By David Ip Yam - Instructor
This Saturday I participated in an open martial arts competition and lost. Those of you who know my recreational fighting career know that losing is not a regular occurrence. Do I feel like a loser? Not one bit. Actually, I feel great! I feel more like a winner now than I have in a long time. You see, winning or losing is a choice we make, not something external done onto us. It’s also a process, not a destination. Winning even when we lose has to do with being mindful about the process rather than being stuck on the destination or on a particular outcome.
What have I gained?
Learned a trick to goal setting
This tournament was just what I needed to remind myself that martial arts training was a key ingredient of that healthy mix. Moreover, what made the tournament a particularly effective goal was that it was "S.M.A.R.T + U". It was specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, severely time-based, and uncomfortable.
Working towards a goal that scares you and that makes you uncomfortable is a key step in building a mindset of success. To give you some context, I did not want to compete in this particular tournament because it adopted a style of point sparring that I have never enjoyed and never wanted to associate myself with. In other words, the idea of participating in it didn't sit well with me and that's why I knew I had to do it. It's through the discomfort that we stand to grow.
Reintroduced Karate training to my life
For many months if not years now, I’ve been working 10 – 16 hours a day, 6 days a week. As my career or personal life became more demanding, I felt like I had to make sacrifices and sadly, Karate training started to become one of those sacrifices. This tournament motivated me to reaffirm my commitment to martial arts by forcing me to train my mind and body for competition: I watched videos, read fighting material, developed new physical abilities, and most importantly, I turned the voice in my head that said: “you can’t do this, you don’t have time”, into the voice that says: “yes you can, you always have.” I've gained so much more than I could ever lose.
Did I still get all of my other work done? Yes! Did I feel more tired? No! Why? I have love for my growing career, healthy relationships, meaningful side-projects, stimulating graduate program, and Karate-do (A.K.A. the way of Karate) and I feel most energized when I fuel each of those areas of my life.
There’s a samurai saying that goes: “If you find comfort, seek discomfort”. Why? Because if you do what's difficult now, you can enjoy what's world-class shortly after... if you go to your edges, your edges will expand. For example, not only is my mind and body sharper as a result of training for the competition, but I feel more connected to Karate now than I have in the last few months.
In fact, I feel more aligned with myself than I have in the last few weeks. That, my friends, is what I’ve gained and why I feel like a winner. When you really put your heart into achieving a goal, you're reminded that the mindset of success really is about the journey, not so much about the destination.
Mind Over Matter Karate-Ka (A.K.A. students), remember that success and winning is a mindset that you choose and that your ability to choose depends on the amount of daily hard-work you put in, versus on a one-time event that you do (like a tournament). We are here to help you reach your potential. Work with us as we refine our minds and bodies through Karate-do.
Yours truly,
David Ip Yam