Head Shepherd
Mark Ferguson from neXtgen Agri brings you the latest in livestock, genetics, innovation and technology. We focus on sheep and beef farming in Australia and New Zealand, and the people doing great things in those industries. To learn more about neXtgen Agri, visit www.nextgenagri.com.
Head Shepherd
Tough Times, Tougher Farmers: The FarmFitNZ Approach with Kane Brisco
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When the going gets tough on farm, it's the tough who get going. But what fuels that resilience?
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast, we have Kane Brisco of FarmFitNZ to discuss mental wellbeing, farm fitness and community.
In his late twenties, Kane found himself in a tough spot. He’d stopped participating in his local rugby team and his passion for farming had faded, so he didn’t know what to do with himself. Instead of packing up and changing careers, Kane took a step back and worked out what he needed to do to get himself out of that funk.
Each day, Kane starts with a routine that sets him up for success. Firstly, feed yourself right, says Kane. “You're fuelling up, it's like putting gas in your motorbike tank, you know? You don't expect it to run on empty all day, so we can't expect to do it ourselves."
Next, start with a purpose. Kane recommends writing down a list of what you want to achieve that day, stick to it and - most importantly - don’t forget to tick things off as you complete them. “Everybody needs a purpose when they get out of bed, so for me, that's just a simple way to get a bit of clarity on the day. It takes about two minutes, not even that some days. It's a good feeling to cross them off, you know, a bit of satisfaction even on a tough day if you can just cross one of them off. It does perk you up over time,” shares Kane.
And, of course, we couldn’t talk to the founder of FarmFitNZ without discussing the influence of physical health on mental health. At his worst, Kane realised that when his physical fitness was low, so was his mental resilience. “It was that time in my life that made me realise how important it is to be physically prepared for a physical job and how that ties into your mental capability and your frame of mind and I guess your mindset and ultimately your mental health. They both work together and they're both linked,” says Kane.
Kane began running a ‘boot camp’ from his driveway for local farmers, giving them an opportunity to build strength and resilience, as well as generating that great rural community spirit. He explains, “It was just a matter of putting it out to the local community, to get them off the farm to my driveway basically to get a sweat on and test the lungs out and get together.”
“A lot of them had never done that before, something formal like that. But most of all, it was the communication with the other farmers, their neighbours from 5 km down the road that they didn't see too often … just having a catch-up, sharing what was going on regularly with each other's lives,” says Kane. “It wasn’t as much about getting fit and strong. It was actually just sharing with each other and creating those bonds within the community. You couldn't put a price on that if you tried."
If you’d like to know more, Kane has recently written a book about his journey. Find out more here: https://farmfitnzshop.com/.
Head Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited.
We help livestock farmers get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best: info@nextgenagri.com.
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Mental Health and Fitness
Speaker 1Welcome to the Head Shepherd podcast . I'm your host , mark Ferguson , ceo here at NextGen Agri International , where we help livestock managers get the best out of their stock Before we get started . Thank you to our two fantastic sponsors for continuing to sponsor this podcast . Msd Animal Health is perhaps better known as Cooper's Animal Health in Australia and for their Allflex range across the world with a comprehensive suite of animal health and management products . Heinegger is a one-stop shop for wool harvesting and animal fibre removal . The Heinegger team have a deep understanding of livestock agriculture , backed by Swiss engineering and a family business dedicated to manufacturing the best . We are grateful to our sponsors for their support , helping us bring Head Shepherd to you each week . And now it's time to get on with this week's episode . Welcome back to Head Shepherd . Just a quick reminder that tonight on the Hub we Welcome back to Head Shepherd . Just a quick reminder that tonight on the hub we've got a live session with Darren Gordon . That'll be free for anyone who jumps on the hub . You might have to sign up to the hub to get access to that , but well worth that extra couple of mouse clicks . Darren will be talking about all things nutrition , sort of pasture assessment , the importance of assessing feed , the importance of condition scoring and just answering any questions really around how to go about feeding under tougher times . Depending on where you are , you might be going okay , but lots of parts of the South Island have had a tough autumn so far , and so there'll be people out there that might be grain feeding sheep for the first time or doing things differently than they would normally do . So this is your opportunity to jump on board and ask Darren some questions . There's not many scenarios he hasn't seen over his career in terms of nutritional strategies across all sorts of different seasons , so that's going to be a really , really good chat . Welcome to jump on there . If you can't make it , if you're busy doing something tonight , then by Wednesday it'll be on our YouTube channel . So check out Next Gen Agri on YouTube or if you jump on the hub , it'll be loaded up there as well as a recorded event . And if you've really got some burning questions I bet you can't make it flick them through to info at nextgenagricom and we'll endeavour to answer them if we're not swamped by those people that are live . But yeah , we look forward to hopefully seeing a few of you there this week .
