#121: Hero Worship in the Martial Arts [Video + Podcast] cover art

#121: Hero Worship in the Martial Arts [Video + Podcast]

#121: Hero Worship in the Martial Arts [Video + Podcast]

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 Welcome to Episode #121 of the Fight for a Happy Life podcast, “Hero Worship in the Martial Arts.” We all need teachers and role models in the martial arts… but can following a leader become harmful at some point? Is it possible to show a teacher too much respect? YES! If we’re not careful, our humility as a student can be transformed into hero worship. Once that happens, it becomes impossible to maximize our skills and build true confidence. And without true confidence, your ability to defend yourself is greatly diminished. Be careful! It’s happened to me… don’t let it happen to you! In this episode, I’ll share a couple of stories that not only showed me the dangers of constantly seeking a teacher’s approval, but also helped me figure out how to train with a balance of humility and confidence. As a result, as you may know, I created and awarded myself my own black and white belt! 🙂 Here’s to healthy training habits and learning to become your own hero! To LISTEN to “Hero Worship,” here’s a link. Play the audio podcast below… or download to your device.Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher or Google Podcasts or Spotify. To WATCH the video version or READ the transcript, scroll down below. If you’d like to support this show, share the link with a friend or leave a quick review over on iTunes. Thank you! Oh—and don’t forget to sign up for free email updates so you can get new shows sent to your inbox the minute they’re released. Thanks for listening! Keep fighting for a happy life! Hero Worship in the Martial Arts Here’s a video of the podcast. If the player doesn’t work, you can click this direct link. As always, if you’d like to keep the conversation going, feel free to leave a comment here or through my Contact Page. TRANSCRIPT Welcome, my friend. Ando here from Happy Life Martial Arts. This is episode #121 of Fight for a Happy Life, the show that believes even a little martial arts makes life a whole lot better. Today, heroes, mentors, role models, teachers, we all have them in the martial arts and beyond. But when does following a leader become harmful? When does admiration transform into adulation? And when does adulation transform into idolization? Can you show too much respect for a teacher? When does respect transform into hero worship? Now, yes, I still have teachers. I still seek guidance. That’s what teachers are for. Teachers can inspire us to get started. Teachers can encourage us to keep going. And teachers can guide us to make sure we’re heading in the directions of our goals. That’s all good. But I find in the martial arts that oftentimes teachers are elevated into gods. They’re glorified. They’re deified. And I know this, of course, from my own personal feelings towards some teachers, particularly early on in my martial arts career. I also know this from listening and reading many interviews with martial artists, some famous, some not. And I also know it from different martial artists that I’ve spoken to in person. You’ll hear people make comments like, oh, I’ll never be as good as my teacher. Or they will describe their teacher in legendary terms. The stories that you hear are just incredible, unbelievable, often. They’ll say, oh, their skills. I still don’t understand how they could do what they did. It was almost magical. And very simply, it puts yourself, these stories, in a place of being nothing. Oh, compared to my teacher, I’m nothing. Now to all of that, I say stop it. Stop. Respect your teachers, of course. That’s not what I’m talking about. If a teacher changed your life, then of course you’re always going to have respect for them. Even a bad teacher. A bad teacher meaning maybe they cheated you in some way. Maybe you had a difference of opinion and it broke up the relationship. Maybe politics got in the way. There are lots of stories of people falling out with their teacher. But you still respect them. Because if they changed your life, you still carry that lesson with you. So, this isn’t about respect only. Respect is its own category. There’s a different topic to talk about though. And that’s just knowledge and skill. I’m asking today, can you be better than your teacher? Are you better right now than your teacher? Does that question come off as disrespectful right off the bat? I would say no. I would say no because learning is not a competition. Your teacher is on his or her own journey. They have their own stories to tell. You’re on your own journey. You have your own goals that may be different from your teacher’s goals. You certainly have different histories. You certainly have different training methodologies perhaps, or the amount of time that you can put into it. So you’re not on the same exact journey. So it’s not fair to compare them. So I ask again, are you right now better than your teacher at something? It doesn’t have to be everything. But can you find some qualities, some...
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