Quote Originally Posted by EWO View Post
It also the old bull and young bull standing on top of the hill story. The young bull says, "Hey, Pops, let's run down this hill and F*&K a couple of those heifers". The old bull replies, "Son, let's walk down there and F&^K them all".

Dogs no different, maturity is a must. EWO
That is hilarious, well put. I have a good amount of experience with human combatants but no so much with the dogs but the similarities are striking in regards to letting one mature to their full potential. I once trained at a gym that had a similar approach to Pinky and the Brain. They pissed off so much talent and ruined potential fighters, mentally. The fact is when you have a bunch of 18yr old kids scrapping with each other often times the bully type will win or the one who is overly confident. I have 18yr old students that are physical specimens but will break under pressure. They act like world beaters when they are dishing it out but will give up when the going gets tough. These kids need to know that someone believes in them and that there coach is there to take care of them and is trying to put more into them, and not always test them through hard sparring day in and day out. If I see one of my young charges getting beat up a little in a sparring session getting frustrated and beat more than I think they are ready for, I stop it. I'll sit the kid and talk about how we can improve their skill set and build a better game plan. That student will not get challenged like that again until they have mentally healed. With humans gameness often grows with age, and the ones that are "hot" at an earlier age, rarely turn out
to be the best fighters. Just like Jack said, intelligence is a huge factor with any successful fighter. Intelligent fighters analyze things and don't just automatically believe they are the baddest things around. They need to believe in their skill set, know they have the right conditioning, and know they have the tools to get the job done. Just like the dogs, there "schooling" needs to be fun and they will get tested harder and harder as they mature. When I work with my young fighters, I can sense when they "crack". Often times they have already given up before a sparring session begins, especially if their sparring partner has beaten them before . You can see it their facial expression, you can tell by how they are breathing, see it in their eyes etc etc.

Also, often times the guys that come out sparring super aggressive, it is out of fear. They are just trying to end things quickly to avoid getting hit and being taken into deep water. This style uses excess energy especially when the fight or flight kicks in and adrenaline dump happens. These type of guys start blowing out after 1 or 2 minutes. Go watch any amateur boxing or kickboxing event. The pace is a furry for about 30 seconds and then.......they can't even keep their hands up they are so tired.

The gyms that have the mentality I described above basically use the crap shoot method. They have enough prospects coming through the door that they can run through them and still have a couple outstanding prospects that will rise to the top regardless of how bad their schooling was. These types of places are not building talent, just ruining students.