Sometimes the most meaningful and impactful lessons are learned in the trenches. My competition career hasn't always been pleasant. Things took a turn south in my early wrestling career when I became accepting of the fact that in every contest, there must be a winner and a loser. In the past I have had moments when I let my guard down and had defeat snatched from the jaws of what should have been a sure victory. It is the nature of competition in general and it is especially the nature of combat sports. Unfortunately, I believed it.
July 17, 2011 I competed at a grappling tournament in Minnesota. I was entering my 5th match of the day. I had won 2 matches and lost 2 matches at this point (the 2 losses were both to the same person). Because the tournament was held at a training facility and not a larger venue, there was no air conditioning and the temperature that day just happened to be 95 degrees. I don't remember the exact sequence of events, but at a pivotal point in the match, I was winning by a score of 5-0. Suddenly my opponent trapped my head and one arm with his legs, and was a few adjustments away from securing a "triangle choke" which has been a kryptonite for me. I had already fought 4 hard matches that day, it was 95 degrees in the gym, and I was exhausted. In a moment of weakness I thought to myself "oh no..I can't believe this is happening again" when I heard an all to familiar voice in my ear like an angel on my shoulder saying "No Mike..don't you DARE give that up." Even though physically he was not there, I heard him. I managed to escape the attempted choke hold and despite giving up an inconsequential 2 point sweep late in the match, won the match. It was a big milestone for me personally because it was my first competition win over a blue belt in a "gi" match.
I was too exhausted to realize it at the time, but after some personal reflection time on my 5 hour drive home, I realized that that one single moment would have much further reaching impacts than just winning me that match. It was the first time in recent times that I had experienced that "grit factor" that drives a person to just win.
In every contest there is always a winner and a loser. Sometimes it is because one side is just superior to the other, sometimes it is because one person made a critical mistake, sometimes it is because one person happened to make the right decision at the right time. Sometimes the eventual winner has the advantage the entire match, sometimes he takes victory from the jaws of defeat. It is just the harsh nature of what we do, and it is a lesson I learned and come to accept early on. It is a lesson that I am trying to forget.
Everything is easy when things are going right. People think that Superman is a brave man. How can you be brave when you know you cannot fail? It is easy to face bullets when you know they cannot hurt you. Unfortunately, this is about as realistic as leprechauns and unicorns. Game plans will fail. Unexpected things will happen. Does this mean that we go in blind, without a plan, because inevitably it will fail? Certainly not. However, when things don't go according to plan, there is only one decision that needs to be made.
Often times winners win simply because they made that decision to win. In doing so, you may not always win, but you will always fight. As the Spartans used to say: "Come home with your shield...or on it."
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