Speaker 1On the show we've got Cain Briscoe . I heard Cain speak at the Zanna McDonald Awards Summit a few weeks back and really thought his story was a good one and wanted to share it with all your listeners . So we asked Cain to jump on and he was kind enough to spend some time with us . Cain's had a few rough patches through his life and has come out the other side of them firing and is keen now to help others . And has come out the other side of them firing and is keen now to help others , and so he started FarmFit , which is locals getting together to do a bit of fitness , and he's actually written a book which we'll talk about in the podcast and we'll put links in the show . But yeah , he's just an inspiring farmer out of the North Island of New Zealand who's made the most of a few tough situations and is out there helping others do great things . Lots of chat about mental health and just the ways he goes about making sure that every day is a good one for him .
Speaker 1We'll get underway with Cain Briscoe . Welcome , cain Briscoe to Head Shepard .
Speaker 2Thank you very much for having me . It's a pleasure to be here , mate .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's awesome to have you . I listened to you down at the Zanna mcdonald awards the other day and , yeah , really a great story and one that I thought lots of people need to hear , and so I thought we'd get you on here and share that a bit wider than and I know you've told your story lots of times , so it's uh , you might be getting tired of it , but , um , but it's uh , it's , it's great , uh , I guess for others to to . Interestingly enough , head Shepherd was kind of a bit of a play on words when I originally set up the podcast , which was sort of around mental health as well as genetics and farming and all the other things that we do . So anyway , we're getting back to its roots a bit today to talk a bit about mental health and , I guess , just generally . But yeah , maybe just start off by your introduction , sort of where you're farming and kind of a bit of your journey .
Speaker 2Yes , I'm a Taranaki , born and bred . Currently dairy farming still in Taranaki . I've never really left , apart from a bit of an OE . So I spent all my life here 37 now I think I am 37 , or 38 , one or the other , whatever sounds better . 37 now I think I am 37 , or 38 , one or the other , whatever sounds better . But yeah , currently contract milking on 310 cows right up on the mountain actually . So I'm right on the bush line of Egmont National Park , which is challenging on the best of days . But I've spent the best part of 20 years , I guess , farming , now most of that in dairy . I spent about five years dry stock when I first left school and done a grain harvest over in the UK and that sort of thing . So pretty good background in farming . I just love farming and what it does for us as a country and in particular I guess the people that do it I think are really special sorts . And yeah , just bloody love it Most days .
Speaker 1Yeah , Most days and we'll get to that . Yeah , no , and you're right , it is about the people and I think I wrote recently in a newsletter that , yeah , our business is about the people and we're very , always grateful of the wonderful people we get to work with because , yeah , farming folk are generally good people . We might start with , I stole your six points off your website somewhere or off somewhere , I don't know somewhere . I stole it anyway . But six sort of things to live by . I thought it might be a bad place to wander through . But the one on top of your list was prioritize your physical fitness .
