Grit

Since he was a little kid, Reuben Carles has been involved with combat sports his entire life. He saw his brother often playing Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter from a distance. The two-toned red and orange Street Fighter script has ripped edges at the ends of the fat letters as if to warn users a fight to the death is about to go down.

Chimes sound off as buttons are pushed for the selection of the amount of players, the country you’re representing and the player you’re going to maneuver for the war of character vs. character. Round 1 appears across the center of the black screen. Fade to black. Nano seconds of anticipation for the simulated fight. The Endocrine system releases gangs of hormones through glands in the body. The unique scene is set like in front of Mount Rushmore or an anonymous city’s railway yard. Parked train cars are tagged with graffiti. Player 1 verses the Enemy. Whether it was Ryu or another character didn’t matter. You needed to work with the abilities and techniques programed into each character to defeat the Enemy.

Reuben wasn’t much of a gamer, but if he selected on the controller who he’s representing it would be the Kingdom of heaven. He witnessed a couple of times someone being mugged so he was like ‘let me be a cop.’ Films and Street Fighter were exciting, but he wanted to do action scenes in real life. He was born with a personality to protect if he sees injustice. Reuben is not going to talk, but do something about it physically. He practiced at an early age throwing punches into a heavy bag. Although the sessions were good, it wasn’t enough. He needed to take it to the next level. He rode the city bus to downtown Toronto, Canada to pursue more formal training for boxing. Reuben walked into a boxing gym around fifteen years old to be apart of the sport, but not looking up to one main fighter or collection of fighters in general. 

During the summer of the year he’d leave Toronto for Los Angeles Reuben recalls one incident provoking him to action. Upon returning home from a funeral, Reuben’s brother screamed “Reuben! Reuben! Reuben!,” as he ran downstairs and ran outside their house. Reuben thought, “What in the world?” Reuben left his house and watched his brother running down the street barefoot after six high school teenagers. Reuben thought about multiple scenarios of what they attempted to do like they may have tried to break into his family’s car. 

Ruben had the keys to the car in his pocket so he jumped into the driver’s side and went after the teenagers as fast as he could. Reuben’s brother chased the six teenagers across a local football field. Reuben jumped the curb and drove through the football field in full pursuit. He sped up in front of the teenagers and stopped. The crew of six freaked out. Reuben got out of the car and when his brother caught up to the standoff Reuben asked his him, “Who did it?” His brother replied, “He did it!”

So Reuben walked up to the teenager and smacked him across the face, bam! Reuben grabbed him by the shirt and threw him around in front of his five friends. Reuben was out of control. His reasoning resurfaced to alert him about his aggressive actions. He snapped out of it.

A couple of moments later all eight of them stood in a circle holding hands and prayed. The teenagers were breaking into peoples’ cars. Reuben’s brother had a silver metal bible in the car. The teens assumed it was some sort of technology, a device like an iPad. So that’s all they took: a bible. The following month Reuben booked a flight to Los Angeles to begin his M-Div degree at Master’s Theological Seminary in Sun Valley, California. 

In the realm of fighting, Reuben the pugilist sees it as an art form stylistically. There’s an aspect of grit in combat sports which parallels the spiritual battles of the human condition. There are times in faith when you want to quit or completely give up. The charge to keep going against the flow of abrasive particles such as bodily harm and tiredness requires a drive found in the inner being of the soul. Possessing grit makes the hits even harder. British sportswriter Pierce Egan coined the boxing term “sweet science” for boxing because fighters need to be tough and command a forward thinking strategy to beat their opponents.  

Cus D’Amato who taught Mike Tyson the peek-a-boo style of fighting said boxing is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. The handwork and footwork are equally important because they work in unison to create movement and leverage for striking. The majority of boxing is mental and it’s the same for faith. Reuben loves the scholarly and academic rigor of the entire bible. He reads the scriptures with a sense of inquisitiveness and analytical prowess. The constant training over time in boxing and in faith ought to develop new techniques to stand toe to toe against any enemy in any setting and any time. 1 Corinthians 15:54 says “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

Romans 12:2 encapsulates the ideas of grit and ‘sweet science’. The New International Version states, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The firmness of character developed from resisting the ‘patterns of the world’ actually happens during training and championship fights. Lessons and techniques learned from quiet times and/or shadowboxing sessions will be used for future tests and trials. The word of God renews the mind with the the way of grace and truth found in Jesus. The resurrection of the King powers the kingdom of God. Whether it is for boxing or faith the sweet part of training is you get to implement what you’ve learned to ‘test and approve’ using the scientific method what God’s will is for your personal life.

