Never Was A Champion

Growing up, I was never the athletic kid. I liked comic books, and TV, and a hundred other indoor, solo activities. Did all the outdoor stuff for fun, like scratch baseball games, but was low in the pack in ability. Wasn't the kid that got picked last, but a long way from first either. Didn't matter in day-to-day life, but I never joined any teams as a result.

Not choosing sports didn't help the situation any. Wasn't a klutz, but never got any good.

Fell in love with Karate. It was different from other sports. You do it in a packed room, while being all alone. Nobody cares if your punch gets better, except you. Your weak kick will never be the one that lets the other team get a home run.

I was pretty good. Turns out I have a well above average sense of spatial awareness, so Kata memorization came easily. I inherited my family's lack of flexibility, so it wasn't all easy.

Weak flexibility meant I'd always have limited kicking prowess, at least up high. We all have our burdens. Turns out I don't have a very good reaction time. That can only be slightly improved by vast amounts of training. Also, not being athletic, means my body doesn't naturally do cool things by itself. Anything cool I can do in Karate comes from endless preparation and practise.

Do I sound like an off-the-shelf great fighting machine? If so, you better read it all again.

In tournaments, I did pretty fair in Kata. Tons of practise is the key there. Wasn't a champ, but it also wasn't embarrassing. Got the odd medal. Fighting was another kettle of fish. After getting blown away in a couple of events, I started counting.  Spread out over my first 3 or 4 events, I went 11 matches without a win. Usually, I wouldn't score a single point.

Very discouraging, but then I began scoring more often. I'd win the odd match. Got good enough that even serious fighters can't take me too lightly.

I can teach students how to fight well, and help them achieve tournament success. I'm kinda Angelo Dundee, not Muhammad Ali. It suits my personality better, too. I get more pride out of my students' success than I've ever have had in my own.

Funny, I'm also a school teacher.