Reasons not to compete

In my last article, I wrote about the good and bad reasons for a competition. Of course there is also a couple of good, as well as bad reasons why you should not participate in a competition. This it will be the topic of this article …

In contrast to many other countries, for example Thailand, everybody has a choice, whether he fights or not. We are not financially dependent on getting into the ring. It is, or it should be your free decision if you decide to participate in a competition or not.

Just because someone is training martial arts and loves his sport, that does not mean that he wants to test himself in a fight. Everyone has their own reason why he is training. Some people make it for fitness, self-defense and also for a social aspects, while others look for fighting and competing.

If you have good reasons not to participate in a competition then do not. It is your body and your health, that you put at risk here.

Good reasons could be the following…

#1 You do not want to fight

If you do not want to fight, you should not. It’s that simple. It is not wrong to train and not to fight. Fighting is not for everyone. If you decide not to fight, it makes you not less a man (or woman) than someone who regularly fights. Never let yourself be persuaded to fight, if you do not want it!

I’ve seen people pressured to fight, though they did not want to. If you do not want it, you’ll regret it if you persuade yourself, because your own motivation is not great enough and the fear will superior you. Your performance in the ring will be not really good, as it is not what you want.

Anmerkung Thailand:

Note Thailand:

When you train in Thailand, you can assume that almost every coach asks you to fight, regardless of your ability. The Thai trainers have a financial interest to send their students into the ring. Far too often you see total beginners, who fight after only three weeks of training in Thailand which I consider is quite nonsense.

If you do not want to fight, make sure you have a thick skin and that you prepare to give your trainer a definite no. If you come with a “maybe later” or similar, they will continue to put pressure on you. Do not be fooled when they say, “You win, 100% sure!”

#2 Fighting is not your priority

Maybe fighting is not your priority. Maybe you have family, work or school commitments that are more important now, or in general. If you want to fight, the training has to become priority No. 1 in your life, at least for a certain time before the competition. Maybe you just can not take this time off because of important, other aspects.

I, myself had this problem all too often. I have been studying, than working full time with a part-time master’s studies, and at the end, before I started A Warrior’s Journey, it was master thesis, travel preparation, website setup, etc. sometimes it just does not fit in your schedule.

You do not need to feel bad if you do not accept a fight offer due to other commitments. The best time to fight is when you have no family and no job to focus on. This is also a reason why many fighters take a break from their jobgs, to go to Thailand, where you can fully surrender to training and competition.

#3 Health Issues

Your age is not really a reason why you should not fight. I have seen men in the 50’s, who can easily keep up with 20-year-olds guys. It depends on fitness and health. And with that, we also come to an important reason why you should not fight.

If you have health problems, then you should not do a competition. It is not an easy walk. You can seriously hurt yourself and if you already have problems, this will only get worse. Do you want to run around like a cripple with 30 years, just because you have not listened to your body and?

If you’re hurt, take the time to recover, or train around the injury. But definitely renounce a fight, if you’re seriously inujured. If you have chronic cardiac or pulmonary disorders, then you should probably not take part in fights.

But there are also bad reasons not to fight, or excuses. Bad reasons are for example:

#1 Fear

Fear should not be a reason not to participate in a competition. Every fighter has to deal with it. Probably there is no one who goes into a balanced fight, who does not have to fight with fear.

In my opinion, it is precisely this factor which is important in a competition. If you want to be good, you have to learn to deal with fear and nervousness and that, you can learn only in a real fight.

Face your fear and do not let it dominate you. If you would like to fight, do not dare, try to jump over your shadow. Speak with your coach and your mates openly, I’m sure no one will laugh at you, as everyone knows this feeling. Rather, they will try to motivate you and give you courage.

#2 Someone of your family or friends, does not want you to fight

Klar, wenn dein Trainer oder dein Arzt sagt, dass du nicht kämpfen sollst, dann solltest du das ernst nehmen und auf sie hören. Aber wenn jemand in deinem Umfeld meint, dir sagen zu müssen, dass du nicht kämpfen sollst, aus welchen Gründen auch immer, dann frage dich selbst… willst du es oder nicht.

Es ist ganz allein deine Entscheidung! Lass dir nichts erzählen, dass du evtl. nicht gut genug, zu schön oder zu dumm bist. Manch jemand wird dich darauf hinweisen, dass du dich verletzten könntest. Über Letzteres bist du dir wahrscheinlich selbst bewusst.

Es ist dein Körper, deine Gesundheit, deine Zeit die du ins Training investierst, dein Leben. Hör auf dein Herz und nochmals … auf deinen Trainer, sofern dieser Vernünftig ist.

Sure, if your coach or your doctor says you should not fight, you should take this seriously and listen to them. But if someone in your environment means to tell you that you should not fight, for whatever reason, then ask yourself … do you want it or not.

It’s all your decision! Do net let them tell you that you may not be good enough, too beautiful or too stupid. Someone will tell you that you can hurt yourself. You are probably aware about that.

It is your body, your health, your time you invest in your training. Listen to your heart and again … to your trainer, if this he is reasonable.

#3 You don not want to lose

Nobody likes it when he loses and it’s only normal that you climb into the ring to win. Nevertheless, you should not be too much on the idea of wining or losing and do not think that a defeat can be something bad for you.

On the contrary, if you lose and still rise again and continue, you have won twice. You learn from defeats. You analyze your mistakes and improve yourself and come back stronger.

Kämpfe um zu gewinnen, aber nehme auch eine Niederlage wie ein Sieger hin. Auf lange Sicht, hilft es dir, wenn du auch mal verlierst, anstatt immer nur zu gewinnen. Du lernst nur dazu.

Wenn dein Ego zu groß ist und nur der Sieg, anstatt die eigentliche Erfahrung für dich wichtig ist, dann wirst du früher oder später richtig auf die Schnauze fallen. Wie schon im letzten Artikel erwähnt, es gibt immer jemand der besser ist als du und meist sind es jene Kämpfer die ohne egoistische Ansprüche in den Wettkampf gehen. Genieße einfach die Erfahrung!

Fight to win, but also take a defeat like a winner. In the long run, it helps you, if you lose also, instead of always wining. You only learn from your mistakes.

If your ego is too big and only the victory is important, instead of the actual experience, then you will crash sooner or laster. As mentioned in the last article, there is always someone who is better than you and most of them are those fighters who go into the competition without selfish claims. Just enjoy the experience!