Reuben has two different worlds he’s apart of in Los Angeles. One is theological/pastoral/philosophical and the other is the boxing community. They’re two different crowds. The huge boxing world from his experience has been more diverse in terms of class, race and you name it. God has used Reuben in different boxing gyms by starting a bible study on every other Friday night at a Team Watson Boxing Gym in Balboa Park. Jacob “Stitch” Duran and Icepack first introduced Reuben to the boxing gym. Being a creature of habit, Reuben was there everyday and met one person after another. There was a nice VIP lounge with televisions, chairs and it was empty so Reuben saw the potential to use it as an open bible gathering. People would show up who would never appear at a formal church service. Two very big boxing promoters Marvin and Sam Watson asked Reuben to pray over a live event because they knew he was a pastor and a regular at their gyms. Raging excitement filled Reuben because the Lord was using his abilities to pray at a boxing event for over two thousand people at Sportsman Lodge in Studio City, California. 

Almost everyday Reuben attends the infamous Wildcard Boxing Gym in Hollywood on Vine and Santa Monica Boulevard. He’d spend five to six days a week and two to three hours working on his personal pugilism. Boxing is his side gig and theology, pastoral ministry is his main thing. One day Reuben was standing inside the wildly diverse boxing gym run by Freddy Roach, Manny Pacquiao’s boxing trainer. All of a sudden a 70-something Filipino woman walked into the rugged boxing gym. She wore a dress and looked clearly out of place. Reuben looked at her and said, “Kamusta?” She replied, “What did you say?” Kamusta ka na. How are you in Tagalog. She said, “How do you know that you’re White?” Reuben responded by telling her his mom was born in the Philippines. So the ice was broken and they kept talking. Reuben said he studies pastoral ministry and theology. She said, “Oh really?” So eventually Lillia took Reuben’s contact information and invited him to her house. Reuben was like, “Okay.” 

On a Sunday afternoon Reuben drove to Lillia’s place in an unusual location inside a gated community. He walked into the large home and there were professional photographs of Manny Pacquioa hanging on the walls and trophies everywhere. He thought Lillia is either a huge Manny fan or this is his house. Later it was verified to be Manny’s home.

Lillia is Manny’s aunt and manages his home when he’s away. So they became family-friends rapidly because of his relationship with Christ. And eventually a few months later Reuben met Manny when he returned from being away. Manny went through the motions of a Roman Catholic, but began to really own his faith when he became a born-again Christian around 2011. He attended Shepherd of the Hills Church with Lillia. Manny as a transformed guy is very hungry for the word of God, dedicated to praying and living in the divine nature as opposed to the Las Vegas lifestyle of the boxing industry. 

When you profess faith in Jesus Christ you get baptized afterward. Reuben’s genuine conversion activated when he was 19, but it never happened because he got into ministry and speaking right away. There were two opportunities to get baptized in Sun Valley, but the process of applying was like a doctoral dissertation. There was a church in downtown Los Angeles, but with all the cameras and lights it felt like a show to him. Reuben didn’t want to be another stat on video. Being baptized became two complicated so he waited. Manny fought Timothy Bradley for the third time. Then he went to his home a couple of days later. Manny was baptizing people inside of his pool. Reuben was there and thinking about how he wasn’t baptized after his profession of faith in Jesus Christ. So he decided it was time. That’s it. It happened on the spot and Reuben never planned it. 

Reuben had the same unplanned interactions with Floyd Mayweather, the only professional boxer to achieve 50 wins and zero losses. He knows some of his camera and security personnel. At the time, Floyd’s uncle and mitt’s man, Rodger Mayweather was sick. Reuben told Floyd with security overlooking their discussion about how he’s praying for Rodger. Reuben also talked to Floyd about salvation through Christ among other meaningful dialogue.

Reuben is about the same height as Floyd. The message was received very well while they talked. Reuben wants to continue boxing until he’s 70 or even 80 years old, but Christian apologetics is his passion. The most ruthless punch or series of punches Reuben ever took was from a unique style boxer from Wildcard by the name of Javier. Javier broke into Reuben’s guard and fought on the inside with a couple of blows to his rib cage. If you’re prepared in a tight clinch it’s going to be less painful, but if you’re loose the punishment is devestating. 

A year before Reuben moved to Los Angeles, he was in Sun Valley visiting for two weeks on vacation. He recalls thinking about how he does not want to live here. He stayed with a friend from Toronto, Canada who was studying at the Master’s Seminary at the time. He told Reuben it would be great for you to be at this school. Reuben was like “no, it’s not going to happen.” Reuben wanted to stay on the east coast around Philadelphia or New York to continue his educational pursuits. It’s crazy how it all happened because this is what he wanted, but this is how it all shaked out. In the book of Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”