9/26/07 -

The Tournament of Life

We have seen the enemy and it is (within) us
Pogo

Peace comes not from the absence of conflict, but from the ability to cope with it
Anonymous


I invested years of training for the goal of National Champion. I was zeroing in on this goal in 1988. First winning the State Championships, then advancing to the National Championships in Miami, Florida. My first round match was against a very tall, thin fighter being coached by a seasoned competitor that I had knocked-out at Nationals in 1986. I had a lot of trouble getting in on his long legs, but I was being coached by National Team Coach Dae Sung Lee and he was able to help me to hit the guy with two spinning hook kicks to win the match.

My second match was with the previous years Olympic Sports Festival gold medalist. I was in a really good place for that match. My body was still in good shape from the previous match and I was flying high from the victory! I don’t remember having to think at all during that match. It seemed that what ever I threw, I hit with. It was like a dance with my opponent in which everything was in time and seemed effortless. This was my first strong experience with the concept of Mushim.

My third match was with the current National Team member. I knew that I would not be able to compete with his speed and technical ability, so I used a completely different strategy in this match. My goal was to get him to make the mistakes. I moved patiently not letting my opponent get a good position. I fainted attacks and clinched whenever I could. I could tell this was really frustrating him. I knew it would because I lost to a competitor who used the same tactic on me the year before at Nationals. The three-round match ended with my victory not by points but by his warnings.

Whereas the first matches went closely one after another, I waited a number of hours before my fourth match began. This opponent was young and strong. My foot had taken a pretty good pounding in the last matches, and I was a little slow on my feet. I had a hard time dealing with his relentless counter roundhouse kicks. I had many coaches trying to signal me to try their trick. I tried everything they were suggesting, instead of having faith in myself. I lost the match and a chance for the 1988 Olympic Team Trials!

This was an incredible learning experience. I should not have lost my last match after beating the previous opponents, but I had lost confidence and defeated my self.

Later that same year at the Collegiate National Championships, I was still in peak physical and mental condition for these championships, but I decided to move-up to bantamweight division. I had a large number of competitors and ended-up with five three-three minute round matches! I sprained my knee and ankle in the fourth match and could barely put weight on it, but I did not want to bow-out. The competitor who I faced had a bye, a knockout and a competitor withdrawal from a match. He was also a top Olympic contender.

I showed gear spirit in this match and even received an ovation from the audience even though I did not win. My experiences competing, strengthened my will and focus in dealing with the challenges of the “tournament of life.”

Healthy competition is the natural way to insure we improve ourselves. As long as you are in the world, you must compete, and if you must compete, you must win. I believe in the importance of competition within our selves and to challenge our selves against other’s achievements. In this way, we put pressure on ourselves to change and it encourages us to bring out our best qualities and to compound those advantages into superiority.

The Dojang includes healthy competition as do all sports, but it encompasses a greater system for self-improvement than any other sport. Martial arts have a unique opportunity to train mind, body, spirit, and emotions in harmony through a unique system. This system empowers people for life! Although I though I was training to become the champion in the ring, it was really being a champion at life!