Competition Love

I’ve always really loved competition. As a child, I notoriously entered competitions that I didn’t even care about, simply to see how I would do and if I could win. I just love it.

As I dove into martial arts, the thought of competition never even occurred to me. I didn’t realize that there was a whole competition world out there to explore. When my MMA coach first mentioned that there were tournament Muay Thai fights, I KNEW that I would be doing it ASAP. So I did, and I loved it. 

Jiu Jitsu always took a back seat. Striking was my first love, and my love for Jiu Jitsu didn’t come easily. As I’m getting older, and my body doesn’t seem to take the impact of striking with as much grace and stride anymore, I’m finding that my love for Jiu Jitsu in my current stage of life has been growing exponentially.

Last night I asked my coach if he thought is was a bad idea to compete in Pans in April being a new purple belt. There’s this interesting dichotomy in my life-I know how I would respond to MY student asking me this type of question, but for some reason, I still struggle on the flip side and feel the need to ask MY coach, knowing what he’ll say anyway. I have this fear that runs through my mind that I would let him down or not represent him well. It’s obviously false, and I KNOW that, and yet it still crosses my mind sometimes.

He reminded me that I love to test myself and to remember to go into it with a mindset for learning. That regardless of whether I win or lose, as long as I learn and move forward with growth, he’s happy. I’ll probably ask him a similar question an annoying amount of times in the future, and I’m sure the response will always be the same. 

I love competition. I love what I learn about myself and my sports and how it helps me grow. I love meeting new people, and I appreciate that there’s others out there who enjoy competition, too, as they make me better.

I have a few tournaments on my agenda next year. Regardless of the outcome, I will learn and grow, and THAT is the best part of competition.