2 out of 3 is BAAAD

Contributors offers insight into the non-physical side of the Martial Arts, often ignored when discussing self-defense.
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LenTesta
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2 out of 3 is BAAAD

Post by LenTesta »

MIND_BODY_SPIRIT

You MUST have all three.

How many times did I preach this to my students in years past.

I recently learned this weekend that 2 out of 3 is not good.

The Body was there and performing well.

The Spirit was there and was doing a super job as well.

However the mind failed me. Strike 1

You know that commercial where the person feels like he/she should get down on the floor and crawl under anything that would give cover. Well that is exactly what it was like.

Van said it was the chemical cocktail.

I am not so sure that it was.

No amount of my training prepared me for this.

There was a way of recovering from this but I was so shocked at what happened that I did not even think about a second try. Strike 2

I was so upset at WHAT HAPPENED that I didn't even take it well. Strike 3

Hindsight is always 20-20 they say.

Now the agony of the defeat will last for an entire year. To top it off...I defeated myself. It is the most gut wrenching thing that one could ever do to ones self.

I know what my I did wrong to cause my fatal mistake though...

And just like any other mistake I have made throughout my "perceived jinxed life", I only make them ONCE.

Next year I will not make the SAME MISTAKE.


Live and learn. I know I will never stop learning.




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Len
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LeeDarrow
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2 out of 3 is BAAAD

Post by LeeDarrow »

Testa-Sensei,

Not having been there to see this "defeat" I am at a bit of a loss as to where to take this thread.

Defeat comes in many forms, only a few of which are truly defeating events.

There is the defeat in a contest of skills, where one person wins over another - the only defeat there is if the contest is fatal or not or if one allows the loss to eat them up.

There is defeat in games of chance, same comment plus - it's only money.

There is defeat in an argument - from which you learn from your encounter and either strengthen your information or re-think your position. True defeat there comes from within as well.

Someone once said that the only defeat is in giving up. While there are arguably certain exceptions to that rule, it's pretty good for most situations. If we learn to understand that a temporary "defeat" is nothing more than a learning experience that may have hurt, all to the better. Sometimes we have to burn our fingers to understand the concept of "hot."

Your determination to make the mistake only once is all well and good, but sometimes one makes the same mistake in a situation so different that one can't see it coming until the mistake has happened. That is perceptual error, nothing more.

There is, in psychology, something called the Law of Reverse Suggestion which (to paraphrase) states, that which we try hardest to keep from doing often is exactly what we do. Think of the rookie nightwatchman on duty his first night. He keeps telling himself "I won't go to sleep, I won't go to sleep, ... I won't ....zzzzzzz."

Keeping that in mind can help beat the obsession that losing a contest, no matter how important, can engender.

Sometimes we are our own worst opponent, because we know, better than anyone else, how best to beat ourselves up.

I applaud your intention to learn and go on. I hope others get the message.

Just my 2 cent's worth.

Respectfully,

Lee Darrow, C.Ht.



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"No matter where you go, there you MIGHT be!" - Heisenberg
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LenTesta
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2 out of 3 is BAAAD

Post by LenTesta »

Hi Lee,
Please call me Len. Image

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote
There is the defeat in a contest of skills, where one person wins over another - the only defeat there is if the contest is fatal or not or if one allows the loss to eat them up.
Yes it was a contest of skills. I was only concerned with winning. First place was the only option I was willing to settle for.

I did not even attempt to correct myself by asking to perform over. I was sure that I would not be able to take first if I did.
It is amazing how this thought appeared in my mind all within two seconds and the mistake of not going into the correct move caused me to completely forget what that move should have been. When I came to my senses,which seemed like an eternity of time had passed, I inadvertantly jumped over three sets of techniques, just so I could get the thing finished.

After a few weeks to reflect on what happened, I know that my body was moving faster than my brain.

Van was correct when he told me that it was the "chemical cocktail". I was not nervous, but I could not control it. I was at the point where my body wanted to keep going even though my brain didn't know where it should have gone.

I will be better prepared for the next contest. Knowing that this happened once, will make it easier for me to control it the mext time.

Thanks for the encouraging words.




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Len
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