My (First) Last MMA Lecture, Part One

After getting the opportunity to read Dr. Randy Pausch’s very moving book, The Last Lecture, it dawned on me that if something were to happen to me today, how could I ever pass on the knowledge of life to my progeny?  How would they get through the tough times in life?  Where would they go for inspiration when the world has them down? 

Would they be mad that their dad left them with no words of wisdom?  Since I have been honing my college-professor chops recently, I thought what better way to leave the future generations of Barnhartia than with a little last lecture of my own? 

But where does a soon-to-be 24 year old make life lessons for his great-great grandkids if he hasn’t experienced life that much himself? 

The answer my friends, is mixed martial arts.

Lesson No. 1: Don’t be afraid to take chances on something unfamiliar.

Way back in 1992, a So Cal advertising exec (Art Davie) linked up with a member of the most heralded fight family (Rorion Gracie) to hatch the idea that would become mixed martial arts into the international doppelganger that we know it as today. 

Almost not getting the funding or neccessary means to host the event, or almost not having fighters sign up to take part in this “style vs. style,” these two visionaries took a great leap of faith in what they believed in. 

And it worked.  And worked.  And worked.  At that time the majority of Americans didn’t know a guillotine from a garage sale.  Ask any 18-34 year old in America today what a guillotine is.  I bet you’re tapping out in no time.

Lesson No. 2: It’s not the size of the dog in the fight...

Royce Gracie is not Hulk Hogan.  All six feet, one inch of him weighs in (soaking wet?) at 175 pounds, maybe.  But in one fateful night in Denver, Colorado in 1993 Royce became the biggest man in the infancy of mixed martial arts. Every opponent he fought that night (and pretty much everybody since then) has been bigger, stronger, meaner. 

But Royce has the heart of a freakin’ bull mastiff.  That is what gets him through the battle.  That is what will get you through, too.  (See also: Faber, Urijah; Pulver, Jens)

Lesson No. 3: Sometimes you’re gonna get punched in the face. Punch back. Repeatedly.

At PRIDE 21, The Mustachioed One, Don Frye, took on the towering Yoshihiro Takayama.  Within seconds of the opening bell, Frye and Takayama clinched up, hockey style.  And Takayama punched Frye in the face.  Then Frye punched Takayama in the face. Then Takayama.  Then Frye.

And on and on it went for about a minute straight.  And you know what?  They did it two more times during the fight.  And neither one of them quit.  You know why?  Because in life you get punched in the face.  There are two things you can do about it.  Cry or punch back.  Punch back.  Repeatedly. 

Lesson No. 4: Every once in a while, you will lose.  That’s life. 

“You can’t win ‘em all” is a far too cliché expression in sports.  But it rings true always in life.  Life isn’t boxing, where you may get some real tomato cans and never get a blemish on your record.  Mixed martial arts, and life as it were, aren’t boxing.  You are going to lose.  Once, twice, hell you can lose a hundred times. 

Look at Rashad Evans, Miguel Torres, Urijah Faber, Georges St. Pierre and even the untouchable Fedor all have losses on their records.  They all have something else in common, too.  They got up, dusted themselves off, went back out there and fought. And fought. And fought. 

Lesson No. 5-Go for it all or don’t go at all.

I hope you get to see the Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar from The Ultimate Fighter finale.  Not only is this the MMA fight that launched the sport into the mainstream, it’s a showing of heart, moxie, mettle and any other word that you would like to substitute for guts (Joe Rogan would use the term “balls”, and I’m cool with that). 

These two warriors left everything on the table.  No reservations, no gameplanning, no trying to eke out a decision.  They went at it.  Since they were fearless in the cage the showcased the true spirit of every warrior in or out of a cage; Griffin and Bonnar showed that you have to go big or go home, and sometimes the guy who lost isn’t always a loser, either.