Competing- Martial Arts

Many think that martial arts competitions are about winning, or dominating your opponent. However, the most important aspect in competion are the errors. Our opponents, whether win or loose, serve as a mechanism upon which we can reflect for bettering our own selves. Competition is about learning which techniques work, which ones need more work, and which ones do not work. As Sun Tzu says, '[we will succumb to every battle if we do not know the enemy nor ourselves]'. We can never truly know our enemy, but through competition we begin to understand ourselves; we can reflect further upon how we react by being given an unknown force to test our understanding of our own capacity. Likewise, this is how we come to know the enemy. By understanding our responses to the enemy, we better equip ourselves for any challenge. Not only do we study them, but study them in relation to the responses they incite within ourselves. And this is how victory is obtained. Through the art of never giving up, and always being better than our former selves. The competition isnt for the medal. Its for the joy of the battle, and for the knowledge we gain. Now that, is priceless.