Heat seeped from my lips and chin and continued down my neck. I knew something was wrong, but my adrenaline kept me focused. My opponent took two steps back and instructed the referee to deal with the huge amount of blood that was spilling from my nose and down my chest.

Competition is something that has never been new to me. I have competed in Taekwondo competitions, both in punctual style and in full contact. I have won several championships. In fact, I just won the State Championship in full contact, Olympic-style Taekwondo combat, about 2 months before my bloody match described above.

It was only my third or fourth tournament with the rules of the WTF (World Taekwondo Federation). At first, I identified my opponent in the crowded gym. Without attracting attention, I watched him warm up and work with the oars. I saw him work out with some hogu exercises. I saw him dance a bit executing techniques here and there. “EASY …” Those were the words that kept running through my mind. He was skinny and weak-looking. He was moving so awkwardly, I thought to myself that if I wasn’t careful, I might hurt this poor kid.

I’m not sure if knowing that this lanky looking kid was a former national champion would have helped or hurt me more. Either way, my immediate thought to some of my teammates was, “Now tell me!” I’m not sure if my nose broke that day, but it left a nice lump on the side of my nose for about a month. I also used butterfly stitches for a few days over my eye.

So what the hell happened? Here I am, a successful points style fighter and then I’m going crazy. Well, as unfortunate as it may have seemed at the time … it was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me in the competition. Two words consumed my thoughts during my training sessions for the next several years: Never again!

At this point, I took it upon myself to really examine my Taekwondo training. From this day on, I incorporated this training methodology to prepare for all competitions as well as for all my students to follow it.

People sometimes ask what it takes to be successful in combat. The answer is quite simple: it is unity. Drive from the inside. Don’t get me wrong … physical training is important and we will. But if you don’t have unity, you don’t stand a chance. Boxers often refer to this urge as heart. In some cases, boxers fight something much bigger and stronger than their opponent in the ring. They are a true opponent who is inside. I only mention boxers because many of our great professionals have historically come from abusive homes, the ghettos, the projects, the neighborhood, and developed a fighting heart the moment they were brought into this world.

Okay, so you’re not a boxer and you didn’t grow up in the toughest part of town. How do you get that fighting spirit? You develop it. You cultivate it and then you nurture it. First, you must ask yourself, why do you want to win? If you want to be competitive in Taekwondo, you must have a reason. If you want to train recreationally in tournaments, then your desire to win is to fulfill any competitive spirit you may have.

If your goal is to go to the National Qualifiers, finish in 1st, 2nd or 3rd place and then move on to the Nationals, then your desire must focus on something much bigger than what is happening at the local tournament. Here are some steps to help you prepare.

1. Objective: Why do you want to win? What is your end goal?

2. Spirit – Every tournament, every training session, every rep, every drop of sweat should be seen as a means of getting one step closer to your goal. This is the beginning of your fighting spirit or your drive.

3. Remember: not a moment goes by without your mind not being consumed with your goal, during your workout. This goal is being promoted right here. As you continue to advance your goal, you will develop that fighting spirit. You will train harder, you will get stronger and your will to win will become more ingrained.

4. Prepare yourself. Unfortunately, drive or heart is not enough to win a national title. You need to prepare. National champions have both: preparation and driving.

Don’t hit the road running for miles or doing tons of weight lifting. Many times, we can get distracted by mindless training because we don’t know what to do or want to think that we are doing something of value. Turn your tournament experience into a training session. See below how to prepare physically.

Double your experience in the competition. Take the duration of your round for 2-3 minutes and use exercises that challenge you during that time. For instance-

Kick twice continuously in a bag for 1 minute at a time. Then move for 15 seconds while you catch your breath and start over.

Alternate between sprinting and push-ups (1 minute each).

Choose plyometrics that build strength and speed in your legs (1 minute each).

Perform timing exercises with hogus, paddles, or shields.

Lastly, make sure you train and do it a lot, preferably with a lot of different people. Practice situational combat. For example, imagine that you have lost 2 points and the game has 10 seconds left. If it were competition, would you change your strategy? Hopefully, you said, “you can bet!” What if you were 2 points ahead with 10 seconds to go? How would that change things? Start training backing to the end against the limit. Think of as many scenarios as you can. Don’t get caught up too much thinking about things, which is easy to do. Just spar!

I wish you the best in your Taekwondo competition experience.