Speaker 2Yeah , I mean I've been lucky that I was always into sports growing up , so being active has been a pretty big part of my life and I guess you don't appreciate it when you're younger and you can do lots of things and get away with a lot of things . But I guess heading into my late 20s I gave up rugby and that was a really big thing for me to do . I'd played it all my life and and . But I was looking forward to , you know , not having to train and not being sore on a Sunday and that sort of thing and but I didn't realize how much that fitness over the winter played a part in helping me to be a be a farmer . So at that point in time I was , I was on a , I was a one-man band dairy farmer , basically running just over 200 , did everything myself and spent my first winter not playing footy and getting unfit and putting on a bit of weight , which felt great .
Speaker 2And I went straight into springtime , which is a pretty full-on time of the year , and just felt buggered and I'd never come across that before .
Speaker 2And just felt buggered and I'd never come across that before . It was an instant realization that you know , playing footy and being fit going into spring was a really big help . And I guess that moment led me down . It was a bit of a snowball really , feeling like shit and fatigue and decision making all sort of went because of that physical fitness not being there and led me down a bit of a spiral really . And that was that time in my life that made me realize how important it is to be physically prepared for a physical job and and how that ties into your mental capability and and your frame of mind and and I guess your mindset and and ultimately , your mental health and they both work together and they're both both linked and directed . And yeah , from that moment it's sort of been an understanding , I guess , that you can't have great mental health without good physical support and a part of that is exercise and staying fit and strong .
Speaker 1Yeah , exactly , and and anyone who knows me knows that my job's not often that taxing physically but , um , but mentally it's . It's really important for me to uh , yeah , to try and stay fit , and I spent last year doing focusing on that and once I get this foot fixed I'll be um , yeah , anyway , I'm on the I'm rowing at the moment because I can't run , but , yeah , it's just been a game changer really to um , in terms of being physically fitter , just in what it does to your brain capacity , and I think the days where I , like yesterday was one of them where sort of the days where you least want to do something exercise-wise , are the ones that you benefit most from when you actually do it . That's the way it rolls . So number two on the list was good breakfast and a stretch . That's what you get up and start the day with .
Speaker 2Yeah , I think it's just . You know , as you get older it probably gets harder to get up . But you know you , typically when you do the same job every day , you sort of roll out and have a yawn and think , oh bloody hell , groundhog day again . But I've just found getting up , having a good breakfast is a positive . And then , as I've gotten older , I guess just opening the body up a little bit and getting it prepared to head outside has been quite helpful . It's not something you know , 10 years ago if I said this I would have slapped myself , but it's just . When you get older , mate , there's no , you've got to do these things . So , yeah , it's just a positive , easy way to start the day , mate , and you know you're fueling up . It's like putting gas in your motorbike tank . You don't expect it to run on empty all day , so we can't expect to do it ourselves .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , exactly . And that sort of flows on to number three , which is three good meals a day , which is all about keeping the fuel fueling the body up .
Speaker 2Yeah , it is , mate . It's easy to put the head down and ass up on farm and say you don't have time to stop and have a snack or a decent feed . But the reality is , I think once you make the connection of , you know , fueling yourself to perform better , you soon make the time . So it's just about prioritising a bit or being organised and taking that food with you . It doesn't need to be a three-course meal , but you know , if you're out doing a physical job , then you need to feel it and you'll feel better at the end of the day and better tomorrow .
Speaker 2If you , uh , if you stop and take that break and it's sometimes even just just a 10 minute stop , you know , for a bit of bit of mental relief too . Uh , if you're doing something difficult , it's just a bit refreshing and it's , like , you know , running ultra marathons and that sort of thing . If you don't fuel it or if you don't stop and have a walk or or , or stop at an , a station , then you uh , you fall to pieces and you know it's not . You don't have to look far around the farming community to see people doing that all the time . So it's just about being proactive and smart about it and if you're smart , you're actually tougher .
