All Your Losses Lead Back To…….You

I’ve long believed that any loss, setback, or problem usually involves you. A quick caveat: I recognize that some losses or setbacks can be traced to external factors. But let’s set that caveat aside.

Any time I’ve had a setback, loss or bad experience, I debrief myself. And when I say that I debrief myself, I will do that for days and pick apart the event in question from several different angles. Usually, I conclude that I put myself in an unenviable position that led to an undesirable outcome. If you look at yourself and honestly assess yourself, you can find the solution and move on.

But first, a test video.

Background to this video: An earlier post included two videos I uploaded to VideoPress on WordPress. It came out fine in the post but disappeared in the newsletter. I’ve been assured this issue has been fixed and that this video should appear in the newsletter. I have some ideas, but I need the videos to show up in the newsletter. We’ll see!

Post-publication note: the video did not appear in the Newsletter. So it’s back to square one. I’ve reached out to Jetpack/WordPress for help on this issue. Stay tuned.

Back to the post. Below are several examples of what I’m talking about:

The first Sugar Ray Leonard fight against Roberto Duran.

This fight took place in Montreal in June 1980.

Sugar Ray was seen as a glamorous boxer without any toughness. Duran hated Sugar Ray for this reason and masterfully sucked Sugar Ray into fighting on Duran’s terms. Duran preferred close-quarters fighting, and Sugar Ray obliged him. While Sugar Ray surprised many and gained respect with his infighting skills, Duran won by unanimous decision.

After the fight, Sugar Ray recognized his mistake in fighting Duran on his terms. He vowed that he would revert to his natural style in the rematch. In other words, he would fight from the outside utilizing his amazing jab and combinations. He digested his loss and adjusted his strategy.

The next fight was the famous “No Mas” fight.

Sugar Ray learned the lesson from the first fight. He didn’t blame anybody but himself. He took a good hard look at himself and his strategy in the first fight. After beating Duran in the second fight, he became one of the best in boxing history.

Josef Stalin and Operation Barbarossa.

Quick history: the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a non-aggression pact named the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in Moscow in August 1939. There was a secret protocol to this agreement that partitioned Poland between the two of them.

Because of this agreement, Stalin believed there was little chance Hitler would invade the Soviet Union. In the months leading up to June 1941, the NKVD (the forerunner to the KGB) provided numerous warnings to Stalin about the impending invasion. The NKVD provided the exact date of the impending invasion an astonishing 47 times to Stalin in the 10 days before the invasion.

Unfortunately, Stalin ignored those warnings. The resulting Nazi invasion claimed the lives of 27 million Soviet citizens, and they nearly decapitated the Soviet Union.

Had Stalin taken those warnings seriously, it is quite likely that the Soviet Union would have suffered far fewer casualties, and WWII may have turned out quite differently.

The horrific casualties suffered by the Soviet Union go back to Stalin’s failure to heed the NKVD’s warnings.

The historical record indicates that Stalin never accepted responsibility for the near-catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Nazis.

Notre Dame-Miami Game 1988.

I’ll never forget what Jimmy Johnson said after his Miami Hurricanes lost to Notre Dame in the great 1988 game where the Irish prevailed 31-30. Many Miami players complained about a controversial fumble call against running back Cleveland Gary late in the game, claiming that it affected the game’s outcome. In the post-game press conference, Johnson rebuffed his players, saying, “You can’t win games with seven turnovers. Eliminate those, and we would have won the game.“ I hated that SOB, like most Notre Dame fans back then. But I respected him for his post-game comment. He’s right. The football team that makes fewer mistakes usually wins.

My Failed Kenpo Karate Test

Believe it or not, I once failed a martial arts test.

This was back in the early 1990s while I was in Columbus, Ohio. The promotion I was preparing for was either a blue or purple belt. In the weeks leading up to the test, I was travelling quite a bit around the state of Ohio for work. I thought I knew the material well and was confident I would pass.

Long story short, the test was a disaster. My instructor looked at me sternly and said, “Let’s do it again next week.” He didn’t say, “You failed.” But he might as well have said that. I knew that I was woefully unprepared and effed it up.

I could have blamed the poor performance on my work situation or other factors. As much as I was travelling for work, I actually had plenty of time to prepare for the test. Instead, I opted to unwind at the end of each workday by crashing on the couch and watching TV.

Eliminating the TV watching and practicing would have ensured that I passed the first time.

Guess what I did after I failed that test? I busted my ass and prepped for my makeup test. I passed easily the next time I tested.

Lesson learned. It was all on me. Work had nothing to do with my miserable test performance. It had everything to do with my over-confidence and lack of preparation.

You will encounter bumps and obstacles in your martial arts journey. Any setback or loss will usually lead back to you. Hard-nosed self-scrutiny is a must to overcome your loss.

Additional Reading

• My Martial Arts Biography
• Friday Recommendation #5
• Stealing and Keeping The Lead
• Old School Garage Testing
• From Pixels to Stick Fighting

Would you consider buying me a beer or a cup of coffee?

On a serious note, please consider supporting this blog because I need your help defraying the increasing expenses associated with the blog/website.

A huge thank you in advance!