Boxer Girl

The Los Angeles Times has been running a five-part story this week about a little girl who trains to fulfill her dream about being a boxer. At risk of sounding like a condescending privileged liberal, this is a really fascinating story.

What interests me about the story is what Seniesa, the young girl, is getting out of boxing. According to the writer, it's all about building a better life for herself and giving her troubled but loving father an outlet and distraction from the troubles he's facing.

But what I see is a girl who's learned how to focus and to discipline herself to overcome difficulties -- qualities that have helped her become a top student in school. I also see that Seniesa, who has had many difficulties finding opponents, hasn't learned one of the great lessons that martial arts training teaches -- how to lose.

In the martial arts, you learn by getting hit. You learn how to take pain -- without letting it control you. You find the weakness in your reflexes and your techniques. And, perhaps most importantly, you learn how to come back from a loss.

Seniesa, because she can't find any opponents and thus rarely gets a fight, hasn't really learned that yet. I know that her troubled childhood and dangerous surroundings mean that she's already been exposed to the losing side of life already. But somehow, I don't think she's ever been shown what to do with a loss, and usually, the combative sports are a good avenue for learning this invaluable lesson. Today's installment features her losing a match -- and not in a very gracious manner. It's too bad none of her trainers apparently know how to teach herwhat can be learned from a loss.

I hope that I'll hear about her flourishing -- in whatever field she chooses -- 10 years from now.