People are much less inclined to let their mates down than let them selves down.
We had a very talented fighter in our gym. Physically impressive, technically brilliant and everyone looked up to him. When I was invited to move up to our fighters class, between rounds you did press ups or sit ups. One guy in the class (who spoke very little english) was doing both, so I followed his example. The talented guy I mentioned sidled up to me and said "you dont have to go too hard". In other words, if you do that, I will have to as well, and I dont want to. That guy and a couple of others like him poisoned the culture of the gym, performed very badly and ruined several promising fighters who picked up his habits. He got the boot, but it was very hard on my trainer because he was technically one of the best guys he had trained and represented a huge investment in time. Time that would have been better spent on someone else.
We are really excited because we are getting a guy to train with us next year and he has hardly any experience and will never fight beyond sparring, its not in his nature. We are excited because he is a veteran endurance racer and trains like an animal, his work ethic is flawless and he will drag everyone else up with him.
That was just an incredibly long winded version of "talent or no talent, if they dont work, cut em", which has been said already. But also, get rid of one guy who doesnt work before it turns into ten guys that dont work.
The gyms culture as a whole dictates how hard an individual works. In our gym, we try to make it clear to everyone that no one is more or less important than anyone else. The person who does the fitness class on a Tuesday and cheers at the fight nights should have the same status as the most experienced fighter, as one cant exist without the other. You dont get far without sparring/rolling partners, pad holders, corner men. Its not an individual sport at all and people need to know it. People are much less inclined to let their mates down than let them selves down.
We had a very talented fighter in our gym. Physically impressive, technically brilliant and everyone looked up to him. When I was invited to move up to our fighters class, between rounds you did press ups or sit ups. One guy in the class (who spoke very little english) was doing both, so I followed his example. The talented guy I mentioned sidled up to me and said "you dont have to go too hard". In other words, if you do that, I will have to as well, and I dont want to. That guy and a couple of others like him poisoned the culture of the gym, performed very badly and ruined several promising fighters who picked up his habits. He got the boot, but it was very hard on my trainer because he was technically one of the best guys he had trained and represented a huge investment in time. Time that would have been better spent on someone else.
We are really excited because we are getting a guy to train with us next year and he has hardly any experience and will never fight beyond sparring, its not in his nature. We are excited because he is a veteran endurance racer and trains like an animal, his work ethic is flawless and he will drag everyone else up with him.
That was just an incredibly long winded version of "talent or no talent, if they dont work, cut em", which has been said already. But also, get rid of one guy who doesnt work before it turns into ten guys that dont work.
Reply With Quote
