let's talk about...

I met someone the other day who used to be a pro fighter with a pretty incredible record. So I introduced myself and started talking business. He said he'd hold some focus mitts up for me one day but then the conversation immediately switched to him telling me what good shape I was in from grappling and the vibe got creepy really fast. The guy wanted me to teach him grappling and I won't take him up on that.

I once got a similar reaction from a wrestling coach I met. I wanted to talk single-leg takedowns and drills and he wanted to talk about whether or not I had a boyfriend and would I get dinner with him anyway.

So I can honestly say that I never really expect this when it happens because I don't really consider myself all that attractive and because I just assume whoever I am talking to is passionate about their sport and would be interested in discussing it. I've spent a lot of time in the past wondering why I come across in a way that is so different from how I intend to, but since this doesn't happen with everyone I talk to I know it is a two-way thing.

In the highly unlikely scenario of some really hot guy coming up to me to discuss fight training, I would really really hope that I would give him appropriate consideration and not immediately change the topic to his bulging biceps or six-pack. Doubly so if I were a coach somewhere. The way we treat each other is the way we treat our students. But even if I did try some pickup lines on this theoretical person, at least he wouldn't be hesitant to come train at my gym because he'd constantly get hit on.

Of course there are exceptions to this, but a training conversation that remains as such is a beautiful, beautiful thing.