The Concept of Moral Victory: A Discussion with a Martial Arts Expert

Moral victory is a concept that has sparked debate among individuals, particularly those involved in martial arts competitions. According to the speaker, moral victory is a legitimate and valuable outcome that can be just as important as an actual physical victory. This idea may seem counterintuitive at first, but the speaker's perspective offers a unique insight into what it means to win with integrity.

One of the key examples the speaker uses to illustrate their point is a hypothetical scenario where a blue belt competes against a black belt in a fight. The likelihood of winning for the blue belt is almost zero, yet if they still go out there and give it their all, attempting to do their best despite being at a significant disadvantage, this could be considered a moral victory. In other words, trying your hardest, maintaining focus and control, and executing techniques effectively can be seen as an achievement in itself, regardless of the outcome.

The speaker emphasizes that while martial arts is often misunderstood as solely about winning or losing, it's actually about cultivating valuable qualities such as discipline, dedication, and focus. These attributes are crucial for success not only in competition but also in everyday life. The speaker suggests that recognizing these qualities within oneself is essential, whether one wins or loses a fight.

Furthermore, the speaker notes that there is no shame in losing if you conduct yourself with respect, humility, and integrity. In fact, the ability to acknowledge and learn from defeat can be just as valuable as winning. The goal of martial arts should not solely focus on achieving victory but rather on personal growth, self-improvement, and the pursuit of excellence.

To further illustrate this concept, the speaker recalls a specific experience where they lost in competition due to being significantly outmatched by their opponent. Despite feeling disappointed and frustrated, the speaker recognizes that they had performed better than they could have, given their own limitations. This realization serves as a valuable lesson, highlighting the importance of acknowledging one's strengths and weaknesses.

The speaker also addresses the issue of judging performance or judging others in martial arts competitions. They suggest that it's essential to consider not only the physical aspects of a fight but also the mental and emotional qualities displayed by each participant. By focusing on these qualities, we can gain a more nuanced understanding of what truly matters in competition.

