Self Fulfilling Prophecy

Hi it's Laura.

 

I am not sure if you are aware but before I decided to do triathlon and before I tore my ACL & meniscus, I trained in mixed martial arts. I trained pretty much daily for over 10 years. Not only did I receive my black belt, I achieved Joshu status. Joshu is an apprentice to Sensei. Once a Joshu, you are on the path to become a Sensei. I however was not interested in becoming a Sensei and was perfectly at Joshu. I was happy teaching my Sensei's classes. Joshus get to do all the grunt work for Sensei (part of the initiation process). But you learn an awful lot along the way. My Sensei was very proud of me and was convinced I would be a good instructor (he was right). The things I learned during my years under my Sensei are absolutely invaluable and translate themselves to real life at least for me.

 

For example, self-discipline. I had none before I started martial arts training. When we taught discipline to children (yes, I taught children) we called it "non quitting spirit". One of my Senseis (I had two) even used me as an example to one of the kids classes we were teaching. I broke my toe (yeah yeah) kicking someone. My toe caught his elbow throwing a round kick. I still showed up for classes on Saturday (to teach not to train) which showed the kids no matter happens to you, you need to follow through and not give up.

 

A lot of back story I know.

 

Last Wednesday, The Husband and I watched the ultimate fighter (it’s on Tuesdays, we DVR it to get through way too many commercials). Over the years, a number of contestants on the show have been from my martial arts school. Not all of them were from the Manhattan location until this season, Uriah Hall. Uriah was not originally from the Manhattan school but transferred in a few years ago from I think Hoboken (I know those of you who know will correct me).

 

If you have not yet seen the season or last Tuesday’s episode SPOILER ALERT.

 

In last week's episode, the contestants were asked to submit to the governing body who they would like to fight for their quarter-final match, their ideal match up if you will. One contestant submitted three names of the four fighters available. Bubba McDaniel’s named everyone left except for Uriah Hall. The Husband and I just looked at each other and agreed that Bubba, just by saying he was only willing to fight three of the four left, was tipping his hand. Why wouldn't he want to fight Uriah? If you had seen other episode and seen him fight, you wouldn't want to fight him either. But these guys are supposed to be warriors, they are MMA fighters. The true winning answer is, I will fight anyone and do whatever it takes to get to my goal.

 

Bubba spent the rest of the episode setting himself up to fail through excuses of not feeling well. He went so far as to go to the hospital for blood work. Instead of focusing on the task at hand, his upcoming fight. The producers even included a substitute fighter in the episode "just in case”. Bubba quit before he even started and realized his worst fear: he lost. Not only did he lose, he was KO'd within the first 30 seconds (Hello Mike Tyson) and it looks like he eye socket was broken.

 

One more reference. The Husband and I watched a DVR'd episode of Chopped last night.

 

The chef's had to cook from a basket that was chosen by the viewers through social networking sites. Two of the four chefs bitched and complained the entire first round about how awful the basket contents were. One of the four accepted the basket and moved forward with his dish [Editor’s note: The remaining chef was too busy bragging about himself to worry about the basket]. One of those 2 chefs was Chopped.

 

Round two, viewer chosen baskets again, the remaining grumpy chef bitched and complained yet again. She went on about how awful the ingredients were and how you can't make a successful dish with what she was given. The other two once again moved forward and used the ingredients as best as they could. The b&c-ing chef was chopped. Shocker I know.

 

It is so easy to quit, to walk away when things get difficult. It is very hard to stand in front of your fear and face it. The negative conversations that you can have with yourself in your head defeat you before you even start. Although fear is natural and expected, you know yourself. Know your abilities and be confident that, if you are faced with a challenging situation, you are probably more prepared than you think.

 

Happy Friday!

 

Laura