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Show d fiCEjL LIEUT. COM. GENE TUNNEY is J an expert in the art or science of winning competition. And this happens to be the day and time when great competitors are needed, at the front or back of the front. We caught the roving commander on the run to get his slant in this general direction. "Just what," we asked Tunney, "is needed to make a winning competitor, com-petitor, in war or work or sport?" "There are two main sections to this matter," Tunney said. "One is physical the other is mental. Certainly, Cer-tainly, physical condition is a big item. No one, physically unfit, can be of much help in any form of competition and we are now in the middle of the toughest competitive struggle the world ever has known. This is an all-out scrap for everybody every-body now living. And it is no part of a push-over or a sure thing. "In my own case, I gave seven years to the matter of getting ready for Jack Dempsey. I never tried LIEUT. COM. GENE TUNNEY Not thousands . . . but millions . . . to ease up or spare myself. I knew the job it would take even to have a chance. "We were supposed to be a nation of athletes. But when this war broke out everyone was amazed to know how unfit physically so many millions mil-lions were. I didn't say thousands I said millions. Millions and more millions. There had been too much ease, too much softness, too few willing to pay the price needed to get in shape. "By shape or condition I mean legs and stomach, eyes and ears, especially. To me exercises that develop the right stomach muscles, plus the right diet, are among the most important factors. I have never nev-er quit these exercises since my last fight with Tom Heeney, years ago. We have needed more performers perform-ers and fewer spectators, fewer in proportion. Not for Granted "You can't take condition for granted. It is something for which you have to work. But as some philosopher once said, 'It is better to train today than to wait for tomorrow to-morrow to be outclassed.' "We'll have to get more iron into our bodies and our hearts and souls." "There is another big side to the making of a winning competitor," Tunney said. "This is the mental angle. "In the first place, no smart person per-son ever underrates a rival or an enemy. This is especially true in war. A team can afford to lose a football game or a pennant race. But no nation can afford to lose a war. That means losing everything. every-thing. The only smart thing to do is to figure you have a strong, tough, able opponent in the road who can only be beaten by greater strength, toughness and ability. "It would be interesting to know just how many contests have been lost through overconfidence. I don't believe there can be a greater shock than to find, suddenly, you are up against more than you looked for and not be ready for it It is too late then to have your regrets. No one pays off on regrets. "We are today in a much rougher, tougher war than we expected to meet. Too many of us have underrated under-rated the enemy two enemies who have had ten years' preparation against our ten months'. Other Atigles "No winning competitor," Tunney continued, "can afford fear or discouragement dis-couragement or self-pity. 'Cowards,' as Shakespeare put it, 'die many times before their deaths; The valiant val-iant never taste of death but once.' There must be confidence, but not overconfidence. There must be full determination to win, whatever the price to be paid. "In my own case, 1 worked as hard on the mental side, on the side of nerve control, as I ever worked on the physical when I was boxing. For example, I had full respect for Jack Dempsey, but no fear of him. I had made up my mind in advance that I would let him kill me before I would quit. I was prepared mentally men-tally to be knocked down. But I also prepared myself to be ready to get up again and keep on fighting. fight-ing. "Someone has said that 'each must suffer to grow strong.' I believe be-lieve in that theory or idea." |