Ultimately, the speaker's perspective offers a refreshing take on traditional notions of winning and losing in martial arts competitions. By emphasizing the importance of moral victory and recognizing that martial arts is about much more than just winning or losing, we can develop a healthier, more well-rounded approach to competition and personal growth.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyou talked about moral victory can you explain how your morality contributes to the way see the value of winning sure I think there's absolutely such a thing as a moral victory and sometimes people that are trying to manipulate you or trying to get you to buy something will tell you differently and you know there is there it goes in two directions for instance let's say you're a blue belt and you compete against you know a real black goal and there's plenty of people running around plat belts that are not particularly at this point but you know let's say for instance your blue belt and you compete against a real black belt the likelihood of you winning is almost zero however if you go out there and you try hard and you do your best and again whether you come off the mat you know a winner which would be very fortunate and unlikely but or you come off the mat you know on the other side of things if you went after and you tried and you you know let's say you had some nerves but you kept that in check and you fought hard you didn't let it get the better of you you know that would be in my opinion a moral victory and and there would be nothing wrong for recognizing it as such now that's not the same thing as an actual physical victory but there's nothing wrong with saying let's say you're your opponent's 260 pounds in your 120 and you tie they get the decision hey you know I remember that happened to me at the quarter-final or not the quarter-final rather in the the third round at the absolute in the Worlds in 2008 you know and you know it's against a heavyweight or a super heavyweight and in the 0-0 and I wasn't happy about losing by any stretch of the imagination but looking back I'm like okay well you know generally speaking if you end up level considering that I have all of the resources you don't that is you know you definitely performed a little bit better than I did now at the end of the day you know wins and losses do matter and you do want to try to make sure that I'm not shooting for the moral victory I'm shooting for the actual victory but every now and then it's very very important to keep in mind that you know am I just actually myself am i conducting myself in a way that I respect that hopefully other people of value or respect and also a way that I believe is going to produce actual victory and actual positive results in the long run as well I think it's important to recognize that because sometimes you'll see people get very frustrated let's say for instance if I box against people that are much more experienced than me all the time you know I'm not going to win anyone that tells you differently has either not training with people that are very good or B they have no idea what they're talking about but what I can say is hey did I do a little bit better today and better doesn't mean that I land more punches in this it was I more under control was I more able to kind of keep my keep my focus and execute what I wanted to execute and if the answer to that is yes you know I'm moving in the right direction so as far as I'm concerned there's all sorts of different types of moral victory but it would be the the same thing as you know let's say for instance you know fade or slaps your mother you got to hit him you have to he's going to kick the shit out of you almost certainly but you have to hit him it would not be it would be a technical like well I didn't get hurt so that's a win if you ran away but that would be the opposite of the moral victory in that case trying your best and losing would still be I would say the honorable thing to do so what you're saying is sometimes you have to pay the price for a moral victory absolutely but the reality is is that martial arts doesn't just teach us about how to beat someone up or technique or this is that that's really not the core of the martial arts the core of the martial arts is heart discipline dedication focus and if you have those things they'll always be people better than you and they'll always be people lesser than you but that's not the only metric by which you can judge performance or judge a personyou talked about moral victory can you explain how your morality contributes to the way see the value of winning sure I think there's absolutely such a thing as a moral victory and sometimes people that are trying to manipulate you or trying to get you to buy something will tell you differently and you know there is there it goes in two directions for instance let's say you're a blue belt and you compete against you know a real black goal and there's plenty of people running around plat belts that are not particularly at this point but you know let's say for instance your blue belt and you compete against a real black belt the likelihood of you winning is almost zero however if you go out there and you try hard and you do your best and again whether you come off the mat you know a winner which would be very fortunate and unlikely but or you come off the mat you know on the other side of things if you went after and you tried and you you know let's say you had some nerves but you kept that in check and you fought hard you didn't let it get the better of you you know that would be in my opinion a moral victory and and there would be nothing wrong for recognizing it as such now that's not the same thing as an actual physical victory but there's nothing wrong with saying let's say you're your opponent's 260 pounds in your 120 and you tie they get the decision hey you know I remember that happened to me at the quarter-final or not the quarter-final rather in the the third round at the absolute in the Worlds in 2008 you know and you know it's against a heavyweight or a super heavyweight and in the 0-0 and I wasn't happy about losing by any stretch of the imagination but looking back I'm like okay well you know generally speaking if you end up level considering that I have all of the resources you don't that is you know you definitely performed a little bit better than I did now at the end of the day you know wins and losses do matter and you do want to try to make sure that I'm not shooting for the moral victory I'm shooting for the actual victory but every now and then it's very very important to keep in mind that you know am I just actually myself am i conducting myself in a way that I respect that hopefully other people of value or respect and also a way that I believe is going to produce actual victory and actual positive results in the long run as well I think it's important to recognize that because sometimes you'll see people get very frustrated let's say for instance if I box against people that are much more experienced than me all the time you know I'm not going to win anyone that tells you differently has either not training with people that are very good or B they have no idea what they're talking about but what I can say is hey did I do a little bit better today and better doesn't mean that I land more punches in this it was I more under control was I more able to kind of keep my keep my focus and execute what I wanted to execute and if the answer to that is yes you know I'm moving in the right direction so as far as I'm concerned there's all sorts of different types of moral victory but it would be the the same thing as you know let's say for instance you know fade or slaps your mother you got to hit him you have to he's going to kick the shit out of you almost certainly but you have to hit him it would not be it would be a technical like well I didn't get hurt so that's a win if you ran away but that would be the opposite of the moral victory in that case trying your best and losing would still be I would say the honorable thing to do so what you're saying is sometimes you have to pay the price for a moral victory absolutely but the reality is is that martial arts doesn't just teach us about how to beat someone up or technique or this is that that's really not the core of the martial arts the core of the martial arts is heart discipline dedication focus and if you have those things they'll always be people better than you and they'll always be people lesser than you but that's not the only metric by which you can judge performance or judge a person\n"