By Phillip
Starr
Remember
way back when you were about to break your very first board? Do you
recall your teacher's instructions? I imagine he said like, “Aim
for the center and try to hit something BEHIND THE BOARD!”
Essentially, he told you to put your mind on something behind the
board...and your fist passed through it without much difficulty,
right? This was probably one of the most valuable lessons you ever
learned but so many of us miss it altogether...
What your
mind believes to be true, becomes true (for you).
This
applies not only to breaking boards, but to virtually every aspect of
your life. In your martial arts training it is absolutely crucial
that you understand this simple principle. It is one of the most
important reasons we practice freestyle sparring! It's also a good
reason to engage in competition. After all, martial arts is
primarily about training the mind; training the body is secondary to
training the mind.
In
sparring practice or competition, a fear of losing will certainly
result in a quick defeat. Actual combat is slightly different; in
competition the object is to win but in a real life and death
skirmish, the object is to NOT LOSE! Either way, you must remove the
fear of losing from your mind altogether.
Whatever
your mind is focused on is what will occur. Thus, if you focus on
losing, you're guaranteed to fail. If your mind is concerned about
losing, it will interfere with your ability to see clearly what is
happening. You will miss opportunities and perhaps misinterpret
movements that your foe makes, causing you to react inappropriately.
Your qi (energy) is withdrawn and your spirit waivers, preventing you
from acting boldly at the moment of truth. If your enemy possesses
any real skill he'll see and “smell” your fear and take full
advantage of it.
We are
humans and as mortal creatures we experience fear from time to time.
The key is not giving in to your fear (of losing). You must learn to
control it, to put it in the back seat while you continue to press
forward. This is the real meaning of bravery. The legendary actor,
John Wayne, put it very succinctly when he said, “Courage is being
scared to death but saddling up anyway.”
You
must focus your mind on succeeding, on achieving your goals, and you
must see yourself as being victorious. Success in anything is not
the result of luck; it is almost always due to a courageous spirit,
the willingness to do whatever must be done to achieve it, and the
firm belief that losing is simply not a possibility.
