Halloween Edition 👻🥊🎃🦇

Halloween Edition

Hey Fighters! The Mask We Choose Everyone always wonders why I love Halloween so much, especially now that I'm an adult. I tell them the same thing every time: it's in my Irish blood. It comes from Samhain, the ancient Gaelic pagan holiday, where the veil between the human and spirit world was believed to be at its thinnest. People would wear masks not for fun, but to hide their human identity and protect themselves from the spirits walking the earth. Fast-forward to the modern United States, and we have pumpkin spice lattes, decorations of skeletons and bats, candy everywhere, and massive Halloween parties. Crucially, we still wear costumes. My favorite thing about the modern costume is the sheer creativity. Whether you stitch together a creation yourself or put together something clever and conceptual, it's a deliberate choice. It shows something about who you are, who you aspire to be, or how you see the world. The Fighter's Poker Face In boxing, fighters also put on a mask. Most fighters, just before they step into the ring, are experiencing anxiety. Some are scared, yes, but almost all are nervous. They are stepping into the profound unknown—whether they're worried about their physical safety, how they will look in front of a giant audience, or the high stakes of reputation and money. But can they show that anxiety? Of course not. So what is the mask? The poker face: they look tough, nonchalant, menacing, or sometimes, they smile too much. It is a vital layer of self-protection and strategy. Now, consider the moment you leave the house in the morning or hop onto your email or Zoom call. What are the expectations from your boss, client, or coworkers? Are you expected to be supremely confident, unnaturally cheerful, instantly knowledgeable, or relentlessly professional? How often do you genuinely feel you embody that expectation, and how often are you fabricating an outer shell to match what you think is required of you? Are you, in essence, hiding from the spirits of expectation in your everyday life? Embracing the Choice As the famous MMA fighter Georges St. Pierre once said: "I'm always scared when I fight. But that fear is what keeps me more alert and more focused. It's good to have fear." It's perfectly okay to wear a mask, and to let a little anxiety fuel your performance. As much as we strive to be genuine, sometimes putting on a costume is necessary for the game. But that's why Halloween matters: on this one night, we get to choose our mask for fun, for creativity, and to connect with the inner child in us. Perhaps, in a way, it's Halloween for us all year long. But when October 31st finally rolls around, embrace the costume you chose, and reject the one you feel you have to wear. What costume are you wearing this Halloween, and what does it say about you? Leave a comment for others to see. Let's train hard and live smarter!

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