What would Plato think of this?
In The Republic, Plato introduces his ideal ruler; the Philosopher-king. The wikipedia entry does a good job of laying out the details of the concept and more of the argument, but to summarize, he suggests that those most fit to rule are highly educated and physically capable.
So, when I check out this amazing piece on the new sport of chessboxing, I think to myself, "Hmm, maybe this isn’t so crazy..". I mean really, it sounds absurd and I wonder if it’ll ever catch on and be successful, but is it a bad thing to emphasize being physical and mentally fit? To be able to succeed under pressure and be nimble, mentally and physically?
Besides, combat sports are at least as much a mental game as they are physical. I practiced Tae Kwon Do for 10 years and despite being generally smaller than my opponents I was pretty successful because of what I brought to it mentally. My master always used to talk about match management as being a chess game. He wanted us to strike early, identify weaknesses, adjust and capitalize. Sound familiar?
I digress. Check out the piece, tell me what you think and let me know if you want to start up a chessboxing match any time soon. I’m off to work on my game 
Tags: chessboxing, plato, philosopher-king, modern sports, personal development
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