Well, rumors about me getting into boxing played an important role in that too. I can’t say that we were not afraid.
We were. Sometimes it was white-knuckled panic with our arms and legs trembling. But we’d go out into the street to fight, no matter what.
I want to say that there were other times back then, and the worst thing that could have happen was an unfair fight with several people beating one, and even that was rare.
There was fist-fighting only, no knives of firearms. Which you can’t say about today. All notions of honor got blurred, and you don’t know where and what can hit you.
The times are different, and you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. It’s better to avoid unnecessary conflict.
Here’s a helpful hint: get away before you get cornered, the best weapon available today is running fast.
As I said, I did not do boxing for long, I was prohibited by doctors after a routine medical examination,
But it just so happens that I had to participate in a competition after I quit boxing.
I don’t remember the reason exactly, but my coach told me that I had to stand up for our boxing class, and there is no one else in my weight division.
And I agreed, because I don’t like to let down people I respect. By that time I hadn’t been training for several months, which was very embarrassing for me, and I told the coach about my doubts.
To which he responded: «You’ll get there and hop a bit, winning is not important, it’s the taking part that counts, and the opponent is weak, maybe, you’ll win» His words cheered me up, of course, but it turned out differently.
The opponent turned out to be a well-trained hulk of a guy, and I wasn’t even fit for the fight.
To keep it simple, he beat the crap out of me.
I wasn’t thinking clearly and I remember one moment between rounds.
I’m sitting down, I feel sick, my face hurts, I’m out of strength, out of air, my head is cloudy, and the coach tells me: «Put your hands up, keep your hands up,» and I raise them up in the air, and he tells me: «Not now, put them up during the fight.»
I lost, but the most valuable thing for me was that the coach made an example out of me and told everyone that they’re got to learn courage from me, despite the fact that I looked deplorable.
And after the fight, being all courageous, I was sitting in the shower and throwing up, but throwing up proudly, as a hero should.
Boxing helped me beyond the school years.
The most important thing is that boxing gives you not only the ability to fight and to defend yourself.
Boxing gives you inner confidence and peace of mind, which is felt from a distance and very well felt by the attackers.
That’s why most of conflicts didn’t come to an actual fight.
After school I, like everyone else I knew, went to university to become an engineer: this career was deemed prestigious back then.
My father didn’t pull any strings to get me exempted, and after my first year at the university I was drafted.
Of course, I didn’t want to join the army and didn’t understand why I should join.
But here, as in the saying goes, what does not kill you makes you stronger.
I’ve already said that I was a sickly child, I had flat feet, I had some bumps on my knees. Anyway, I was very hopeful that I wouldn’t be enlisted due to my health condition. I underwent a medical examination and all my conditions were confirmed, which gave me even more hope for an exempt.
