#23: Opinion - What Does It Take To BE A Martial Arts Master?

To be a martial arts master (or coach, however you want to say it) goes beyond teaching how to punch and kick. A good coach is the difference between giving up (not only in sports) and learning how to push yourself toward achieving your full potential.

The ‘great coach’ will stand with you through the fatigue, the failure, the doubt, the destructive thoughts, the mistakes, the injuries, the limitations, and the criticism. But more importantly, he will teach you humility, honesty, and integrity.

If you’re lucky, just ONCE in your life you will have a mentor who instills within you the values of resilience and self-belief, to the extent that you start believing that NOTHING CAN STOP YOU.

Find a coach who can ground you. Someone who can remind you of your strengths. Someone who can push you and, when the world comes crashing down, pick you back up. A mentor. A friend. An ally. Someone who will bring out the best in you, even in the worst of times.

Only through such a mentor can you learn the mindset that will carry you through the hard fights, both in and out of the dojang (dojo/gym).

Publically, I want to say thank you, to the great mentors in my own life. There aren’t many, believe me. I only hope that ONE DAY, I can leave the same impression on others as you have left upon me.