Live To Fight Another Day

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We all remember that momentous moment in the movie Blood Sport where Chong Li sends Frank Dux’s friend, Ray Jackon, to the hospital on the second day of the highly secretive (and equally illegal) Kurmite:



As you can see, Dux has a front row seat to his friend Ray acting like a stupid American and trying to win the crowd only to find himself getting an Asian curb stomp from Chong Li moments later. On a similar note, Chong Li is probably one of the first Asians to ever have pecs, and he damn sure is the first one to discover how to use them.

Anyway, Dux’s friend, Kenneth Siu (on right) holds him back while Chong Li strips off the stereotypical Harley Davidson bandana and dangles it above Dux’s head. This isn’t in the official movie script, but I’m pretty sure Kenneth whispers ever so softly into Frank Dux’s ear, “No Frankie, you must live to fight another day…another day.”

And this was excellent advice. As you can see, Dux would end up fighting four times on the second day of the tournament. A non-sanctioned scuffle with Chong Li would have removed him from competition, and as my friend Brent always says, “This is competition!” (whatever that means).

You see, if Frank Dux had attacked Chong Li at this pivotal point, it not only would have ruined this classic 80’s fight movie, but it would have failed to teach the lesson of patience. There are times when the benefits do not outweigh the cost, and becoming aware of these moments is important for your short and long-term training career. If your body is in a weakened state, it is best not to train heavy and hard unnecessarily.

A few months ago, I did not heed the advice of Kenneth Siu. I traveled back into town on a Monday and attempted to go through my normal volume day on the Texas Method (5×5 squatting, and I think it was 430) on Tuesday. My back was very tired and weak from the constant sitting, and I pulled something at the bottom of a squat on the second set. I remember completing the rep, screaming through the excruciating pain (I wasn’t about to drop the 430 lbs on my spotters), and falling to a knee after racking it. I wasn’t able to squat for almost two months, and it put quite a damper in my training.

Now fast forward to last week. I went through a lengthy rehab process and am finally training without pain. The week before I squatted 495 for a triple, and 500 was on the agenda. However, my body didn’t feel up to snuff for Monday’s volume day. My immune system had some severe trouble with allergies (the crew at Amarillo may have noticed this at the first 70’s Big Workshop – I was being hit pretty hard that day but still tried to perform well enough), and my body didn’t feel recovered. I ended up taking the day off to prevent an injurous situation. I still wanted to get my intensity day in on Thursday for a few reasons, but mainly because it was the last day of the week my schedule would permit me to train. So on Tuesday I had a make shift volume day (ascending sets of five reps for four sets), and then came in on Thursday and completely annihilated 500 for a triple (I considered going for a fourth rep).

This story isn’t being told to tell you of my accomplishment, but instead about the mistake I made a few months ago. I hurt my back when I was in a vulnerable state. Having the “stick to the program or die” mentality can really hamper training, and it fucked mine up for a while. Life happens and you need to start learning how to adapt your program to these happenings so that you can continue getting stronger. You will have a much bigger payoff in the long run, just like Frank Dux.

Dux waited patiently for his chance. And he finally got it when he faced Chong Li in the final battle.



For those of you who don’t want to watch drawn out affair of Van Damme yelling and flexing, Dux eventually forces Chong Li to say matté to win the tournament, even when blinded (and throwing “90 degree punches”, as Brent says – see 3:07). I have it on good authority that this is the Asian word for “uncle”.

Me: So, is matté the Asian word for uncle?

Brent: I think so.

Me: QED

In any case, Dux decided to be patient and begin the fight his own terms. If I know my 80’s movies, his emotions would have gotten the best of him had he attacked Chong Li immediately after Ray Jackson headbutted Li’s foot. Dux’s dilemma is analogous to being improperly prepared for training because you are weak and not feeling your best. Trust me, you don’t want to go through a two month recovery period. Just be smart and patient in order to stay injury free, and this will yield more efficient strength gains. Learn from my mistake instead of yours. Most of all, learn from Frank Dux.

