The Best Worst Fight

Today I witnessed the best, worst fight. We had Day 1 of competition at the USA Junior Olympic Championships here in Austin, Texas. We brought five fighters, one who fought today, two that will fight tomorrow, one thursday and one on Sunday. The little girl that fought today showed me something that is taught indirectly and not often tested to its fullest sense. This poor little 10 year old girl had gotten a mixture of car sick, nervousness, and motion sickness on her way to Austin. She threw up a couple times in her car, and struggled to eat anything before going to bed. Even when registering at the competition venue, she was teary-eyed, and looked lifeless. Her mom, Jesse and myself felt like it was nervousness before her big day, although she hadn't gotten sick the last time she competed. The following day, she looked like she was not feeling well. She still hadn't had anything to eat, and her stomach was cramping every time she tried to swallow. She competed in forms in the early morning. Although she didn't win she tried very hard and her form looked very good. There was a 3 hour break between the forms competition and the sparring events. We tried to get her something to eat, but she kept on having crying "episodes" and complained of a stomach ache. Jesse and I talked about having her not compete. We decided to leave it up to her. We told her mom to tell her, if her ache was due to nervousness, she had to fight. If the ache came from being physically sick, she could bow out, and try next time. Her mom thought that was a great idea. About an hour later I received a text that she was on her way back to the venue to fight. When I saw her she still looked weak, but she looked like she wanted to try her best. As the sparring event got closer, she had managed to eat a quarter of a banana. Her stomach was still cramping and she was not feeling well. I asked her, "Do you still want to fight?" and she answered, "Yes". I asked her "Why?" She answered, "THere are three reasons why I want to fight. 1. I want to kick Stephanie's butt, 2 I love to spar and 3 my mom spent a lot of money to be here". Stephanie was the girl that beat her last time at the regional tournament. As Jesse took her out to the ring, he said to her, "Okay this is it, if you decide to fight, that is great, but there can be no more crying until after the match is over. You can still decide not to fight if you don't feel well." She said " I do want to fight". Jesse then told her " Okay then, but I might stop the fight if I feel that you are not fit to continue." She replied "Yes sir" Well she fought like a champion. In the first round, she got scored on 5 times and wasn't able to score a point. A full minute went by and she endured. During the 30 second break, Jesse coached her a bit about her technique. This little girl took deep breaths to try to make the stomach ache go away. She went in for round 2. She wasn't able to score any points, but no points were scored on her during that round. At one point, she got hit in the stomach and she fell to the ground, cradled to her tummy. The medic went out to help her, and after a minute she stood back up. She continued through the second round, trying to stay focused. At the end of the second round, there was no energy left in her poor little body. She had endured pain, fought through it, and branded herself a fighter by persisting. Jesse asked her before the the third round if she was ready to fight one more round and she answered, holding back tears, "Yes sir" He asked "Are you sure?" She answered "Yes sir" So he told her, "Then go out there". As she walked to begin the third round, Jesse alerted the Referee, that she was not going to continue. The referee awarded the win to her opponent. TO become a champion, it doesn't matter how many golds you win, or the number of points you score. A champion is when you have nothing left, and you find it in you to go one more round. Its striving to do your best, no matter what. Chloee, you defined what it is to be a FIGHTER and a CHAMPION today, and may you never lose that fire you have within you to fight for one more round.