Getting kicked in the face
Back when I studied Tae Kwon Do, I was afraid of
Phil. While not a very threatening sounding name, Phil was the senior
instructor and not only did he wear the third degree black belt at the tender
age of 22, his likeness was digitized for the videogame: Mortal Kombat II. A
lot of people faced off against digital Phil (shang tsung) on screen, but I knew
what it was like to face him in real
life.
Not that he was mean, far from it,
he was just very very good. No matter what I did resulted in getting hit. Side
kick, front kick, roundhouse, back kick, turning reverse, it didn't matter. It
always ended the same. I got hit. I was fine with normal sparring, but Phil
was a different matter.
It was so
intimidating, I would lock up.. shuffle around, I would dance the dance of fear
and I couldn't attack him. He would motion me to come at him and I just knew
that no matter what I tried I was going to get hit. I couldn't bring myself to
attack him. At best I could manage a couple very safe taps that didn't leave me
exposed much. Eventually he'd bring the fight to me. Once he ran at me, leaped
into the air, planted both feet firmly on my chest and pushed off. It knocked
me flat on my butt.
We're all afraid of
being hurt. None of us want to risk being hit. What Phil was trying to teach
me, was that getting hurt was a part of being in the game. Whether I tried or
didn't try, eventually I was gonna get knocked on my butt. Sure, every time I
tried something, I'd get hit, but trying things and getting hit, is the only way
to get better. The only way to progress. Knowing this, I got back on my feet
and without fear, proceeded to stun my teacher with a blazing series of jumping
turning reverse kicks. Actually that didn't happen, but I didn't want to end
the story with me on my ass. It's been 10 years since then and only today, did
I understand that lesson.
Get out
there.. do the thing you're afraid of.
Posted: Sat
- November 11, 2006 at 01:11 AM