21 thoughts on “Live To Fight Another Day”

  1. If there is another lesson to be learned here, it’s from Jackson. Don’t lose your focus when you’re in the middle of something (prize fight, set of 5 etc.)It could end badly.

  2. Solid advice Justin, I had a similar experience to you, in the middle of a set of squats not feeling great about it and tweaked my back. Sadly without medical insurance at the time I didn’t seek medical advice for a possibly herniated disc.

    It took me out of training for just under a month and I’m only now starting to make progress again and hitting new PR’s.

    The main reason I got hurt is racing to add more weight on the bar when I hadn’t quite recognized that form break down under more weight is dangerous :P

    Part of surviving this game intact is knowing when to push and when it’s too much.

    Debilitating back-pain is not 70’s big!

  4. I’m guilty of having the “stick to the program or die” attitude. It has held me back in the past, but I’ve really made effort to be more lax about making adjustments when necessary.

    In the long run, it’s just not worth injury. Slowing down progress isn’t the end of the world.

  5. I like the advice. I have a good buddy who could really benefit from this site but he is being a complete mooron about it (thats a totally different issue though.) Anyway I just recently took some time off to get married and go on a honeymoon, durring my down time in Jamaica every little soreness and tightness seemed to get worse. I got back to Houston at the end of april without a gym, so I was feeling pretty nervous about the progress I was loosing. I found an awesome gym (Break Away Speed) and started working my way up slowly, really listening to my body. Last night I did my worksets @ 315 which is only 15 lbs off my last workout. It felt great and I was happy about it because I know Ill be back at 330 and heavier in no time. Anyway, I thought using Bloodsport to get his point across was great, you can’t beat a classic king-fu flick like that, great advice Justin.

  6. this came right in time. I’m pretty dizzy and feeling bad in the last 2 days. now I know I should just let it go and wait for next week.

  9. all this is true sadly, I pulled my back on a bad DL and haven’t squatted or deadlifted in over a week, and probably another week to come (it’s not too serious)

    Dont be greedy

  12. I’m currently in my 5th week of Starting Strength. The weight is starting to get heavy and I am in new territory. If I am feeling really beat the f*#@ up from a week of PR squats and perhaps overdoing it a bit (Murph) is it advisable to skip a workout? Will it be detrimental to the progression? Basically my hamstrings feel like rubber bands that have been in the sun too long.

  15. Zac,
    I’m sorry to have to inform you that if you are doing Murph then you are not doing Starting Strength. It would probably be in your best interest to avoid things like Murph if you’re serious about getting all you can from linear progression.

  19. Pingback: Williamsburg Strength & Conditioning — CrossFit 1776 — Strength & Conditioning for Mixed Martial Arts and Athletes — Williamsburg VA » Strength with Deadlifts, Lunges, Squats and Sit-ups

  20. Very sage advice, Justin. The best thing you can do as a lifter is to learn to listen to your body. When you are constantly feeling pain somewhere it is a sign to back off for a little bit. I’m taking sucha a break right now. I’ve been having right hip issues and may have gotten bicep tendonitis, so I’m off overhead lifts, deadlifts, and wider stance squats for the time being. After some rehab I’ll hopefully be able to bounce back quick in time for USAPL Raw Nats in July and able to hit some PR’s.

    We’ll be there. All of us: AC, Brent, Chris, and Mike are lifting and I’ll be coaching them.

    –Justin

  21. Justin,

    Long time site troll. Can you(or anyone else) detail your recovery protocol. I tweaked something at the bottom of squat 4 weeks ago. Came back from vacation and got greedy. Dropped 315 on the bar and rounded my back (buTt wink) at the bottom of the squat. I know it aint muscular so the Bill S muscle belly protocol isn’t going to do much for me. It’s tendon/ligament related. Generally it’s not painful but I can’t get anywhere near serious weight without irritating it. I’ve been sticking to conditioning workouts and gymnastics warmups (muscle ups etc) but it sucks without heavy lifts.

    Andrew

    Have you seen a chiropractor? I cover some general information about this in the workshops.

    –Justin

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