We had such a great tournament this past weekend! All of our students brought home medals and rocked it! We even had a few who earned gold medals! We had two competitors who earned both a Gold medal in Forms and a Gold Medal in Sparring! It is so easy to be proud of their results, but the thing that I’m most proud of had nothing to do with any of the medals that our students earned. It didn’t matter if our students won or lost, I watched them all cheer for their competitors, celebrate with them on the podiums, and congratulate all those around them. When someone else took 1st place, or they lost a sparring round, there was no whining or crying. They simply moved on and went towards the next step.
As important as it is to be a good “winner” (not bragging or putting others down), it is equally important to be a good “loser” (not throwing a tantrum or refusing to cheer for others). Most of the time, being a good winner is much easier to learn. If you didn’t get the results you wanted this time, it’s okay. There’s another national tournament in September, with a couple of regional tournaments in between then, and you’ll have another chance to get the results you want. But remember, everyone wants to win. In each group there can only be one gold medal for forms, and one gold medal for sparring, and every single person in that group wants it. The way to get it is to work as hard as you can, to take all of the advice that you can get and apply it, to practice something every day. If you aren’t doing those things, then you can’t really be upset when someone who does gets that gold medal.