Most of the dust is settled from the debate concerning Simone Biles withdrawing from Olympic events, citing more mental health reasons instead of physical ones. It was a surprisingly polarizing discussion. One that I realize my monthly blog is coming late to the party, but I thought I would weigh in on it from the lens of a cranky martial artist. As you will read, I really don’t have a clear-cut stance on it, but I will offer what I hope is perspective.
As many are aware, opinions of her and her decision ranged from both extremes and everything in the middle. Some people reminded everyone that she is the Greatest of All Time; others called her a quitter that let her team down. Some people called her a trailblazing champion of mental health; others called her soft and she crumbled when things went bad. While not my main points, let me preface them by saying that I think all those statements can be true. Even if it was a moment of weakness or lowlight of her career, she long ago solidified her position as GOAT.
At the heart of the issue is whether a mild injury was enough to cause her to withdraw…was it running the risk of greater injury or just a mental block she should have shrugged off. As a martial artist, performing while hurt or injured is a way of life. You don’t train for fighting without being a little banged up. I doubt any high-level combat sports competitor ever goes into a match 100% without lots of nagging injuries—acute and chronic. But I suspect that goes for any high-level gymnast as well, as hard as they train. In combat sports, when the objective is to symbolically “kill” the other person, there is naturally an assumption of risk. So, my kneejerk reaction to hearing it could cause injury is to scoff. But when I stop and think about what those gymnasts do, I am sure they are very much aware of the constant risk of permanent injury or death as well.
I had long forgotten this, but I had a very brief stint in gymnastics as a child. When they made me hang upside down on the rings, just holding the position, all I could think about was that if my grip slipped, I was going to fall on my head and die. I was done. Funny thing is I was dropped on my head in BJJ last week (could have been crippled if it had gone worse), but I got back up and we went again. So, I guess assumption of risk tolerance can be quite subjective.
While crippling is an extreme example, I saw one citation of Elena Mukhina, the Russian gymnast who against her better judgement was forced to return to training prematurely from a broken leg and was paralyzed when she didn’t have the explosiveness she needed. An extreme example, but the risk of a permanent or chronic injury is there. I can remember doing more extreme things in my martial arts youth…where my arm would be purple for a week afterwards. I have no interest in duplicating the feat now. I often joke that I am not sure whether we have become wiser or just softer. Or both. Perhaps Miss Biles is wise beyond her years. Or maybe she is just soft.
Soft in this case probably refers (if it applies at all) to the mental aspect more than the physical. Aside from the related issues of assumption of risk mentioned above, there is Chong Shin…indomitable or fighting spirit. We love the hero ideal of pushing through obstacles, of a never say die attitude. Martial artists are perhaps the best (or worst) at praising the “fighting to your last breath” attitude. Indeed, gaining a little more perseverance is one of the most common and important benefits of martial arts training. Miss Biles has often been compared to Kerri Strug, whose image of competing while hurt was iconic and heroic. It could have also been stupid at the same time. Here to, the martial artist can relate….as an instructor I routinely advise students to do something in the name of caution that I know full well I would ignore if I was in their shoes. Sometimes as an instructor, it is my job to protect them from themselves. But then again, my job is also to help people push through their boundaries. When people have lost confidence in themselves or shy away from a challenge, they need a push. People in that position often are full of excuses, including minor ailments. Sometimes you have to really know the person to discern if it is a legitimate reason or an escape hatch, and I certainly don’t know Miss Biles. But perhaps it was one of those situations where I would have looked at her and told her “I did not give you permission to die.” While I am certainly not privy to the specifics of this case, in vague terms I can say that the situation doesn’t sit well with me, from a chong shin standpoint.
That opinion(s) is the martial arts instructor in me; however, on the other hand, there is the self-defense instructor side of me that encourages agency to the individual.
From a self-defense perspective, she absolutely did the right thing. She trusted her instincts or intuition that was telling her something was off. She exercised her personal agency to de-select herself, despite peer pressures to do something she wasn’t comfortable with. In self defense we routinely talk about the importance of setting boundaries. She did just that. You might not like her reasoning or where she drew the line, but they are HER boundaries, not yours, and we need to acknowledge them. If you don’t respect them, you are a creep.
So, to summarize, I think I would have made a different decision, but when she lists her reasons, I have to just shrug and say ok. Subject closed. Life moves on. It is just a sport, not something as important as life and death…you know, like martial arts. 🙂
Gentry Martial Arts--the rants of a martial arts eccentric 