Gratitude: My Favourite Fight Tool

In the martial arts world, we often talk about tools.

Tools for movement, tools for speed, tools for power. But rarely do we talk about one of the most powerful tools I’ve ever used in my training — and in my life: gratitude.

No, wait. Don’t close the tab just yet.I know “gratitude” sounds a little too much like a yoga retreat brochure or a Pinterest quote board. But stay with me.

Because when I say gratitude is a tool, I mean it the way I mean a heavy bag is a tool.

You don’t just glance at it. You hit it. You sweat with it. You keep coming back to it.

Gratitude is the same. It’s not just a feeling — it’s a practice. It takes reps.

And just like you can’t do push-ups once and expect a strong chest, you can’t list three things you’re thankful for once and expect your life to suddenly glow with inner peace. But here’s the thing: if you do it for a while, it will start changing your nervous system. It will calm the chaos in your brain. It will help you breathe differently. Sleep better. Fight cleaner.

For me, gratitude became part of my pre-fight ritual. It’s not only that I’m grateful for the chance to fight — though of course, that’s already a big one. Most people never get to experience the wild intensity of stepping into a ring. I do. I chose this life. And I worked really hard to get here.

But it’s also the gratitude for all the moments that built the road to that cage. For my coaches. For my tired muscles. For the training partners who punched me and made me better. For the fact that I get to give myself this fight — a strange, beautiful gift that very few people understand.

And here’s the magic part.

When I focus on gratitude, I’m not in the future anymore — imagining what might go wrong. I’m not in the past either — reliving old mistakes.

I’m here.

Fully. In my body. Ready. And that, my friends, is the only place you can truly fight from.

Gratitude grounds you in the present moment. And there are only two places where I have felt that kind of radical presence in my life: In very deep meditation. And in a fight.

No room for fear. No space for overthinking. Just this breath. This second. This opening. Now.

So if you’re dealing with anxiety or training stress or life being just… life — try it.

Tonight, before bed. Or tomorrow morning. Three things you are greatful for. Or just think about something nice that happened that day and bath in that feeling. Relive your day in your memory, maybe you will actually tell a very different story of how good or bad your day was. Rewiring the brain. That's what we are doing here.

And if you’ve already found a way to build this kind of mindset into your training — tell me! I’d love to hear what helps you show up to your fight, both in and out of the gym

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