Win or Learn

Win or Learn

The man they smashed into the concrete

Imagine you're eighteen, walking home through Dublin with your girlfriend. On a side street in Rathmines you spot a group of men kicking a cyclist on the ground. You stop. You're a quiet, gentle boy who has never hit anyone in your life. But as you approach, you say, "Lads, that's enough." Seven heads turn. They come at you. They pin you down, smash your face into the concrete, hit you with a brick, try to push you under a bus. Your girlfriend is screaming. A friend who happens to be walking by drags you out from under their limbs. The police arrive, look at you, and declare you the criminal. At home you hide under the duvet for days, because you don't want your mother to see your broken cheekbone and your shattered eye socket. Then you barely leave your room for a year.

That boy was John Kavanagh. Today he coaches one of the most famous MMA fighters in the world, Conor McGregor, and he is the chief architect of mixed martial arts in Ireland. But back then he was just a terrified, depressed teenager who couldn't understand what had happened to him, or why he couldn't defend himself. The book he wrote is about that long road. About how a beaten-up kid who felt like nothing became a world-class coach, and how along the way he realised that fighting isn't really about the other person, it's about yourself.

In this summary we'll walk John Kavanagh's path from the side streets of Dublin to the Las Vegas octagon. We'll see how the "Win or Learn" philosophy emerged, the trademark of SBG Ireland, and how you can apply it in your own life. Finally we'll pull together the concrete lessons anyone can use, whether they ever step into a cage or not.