Are You Really Prepared?

 We all train to be prepared. Being prepared is a very subjective phrase. Some people "prepare" to say safe, and be able to protect their family if ever attacked by a violent criminal. Some people prepare to win their next MMA fight so they can become a UFC champion. Some people train so they can be prepared to look good at the beach when Summer comes around. Most people train for a specific purpose, but in reality, there are many fringe benefits, but at the end of the day do they ever really prepare for any of them?

Are You Really Prepared?

You hear a lot of people saying they are prepared to defend their family if they ever get attacked, but are they really prepared? A lot of people say they are prepared for their next MMA fight, but are they really prepared? Again, being prepared, or just the word prepared, are very subjective.

For the person who says he is prepared to defend his family in case of an attack on the street. Say a criminal comes up and shoves his wife, he thinks because of all his hard martial arts training, he's prepared to defend her honor, and he steps in to throw a hard punch at this, violent attacker, the man pulls a gun from his waistband and shoots. The would-be hero three times in the chest; he then shoots the wife and runs away, never to be caught. It didn't seem the preparation was very effective. This man who had been training for the past 15 years religiously in martial arts and fitness, he thought he was truly prepared. To be honest, if that attacker didn't pull out the gun, he probably would've been prepared enough to stop the attack and go home safely as a hero, Brett his preparation failed to take that hidden gun into the equation, and ended up being his downfall.

The MMA fighter who had an upcoming fight in six weeks against an unknown wrestler, MMA fighter. He studied video of his opponent and trained very diligently on his takedown defense and counterpunching. He spent hours working his sprawls, and hip escapes, and even spent a lot of time getting up off the bottom if taken down. he brought in some of the best wrestlers that he could find to drill his distance, level, and hips so that he could keep the fight standing and do what he did best, strike. When fight time came around, he felt he was truly prepared, and he was very confident. In the fight night however, his opponent came out faking a double leg takedown, thought his opponent was playing right into his hands, and his preparation was going to pay off as he was smoothly getting his hooks ready with a sprawl. His opponent, however, changed his level and a brutal overhand right which connected with his chin and he was knocked out cold. So well, he went through a lot of preparation, he wasn't truly prepared for the way the fight went.

Preparation is a very subjective word and being prepared. It's not only subjective. It's pretty much impossible. Are we ever really "prepared"? Like so many things, it's on a spectrum. Our fighter was prepared if his opponent did what he thought he was gonna do and only attempted takedowns, however, he was not prepared for the brutal overhand punch. Well intended husband was prepared for an unarmed attacker because he was training in martial arts, however, he was ill-prepared for a gun-wielding attacker. Preparation is an ongoing word, in fact, we as martial artists are never truly prepared, yet we are always preparing. we want to be as prepared as we can be, but in reality in this crazy world with so many variables, the best we can hope for is to be as prepared as we can be for any given situation, yet at the end of the day we are always preparing, we are a work in progress.

So as martial artists, effective, efficient, consistent preparation is key. We tried to prepare for as many variables as we can. Unfortunately, the bad guy, or our opponent in a cage, is also preparing, and often times it comes down to who has the best strategy, who has the best preparation, or sometimes who has luck on their side. At the end of the day we can be as prepared as humanly possible, and that way we lower the chance of us getting hurt or losing our UFC title. The best we can do is train smart, train hard, focus on our strengths, and address our weaknesses. Try to mitigate our weaknesses while enhancing our strengths.