Competition and Its Usefulness, Part 2:
August 11, 2008 - Greg Rouse
The What, Why and How
A competition must not be taken lightly. But it must be understood in order for its experience to be truly worth
something. Regardless of the event or challenges put into place that must be overcome, at its conclusion a
competition will help you to measure three things. These things are Your Opponent, Your Art (or Skill) and
Your Self.
First of all, what is competition? According to the Unabridged Dictionary competition is; A test of skill and
ability, a contest, a rivalry between two or more persons or groups for an object desired in common, a rivalry
usually resulting in a victor and a loser but not necessarily involving the destruction of the latter, the struggle
among organisms of the same and of different species, for food, space, and other vital requirements.
In creation not all things are designed the same. There are those with greater and lesser abilities and skills
both in the same and of different species. These are designed for a purpose and yet neither have been
found to guarantee success, failure, victory or defeat over the other. There are far too many variables that
have contributed to one’s success or failure in every situation. Each creation has been given a skill or default
design that is to be used in order to overcome the skill or default design of the same or of a different nature.
In this is the very essence of competition. As you may have heard the, often misused, saying goes: “survival
of the fittest”.
Competition, as it stands truly remains pertinent to only one species on the planet; and that is man. No other
species uses competition as a measurement. For them it is either survive or die. Only men can see the irony
of Mastery over Chance and of Skill over Determination.
Secondly, why competition? It has been found that none of skill, training, experience or any other
components of Mastery promise the spoils over luck, quick thinking, fortune, favor or any other components
of Chance in a challenge. Mankind has spent his existence searching for the solutions, solutions that apply to
all mankind. But these solutions will not be found. That is because no solution fits every man. So they
challenge each other, and chance for the right to say that their way is the best.
In martial arts this challenge pertains to the practice of overcoming one’s environment. In any person’s
environment they will find common elements. There is them self, there is their opponent (or challenger) and
there is the physical barriers whether Natural or Man-Made. So whose technique promises the highest
success rate of overcoming these elements? This is why competition, because “My Way is Best”!
This is what leads us to how we compete. Competition is no free-for-all, cut-throat execution of “That Solves
That”! There are restrictions placed on your environment at the time of the challenge to simulate the
conditions that may occur naturally during the situation in question. Since the majority of mankind wish not to
resolve challenge in death, there are further rules and policies put into affect to protect the lives of those
involved in the challenge. And although the latter set of restrictions to protect life may alter the conditions
from seeming how they may occur naturally, it is an acceptable addition to the challenge. We can still identify
whose way is best.
Over time, our ideas of which rules and restrictions are acceptable have varied and with the previous success
and failure of past challenges so have our techniques and styles. This has brought us to where we are now
with how we run and operate our modern day challenges known as Competition.
Next Article Release: Redeeming Factors of Competition: Know Your Opponent
The What, Why and How
A competition must not be taken lightly. But it must be understood in order for its experience to be truly worth
something. Regardless of the event or challenges put into place that must be overcome, at its conclusion a
competition will help you to measure three things. These things are Your Opponent, Your Art (or Skill) and
Your Self.
First of all, what is competition? According to the Unabridged Dictionary competition is; A test of skill and
ability, a contest, a rivalry between two or more persons or groups for an object desired in common, a rivalry
usually resulting in a victor and a loser but not necessarily involving the destruction of the latter, the struggle
among organisms of the same and of different species, for food, space, and other vital requirements.
In creation not all things are designed the same. There are those with greater and lesser abilities and skills
both in the same and of different species. These are designed for a purpose and yet neither have been
found to guarantee success, failure, victory or defeat over the other. There are far too many variables that
have contributed to one’s success or failure in every situation. Each creation has been given a skill or default
design that is to be used in order to overcome the skill or default design of the same or of a different nature.
In this is the very essence of competition. As you may have heard the, often misused, saying goes: “survival
of the fittest”.
Competition, as it stands truly remains pertinent to only one species on the planet; and that is man. No other
species uses competition as a measurement. For them it is either survive or die. Only men can see the irony
of Mastery over Chance and of Skill over Determination.
Secondly, why competition? It has been found that none of skill, training, experience or any other
components of Mastery promise the spoils over luck, quick thinking, fortune, favor or any other components
of Chance in a challenge. Mankind has spent his existence searching for the solutions, solutions that apply to
all mankind. But these solutions will not be found. That is because no solution fits every man. So they
challenge each other, and chance for the right to say that their way is the best.
In martial arts this challenge pertains to the practice of overcoming one’s environment. In any person’s
environment they will find common elements. There is them self, there is their opponent (or challenger) and
there is the physical barriers whether Natural or Man-Made. So whose technique promises the highest
success rate of overcoming these elements? This is why competition, because “My Way is Best”!
This is what leads us to how we compete. Competition is no free-for-all, cut-throat execution of “That Solves
That”! There are restrictions placed on your environment at the time of the challenge to simulate the
conditions that may occur naturally during the situation in question. Since the majority of mankind wish not to
resolve challenge in death, there are further rules and policies put into affect to protect the lives of those
involved in the challenge. And although the latter set of restrictions to protect life may alter the conditions
from seeming how they may occur naturally, it is an acceptable addition to the challenge. We can still identify
whose way is best.
Over time, our ideas of which rules and restrictions are acceptable have varied and with the previous success
and failure of past challenges so have our techniques and styles. This has brought us to where we are now
with how we run and operate our modern day challenges known as Competition.
Next Article Release: Redeeming Factors of Competition: Know Your Opponent
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