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If you've never been in a\xa0fight\xa0before, have you ever wondered how you\u2019d respond to getting punched in the face?\n\nMy guest today found the experience pretty delightful. Which is all the more surprising given that he'd lived more than three decades of his life as a self-described pacifist, who abhorred\xa0violence, thought\xa0fighting\xa0was barbaric, and feared he was a coward.\xa0His name is Josh Rosenblatt, and he\u2019s the author of\xa0Why We\xa0Fight: One Man\u2019s Search For Meaning Inside the Ring,\xa0which describes\xa0his decision to enter an actual MMA\xa0fight\xa0at the age of 40.\n\nToday on the show, Josh talks about why after a lifetime of being a hedonistic, non-physically oriented, intellectual type of guy who thought mixed martial art\xa0fighting\xa0was dumb, he decided to climb into the cage as a MMA fighter himself. Josh describes how he first got interested in MMA\xa0fighting\xa0in his early 30s, started studying Muay Thai, Krav Maga, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and boxing, and discovered the joys of getting in touch with his long submerged aggression. We then discuss what it was like to train for an actual MMA\xa0fight\xa0as an older guy, how\xa0fighting\xa0has influenced his writing, and what getting into the cage taught him about\xa0sacrifice, asceticism, transcendence, and the potential for human transformation.\n\nGet the show notes at aom.is/whywefight.