Combat sports teach many practical skills, but one of its most profound has fundamental applications throughout life.  And that is to anticipate and gracefully navigate adversity.

The novice boxer is obsessed with trying to hit and not get hit.  And in their preoccupation with avoidance, they ironically maneuver in ways that actually degrade their defense.

The expert boxer understands that contact is not only part of the sport, it is the sport.  There is no avoiding contact.  There is no avoiding pain.  There is no avoiding aggression.

At best, we can hope to evade some, but roll with the rest (for the non-boxers out there, to roll a punch is to move with the punch in a way that the impact is diminished; think of a rear end collision on the highway with both vehicles traveling similar speeds).  The expert boxer accepts the inevitability of it all and acts with pragmatism, courage, and opportunity, often taking a punch to give one, and understanding that there can be no victory without the risk of defeat.

Beyond that, the expert boxer is also comfortable in the chaos.  They thrive in it.

If that isn’t an incredibly useful life skill, I don’t know what is.

Learn to not move away from what threatens you, but with it, so that you can find opportunity in its openings.