Heart of 8: What is Muay Thai? Volume 1 "Deliverance"

"You take all of the intensity of the training and funnel and filter it through the years that make up your training career, to the months ahead of the fight, to the six weeks you spend in training camp, to the six days a week you spend physically peaking before the fight, to the six hours you sit at the venue for the fight with your stomach in a knot and acid in your mouth, to the six fleeting minutes that make up an amateur fight, to the just six seconds it takes for the ring announcer to call out the winner’s corner and name. It is one of life’s ultimate experiences."
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"I felt something transform within me in the locker-room before the fight. I let go of the analysis and consideration that constantly floods my mind. There was no 'I’m supposed to do this if this happens, but I have to remember to do this, but what happens if he does this instead, then what do I do?' I simply let my mind go and trusted my training in that I could rely on my body to do what it was supposed to do when it was supposed to do it."
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"One of my friends nearly died in a random shooting. It took him months to recover, and I recently went to hold pads for him and practice Muay Thai. He was hitting pads with a colostomy bag. Another instance came after posting the day's fight training routine on Facebook. A friend said she had MS and wished she could work out like that. All of the whiny frustration inside of me about how hard the day's training was replaced by tears of thankfulness."
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"As I open the door, I transition from a world where politeness seems to be a thing long forgotten to one where it is still ritualized: I wai first to show respect for the space and the beautiful thing happening there, then to my teacher if I catch his eye, who I address as such, Ajahn. The students are equally as courteous to one another—soft-spoken, deferential, kind, and welcoming to newcomers. I feel that the people there are nurtured by how they treat each other as much as they are by the graceful physicality of Muay Thai."
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"But, much more so than that, one of Muay Thai’s greatest gifts is the relative calm that having been repeatedly exposed to controlled violence imparts in its practitioners. When you've had people hit you, everyday verbal arguments seem like nothing and can be approached with calm. Even if there is the threat of physical conflict, you know what that threat feels like and can react sensibly and with emotional control. All potentially stressful life events simply become much easier for the martial artist."
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"This cultivates a mindset that allows you to be forever young. If you’re always calmly accepting of the things that you don’t know and willing and happy to improve them, you can spend your entire life in growth and new discovery. I would encourage you to actually seek out your own ignorance for this very reason. Every piece of knowledge you don’t have or skill you don’t possess is an opportunity to better yourself, and, just as importantly, to enjoy life—what greater joy than new discovery?"
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"Sometimes they are like Brothers to us, and if we’re lucky they come to cherish our children and become their friend as well. And then something special happens, they start their own family, they find ones deserving of their love and our family grows. Through the growing pains of learning a physical discipline, in the transition from student to fighter to teacher, and in sharing both our triumphs and our defeats in and out of the ring, we forge bonds that few ever get to experience. It’s been said before, Camp Means Family."
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"I think that’s one thing I really like about the art, the well-rounded nature of it. It forces you to be a complete person. You have to identify the things you aren't the best at and work to improve those things. I think that can carry over to a good approach to life if you are willing to let it. Everyone has a part of them they’d rather ignore or unturned rock within them they’d do better to flip over."