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It is, arguably, the most excruciating sport known to man. Imagine, you go out for 6 minutes, and give everything you have mentally, emotionally, physically, not to mention the time you meditated and prepare yourself for battle, before hand. Are you thinking, "What's six minutes?" Well, how long does it take to run a mile? How exhausted are you after doing so, as fast and as hard as possible? Now, Push every single muscle you have to the limit. On top of this, try not breathing. And now, fight the pain that someone is intentionally inflicting on you. Imagine this: you've prepared for this for 12 months. You've run 2,000 separate stairs carrying 150 pounds on your back, daily. 200 crunches, push-ups, squat-thrusts, dips, mountain climbers, daily. Weight training, circuit training, over 10 laps in the snow, 3 hours of non stop training with no break but to drink 3 ounces of water every 10 minutes, all of this daily. You know your opponent is doing the same, and you hope to God he doesn't have enough in him to do more. You've built a strong record. In baseball terms, you'd have hit a couple dozen games and maintained an average well over 800. You see the main thing here, is the mind game, it can wear you out. There is no possible faith in your teammates, for you are in this alone. Jonny star QB isn't gonna pull through for you, he does not exist. You spend the week mentally preparing yourself. Like chess, you think of every move your opponent may make and think of what counter moves you'll make and multiply that by the number of his possible body positions (if he's "riding high" or "tight," etc., etc.). You're, also, worried about making weight, going up against someone 10% larger can be fatal. You've come to the day of the tournament; you see faces, hear names, people sizing each other up. You made weight after jogging in place the whole shuttle trip there (4 hours). It is 6:00 AM; you have 3 hours until your first one-on-one combat. You eat bread, pasta, sugars and fruits to give you energy to make up for the last two days of eating flavored gelatin and salad. Meditate, try to get the fact out of your head that you will have to fight and win at least 4 times today to be the Champion. Try not to think about facing what's his name, who broke another opponent's leg with his own strength, two weeks before, and today, he got a bye, so he only has to fight twice before he faces you. And on top of all this, The Greek Gods are here, watching like hawks. So, your name is called, you go out in the circle, look up at thousands of spectators, and shake your opponent's hand. (Whom you're only condition is to make them submit to your physical force.) At this point, your life has been made a bit easier, you ranked high on the seating chart, so you're going at it with someone (theoretically) not as mastered as you. Considering this level of competition, he is still the best in his area. But being seated higher has given you foot-pounds of confidence. As I have said, this is as much a mental game as it is a physical game. Knowing you are better, your intention isn't only to win, but to win without anyone ever doubting you. Most think, if I win in 5 seconds, I show how powerful I am. This one guy rathered to take his time and show his true power, kinda like arm-wrestling with someone that lets you get him just a few inches away from the table then, with ease, dominates you, but doesn't win, yet. He backs off, he wants you to just give up, but you can't, you must go on, for what ever pride you can hold on to, for fighting till the time runs out. Now imagine this guy's grip, so fierce, the pressure he puts on your hand makes your fingertips get ice cold. He wants you to scream out loud, and you do, hoping you'll extract some mercy or compassion from somewhere in his heart. Moments before time runs out, he forces you to your back and holds you there, as you fight for a tablespoon worth of air...............

Genres: Sports, Other