Power of the Octagon

Most sports require a degree of dedication and commitment from the athletes that participate in them, but the sport of mixed martial arts takes dedication, passion, and focus to a whole new level. Many of the athletes who participate in MMA train multiple times a day, and then escalate their level of training even further when they begin preparing for a bout. MMA is such a dynamic and physical sport, and one that generates incredible fitness results for its practitioners. Today, many gyms are offering MMA classes just to help average people lose weight and get in shape. Results generated in MMA, like business, school, and life in general, are in direct proportion to the amount of effort, dedication, and focus an individual is willing to offer. Some people are willing to give everything to be successful. They are willing to endure whatever life will throw at them in order to achieve results. UFC fighter George Sotiropoulos is an example of a fighter dedicated to mastering his craft. George has traveled all over the world, visiting gym after gym to learn from as many coaches and instructors as possible. The unique element to this story is that George did this world travel with very little money and had to sleep on hard gym floors at night, and work odd jobs to secure whatever money he could in order to eat and continue his training. Today, George is a serious up-and-comer in the 155lb lightweight weight class. Now you might be thinking to yourself that you’ve heard hundreds of similar stories about people who have gone through extremely rough times in order to achieve a dream or accomplish a life mission, and I would tell you that you’re absolutely right. You can probably also think of hundreds of examples where you’ve seen people not even complete the first step towards success and stop doing a task because it was too hard or subjected them to difficulties. The difference between those who achieve success and those who don’t is their level of dedication, passion, and tenacity. A success-oriented individual will do whatever is required to achieve success, and endure whatever type of shit that is thrown their way in the process. Those truly oriented toward success also have a tendency towards escalating their level of dedication, passion, and focus to a scale that some might call intense or even radical. In the sport of MMA, for example, a fighter must make a certain weight before being allowed to fight. If the fighter does not make weight, he or she will either be disqualified or will face the potential of other financial and/or fight penalties. Making weight for some fighters is an intense and painful process that can involve a fighter dropping as much as twenty or more pounds just a few weeks before a fight. The process of losing the weight involves intense cardiovascular exercises, adhering to a regimented diet, and in many cases, reducing massive amounts of water weight by sitting in heated saunas while wearing a sweat suit. Several episodes of the reality show The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV have offered scenes where fighters had to endure sauna sessions that in many cases left people begging to be let out of the heated room. In many cases they were not let out because they were overweight and their teammates were there to remind them of what was at stake if they came out and did not lose the weight. When they did come out, large amounts of water poured out of their sweat suits as they removed their clothes. Some might call this intense, but it’s what many fighters have to endure in order to be prepared and be in a position to compete and complete what they are working to achieve. This same degree of intensity might be found in the student that pulls an “all-nighter” to prepare for a test, the doctor that works 24 hours on, 24 hours off at a hospital, the fire-fighter that dives in the middle of a house completely engulfed in flames. Intensity resides in all of us, and is like a sleeping dragon. It will lie dormant and quiet but once it’s awoken, its existence will be immediately known. Intensity is made up of three components: dedication, passion, and focus. Dedication, passion, and focus are three key and critical elements to success and anyone armed with these three ingredients of achievement will be well positioned to win and accomplish what they are seeking to achieve.