I met my guests for this show kind of like how I meet most of the people that come through my life…in an unexpected, unconventional way.
When I first met my friend, Ragenia, she ’seemed’ very quiet and timid. Seemed like she couldn’t hurt a fly. Ha! Little did I know. We get to talking and she tells me that she’s very involved in physical training and also trains in boxing. At one point she brought me tickets to go to a boxing match. And there is where I met these guests. But one of the things that left the biggest impression on me was an article she gave to me, written by one of the guests.
“Do you want to look good or be good?” –George Rodriguez, boxing trainer
Some people just want to look good. Others seek to be good. There is a difference and it’s hardly a subtle one.
Former two-time Middleweight champion of the world, Gene Fullmer was a rugged slugger whose style no one with any knowledge of boxing would ever call picturesque. Fullmer fought and beat most of the best of his era, including winning two of three battles with the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson.
Rocky Marciano was hardly the most graceful guy who ever climbed into the square circle. More recently before his altered-glove incident Antonio Margarito didn’t look all that fluid in dismantling his opponents. Boxing is hardly the only sport where this is true. Lots of elite athletes in all sports get the job done consistently year after year without displaying the gracefulness of a Russian ballerina.
When you become self-conscious about what you’re doing or how you’re looking doing it, you enter the split-focus zone, not a very good place to be when you’re trying to maximize performance. The mind is a peculiar instrument. It’s also an exacting one. Just as you can’t have two thoughts going on at the same time, you also can’t really effectively do two things at once.
One day with few bystanders looking on, I was hitting the mitts not all that well when George did what any good trainer should do. Without saying anything, he rapped me upside the head a hard one when my concentration flagged. A few minutes later as I continued to flail away, he calmly asked me, “Do you want to look good or be good?” That’s all he said. But I got the message. (article continued on www.looklikeachamp.net in the “Mental Edge” section)
~~Ron Ellison
This Sunday, 11/8, my guests…
George Rodriguez (Golden Gloves champion), Ron Ellison (trainer), and Anthony Wheaton (pro boxer).
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SUNDAY , 11/8/2009 @ 3:00PM (Pacific Standard Time) on L.A. Talk Radio ~ listen through www.latalkradio.com ~ OR…listen through your Blackberry or iPhone anywhere! Download the Flycast directly from your phone by going to www.flycast.fm - then search: ”LA Talk Radio 2″
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