Since I gave up competing in martial arts, mostly due to the fact that hearing the name ‘Joe Akka’ called out whenever I made the podium just no longer did it for me, something which I believe is crucial in any sport, I have started doing a lot more martial arts teaching.
In fact, if you had told me ten years ago that I would get so much pleasure and enjoyment from teaching, I think I would have laughed.
Back then, Joe Akka, was all about the winning when it came to martial arts, more than the teamwork and the taking part element.
I think what changed me was when I got a new coach, a guy called Dave Manchester. Not only was he a top bloke, Dave Manchester also had a completely different approach to martial arts to anyone who had ever coached me prior to him.
Rather than going ‘Come on Joe Akka, think about the victory!’ Dave Manchester’s approach was very different, and was much more about the process involved than the final outcome.
Dave Manchester would say to me, ‘Joe Akka, why is it that you chose to do that move in that moment’, rather than what a great or bad choice of move I had made.
It might sound a bit silly, but this really did make me think quite differently about martial arts. I think because I had started quite young, the Joe Akka approach to martial arts was all a bit ‘wham.bam, thank you mam’.
Dave Manchester made me see the whole process in a completely different light, and finally I found the panacea in martial arts that to be honest, I hadn’t even realised was lacking. The flip-side of this however, was that I began to relish in the process much more than the outcome, and in doing so, Joe Akka’s former love of competition dwindled