Cauliflower ears, fatty knuckles, a scar or two across your face… They’re probably not something a majority of people in your vicinity – your friends and family – like to see. Heck, perhaps even you don’t think too highly of them.
However, you should be proud of these scars. As Nick “Chewy” Albin pointed out in a recent Instagram post, each of these disfigurements represent a battle you’ve had in training and competition:

Some people see the scars that line my forehead, my fat knuckled fingers and my mangled ears and think “oh my gosh, how terrible!” They see them as unsightly. ⁣
But each scar holds a story of battles long since had, the fingers represent a death grip that closes like a steel trap and the ears I proudly wear like a badge of honor reserved for only a select few.

They represent his willingness to continue marching forward, even when he was extremely tired:

They’re reminders etched onto my face and body that when warm blood flowed down my face and clouded my vision I continued to swing and march forward.⁣
When my hands and forearms burned from the fire of fatigue I held on just a little longer to win the match. And when anxiety created a pit in my stomach that made my heart pound and told my brain to, “run away!” . . . I didn’t.⁣

And while society might see them as hideous, something to cover up or avoid.
Each scar or deformity is a souvenir for following my heart and the unconventional path it’s led me on for over 20 years. And I wouldn’t change any of it.⁣

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Nick Albin Aka Chewy (@chewjitsu)