Floyd: Fear and fantasies
January 16, 12:31 AMHouston Boxing ExaminerMarv Dumon
Intro: Virtually the entire boxing community is jaded that Floyd Mayweather, Jr's demands for additional testing contributed to a cancellation of his fight with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao. Additionally, it is well documented that Mayweather has experienced financial trouble in recent years. We believe Floyd's troubles can be partly attributed to his violation of "The 50th Law."
50 Cent and Greene >
Robert Greene authored "The 48 Laws of Power" which is founded on works like Machiavelli's "The Prince." Greene's book advocates ruthlessness, deception, and manipulation as a means to advance in the world. We disagree with many of the author's premises and arguments, however, there is value in reading this treatise: the reader would at least be more apt to recognize when someone else or an organization is manipulating that individual, by seeing through any ploy advanced.
Mayweather's friend and rapper 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) partnered with Greene to release the book "The 50th Law." 50 Cent grew up without his father, and his mother was murdered when he was a child. He grew up rough in the streets of New York selling drugs. As he moved up in the music industry, he began to acquire ownership interest in several companies. Today, 50 Cent's net worth is estimated at $150 million.
The 50th Law >
The 50th Law advocates two critical behaviors that is essential for Floyd Mayweather, Jr as a boxer and as a person: (1) Fearlessness, and (2) intense Realism.
Fearlessness is identified as the quality which distinguishes successful people from unsuccessful people. It causes one to act boldly, to gain energy, and to establish momentum.
Fear has destroyed Floyd, and it continues to destroy him. Fear is recognized as a root evil in many of the ancient traditions. In the Indian Vedic traditions that are over 4,000 years old, Chakras (the mind-body's energy centers of consciousness), fear is characterized as a negative energy in the lower portion of the body (the Root Chakra).
As Floyd is engulfed in fear, it breeds doubt in him. His reputation suffers in the prize fighting world. He is unable to spin the wheels of personal evolution from the child phase to that of normal functioning adult phase. He clings to his ego as a form of psychological safety mechanism. When confronted, he reacts angrily - but there is no real bark in his tantrums. He is damned in the dark, frozen corner of fear.
Rituals Against Fear >
Joseph Campbell, the great 20th century American mythologist, argues that society's lack of rituals prevent an individual from passing from one life stage to another.
In the primitive settings of what is now France, perhaps as many as 60,000 years ago, young boys had to enter dozens of feet into a completely dark cave, all covered in pitch black horror. It was a dangerous, and often lethal, rite with sharp rocks protruding from rough walls. These boys did not know what beast or insect might devour their flesh or tear their bones apart. But to be accepted by their hunting tribe, and to prevent being banished or murdered, they had to undergo this essential right of passage.
On the surface, the mystics argued that the boys were traversing to the pitch black womb of the Earth. That this was where the spirits of hunted animals resided. (The cave would be marked by beautiful paintings of animals such as buffaloes and deers that were often many feet long.) And the tribute to their spirits would keep the natural world in balance.
There was a critical benefit for these ancient societies: the terrifying foray into a cave's darkness made one resistant to fear. It made the tribe survive by converting fearful boys into brave men. Fear was a force to be mastered, and one cannot be allowed to be its slave. Or the tribe would perish into extinction. Boys who emerged were immediately considered as men and as warriors. They conquered fear. They would be able to marry. To carry the lineage of their people, and to bear the awesome duties of survival despite the dangerous elements of nature.
Today's Youth >
Floyd Mayweather, Jr, ego and child-like antics, represent modern youth and the contemporary wasteland. Today, gone are the rituals that served as the foundation for civilization - the rituals that eliminate fear. The previous two American generations believed that serving in the military made a boy into a man. That, although faced with the prospect of horrific circumstances, the military was an honorable rite of passage. A way of earning a badge of courage and service. Serving time may kill you, but if you came out alive you were universally embraced as a man and as warrior able to tackle life's responsibilities.
Many of today's cynical youth do not share those views. They pretend to learn in school, but they are concentrated on video games, television, ****, and consumerism. There is no brutal ritual for wrestling fear out of one's self. A person may biologically age from 13 years old to 33 years old. But the-now 33-year old remains a child. He did not psychologically evolve into a functional adult, because he did not undergo any difficult obstacle which would allow him to yank fear out of his soul.
Floyd refuses tough fights or challenges in the ring. He clings. Fear holds him back. The sages and mystics are rolling over in their graves, admonishing the defensive wizard. Floyd is falling short of his potential, his reputation is being destroyed, and his personal finances go down the drain.
