Jack Donovan talks about the 4 tactical virtues of masculinity in his book โThe Way Of Menโ.
The 4 virtues are:
- Strength
- Courage
- Mastery
- Honor
In this day and age itโs very hard to master all 4 of these virtues because weโre living in a society where weakness gets celebrated and strength looked down upon.
So men are lost and looking for ways to reclaim their manhood.
For us, the ideal way wasnโt hard to find. The ideal way became Muay Thai, which embodies all 4 of these virtues.
Courage
Stepping in the ring requires a lot of courage because youโre willingly stepping into a ring to perform in one of the most devastating martiaal arts in the world.
Sometimes you step out of the ring fine but sometimes you step out the ring and have to recover from injuries for weeks/months.
There is more than one story of a Muay Thai fighter ending up in the hospital. And more than enough videos of fighters getting carried away on stretchers after being knocked out. Only to wake up minutes or hours later.
As much as people try to emphasize the physical part of this sport, they vastly underestimate the mental aspect because itโs not something you see.
They just see bones clashing and look away.
But itโs like many trainers say โNo Pain, No Muay Thaiโ.
So you can avoid it or be courageous and face your fears.
Strength
What Most people donโt know though is that showing pain or being tired is seen as weakness and actually puts you behind on the scorecards.
The other fighter will look more dominant stronger which will make sure you lose in the eyes of the judges.
It is all about composure and looking strong. There is a huge emphasis on this during training camps, which are often grueling and designed to make you go past your self- imposed limits.
The idea of these training camps is to make you stronger both mentally and physically.
Being strong mentally and physically will never hurt you not in this sport and not in life.
People who went through a couple of camps and fights in Thailand will know what we mean.
In part 2, which will be released next week, we’ll take a look at the other 2 virtues and how they translate to Muay Thai.
This post was a collabaration between me (@zerotoalpha) and Based.Strategos on Instagram.
Make sure to follow both of us for simular content.
Some interesting links.
My book, discounts, social media, and more.
Get a free audiobook and a 30-day trial
You can also follow me on Instagram for a look behind the scenes.