Turning Gold To Plastic

Ray Doss was a fine young black belt under Steve Muhammad back when he was Steve Sanders. They called him “Bruce” because his hands and feet were so fast. (And yes, I know how he developed that speed. A subject for another time.)

Anyway, this kid was FAST. And more than that, he had perspective. I remember being at a tournament with him, and he was just flat tearing it up. Nobody could stop him. If you blinked, you were hit. Now, Bruce was a lightweight, and in point karate, a lightweight could win his weight class, and then go on to fight for grand champion.

The problem was that the middleweight and heavyweight champions had watched him and KNEW they couldn’t beat him. So…they stonewalled. They simply refused to fight him. Both being from the same karate school, having brought enough students to the tournament to have leverage, they simply demanded that the tournament directors give them the trophy to take home, and cowards that they were, they acceded.

I was shocked. Infuriated. This was bald-faced cheating. But Ray was unfazed. Serene. I goggled, unable to understand how he could be so placid in the face of such behavior.

Ray just smiled at me. “By acting that way, they turned the trophy into a piece of plastic” he said. And I understood.

The TROPHY was only important as a reminder of an event, the meaning of which is connected to the effort that got you there, what it represents in terms of focus, energy skill, and courage. You can buy trophies all over the…