After my 11th fight, it was suggested to me that I stop fighting altogether. This was something that struck me emotionally, and I was unsure how to react. I spoke to Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu, who told me that’d once experienced a similar situation. She then asked me to write a guest post on the experience for her site.
“After my last fight, I wasn’t feeling my best. I’d given a poor performance and felt like I’d let down and disappointed a lot of people, including myself. It was also my third consecutive loss. Those three things all felt pretty bad, but coping with loss isn’t such a hard thing to do. It was the bombshell that followed that was difficult for me to deal with.
The morning after the fight, I was approached by someone who is very close to me, whom I highly respect, and who has been a large influence on me both inside and outside of the ring. I expected to be given the usual condolences, followed by a stern telling-off for my mistakes during the fight. However, I received neither. Instead, I was told simply and plainly that I should stop fighting…”
You can see the full post here: Being Told to Give Up – By Emma Thomas. You can also read Sylvie’s response: ‘Should You Quit Fighting?’
My post on Sylvie’s blog was published in July, and while it affected me a great deal at the time, after a period of reflection, I’m able to say that it no longer bothers me. I took a couple of months off from fighting, and while I continued to train, I let myself relax a lot more than I normally would. I celebrated my birthday, took a holiday, visited some friends, and just focused on myself. After that, I feel refreshed and have found my focus again. Needless to say, I won’t be quitting fighting. In fact, I plan to have the next one as soon as possible.
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