[le_dominator]

Five years in muay thai (MTA in North Hollywood) and blue belt in brasilian jiu jitsu. Lots of concussions, broken hands, messed up hips and tendons ;)

Seems like hackers are more into martial arts rather than MMA or muay thai or boxing, BUT I've met some guys that are engineers and programmers.

Fighting takes a couple years to get good at and keeps you goal oriented and focused under extreme stress and failure.

The first round is all hype, but when the third bell rings you feel like shit getting ready to go out there. That's when doubt creeps in. Killing that doubt in your mind or staying attacking even when you're losing is what makes a fighter a special breed of person. Lessons are learned the hard way, but they stick with you.

[aarongough]

I like what you're getting at in the last sentence, it really resonated with me.

I think almost as importantly fighting (in a sport context anyway) teaches you that there's a time when it's best to let things go. Learning to tap when you recognize that someone really has something locked is an important skill!