This will be the last Tyson’s Thoughts for awhile.
In case you’re worried, I haven’t been silenced or anything shocking like that, I just need a break.
Writing weekly columns on local matters is easily the hardest part of being a journalist, and I’m going to estimate that I’ve completed another solid six month stretch without missing a deadline.
That, to me, is impressive. I think it really shows dedication to my craft and to the North Island communities.
Anyone who writes for a living as a journalist knows what it’s like to put yourself out there and show your personality by writing opinion pieces. Gazette freelancers Thomas Kervin and Derek Koel are perfect examples of the bravery needed to do so.
Those two have been writing such thought provoking pieces week in and week out that it actually pushed me to tackle more controversial subjects as well.
So if you’ve enjoyed some of my more hard-hitting columns as of late, you can thank them for inspiring me.
With that out of the way, what am I going to write about this week?
Well, the North Island Eagles organization released the names of their 2018-2019 coaches this year, so I thought it would be a nice change of pace to write something in honour of a coach who literally taught me about what it means to be a man.
I trained kickboxing, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu with John Punt at Impact MMA in Nanaimo for around six years straight. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night I would drag myself into the gym and get beat up by professional fighters after having already worked a full day at my warehouse job.
John was an absolute workhorse as a coach, he didn’t just hang out and shout advice from the sidelines, he got right in the mix and sparred with everyone.
He also never pushed you if you didn’t want to be pushed - that wasn’t his style - but if you showed interest he would show interest back. This alone taught me a very valuable lesson about holding yourself accountable for your own successes and failures in life.
When I competed at the biggest jiu-jitsu tournament on Vancouver Island back in 2012, John was right there watching from the sidelines of the mat. He never really shouted advice at me, he just kept telling me in-between matches I was the best guy in the division and no one was going to stop me.
I beat four tough opponents in a row that day and won gold. It was my single greatest athletic accomplishment ever.
Afterwards, John told me I’d had a great performance because I’d put the work in and earned it.
I could go on, but I think I’ll end this piece with a funny story.
One time I was sparring with John and he cornered me on the edge of the mat. I froze like a deer in headlights and stood there covering my face with my 14 oz boxing gloves. John threw a big left hook and it landed right above my ear.
He hit me so hard my vision violently swayed back and forth, like I was stuck on a boat sailing through extremely rough weather. It was the closest I ever came to getting knocked down in sparring.
John could have finished me off with one more punch to the head, but he didn’t. He let me work through the dizziness and just hit me to the body instead.
What’s the moral of this little anecdote, you might be wondering?
John taught me it’s better to see the punch coming and brace for it than to close your eyes and protect your nose.