Speaker 1Makes you tougher yeah , yeah , good point and that , I guess , and these all flow into each other .
Daily Well-Being Practices
Speaker 1But list and a purpose for the day is something you've sort of implemented to make sure each day you're going out with a clear idea of what the priority is for the day .
Speaker 2Yeah , that was one of the things I implemented , I guess , when I was at my worst , or coming out of it at my worst was just getting up with a purpose and some things to achieve . And as much as it's important to make a bit of a list and prioritise things , it's actually really important to tick them off . When you do them you get a sense of satisfaction and might be relief if it's a job that's been nagging you . But you know everybody needs a purpose when they get out of bed . So for me that's just a simple way to get a bit of clarity on the day takes about two minutes , um , not even that some days and um , yeah , it's , it's good feeling to cross them off .
Speaker 1You know a bit of satisfaction , even on a tough day if you can just cross one of them off , it does , uh does , perk you up over time yeah , it's a really good point , I guess I guess most well , not most , but lots of agricultural workers , farmers everywhere , are often either working by themselves or sort of small teams . So , yeah , it's not like it's a corporate structure with someone telling you what to do . It's mostly self-led and often quite lonely . So , yeah , having that sort of pat on the back or that , tick that or cross that list off no one , everyone loves crossing something off a list . You've got to learn to pat yourself on the back , eh yeah . Yeah , no one else is going to do it , that's true . And then the fifth one on the list was writing a journal and again , that's probably something you wouldn't have come across unless you had sort of had a few struggles or whatever . But you hear that quite a bit . It's not something I've done , but I'd be keen to hear how that rolls .
Speaker 2Yeah again , if I heard myself saying that 10 years ago I probably would have given myself a kick up the ass . But you know , it's just one of those tools that I did it pretty consistently for a good two or three years , I would say Not religiously , but consistently , and it's something I just go back to now as a tool in the tool belt , so to speak . Especially if you chuck a bit of emotion and feeling into something you know , it just turns into a big bloody scramble . So for me , writing it out whether it's a journal format or just writing out facts or lists and that sort of thing , is a way to , I guess , untangle that bird's nest . So for me you know , it's me you can buy journals with prompts and questions and that sort of thing and they're great . I've used those before to guide you and figure things out and ask yourself the tough questions that need to be asked .
Speaker 2But I've just always found when I write things out it tends to be a lot more factual and real , rather than you know up in our brains . 90% of it's scaremongering and nightmares and future and past , whereas when you actually write , when you write those fears out , they look stupid . So you don't write them so you deal with facts and reality a bit more . That's what I've found . The big benefit is just unscrambling the brain a bit , really , and getting some thoughts , and particularly for us fellas , if there's emotions and feelings involved , it's just an outlet to get rid of them in a in a healthy way . Rather than getting on the piss and having a scrap with someone , you can just sort of let the valve off a little bit , uh , with a pen and paper or something similar . So I know a lot of guys actually um , they , they do uh sort of voice recordings , just talk into their phone and record it , which is whatever tickles your fancy really . But yeah , the idea is just to straighten things out and get it out as a pressure release valve really .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's a good point . I mean , it doesn't really matter if some people write it , but even if you say it like half the stuff that's in your head , when you actually go to say it out loud you're like actually it doesn't make sense . You're going to say it out loud , you're like actually it doesn't make sense . And whether you're writing it or saying it out loud , it sort of makes you force you to stick to what's reality a bit .
Speaker 2Exactly and you catch yourself out if it's something really bloody stupid or not rational or logical . When you actually speak it and hear it again , you sound like a right dick . So you don't carry on with that thought .
Speaker 1Yeah , and then the sixth one on the list was every three weeks get off farm for a couple of pints with a mate , and that's very important to get the hell out of the business and just relax .
Speaker 2Yeah , absolutely mate , like it's hard to live where you work , and that's one of the things that all farmers pretty much face is , even if you have a day off or a weekend off or whatever , you know , you look out the window and the problem's still there staring at you in the face , you know .
