I’ve always enjoyed competition. I’ve never been what I’ve considered a supreme athlete. I’ve had to work at what I’ve achieved. One thing I have that may be an asset is my curiosity. I’ve always liked to learn new things. I’ve always wanted to have things make sense. I’ve always thought that if I teach something, then I should be able to explain it and use it. In martial arts what we teach should translate to a skill that will help us on the street and in life. I believe that competition can further our martial arts training and round out our training.
OK, now how does competition give us skills that apply to life in general. I’ll give you a list.
- If you can’t get up in front of a few people then how will you will you ever give a speech or take an interview for a job?
- If you are afraid of sparring a stranger in a controlled environment then how will you fight an out of control stranger in an alley?
- If you train daily then why not find out what you are good at or what you need to improve?
- When you find out what it is you need to improve, now you have a reason to improve those skills and a place to gauge your improvement. Competition’s will point out immediately where your weakness’s are.
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A Karate instructor that teaches you daily may not be willing to be completely honest about your skills and may not want to hurt your feelings. A panel of Black Belt judges that don’t know you will be more likely to score you accordingly. If one judge scores you low, you can claim bias but if all five judges score you low then figure out what you need to work on.
Competition isn’t a real test of anything except a controlled version of whatever it is that we are competing in. In competition there is a set of rules and on the street there are no rules, just mayhem. Competition sparring is a version of controlled mayhem. We can’t go about testing ourselves in real situations but we can legally test ourselves in competition. Competition does however test speed and ability in an environment that we don’t have control of. We are up against a stranger that wants the same trophy that we want. I know competition is not for everyone but it is beneficial for most people. If it’s something that you think you’d like to do, then do it. Sometimes we find out that we are better than we thought we were!
