The Road to Victory: A Rocky-Inspired Journey in Taekwondo | Ep 6

Arjun: 00:00:00

I felt very confident that if I prepared in the way that I knew how to prepare, because clearly I had the formula that worked for me the first time as long as I didn't deviate from it. And I did it even more, I did it even harder that I would have that success yet again.

Do you remember a time in your life when everything that you touched turned to gold? You were crushing it, experiencing all kinds of success in leaps and bounds. Nothing could really go negative for you.

Whatever was coming your way, whether it was love, success, money, growth, it was just happening naturally to the point where you never thought it was going to stop. And then all of a sudden, one day, out of nowhere, the rug was pulled out from underneath you abruptly.

I'm gonna take you on a little bit of a journey. But before I do that, you guys know of my love for films and how I always try and tie it back to everything.

And if you don't know that by now, you haven't been checking out enough of these episodes, so make sure that you do.

But if I was to ask a hundred people out of all of the Rocky movies was their absolute favorite, I would say about 95 would probably say it was Rocky 4, right? You're probably saying the same thing there as you're listening to this, and why. It was because of the incredible story, right?

The cinematography, the fight in Russia, the buildup to it, and I'll be honest, it was the best fight scene of all the Rockies put together. Although Rocky 5 and the street fight could compete for a close second. I do love a good street fight and the story of Rocky avenging Apollo's death.

There was a lot of emotional strings that were being pulled in that film, but it's not my favorite. My favorite for totally different reasons was Rocky III. And the reason that I loved Rocky 3 so much, and still to this day, it's my favorite.

One of all of them is because of the comeback, the setback that he endured, which I think is relatable to all of us on so many different levels, personally, relationally, professionally. But that setback was so bad that it planted all of these doubts and these head scratching moments of was I ever really that good?

Did I even deserve what I had in the first place? Was I the secret sauce or was something else the secret sauce that was making all this happen?

And then as everything comes crashing down, you have to evaluate and then realize, do I just stay here or do I find a way to put myself back together again, do this again and prove everyone, including myself, potentially Wrong. Now, this ties into something that's really, really big in my life, something that I still draw inspiration and strength from all the time.

And it's a personal story that has to do with my competing days in Taekwondo.

You see, in: 2007

And this was because they were generally too old. They couldn't really move at that rank.

But because so many people around the world were being promoted at younger ages and more physically fit times in their life, they thought, let's have these guys out there and let them go at it to try and compete and represent their countries. So this was always a dream of mine.

t. I went out for the team in: 2007

I put together a really, really good team of people around me in the way of mindset and physical coaches and everything that I could get in the way of instruction and development.

And quite honestly, I think we captured lightning in a bottle because it was beautiful, it worked, and I was fortunate enough to capture the gold medal in my very first World Championships. I got to hear that national anthem, and it's something I'll never forget for as long as I live.

ld Championships were sure in: 2010

But in: 2012

And not only did I have them all around me, I trained twice as hard. I didn't want to leave anything to chance because I know that I was the hunted this time and people were going to be targeting me.

And also I wanted to make sure that I did not leave any stone unturned, that I did not squander any opportunity to get better, sharper, be in the best shape of my life, just so I could leave it all on the mat.

And I felt very confident that if I prepared in the way that I knew how to prepare, because clearly I had the formula that worked for me the first time as long as I didn't deviate from it. And I did it even more, I did it even harder that I would have that success yet again. And in Rocky 3, there was a very similar feeling.

He had been a champion for a long time, had this big build up, then he ultimately faced Mr. T or Clubber Lang, as you guys would remember him in that movie, and things didn't end so well.

do you think my experience in: 2012

And realizing and recapping while I'm on that flight, that we have put in hundreds of hours of training, worked with the same elite team of coaches, performance and mindset guys, the same exact guys I had last time. Because if it wasn't broke, why fix it, right?

Everything fully prepared, mentally being locked in, ready to go, and having no shadow of a doubt whatsoever that I've done everything, I've given everything to meet this moment head on, that I'm fully prepared, that I'm going to be equal to it, that I am actually ready. Not nervous, but ready. And the draw was released on the first day that I was there and I was set to face the national champion from Argentina.

This is the top country that competes in Taekwondo.

And when this draw was released and his name was on the board featured right next to my name, a lot of people came up to me and said, man, what a tough draw. That's so tough and sucks so bad that you have to face him in the first round. I looked all these guys in the eye and said, that doesn't matter.

That's not my problem. I'm ready.

It doesn't matter who I face, because if I'm going to defend this title that I won five years ago, I'm going to have to beat the best and go through everybody in the draw. So what difference does it make when I face them? First round, second round, finals, it doesn't matter.

So my category competed on day four, so there's a lot of buildup and a lot of other fights and things that you have to watch and people that you're coaching, but in the back of your mind, you're just roaring and ready to go. So day four, I remember that bus ride to the venue. It was about a 45 minute ride.

My mind was clear, my heart was full, I was ready, I was completely locked into this moment, ready to seize it. I felt very, very confident and assured that everything I'd done was going to be on par to meet this moment today, to be equal to that moment.

I walked into the ring, I gave it my absolute all.

And over two minutes, the results came in in what was, I believe, one of the closest and most controversial split decisions that you could get of a vote of three to two. And I lost. And we're going to talk about what happened after that loss and why it was so important in the next episode.