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The Warrior Within
“The Warrior Within.” You may have heard this phrase before. It’s used a lot in martial arts. But what does it mean? I’ve heard a lot of funny answers from a ghost trying to possess your body to a samurai who was trying to get in touch with his feminine side. I’m not making fun of “The Warrior Within,” I’m just repeating what I’ve heard. I’ve always jumped at the chance to correct people on what it means. I start by asking them if they have heard of “The Fighting Spirit?" It's relatively the same thing. If they say “no” or if they don’t know what it means, I just say remember when Apollo Creed told Rocky Balboa - “Eye of the Tiger?" A light bulb goes off ! It’s your inner-self, your inner-spirit that helps you accomplish things that you didn’t think you could accomplish. It’s the discipline and determination to finish what you started. It’s anything and everything. It is that which defines you in the moments of greatest trials. It’s that little voice in your head that says I’m not giving up ! "The Fighting Spirit" = "The Warrior Within." At King of the Cage 21, we witnessed a perfect demonstration of “The Warrior Within.” In case you’re not familiar with the bout I’m talking about, I am referring to Javier “Showtime” Vasquez vs. Alberto Crane. Vasquez was defending his lightweight championship belt. On this night, he may have lost his title but he gained so much more. On this night, the world got to see what “The Warrior Within” looked like. They got to see “The Fighting Spirit” in action. In the early moments of the first round, we saw Vasquez throw a front kick, and as he put his foot down, we saw his knee give out on him. We all wondered how could he possibly continue. But he did. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was in tremendous pain. No one wants to see anyone get hurt. Many football players, hockey players, track and field athletes are taken out of competitions due to injuries like the one Vasquez suffered. Yet he chose to continue. Why? Simple, "The Fighting Spirit" - "The Warrior Within." And as the fight went on, we saw the transformation from Vasquez the great fighter to Vasquez the warrior who will not give up. He went into the zone where he knew what he had to do and quitting wasn't one of them. We saw his knee buckle underneath him more than a couple of times throughout the fight. He would fall and he would get right back up. He even took the offensive. It's been a long time since someone showed that much heart in any sport. It was a great performance by Vasquez. No doubt, at least in my mind, that this was the best fight of the night. Even with the injury, Vasquez finished the bout and it went to the judge’s. He may have lost a split decision on the scorecards but he won big in the hearts of the audience - but even more than that, there was not a person watching who didn't respect what he had just accomplished. If he did this well with an injury, can you imagine what he’ll do when he's healed? We here at the TheFightGame.tv don’t like to see people fight when they are hurt, but we also realize that sometimes “The Warrior Within” overcomes the fighters, where it will be extremely more painful to quit than to continue. So, if I am ever asked to explain “The Fighting Spirit” or “The Warrior Within,” I’ll simply re-tell the story of KOTC 21 and Javier Vasquez.
(3/7/03)
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