"Consider, for example, the demise of dodge ball in public schools. It was banned because of the terror that the flying red balls caused in some children and of the damage to self-esteem that might come with always being the first one knocked out of the game. But how are we supposed to learn to stand up to our fears if we never have any supervised practice in dealing with the jitters?"
As both a boxer and a philosopher, I have a personal connection to a lot of the ideas and sentiments expressed in this article. However, I would be interested to know what people (especially those detached from the sport of boxing) think about what this article contests relating to what we have discussed in class. Can boxing (or any form of potentially harmful physical competition) help one learn to be courageous in all aspects of their life?
I am indeed detached from the sport of boxing. However, when I read this question, it brought me back to when I used to be a competitive swimmer, and the physical and mental (and sometimes emotional) challenges it brought up for me. There have been (and still are) times when I'll be in the middle of a big obstacle, and I'll think something along the lines of "This can't be any worse than that time I swam that 500 with a splitting headache." or "I've done more strenuous things than this before, and I came out okay." And that experience of having to focus my entire being on one task has really helped me learn to persevere in other facets of my life.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the question of courage, I think that boxing (or sports in general) can help one to learn to be courageous. As humans, we're always going to have fear. But sports offers an environment where we can learn to deal with a fearful situation and then apply it (if that makes any sense). That often carries over into other aspects of life.
Of course, this isn't true in all cases. Sometimes, the things people learn in sports just apply to sports. Or sometimes people can become cocky because they have learned this ability that many others don't have. But at the very least, sports can be almost a realization of potential--and therefore, a realization of sorts about courage.
^ I hope that makes sense. If it doesn't, someone ask me to clarify something. Because that tends to make me speak more clearly. :P
Lastly, I'd just like to put in this piece of information: I quit swimming about two years ago because it was too taxing on me, mentally and emotionally. And I was having constant breakdowns. But I still believe it was beneficial because I was able to apply it to something outside of myself.
Not to always use my sister as an example but your comments reminded me of her again as she was a professional gymnast. When I was a kid I envied her ability, the courage it seemed to take to do all those amazing and death defying tricks. She trained her body to the limit, always fighting back her fear when she had a new trick to learn. I was truly envious of her abilities and admired her strength both physically but also mentally. The problem is though, that my sister's entire identity was wrapped up in being a gymnast, she had no other point of departure. When she grew older and her physical abilities to do gymnastics began to wane, it seemed as if there was a cap or limit to physical/psychological courage but it only applied to that area i.e. it was not a prep for possessing courage or strength in all areas of her life but a replacement, an extracurricular activity. Those moral and physical resources developed in the arena hadn't prepared her to develop an identity beyond being a gymnast (think here of soldiers who are prepared for war but cannot function in times of peace). Thus when she entered the "real world" she was was constantly scared because the thing that gave her a sense of worth, of pride was gone. This courage "on the mat" so to speak had no transfer to the world, to the self she would have to be beyond all those practices and meets, and in many ways the character she carved out in this area of her life held her back from giving herself an new identity, of having the courage to be something different than just an amazing athlete. No argument here, just a recollection...oh and gabby if you read this I love you.
ReplyDeleteI totally get where you're coming from, Dr. Layne. Maybe it depends on the individual, then, the type of effect sports--or any activity, for that matter--has on the person's courage within the activity itself and the degree to which the courage can be carried outside of the sport and into other aspects of life.
ReplyDeleteBut I think a lot of things can evoke courage. I still think that the "source" of courage is in the individual herself, but if you ask people to name the source of their courage, you'll get a ton of different answers.
Ok I'm not exactly the type to respond with longwinded responses, but I am detached to boxing. After skimming over the article (it's been a stressful day...), a perfect example of this just appeared this morning.
ReplyDeleteBASICALLY, I signed up for intramural flag football and was recently signed as a free agent. I was signed to play quarterback, and one of the biggest issues as a quarterback is to know your receivers and their abilities. The problem was that I had never met, let alone play with, ANY of my teammates until this morning one hour before the game. Now to put things in perspective, football players train with their teammates for months for them to gain some chemistry. I had less than an hour.
Ok it was gametime at 11am this morning. I haven't played in a game situation since early February, so of course I was nervous. Basically, I was being thrown into the lions' pit with practically no experience of playing flag football on the collegiate level. Sure, I played flag football in high school and was quite successful, but I knew that college kids are much faster, stronger, and smarter. Heck, I was playing with practically all law students. They all felt old when they realized they were almost 10 years older than me. ANYWAYS, for the first half, I did well in the game. We were making progress, but fatigue began setting in. We had no substitutes and didn't take breaks. I started to make a few mistakes, and basically, it went from having 5 seconds to throw the ball to almost 3 to 2 seconds. 2-3 seconds might not sound like much time to a person not familiar to football, but trust me, it makes a HUGE difference. I had two guards, but they began sending 4 men against me. This type of pressure got to my head, and I began losing confidence in myself. We were in a pretty bad situation- 24-0.
Thankfully, at halftime, the old quarterback showed up and played the rest of the game and gave me a break. I began playing wide receiver (my naturally raised position) and began gaining back confidence, but the shell shock basically lasted all day. In case you're wondering, yeah we lost, but we made huge strides in the second half.
Ok, so what's the point of this story? Basically, I had the courage to get thrown into the lineup with almost no experience and held up well. Until I started panicking, I did well. I lost my courage, but is that stopping me from playing next week? Of course not. I see next week as redemption because I have the courage to face my fears of making costly mistakes and to take them on.
Now, to connect this to a more philosophical perspective, I do not believe that this type of courage would be exactly useful for all of life's applications, but I do believe that this courage gained from playing flag football can be set as a base or model of courage for all other aspects of life to modify off of.
I hope this made sense :/