As a grade school and highschool student, I lived with fear, because I was repeatedly, physically, and emotionally, bullied by other students, (as were two of my younger brothers, now deceased).
            None of us ever thought of ourselves as a fighter. For us, it was flight, not fight, and so we three became very accomplished runners, while still quite young.
            I also boxed for the first time in my life, in my high school senior year.
            I know, now, that I volunteered to do so, because of fear.     Boxing was a way for me to face the fear of being physically hurt.     My first fight in the highschool boxing ring, was with Whitey, who
was a heavyweight.
            It was a well-attended, evening, community event.     My highschool fighting weight was 152 pounds.     Whitey probably weighed around 200, or so.     I remember Coach Siewert asking me to fight Whitey, and today, am
still amazed, that he asked me to do so.
      I am even more amazed that I agreed!       I think it very
probable, that Coach Siewert saw something in me, at that time, that I did not see in myself.
            The results of that fight, justified Coach Siewert's, apparent "faith" in me.
            My final public highschool boxing match, was with Peter B. III.     My copy of the Portage Paper's description of that boxing match
with Peter, reveal an aggressive side to my nature, that I did not know existed. :-)
            Then came a major change.
            ImmediateIy upon finishing highschool, I volunteered into the U.S.Army (barely 17), and after my Basic Infantry Training, I received and additional two months of Military Police Training. and was then shipped to La Republica de Panama.
            In Panama, I fought in the military for two boxing seasons, my last two years in Panama, around '56 and '57, and was Kobbe middleweight runner-up, and base champion, in successive years, both years participating in additional, memorable fights, in the Panama Area Armed Forces Tournaments.
          Boxing in Panama brings back 3 vivid memories:
1. The first, of my being "booed" by several thousand soldiers before my fight began, because the Military Police on our base, were not well liked.
            To have several thousand people project their dislike onto you, noisily, in public, is devastating.
            It is like having the crap beaten out of you, psychologically, and emotionally, before the physcial fight actually begins. :-)
            They booed me, 3 fights in a row!
            I remember asking myself, "What am I doing here?"     I know now, that the answer, was, again, my coping with early
fears from being bullied, and being physically hurt.     At the time though, it was just something that I thought I had to
do, and was willing to do again and again, without really understanding why.
2. The second event was winning my first three military matches with first round knock-outs.
          Nobody was more surprised than I!
          I was just trying to keep from getting killed. (Which thousands were hoping would happen!)
            The Panama Daily Herald referred to me as "the panther-like M.P. from Kobbe."
            My military police commander even wrote a specific, detailed letter of commendation, to the major army newspaper.
            That first year, I received the Best Sportsmanship Award as a boxer, from the base commander.
            No one was more surprised, than I, of my sudden "notoriety."  
:-)
            People later told me, that my dad, Charles Thompson, carried some of those newspaper clippings, and 8x10 fotos, with him to share with many in the Portage area.
3. The third boxing event, is etched in my memory.     As I was leaving the ring, after a fight in the Panama Area Armed
Forces Boxing Tounament, I was given a standing ovation, from the spectators, for a fight that I lost.
          It may well have been, my very best fight, ever.   :-)     I wonder, with wonder, to this day, what prompted those
spectators, to spontaneously rise to their feet, to applaud the bloodied loser, as he was leaving the ring?
            I suspect, they saw something in me, which I, am only now, just beginning to see in myself.
            I wonder, with wonder. :-)
      I really, really do.
            My military boxing trainers, assured me, that one day, I would be fighting professionally, and that they would be reading about it.
            When I asked them why they believed that, they said, "Because you have a fighting heart. The techniques of boxing can be learned. But, a fighting heart, is something that you are born with. You can not learn that. You either have it, or you don't. We see it in you, that's why we know we will be reading about you, fighting professionally, someday."
            I thought about it. Until I was in a serious auto accident that changed the shape of my skull.  
          (It also changed my thought about being a professional gladiator.)
:-)
          And now, at 73, as I look back on all those fear motivated experiences, over fifty years ago, I ask myself, "What came of all that?"
        All that boxing, stimulated, certainly, by fear?     What did I learn about fear?
            It is only now, that I realize that those early "voluntary gladiator" experiences, were very helpful to me, for the next 50 years.
              Facing Fear, and Pain, as a young man, helped me emotionally, and physically, survive, traumatic assaults and physical confrontations, in later life.
            This included several "ambushes," including one where I was spitting out my own broken teeth, while I tried to cope with an unexpected assault.
            No thought of running anymore
            And, interestingly enough, no thought of fighting, either.     Instead, invariably, I just smile.   :-)     All those fearful years of running away, not knowing that I had a
fighting heart, a wonderful heart, capable of so much!     This is what I have finally learned.
            That I have a wondrous heart.
       And so do you.
.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The above, is an amplification, of one of the thoughts shared, as a thank you, to a high school classmate. Please click onto: http://community.webtv.net/thetwowolves/ATHANKYOUTOAHIGH