RL_Taekwondo

Many will consider competing, but only a handful will. Some decide that in the
end that maybe competition is not for them. Being afraid to compete for fear of
losing is foolish, but being afraid of competition for fear of being hurt is another matter. Also the excuse of
wanting to train for pure self defence is also a weak excuse. Tell me, is controling your adrenaline (bottle) & facing you fears not a serious issue of self defence. You may know all the best techniques, but when it happens you could freeze up in fear, unable to move, you would have lost before you've begun.

Also competition is the nearest thing most people will (hopefully) ever get to a real fight. Knowing that you can give as good as you get and that you can hold your own with seemingly more skilled people are valuable confidence boosters, as is knowing that you can take a hit and carry on. What use would you be if someone punched you from behind in an alley & it hurt so much you couldn't fight back. think about it !

The point I am trying to make is that you should look at competion as just another part of your training. Winning or losing are not that important. Of course everyone likes to win and collect a few trophies, but going in purly to win can be very detrimental to your training.

People who compete purly for glory make very poor martial artists. Don't make the assumption that all those at competition are real martial artists. A better term for them would be martial sportsmen. They train in the art of TAEKWON-do, where as we train in the art of taekwon-DO, if you know what I mean & agree, then you too are a martial artist & not just a sportsman.

These sportsmen also get very upset when they lose and the drop out rate is high, but for the true martial artist, the study of the art or the way is a life long journey, that doesn't stop when they lose their ranking or medal position.

Use competition as a training tool to test yourself. If you enter & lose then learn from it. If you lose, but knew you were holding your own then thats good. Just to get on the floor takes courage, winning is secondary ! Compete for these reasons & you win whatever the outcome.

Remember a trophy wont save your life, but solid training will.