To use a common analogy, there are many different fruits in the martial arts world, and each has its own sweetness. It is not necessary to taste every fruit in the martial arts world in order to be a skilled martial artist, but it was Sensei Stuart's belief, and it is my belief, that to sample each fruit gives you a better understanding and appreciation of every fruit. The more we challenge ourselves to see things in a different way, the more we test our physical and mental abilities. This is how we grow.
Over the next few weeks I'll be talking about the strengths and weaknesses of different parts of the martial arts world. I'll cover sparring, training self defense vs "real" self defense, tournaments and the role they play in personal progress, testing, assisting, gymnastics, and who knows what else, all to explore the many ways martial arts training can improve our strenghts and weaknesses.
Stay tuned...
the first topic will be.....
TOURNAMENTS
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3 comments:
Competition is such an interesting thing. The word competition is derived from it's root - competence, in it's literal meaning "sufficent means for one's needs; ability, fitness". Taken and applied in that sense, one is competing against or for themselves, to test their means or ability. To do this, one must have a gauge. This is the stage where I believe competition can get muddled. Bringing home a first place trophy does not always attest to your ability or the effort you exerted. In some cases, one can just show up for an event and by default, win first place. If a competitor allows that to sway them from still going their fastest, performing their very best, trying their upmost - a truly valuable lesson of growth has yet to be learned. It is true their is glory in winning, but for me, there is a much sweeter return in beating a personal best.
Unfortunately society is not focused on a personal best, but the win and the rewards that are reaped from winning.
It is a long and challenging road to train and get to competition and leave satisfied on a personal level.
I agree. Competition in the sense of a tournament gives us a chance to simulate a high pressure situation, urgency, time constraints, and opponenets, without these things actually being a serious or life-threatening. Yes, we have to "compete" against others in order for that to happen... and what is wrong with that? But ultimately it is ourselves that we need to triumph over. Any one of us who has not performed our best and taken home a first place trophy anyway knows the deep disappointment that comes with that. And, the total satisfaction that comes from losing and ending up in last place, when you know you were able to push yourself to your limits. There are no winners or losers at rank tests, no trophies, but I walk away from each one more satisfied and with a deeper understanding of my own strengths and weaknesses than any time that I've walked away from a tournament holding a first place trophy.
It's odd to me to reflect on the results of the tournaments I have competed in and the end result of my rank tests. I think the same lesson can appy. I wear a brown belt. I also hold a grand champion trophy. But the road to the rank test has resulted in more passion, heightened awareness of self and others, a deeper understanding of my strengths and weaknesses than any tournament. What do I have to show for it? A brown belt. But again, it's just a piece of cloth. My life examples, those I set for fellow students in and out of the dojo, how I lead my life is the end result of that training.
Yet, the grand champion trophy is the result of a third party passing judgement on my skills compared to that of another. A real life lesson that happens in a variety of times during ones life. My level of commitment is reflective in my performance, whether or not the judges score reflects that. A difficult lesson.
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