Everyone wants to do MMA, but nobody wants to spar

We had a sparring “class” last night with me, Robbie and Shayn. I used quotes around the word class because is 3 people really a class?

The MMA sparring class on Tuesdays at 8 has been poorly attended for a couple of months now, in fact it’s the least attended of all the classes we have on, but last night took the biscuit.

Folks we are not trying to create a fitness club, or a random bunch of classes that you can pick and choose like a buffet. We’re trying to create a club, and one of the things that you do in a club is look after your clubmates. Shayn is fighting in two months time, his ring debut, and last night he had just Robbie to spar with. Now I know a lot of you will say “so what’s that got to do with me” but Shayn is one of the guys you can always rely upon to spar and put in the hours with you before a competition. Since he came into the gym he’s gone out of his way to make himself available for sparring, partnerwork and conditioning for anyone who was competing. Last night he needed his clubmates to step up for him and he got one out of 50 to do that. Some went home early, and some just didn’t show up at all.

It’s not just Shayn I’m on about it could be anyone. So I would ask you to think about the last time you competed and think about how it would have gone if nobody had showed for you to spar with. If you haven’t competed before, you may have designs on competing soon. Then ask yourself what sort of clubmates you want.

So what do you want to be? A contributer or an attendee? To show up sometimes or to genuinely have a positive impact on other people’s training?