Continued on Page 2
January 16, 12:31 AMHouston Boxing ExaminerMarv Dumon
Intro: Virtually the entire boxing community is jaded that Floyd Mayweather, Jr's demands for additional testing contributed to a cancellation of his fight with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao. Additionally, it is well documented that Mayweather has experienced financial trouble in recent years. We believe Floyd's troubles can be partly attributed to his violation of "The 50th Law."
50 Cent and Greene >
Robert Greene authored "The 48 Laws of Power" which is founded on works like Machiavelli's "The Prince." Greene's book advocates ruthlessness, deception, and manipulation as a means to advance in the world. We disagree with many of the author's premises and arguments, however, there is value in reading this treatise: the reader would at least be more apt to recognize when someone else or an organization is manipulating that individual, by seeing through any ploy advanced.
Mayweather's friend and rapper 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) partnered with Greene to release the book "The 50th Law." 50 Cent grew up without his father, and his mother was murdered when he was a child. He grew up rough in the streets of New York selling drugs. As he moved up in the music industry, he began to acquire ownership interest in several companies. Today, 50 Cent's net worth is estimated at $150 million.
The 50th Law >
The 50th Law advocates two critical behaviors that is essential for Floyd Mayweather, Jr as a boxer and as a person: (1) Fearlessness, and (2) intense Realism.
Fearlessness is identified as the quality which distinguishes successful people from unsuccessful people. It causes one to act boldly, to gain energy, and to establish momentum.
Fear has destroyed Floyd, and it continues to destroy him. Fear is recognized as a root evil in many of the ancient traditions. In the Indian Vedic traditions that are over 4,000 years old, Chakras (the mind-body's energy centers of consciousness), fear is characterized as a negative energy in the lower portion of the body (the Root Chakra).
As Floyd is engulfed in fear, it breeds doubt in him. His reputation suffers in the prize fighting world. He is unable to spin the wheels of personal evolution from the child phase to that of normal functioning adult phase. He clings to his ego as a form of psychological safety mechanism. When confronted, he reacts angrily - but there is no real bark in his tantrums. He is damned in the dark, frozen corner of fear.
Rituals Against Fear >
Joseph Campbell, the great 20th century American mythologist, argues that society's lack of rituals prevent an individual from passing from one life stage to another.
In the primitive settings of what is now France, perhaps as many as 60,000 years ago, young boys had to enter dozens of feet into a completely dark cave, all covered in pitch black horror. It was a dangerous, and often lethal, rite with sharp rocks protruding from rough walls. These boys did not know what beast or insect might devour their flesh or tear their bones apart. But to be accepted by their hunting tribe, and to prevent being banished or murdered, they had to undergo this essential right of passage.
On the surface, the mystics argued that the boys were traversing to the pitch black womb of the Earth. That this was where the spirits of hunted animals resided. (The cave would be marked by beautiful paintings of animals such as buffaloes and deers that were often many feet long.) And the tribute to their spirits would keep the natural world in balance.
There was a critical benefit for these ancient societies: the terrifying foray into a cave's darkness made one resistant to fear. It made the tribe survive by converting fearful boys into brave men. Fear was a force to be mastered, and one cannot be allowed to be its slave. Or the tribe would perish into extinction. Boys who emerged were immediately considered as men and as warriors. They conquered fear. They would be able to marry. To carry the lineage of their people, and to bear the awesome duties of survival despite the dangerous elements of nature.
Today's Youth >
Floyd Mayweather, Jr, ego and child-like antics, represent modern youth and the contemporary wasteland. Today, gone are the rituals that served as the foundation for civilization - the rituals that eliminate fear. The previous two American generations believed that serving in the military made a boy into a man. That, although faced with the prospect of horrific circumstances, the military was an honorable rite of passage. A way of earning a badge of courage and service. Serving time may kill you, but if you came out alive you were universally embraced as a man and as warrior able to tackle life's responsibilities.
Many of today's cynical youth do not share those views. They pretend to learn in school, but they are concentrated on video games, television, ****, and consumerism. There is no brutal ritual for wrestling fear out of one's self. A person may biologically age from 13 years old to 33 years old. But the-now 33-year old remains a child. He did not psychologically evolve into a functional adult, because he did not undergo any difficult obstacle which would allow him to yank fear out of his soul.
Floyd refuses tough fights or challenges in the ring. He clings. Fear holds him back. The sages and mystics are rolling over in their graves, admonishing the defensive wizard. Floyd is falling short of his potential, his reputation is being destroyed, and his personal finances go down the drain.
Continued on Page 2
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