Speaker 2So that was a rule I came up with years ago . If I did have a day off or an afternoon or a weekend or whatever it may be , was just to drive out the gate and , you know , see you later , for even if it was a couple of hours in town . So yeah , I've sort of implemented a bit more social time with . That was surrounding myself with good people and having a catch-up and sharing . Really , it can be as formal or as informal as you like , and it's a lot easier over a beer and a feed to just have a good conversation with someone , whether they're another farmer or not . Just to hear someone else's perspective or what's going on in their life is a bloody healthy thing to do and you know , a couple of beers never hurt anyone .
Speaker 1That's right . No , definitely Couldn't agree more . So I mean we've sort of covered it as we've gone . But obviously at some point in your farming career you really lost your mojo and , yeah , sort of stopped wanting to farm and that was obviously a tough , a very tough period in your life .
Speaker 2Yeah , mate , it was like ever since I can remember . You know , four or five years old , all I wanted to be was a farmer . And I guess I found myself in my late 20s not wanting to do what I had thought I loved , you know , and not wanting to be there at all and losing the love for it and the passion for it and just wanting to get the hell out of it . And that was a really scary thing . My whole life purpose had been to be a farmer and I found myself just stuck in the middle of it and I was just like , if I'm not enjoying this , what the hell am I going to do ? What am I here for ? And it was a really big sort of question to ask yourself . And when you're not in a good mental space , like I was , you sort of think , well , fuck it , I shouldn't be here , I've got no value if I can't be a farmer , and I couldn't see myself being able to
Finding Passion
Speaker 2enjoy it again . So it was a pretty scary thing when you sort of lose your identity or fall out of love with something that you've loved your whole life . Yeah , I think , talking to a lot of farmers , I think most people identity or fall out of love with something that you've loved your whole life and um , yeah , it's .
Speaker 2I think , talking to a lot of farmers , I think most people , most farmers I've talked to probably go through that or something similar , where they've just had enough , or or they've lost the love for it . It just becomes a chore every day and you know it's , it's seen as a job rather than a passion , um , and I think not many farmers do it for the money you , you know . So it's something that you've got to , that's for sure , yeah , especially at the moment . So you've got to have a love for it and a bit of passion . You know You've got to enjoy doing it .
Speaker 2I think mostly not every day is going to be great , but you've got to enjoy the process of being a farmer and to lose . That is a pretty tough thing , but it was good to get out the other side of it and find a bit of passion and enjoyment again . Even though it was a really tough time financially as , as a lot of people are going through now , it was pretty dark . You can actually still find some enjoyment there , but it's , it's a choice you got to make to to go and look for it yeah , and so what were those ?
Speaker 1I guess , small steps that you sort of found that worked when you're for anyone that might be heading down that slippery slope , or at the bottom of that slippery slope , what's the sort sort of ways . I mean , it'll be different for everyone , but how did you crawl your way back out of the hole ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I guess I stopped and asked myself why am I doing this ? And for me it was about recreating some of those childhood memories with my own kids . Bringing them up in the country was really important and I sort of asked myself well , what did I used to like about farming , you know as ? And I sort of asked myself , well , what did I used to like about farming as a boy and a young fellow growing up ? What was the fun things that I did that drew me into this ? And it was actually doing that .
Speaker 2So when I thought about it , it was patting the calves and having a pet calf and going out with the cows and watching them and driving around on the tractor like a dickhead and on the motorbike For the fun of it . Though when you're a kid , none of it seems like work . So for me , the first thing was like , right , I made a rule when I locked the cows away every morning and night to just park the bike up and have a quick walk through them and you know , you get the odd friendly one come over for a pet , and it's really hard to be ungrateful and to hate that when an animal chooses to come over to you for a , for a pattern , a scratch , and yeah , you know it was . It was just that little step . It was like , oh , actually , this is the best five minutes of my day , you know , and and just adding that in , you know , and taking the kids out on the farm more and and and seeing , okay , trying not to focus too much on the jobs but but actually enjoying the process of building things and making a difference . So , yeah , it was really reconnecting with those things that drew me into it in the first place .
