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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Great martial arts masters from the past have pointed out the importance of perseverance and mental toughness in winning battles. These enlightening words illuminate the fact that mind matters most when contenders of equal physical finesse are locked down in a fight. An epic quote of Bruce Lee, unarguably one of the greatest martial artists and philosopher of any era, wisely puts defeat as a state of mind.
“Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality,” the master once remarked.
Wrestling, which started as a form of martial arts, has evolved into an Olympic sport, and hence the lack of devastating and deadly moves. However, the underlying theme of fighting till death —in the current day context read it as till the bell rings. The joy of a kill has been replaced by the epiphany while climbing the podium. In short words, Tao of fighting still remains ingrained in wrestling.
Sakshi Malik’s win is an illustration of how one could live to tell a tale, despite being heavily maimed, from a battle. From the brink of defeat — she was lagging 0-5 after the first round — she clawed back to win 8-5. Those who know Sakshi say she is a tough nut to crack, and her strong mental make-up has been made up of thousands of hours of hard training and dedication. Then there is that Jat blood! “She has mastered all wrestling techniques, and knows how to bring them into practise while competing,” said Ishwar Dahiya, her childhood coach.
“Because her technique is so strong, she can go for extreme manoeuvres, even when staring at defeat. This because she can execute heavy-scoring moves. Plus, she has the audacity and mental toughness to pull through. Some of the skills can be achieved by regularly hitting the mat, but some others need to be summoned from somewhere inside. She knows how to do that,” added Ishwar.
Uncle Narinder Ganghi has a better explanation for her grittiness. “To excel in a thing, you need Jazbaa (passion). A jazbaati person can shake up the world. They see nothing in front, and follow their passion. Sakshi is one such girl. She is passionate about her game, and winning. That madness has made her a strong-hearted wrestler,” Ganghi told Express from Rohtak.
Having watched her bout from close quarters, Wrestling Federation of India secretary VN Prasood said only iron-hearted people can execute such ‘gruesome’ com-from-behind wins. “In all the four matches she won, the opponents started scoring first. In the bronze medal contest, she had to do something amazing if she had to ward off defeat.
After three minutes, she was 5-0 down. When play resumed, she scored four points two by bringing her rival under control on ground, and two by throwing her sideways. The scores were level at 5-5. It was a nice move that revealed how tough, physically and mentally, she was,” he said.