{"id":1022,"date":"2014-06-10T13:16:51","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T17:16:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rolliepeterkin.com\/?p=1022"},"modified":"2020-09-28T13:19:49","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T17:19:49","slug":"language-of-fists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rolliepeterkin.com\/language-of-fists\/","title":{"rendered":"The Language of Fists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Learning Spanish in a Peruvian Gym<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Before my first pro fight, they did a pre-fight interview with my opponent. I didn\u2019t watch it because it was in Spanish and I had only been in Peru for two months. My teammate, however, told me that my opponent said something along the lines of, \u201cHe is learning Spanish, but\u00a0he will\u00a0learn about my fists.\u201d While I never really got that chance, I think he brought up an interesting point. I\u2019ve been learning Spanish and boxing for basically the same amount of time and I have noticed some interesting parallels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spar<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Sparring sucks. It is much more fun hitting pads with a coach. Pads don\u2019t hit you back. Pads don\u2019t move when you punch. Pads don\u2019t look you in the eyes. Pads don\u2019t have egos. Learning in a classroom is the same way. You do drills and practices and can always just ask, \u201cHow do you say XYZ in Spanish?\u201d But immersion is the only way to really learn. When you\u2019re negotiating with a taxi driver on the streets, you are playing for keeps. There is no helpline. Sometimes it is frustrating and not at all fun, but it\u2019s the best way to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n