La sabiduría de Cus D´Amato

On November 4th, it will have been 21 years since the death of Cus D'Amato - a man who helped alter the future of the sport and who developed some of the greatest fighters in history. To remember this legendary trainer we would like  to give you some of Cus D'Amato's words of wisdom and remember the great man and brilliant trainer/manager he was. 

Cus D'Amato on how the recognition and acknowledgement of fear is the crucial lesson he taught and was ignored by other trainers:

 
Fear is the greatest obstacle to learning in any area, but particularly in boxing. For example, boxing is something you learn through repetition. You do it over and over and suddenly youve got it. However, in the course of trying to learn, if you get hit and get hurt, this makes you cautious, and when youre cautious you cant repeat it, and when you cant repeat it, its going to delay the learning process.

When kids came up to the gym and say I want to be a fighter, the first thing Id do was talk to them about fear would always use the same example of the deer crossing an open field and upon approaching the clearing suddenly instinct tells him danger is there, and nature begins the survival process, which involves the body releasing adrenalin into the bloodstream, causing the heart to beat faster and enabling the deer to perform extraordinarily feats of agility and strength. It enables the deer to get out of range of the danger, helps him escape to the safety of the forest across the clearing, an example in which fear is your friend.
The thing a kid in the street fears the most is to be called yellow or chicken, and sometimes a kid will do the most stupid, wild, crazy things just to hide how scared he is. I often tell them that while fear is such an obnoxious thing, an embarrassing thing nevertheless it is your friend, because anytime anyone saves your life perhaps a dozen times a day, no matter what how obnoxious he is, youve got to look upon him as a friend, and this is what fear is. 

Since nature gave us fear in order to help us survive, we cannot look upon it as an enemy. Just think how many times a day a person would die if he had no fear. Hed walk in front of cars, hed die a dozen times a day. Fear is a protective mechanism. 

By talking to the fighters about fear I cut the learning time maybe as much as half, sometimes more, depending on the individual.

More words of wisdom:

"They say I 'mold' a fighter, but no. I help him mold himself. I bring out with him qualities that he has buried deep down, that many times he doesn't know he has. My job is to discover and uncover, bring 'em to the surface slowly or quickly, dependin' on how much dirt is layin' on top of 'em. When I bring 'em to the surface, I not only become fully and completely aware of 'em, but the fighter does too."

"The first lesson I teach these kids before I teach them to box is a lesson about Fear, about what Fear is and why we have it. Fear is like a fire. If you control it, as we do when we heat our houses, it is a friend. When you don't, it consumes you and everything you do and everything around you."

"I am a professional. My commitment demands of me... my pride. Everybody sets his own limitations on himself. I set no limitations on myself, except to do the job that I commit myself to do."

"I deal in minds and emotions."

"There is no such thing as a natural puncher. There is a natural aptitude for punching and that is different. Nobody is born the best. You have to practice and train to become the best."

"A boy comes to me with a spark of interest and it becomes a flame. I feed the flame and it becomes a fire. I feed the fire and it becomes a roaring blaze."

"Mike's (Tyson) punch is like an atomic bomb in that it is relative to nature. Both have no value unless you have a means of conveying it to the target. He is boxing-smart."

"When a fighter no longer wants to fight, he finds a convenient corner to lie down in. It's all psychological."

"Any kid coming here (Gramercy Gym) for the first time who thinks he wants to be a fighter, and who makes the climb up those dark stairs, has it 50% licked, because he's licking fear."

"People who are born round don't die square."

"No matter what anyone says, no matter the excuse or explanation, whatever a person does in the end is what he intended to do all along."

"Heroes and cowards feel exactly the same fear. Heroes just react to it differently."

"There are no stupid people. There are only uninterested people."

"People, especially if they come up in a rough area, have to go through a number of experiences in life that are intimidating and embarrassing. These experiences form layer upon layer over their capabilities and talents. So your job as a teacher is to peel off those layers."

"People talk about boxing as a 'brutal' sport. If fighters got hit as often as people think, they'd all quit."

"With fear, a man becomes emotionally tired and when he is afraid, he has no faith in himself."

"I believe nature's a lot smarter than anyone thinks. During the course of a man's life he develops a lot of pleasures and people he cares about. Then nature takes them away one by one. It's her way of preparing you for death.