Why Compete? Part One

Recently having participated in a martial arts tournament, I've been thinking about the variety of reasons that people compete in them. I'll be posting my thoughts on some of the reasons that lead people into tournaments.

Reason number one for competition: To Win.


Some see this as the main, number one, most obvious reason to compete. Some believe that if you are not playing to win, there is no reason to play.

To some, winning is so important that all other considerations are secondary. If you have to bend the rules to win, you learn how far you can bend them before they break, and you learn to break them without getting caught. Learning how to break the rules becomes part of the competition. I have seen people at martial arts tournaments wear their sparring gear loosely on their hands so they can slide it nearly off their hands, giving themselves 6 to 8 inches more reach. I have seen people using a tactic called "taking your warning", in which at the start of a sparring match you kick someone as hard as you can in the stomach to wind them, you take the warning for excessive contact, and the advantage of a winded opponent.

These and other tactics are the result of a desire to win no matter what. Another result is feelings of disappointment, frustration, and anger when one doesn't win.

You can probably guess, that to me, winning is not a very good motivation for competition.

Next I will be discussing reason number two, which could be a subset of "Competing to Win". It is "Winning With Honor"

Who Got You This Far?

I recently had a student say to me, "Thank you for bringing me this far." I reminded this student that although I may have walked in front of him/her, it wasn't me that brought them this far.

Always give credit and gratitude to your teachers, role models, coaches, etc., but also remember, that they can not take you anywhere. You must decide to go there, you must do the work to get there, and you must continue on past the point you have reached.

If you give someone else too much credit for your achievements, what will you do once they are gone? Smokey The Bear always said, "Only you can prevent forest fires." The same applies to your positive achievements, "Only you can take you there."

Fast Food

We live in a fast food society. We thrive on instant gratification.

Have you ever gone over to the microwave, frustrated that the baked potatoes aren't done yet? Do you have any idea how long they take in a conventional oven?

We put a meal in the microwave, then anxiously tap our feet for the grueling two minutes we have to wait.

We growl and curse as we sit at the fast food window for three minutes and thirty seconds. "What is TAKING so long!?!?"

Take a moment today to slow down. Stop and smell the roses, literally if you want. Today I saw something I had never seen before. I had never stopped long enough to notice that the Eastern Red Cedar bursts forth in little blue berries. So I stopped. I looked.

So today,

stop.

Look.

Another Challenge

One of the things I would like to teach at East West is the joy of rising to new challenges.  It is hard to meet new challenges without new experiences, so my challenge today is to find an appreciation for something new.  

I'm learning how to grow bonsai trees now.  While learning about it, I'm also developing a whole new appreciation for the art form.  When I took my trip to China in 2002, one of the places we visited had several bonsai on display.  At the time I did not have an appreciation for the art.  I walked past them without a second glance.  If I had the appreciation then that I do now, I'd have studied them and taken dozens of pictures.  

So the challenge is to find something that you don't understand why some people love it, be it a sport, an art form, a restaurant, and try to find out what all the buzz is about.  You don't have to start liking whatever it is, just try to find an appreciation for what it is.

Limitations

We all have limitations, an upper limit on what we can do and accomplish. We are human and therefore have limited potential.

Did that sound negative? Keep reading.

Sometimes we have a very clear picture of our limitations. I have flat feet, and if I train barefoot my plantar fasciitis flares up.

Sometimes the picture is much hazier. I was never very good at pushups (I despised pushups, so I didn't train them, so I stayed not very good at them). I always just said, "I'm lousy at pushups."

Then, I started this Ten Tigers Program, and now I'm averaging over 100 pushups per day. Now I'm pretty good at them. I can do 46 in 30 seconds, and 63 in one minute. My limitation has changed.

We all have upper limits, but we often don't really know what that upper limit is because we never test them.

I don't really know the top speed on my Toyota Camry because I've never tested it (and never will).

I have decided that I will keep gradually pushing myself to bigger and better things, to test my upper limits.

I will become stronger and fitter, I will become smarter and more emotionally healthy, I will become a better teacher of martial arts and a better leader of people.

And, I will drag as many of you as are willing along for the ride.

Thank You

To all those who have been helping with our move.  To all who have supported us through this move.  To all who have been willing, but unable to help.  

Thank you.

We are in a smaller school now, but it's big enough.

I happen to believe that bigger is not necessarily better.  I believe that too many of us have been fixated on bigger/richer/faster is better.  I believe there is a time to downsize, a time to give away wealth, and a time to slow down.  Money for money's sake is a waste of time.  Having a bigger truck/house/yard for the sake of status is a waste of resources.  Getting everything the moment we want it is detrimental to our ability to work towards a goal.

Can you make do with less?  Can you be wait for the things you want?  It's harder than it sounds.

Again, to all who have given so much in moving and remodeling and preparing for this change I cannot thank you enough.  I cannot pay all the favors back.  My plan, instead, is to pay it forward.

Self-Defense Training for The Master of the Martial Arts

Self-Defense Training for The Master of the Martial Arts

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