“I was looking at a piece of art the other day and I thought that would make a great staircase. I don’t think other people think like that, somehow.”
-Tony Davidson, CCEO W+K London-
But a love for violence and competition in its purest form isn’t just a part of American culture; it’s a part of human culture. We are inherently prone to violent struggle. This is a large part of what’s wrong with us, but when channeled into a sport — where qualities like mutual respect, sportsmanship, and fair play are prized — it can become emblematic of what’s best about us.
-Ben Fowlkes-
“This is pop/Yeah Yeah”
-XTC, “This is Pop”-
Everybody is fighting for something. At least I hope so. You might fight for a new client in a pitch situation, you fight for your ideas, some people may fight for bread, in the current crisis a lot of people fight for their jobs. You may fight for a better payroll or the love of someone you’ve let down. And some people fight for money or pride or for the sake of competition.
Amongst these kind of fighters I used to love Renzo Gracie always as the one I would not only like to train but also have a beer or two with.
And just chat and laugh and have him telling stories about his incredible life.
Then punch the waitor in the kidney for funsies.
Maybe I like fighting as a sport so much because it is the opposite of what we are doing the whole time. Not only in our jobs but in our culture as a whole.
There is not too much talking in the ring, on the mat or in the Octagon.
But every word actually means something (”Fight”, “Break”, “Stop”, “Your Mom is so fat she was overthrown by a small militia, she’s now know as The Republic of Your Mom”). A solid punch to the face means something as well. And there is no misunderstanding about anything. No false interpretation. Nothing fake. Nothing not real.
Fighting brings out the person you truly are. There is no place to hide what you are in a fight (or in training for that matter). If you are afraid to learn or adapt to new situations, it will show. If you are ready to work through adversity, it will show.
“Fighting is about the truth.” says writer Sam Sheridan in his foreword of the book “Fighter”. “At its heart, stripped down to the essentials, it’s a collision of realities. You have yours - who you are, what you will do - and he has his. Only one reality survives this meeting. We call it a sport, but it’s more than that. (…) It is a stage for artists, rendered with extreme emotion and desperate struggle.”
Call me naive, but when I started with advertising I was thinking the same thing about this industry.
If you are a total idiot, it will show. If you are a brown-nosing back-stabber, it will show. If you are a hard worker, it will show as well. If you are talented and creative, it will show and lead you to success. Because there is no place to hide when you have a white sheet of paper in front of you. But we all know that his is not the truth.
Still both jobs have more in common than not. It’s about solving problems. And key qualities like discipline, creativity, planning, preparation and stamina are required if you take it seriously. And in both jobs we are dealing with the truth. A truth about a product a campaign is based on. A truth about a person his performance is based on. “In a fight in a cage, the truth will out.” says Sheridan. I would say it’s the same things with great campaigns.
And that’s the beauty of it.
A great campaign reveals a truth by giving you an insight of the brand or the product that actually means something. Stripped down to its essentials it gives you something to rely on in a world full of images and words.
A person reveals a truth about himself in the gym.
Because there is no bullshit. No lies. Never. There is no backdoor or double bottom. And usually no bad blood after rolling with each other. It’s just the pure encounter of two people learning from each other as they go. And whoever wins usually had the better idea. A better idea how to win.
Here is the trailer of Renzo Gracie - Legacy, a documentary about the guy who kind of drew me into MMA as a sport a few years back.
If you have never heard of Renzo Gracie, it just means you are in stable mental conditions.
He is the descendent of a family of fighters from Brazil. This family practically invented the whole Vale-Tudo-no-holds-barred-fighting-contest-idea which latter resulted in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). He is not actively competing anymore but he remains a full time joker, family man and fighting coach with a very successful brand at his hands: the Gracie name.
Of course this footage is partly ten years old or older and looks kind of gnarly, but Renzo is one of the guys who helped elevating this whole thing from a brawling spectacle to a highly technical sport - as you see in the clip underneath.
Now if you ask me what that has to do with anything, especially on a site like beersandideas, it’s two things. First, in my opinion MMA is not only one of the most demanding sports in the history of sports, but also one of the most creative. You are constantly under pressure and the possibilities to solve the problems that are posed upon you are endless. If you are just smart enough and willing to go the distance. Second, the way people like Renzo, Randy Couture or modern day warriors like Georges St. Pierre are living their lives is truly inspirational. Because it’s based on respect, honesty, trust and commitment. Values not to be found very often in these times. Isn’t that an interesting paradigm to base a company on? That’s exactly what the UFC did. And now they are coming to Germany. The insight, as Renzo Gracie put it, is the most authentic in times that are just missing that:
“I think there is something about fighting that brings out a person’s true self. It doesn’t matter what you say or how you act. In the ring all the layers are peeled away and what’s left is who you really are.”
Cheers to a legend.
