Lessons from the Arena

I'm told that there were a few missionaries in a certain seminary here in Baguio that practiced martial arts, Muay Thai in particular. On a normal day I would like to think that they spar, but there was one particular event which stood out.


A Korean was sent to the same seminary and, in barely intelligible English, attempted to inject Tae Kwon Do into the minds of these missionaries - aggresively. He kept saying that Tae Kwon Do was the best, and this led to one of the missionaries telling him to at least try Muay Thai. Apparently the Korean was adamant, as the story continues with a bout between the two.


So they sparred, and the Korean was kicking, flying, and basically asserting himself, while the missionary was simply evading and dodging, through footwork, according to the storyteller. This went on for 30 minutes. The Korean was exhausted, and the missionary was obviously still able to move around. Between the panting and the deep breathing, the Korean kept giving all sorts of reasons for his failure.


The missionary's reply was, "Try blocking."


The Korean was ready. He had his stance, and when the missionary lunged to deliver a kick (which I am told was intentionally kept from being full force), he attempted to parry the assault. The kick still went right through the block, hitting the Korean.


All the Korean said was "You're killing me!"


I have to say that I do not have anything against any of the martial arts mentioned above. This story was mentioned to me by a person who is very blessed with knowledge, a person who shows so much potential. I'd like to think that this was his parting gift to me before I told him that he could not make it to the account I worked for.


He chose to leave me to think about it, and I'd like to think that it's one thing I'd like to share.


Given the situation where you step in not knowing what you get yourself into, what's left to do is learn.