Speaker 2I guess I sort of see our passions as a bit like a marriage . You have a marriage to a woman or a man or whatever way you want to go about it . There's times during the relationship that you do drift apart a little bit and it's about remembering why you're with that person , why you chose that person , and what are the things you do have in common , not the things you don't have in common , you know , and focusing on the good bits and you sort of draw back together over time . So that's sort of how I looked at it and , you know , little things add up over time . And that's sort of how I looked at it and little things add up over time .
Speaker 1And that's the key .
Speaker 2I think it's not going to change in a day or a week or a month . It takes little things done consistently to get those sort of things back .
Speaker 1Yeah . And so somewhere along that journey , you started FarmFit , which was about , I guess , bringing that well , making that true connection between physical fitness and mental fitness . How's that gone for you ? What's , what was that journey ?
Speaker 2yeah , it's been a pretty incredible journey , like , I guess , once I got myself out of a bad spot , um , I spent probably 18 months or so getting the farm you know in a in a sustainable , profitable business model going um . So I really worked on that and that that freed up a lot of time and energy for me and I sort of looked around the farming sector , in particular dairy farming . We'd had a pretty rough time for a few years and there are a lot of unhappy , sad people out there and I just sort of thought , well , I've used , you know , training and exercise as a pretty major tool to get me out of a bad place . What can I do to help others ? Instead of sitting on Facebook blaming politicians and vegans and this , that and the other ? I thought , well , what can I actually bloody do here to help people out ? It was just a matter of putting it out to the local community to get them off farm to my driveway , basically to get a sweat on and test the lungs out and get together , I guess , and that's basically what it was just a boot camp
Building Community and Sustainability
Speaker 2on the driveway .
Speaker 2And what I found really quickly is , you know , they really enjoyed doing something a bit different . You know , physical exercise for a lot of them was , you know , farm work . So having an actual 45 minute routine or some different exercises . A lot of them had never done that before , something formal like that , so that was something new . So they were learning , trying something different . But most of all it was the communication with the other farmers , their neighbours from 5K down the road that they didn't see too often , or even the neighbour across the fence . You just work these days and a lot of rural communities don't have the school or the hall or the social functions that they're used to regularly . So that was the biggest thing was just having a catch-up , sharing what was going on regularly with each other's lives , and I think that creates a lot of community spirit , a little bit of a safety net , I think , because you begin to understand when people aren't quite themselves a bit more or they're not turning up to the fitness session , you get a bit of peer pressure like what's going on with this fellow ? He's not coming along anymore . So you go and ask the question what's going on ? So I think that's the safety net and it just takes a bit of weight off your shoulders , I think , when you can share some problems or ideas about what's going on on the farm at the moment . You don't feel so alone . So that was really the gold of that . It wasn't as much about getting fit and strong , it was actually just sharing with each other , and creating those bonds within the community was just . You know , you couldn't put a price on that if you tried . Yeah .
Speaker 2So I guess farm fit moulded a little bit from out of the on-farm gym . I guess it's morphed a little bit from out of the on-farm gym . I guess it's morphed a little bit more into mindset and tips for farmers to handle stress and ways to think about things on-farm . I guess that are a bit more positive . So we've definitely brought in that mental aspect in a simple way that us farmers can understand . We've got a couple of online training programs going so people all over the country or the world can download those and do it at their own leisure .
