tcs-15 I am better than everyone else!

I am better than everyone else!

Your first reaction is probably: “What happened to humility?” But let’s take a quick look at this affirmation in context with the two main uses for Time Control Sports: Real-world self-defense and tournament combat.

In a true self-defense situation, unless you’ve incited him in some way, you truly are a better person than the attacker, no need to go into more detail. In competition, you must compete as if you believe you are the best athlete. Train and fight like a winner, and if you lose, lose like a winner.

Remember, you are magnificent. You are skilled, powerful, and cunning.

The Key:

As you elevate yourself, remember to elevate those you train with, spar with, and compete against — let them know that they are all those things, as well.

Only by training with truly great people (or competing against them) can we constantly improve our skills. Never let yourself become a black belt who wants to fight inferior opponents just so you can win. You won’t be a true “winner”.

Truly great people believe they are great and show it by treating other people well. People with low self-esteem tend to act like they are better than everyone else out of insecurity. They must build themselves up by cutting others down. That’s a losing attitude, not a winning one. 

The most important measure of greatness is the number of other people you have helped achieve greatness.

I started going to tournaments when I was a white belt. In fact, I was obsessed with them. But I could not win first place, no matter how hard I tried. Then one day, one of the instructors at my school said, “Bill, do you think you are the best in your division?” I answered truthfully, and perhaps in the hope that humility was what he was looking for.  “No,” I said.  The instructor replied, with the sagacity of a Mr. Miaggi (or Yoda, perhaps), “That is why you lose.”

He went on to explain to me that I was not doing the other competitors any favors through my attitude about myself. They wanted to beat worthy opponents not easy ones. I adjusted my attitude and soon began to win tournament after tournament.

At this point in my competitive career, I’d had some experience with seeing fights happen in slow motion, but I was unable to turn it on and off at will until I embraced the, “I am better than everyone else” affirmation AND practiced it with humility.