The outcome of a match is almost entirely settled before either athlete steps on the mat. It is determined by the long hours of effort, frustration, disappointment, sweat and occasional small daily victories set among many defeats seen by only a few in the quiet of a gym whose walls tell no tales. While fate sometimes throws in some surprises and upsets, in the vast majority of cases, the stage is just a public manifestation of what has already been decided long before in countless unseen matches against nameless opponents. Therefore the course of your career is determined much more by what happens out of sight than what is seen in your most dramatic moments onstage. If you seek the highest levels – learn to love training more than anything else, because more than anything else, that will be the determinant of how high you fly.