Speaker 2At this stage the actual boot camp , the on-farm physical gym , isn't running at the moment as I've moved farms and about to move again , so we'll have to reset that up for next summer . But yeah , we've written a book , do a lot of speaking and I actually really enjoy getting out and doing speaking engagements , not so much for the actual speech I do , but connecting with farmers afterwards and hearing their stories that's the most powerful thing for me is getting to know what their pain points are . And I guess , looking towards the future , I think FarmFit will be a bit more about actually getting into those farm businesses and people on farm and helping them out as a team whatever that looks like husband and wife or or share milkers and workers or owners and their farm team and actually getting in there and having a look at the whole thing holistically a little bit , so a little bit of the farm business and the way the farms run . And is that sustainable ? We talk about sustainability with the environment and that sort of thing , but is it sustainable for the people in it ?
Speaker 2I see so many people just and I was guilty of this as well they go hard for 5 or 10 or 15 years and then they just burn out and they hate it , you know , and they can't wait to bloody get out of it .
Speaker 2You know it's it's a big problem . So we've actually got to look at sustainability as , as you know , it's got to be a profitable system , it's got to look after the environment and the animals , but it's got to look after the people too . So I'm really keen to get in on farms and sit down with teams and have a look at the whole system and how they can be better . And farmers are a slowly dying breed , unfortunately , so we've got to look after the ones that are in it now and have something for the new ones coming in that they have that right balance between toughness , work ethic but also the ability to look after themselves , so that they have that right balance between toughness , work ethic but also the ability to look after themselves , so that they're here for not just five years , they're doing sort of 30 , 40 years in the thing and going on to be the next leaders .
Speaker 1Excellent , such an important role and I'm sure it'll be insanely powerful to get in there on businesses at that level and really work through what is sustainable . Yeah , I mean everyone out there doing . I mean we all grew up watching my dad work . My kids are watching me growing up watching me work 70 , 80-hour works , whatever it is . Yeah , it's relatively nuts in either small business or farming , but yeah , we have to find ways to make that sustainable through getting other people around us , and you up the driveway will be a big part of that . That book's called Tools for the Top Addict . We'll make sure we put links in the show notes so people can find that and links to your online content as well so they can get in there . It'll be sort of 60% of our listeners are in Australia , so a few Aussies getting in there will be good to hear a few tips .
Speaker 1The one thing I wanted to cover before we close off was your boxing career , because I've never stood in the ring and got my head beaten in . Yeah , I did grow up with two brothers and they tried their best to beat the hell out of me , but what is it like when you're staring ? When you walk out , jump into the ring with someone that's about to , their only intention is to knock you out .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's a bloody lonely place , mate . I'll tell you it's . I haven't come across anything like it . It is a , you know , like before your first
The Power of Boxing
Speaker 2fight . You do all this training and sparring with your gym mates and that sort of thing , and that's scary enough . But you do all this training and sparring with your gym mates and that sort of thing , and that's scary enough . But you've got this environment , that's um , you know no one's out to really hurt you and sparring too much , or that . You know your trainer's there and it's , it's all a little happy family sort of thing . But tell you what , when you get in there and your trainer hops out , and it's just you , the other guy and the referee , and the bell goes it . All of a sudden you feel like you've transported yourself back in time a couple of thousand years and you're at the coliseum as a gladiator , you know , and it's um , it's , it's a fucking scary place . If it's not going well , I'll tell you was back then too .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah absolutely , but it is . It's something that , um , yeah , I don't I can't think of any other sports mate that'll teach you as much about yourself or about life . The only thing probably that comes close be distance running , long distance running , because you go through some pretty dark patches in that . But there's something very caveman-like and ancestral . I don't know what it is , but about that combat side of things that just adds another element to do it and a lot of people call it the chamber of truth , because all the truth comes out .
Speaker 2You know about you and your character and you know a lot of things around quitting and toughness and smarts and discipline and all those sort of things . You know a big bright light gets shone on your soul . So it's a very powerful thing to do because you put all those vulnerabilities out there . You know if you're a quitter you'll get found out and you know you've got an audience watching you in the most basic form of combat . You know that gets showed out pretty quickly . So it is a massively vulnerable thing to do , I think , especially for a man , because we've got that macho bloody mask that we wear .
