Tamora Pierce Quotes

The hardest fights I've had have been in the gym, not in the cage. It keeps you motivated. One day, you'll go in and feel like you can beat anybody in the world. The next day, you kind of get humbled. That's what keeps us coming back to train more and more.

It was almost like I was in the army.

I'm a martial artist, and I don't train because I have a fight; I train because it's my lifestyle, and I'll train every day if I'm not hurt.

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.

Wrestling school was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done. It just killed me.

In general, any form of exercise, if pursued continuously, will help train us in perseverance. Long-distance running is particularly good training in perseverance.

Being a wrestler is like walking on the treadmill of life. You get off it and it just keeps going.

I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'

When I was 15, I decided to take up the sport seriously, so I went down to the Y.M.C.A. My first day there, this little Italian guy beat my brains out. I decided to quit. Then I realized I really wanted to be a fighter. I worked at it, went back, and that little Italian guy didn't beat me up no more.

There were so many times when I felt like running away from the akhada. But now that we are bearing the fruits of all the hard work, we understand its value.

I used to travel for 12 hours to learn to wrestle when I was 15.

If you put a person in a training gym made out of entire gold, it doesn't guarantee that this person will become a champion. But if you put a person in the basement, then there is a high chance that he will get out of this basement as a champion.

My childhood was all about discipline, hard work and training.

I'll focus on my training, no matter who I fight.

I can't tell you how many times I hit that mat, especially that first year, where I said to myself, 'Man, this fake stuff hurts like hell. Do I really want to do this?' And every time, I would come back, 'Yeah, I wanna do this.'

Coaches would have me in the gym do 1,000 kicks for a practice. I would do them until everyone was gone, until I had done all my kicks. People asked me why I would do it - that's stupid. But my coach told me to do something like that, and I knew it would benefit me, and I would do it.

Being a person of the armed forces is not easy. Performing it is also not easy. There is a sense of discipline and body language that you need to have throughout.

I had no trainers to play, so I went barefoot. Everyone else had trainers. I also remember running 9 km. to training one day with ripped trainers. The sock kept coming out of the shoe, so I'd have to stop and tuck it in.

Truthfully, what we do in training is 10 times harder than what we ever have to do in a competition.

If you ask a soldier what is the key to this confidence, they will likely answer their discipline and their training.

Training camp is a grind, and it truly is all about embracing that grind and coming out here and forgetting about the heat and working to get better every single day.

Keep training harder and always challenge yourself.

A runner doesn't just show up and win a race. He trains long and hard. Do you just show up every day and hope to win?

Hard work and training. There's no secret formula. I lift heavy, work hard and aim to be the best.

I'm an athlete who's very determined and I understand sacrifice.