Metaphor concepts and applications

¶ … metaphor use by using life compared to sports as its basis. The writer explains why life is more like boxing than it is running track to explore the many metaphoric opportunities the two sports provide regarding human life.

LIFE IS MORE LIKE BOXING THAN RUNNING TRACK

Using metaphoric examples is something that has been done in literature for many years. Metaphoric examples allow the writer to explain situations in terms that may be more easily grasped by the reader. In addition it paints a clear picture of what the writer is trying to say by comparing and contrasting it in various lights using metaphors as the foundation. In describing life it is easy to find many metaphors that could be applied so that the reader will understand the underlying points. Using sports as a metaphoric tool is a technique that authors often used to paint a picture for the reader. Illustrating life can be a complicated venture but when one uses sports metaphors to lay the foundation for the concept.

Using sports metaphors one can easily compare life to track and boxing. When one examines the issues found in each of the sports and holds them against life's path one can see that life is much more like boxing than it is like track, though there are similarities to both.

The early stages of life can easily be compared to the beginning stages of track and boxing. In life the early years, or the childhood years can be compared to training for the sports of track and boxing. Children are busy learning the ropes of life, which include morals, values and other things that will assist them throughout their adult lives. The lessons also include many basics such as their primary education and the many important social skills that will be needed. The basics are taught through many avenues including modeled behavior, formal lessons and common sense with experience. The sports of boxing and track also require a certain amount of preliminary training including learning about the sports, figuring out the rules and other elements. The rules can be learned through the same methods that life rules and lessons are learned including watching modeled behavior, formal lessons and common sense through learned experiences.

In boxing as well as track one learns the sport initially by taking baby steps. This holds true in life as well. Track and boxing participants begin by doing the small exercises and events so that they can get a feel of what it is about while in life people begin walking by crawling and then eventually pulling themselves up and walking upright. This however, is where the similarities end when comparing track and boxing to life paths.

After the initial training has taken place with the learning to walk, the formal education and the life experience gaining common sense the path begins to liken itself to boxing in many areas. Life is filled with ups and downs. A boxer has to learn to duck, dodge and step in. A boxer steps in when he or she sees a prime opportunity for a successful punch and he steps back to avoid the punches coming his or her way. In the way that a boxer dances and weaves to exert some control over what happens to them in the ring, people dance and weave to exert some control over their lives. When a person sees a prime opportunity in life they tend to lean into it, or rush toward it to accomplish the goal, much in the same way a boxer leans in and performs a one, two knock out punch.

The dancing and weaving that all boxers learn to perform can be likened metaphorically to the dancing and weaving that is done in life. When one goes through life one sees obstacles that arise on the spur of the moment just as one encounters unanticipated things in life. Those can be positive or negative things but they are often not planned for and the action taken is done on the spur of the moment. One might not be planning to change jobs and may be content until one suddenly hears that an opening in a very desirable company has occurred. The decision to send one's resume immediately to the company is done much in the same way that a dance and weave would be done in boxing if one encountered an unexpected jab from one's opponent.

Track is a sport that also requires early training in the same way that life is, but its later actions and decisions are less metaphorically conducive to a discussion about life than boxing is. Track running is about a level road for the most part. The runner runs along a level track while being timed. Life is anything BUT level in its path, and that is why life is more easily compared to boxing than to track running. Life presents unexpected jabs and other weaving events, while track is level. If there are any obstacles they are hurdles set up along the path of life. The hurdles along the track are planned for and the runner knows before he or she takes off that they are there, how tall they are and how many there are. They are planned for wel in advance. In life the hurdles are not planned, nor does the person often know how tall they are, or where they are placed. The hurdles in life are much more easily compared to the jabs of a boxing match because of their very surprise factor.

A track runner also has little surprise in their sport while boxing is all about surprises. The track runner knows that if he or she runs around the track the race is over, while boxing is not over until someone is ko'ed or the judges stop the fight. In addition they can go the distance and be tied. Life is much the same way. One goes through life dancing and weaving and stepping in for the ko (successes) when they become available and then if they go the distance it works out in a positive manner for them.