Speaker 2But even the toughest guys aren't always that tough . And I remember my second fight . I'll tell you a quick story . My second fight .
Speaker 2I travelled down and I was at the weigh-in . So at amateur level , all the boxes for the day line up and you get weighed in and my trainer pointed out the guy I was fighting . He said , oh , you're fighting that fella over there and he looked like just a normal dude but he had a tracksuit , full tracksuit on , like zipped up to his chin , and he went to get on the scales and he unzipped all his track pants and his track pant top and he was just from here , from his chin down right down to his toes was just covered in tattoos , like right down his arms , up his neck , chest , and I was like , oh , bloody hell , what have we got here ? We've got a gangster . Bloody great , this is going to be fun .
Speaker 2And I said to my trainer he heard me , I must have gone . Oh , bloody hell . And he turned around and he said they're just tough stickers , mate , they don't make you tough . And I ended up winning that fight quite easy . It was probably one of my easiest fights I ever had because you know , it's not what's on the outside , it's what's on the inside , and you know it's just one of those sports you can't hide in it .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , you're almost talking it up to make me want to go and start .
Speaker 2I'd love to bring it back into schools , yeah yeah , there's mums and dads everywhere shuddering mate .
Speaker 2In all honesty mate , I think for particularly males . I'd love to see it in schools , a boxing or combat sports programme of some description , because , yeah , like I said , it was a monumental moment in my life , Changed the trajectory of my life personally and , you know , at work as well . Stepping into the ring changed my trajectory of my life personally and , you know , at work as well . Stepping into the ring changed my entire outlook on life and it teaches you so much about life and about yourself that no other sport , I think , can hold a candle to it .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , yeah , no , amazing . And you did retire then and try to go back for one more fight , did you , was it ? Am I remembering that right , yeah ?
Speaker 2boxing was one of the things , I guess , when I was in my worst spot , you know , in my late 20s , I thought , you know , to get myself fit again and get rid of a bit of anger . In all honesty , I thought I'll bugger it , I'll get back in the ring and , yep , trained , got fit , lost weight , got my confidence back , mentally refreshed myself for the farm , did all the things I wanted it to do . But went and entered myself into a boxing tournament and came up against a good young fella and got a hell of a hiding . So that was my cue to yeah , once you stay retired you're a bugger , basically . But again , the chamber of truth . The truth was I was getting too old and slow . So , uh , sometimes , yeah , sometimes , you need that reality check . But you know , on the whole it served its purpose . It got me out of . You know , it was a major , major tool I used to get me out of a , um , pretty tough spot yeah , yeah , excellent mate .
Speaker 1We really appreciate your time today and , um , yeah , definitely recommend everyone , if they're not into reading , to get on there and get on the FarmFit website and have a look around and download some of that material . But , yeah , definitely , I'm sure you can find the book wherever good books are sold and we'll find the links for that . But , yeah , really appreciate your time and all that you're doing out there for our great industry and let you get back and tick a few more things off your list today .
Speaker 2Yeah , mate , that's the plan . And just for the farmers out there that aren't great readers , I didn't put too many big words in there . I'm not a great reader myself , so I made it easy to understand for you . And just my advice is to get the wife to read you a bedtime chapter and it'll go down where while . I've had good feedback about doing that . So , yeah , get stuck into it and it'll go down where while . I've had good feedback about doing that . So you get stuck into it and cheers . I appreciate your time and the opportunity to come and speak to you and your listeners . Excellent thanks , cain cheers , mate .
Speaker 1Thanks again to Heinegger , who are proud world leaders in the manufacturing and supply of professional sheep shearing and clipping equipment . Thank you to MNSD animal health management , all backed up by exceptional service . We thank both of these companies for their ongoing support of the Head Shippen podcast .
