Lessons From "Rocky" And "Creed"

SPOILER ALERT!!! Spoilers for the Rocky and Creed films are discussed below.

The Rocky films don't get enough credit for being consistently entertaining. While it is true that none of the sequels have yet to match the power of the original, they don't really have to. They just need to keep setting up exciting boxing matches, and aside from Rocky V, each entry has succeeded in giving us just that. The first Rocky is a classic of the "American Dream", telling the story of a man, tough on his luck, who finds success through persistent effort and endurance. I went into the sequels skeptical, after all, once Rocky Balboa loses his "underdog" factor, why would you still root for him as hard? What I came to understand was that the sequels have just as much, if not more to say than the original film.

If you have a pursuit, a passion, be it a game like chess, an art like painting, or a sport like boxing, there inevitably comes a point where you reach a certain level of success. Leaping over that first hurdle, breaking through that first wall, it strengthens your confidence, as it should. You put in the work and are reaping the benefits. However, there is always a danger in victory, and that is in seeing it as stationary, fixed, eternal. It is easy to feel so confident after having reached a certain height, that you become lax, and feel little need to work as hard as you used to.

As inspiring as the first Rocky is, those of us who rise through the ranks as established teachers and champions start to feel a bit of a distance from it. We're not always going to be scrappy misfits out to prove that we're good enough. The world already knows we're good enough, and sometimes, our competitors will have more of an "underdog" feel than we do. What the Rocky sequels understood was that proof of greatness doesn't occur only once, but repeatedly throughout one's life.

You will fall. Get back up.

You would think that after his glorious bout with Apollo Creed, it'd be smooth sailing for Rocky's career, but alas. Rocky let's his fame get to his head and becomes wasteful with his money, so much so that winning the Apollo Creed rematch becomes a matter of financial necessity. So even though Rocky has found success, he still makes stupid mistakes. This happens again in Rocky III, when the Italian Stallion gets so cocky that he trains with laxity for his first bout with Clubber Lang. For this laziness he predictably gets a sound beating.

Some viewers may find it uninspiring that in spite of Rocky's many triumphs, he continues to fall right back into his old problems. The meaning I derive from this situation, however, is the opposite: In spite of his failures, he finds the strength to get back up again. I can't tell you how many times when, after having passed a Spanish test or broken a board with a side kick, did I think I had a firm grasp on my discipline. I thought to myself: I'll get better from here on out, no more stupid mistakes. How arrogant of me.

And, boy! How demoralizing! I mean, really, after having spent so many hours in study or practice, and still, you just can't get it right. There are moments when the struggle feels Sisyphean, a baleful cycle of stunted growth and pyrrhic victory. You may make some progress, and make note of it, but it never seems to be fast enough. You may find yourself on the verge of quitting, and may even quit for a time. What I learned, however, was that the struggle itself is worthwhile, no matter how meager the victory or how slow the progress, the struggle is worthwhile. To endure, in and of itself, is its own victory. As endurance during the malestorm is not easy feat, a triumph that belongs to the champions. As Rocky said to his son,

"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that!"


Be humble enough to return to the basics.

Once you've learned something, you don't feel much need to re-learn it. This is especially true when it comes to the basics. Once you learn who to add fractions, the use of "に" in Japanese, or a simple punch in karate, you kind of expect your memory to handle the rest. You move on to more advanced techniques, hoping that the basics will take care of themselves, and they do, until they don't. And when they don't, you end up looking like a Neanderthal in a room full of Einsteins. The worst part of this humiliation is in what feels like having to go back to kindergarten and re-learn how to spell Mississippi.

After the Rock's loss to Clubber Lung in Rocky III, he has to re-train with his rival, Apollo Creed. Apollo starts him back from the bottom up. Rocky has to change his whole boxing dynamic with an emphasis on speed. To get faster he has to improve his swimming and outrun Apollo. Apollo's son, Adonis, has to undergo a similar trial after his loss to Ivan Drago in Creed II. Rocky takes him out to a place in the desert for boxers who want to "start over." There's no fancy, hi-tech equipment out there. You rise or fall based on your own skill.

I myself had a similar experience when I first traveled to Japan for study abroad. I tested into a class lower than expected, due to failing to grasp the basics of particles. My listening skills admittedly weren't very good, either. So I had re-learn the basics, but more significant than that, I had to re-learn them differently. Training the exact same way over and over makes your form stale. You always have to be on the lookout for sharper and more challenging modes of practice.

Do it for you.

If your heart and soul aren't in what you do, then you're better off not doing it at all. Some people forget that Rocky loses his first fight with Apollo Creed. The reason we don't feel this loss is because Rocky proved himself. He proved to the world that he could hold his own against the champ, and that was good enough for him. He also loses his last fight against Mason Dixon in Rocky Balboa, but again, the outcome is irrelevant. Rocky, now an old man, showed that he could still fight. He proved his own self-worth, and sometimes, we need that proof to know our lives haven't been a waste.

All throughout Creed, Adonis struggles with his father's legacy. He wants to show that he's worthy of his father's name, but at the same time be his own man, and not simply his father's son. There's a pivotal scene during the boxing match, when Rocky asks Creed what he's fighting for. Creed replies that he's fighting for himself. This is what truly makes him his own man. This isn't about his father, or even Rocky anymore, it's him forging his own path forward.

I was once taught by one of my martial arts teachers that if you really like something, you're going to feel like quitting at some point. The best way to overcome this impulse is to remind yourself why you do it. Put your life on the line, throw your heart into your passion. Let it fulfill you, let it satisfy you. Make it personal, make it yours. By the end of the day, you only live once, so might as well stop worrying so much about meeting other's standards, and start surpassing your own.