Balance of Ego and Humility

Every Black Belt test I have ever taken, I had the honor of taking with several people and it's something I cannot explain. But when you take a Black Belt test with someone, the energy of the test is completely out of this word, and adds so much more o the experience! Well I went to Fastkix Taekwondo in 2009 to test for my 3rd Dan Black Belt and I took my test with 20 other people. One of those people was testing my 4th Degree, my mentor Samuel DeJesus.

I was fascinated my Master DeJesus's use of the martial art Krav Maga, which is an Israeli martial arts, composed of high level striking and leverage based techniques. He will be helping me toward my 4th Degree testing with self-defense. But none of my mentors are limited to just one thing in what I can learn from them on my journey to becoming a master. I believe Samuel represents humility to me.

Master DeJesus and I have a common ground where we both are forever students. He is well rounded in his training and tried all different types of martial arts and go through the ranks, before sharing it in his own school. He never has that air about him that my old master used to, as if he knew everything and learning from someone else would be below him.On the contrary. Samuel DeJesus is open to learning whatever he can, where ever he can. And best of all, he loves what he is doing so much and loves his students equally, just as I do.

Recently, on his Facebook page, he posted something that said "Today my ego got the best of me," and then thanked someone for reminding him. I read this and I was in awe. Why? Only a true master would have the humility to hold themselves accountable and admit when they allow some flaw to occur. My old master never admitted when he was wrong, nor ever apologize when he had done wrong. So for me to see Samuel share with other how he allowed his ego to get the best of himself, WOW! Just WOW! I cannot begin to tell you the respect I had for him in that moment, and I have A LOT of respect for him already.

What a great model for me to follow, becoming a master myself. In my experience, especially a several months ago this past year, I was involved in a situation where there were a lot of people who did a lot wrong. However, I was the only person taking responsibility for my actions and admitting where I was wrong. And when that happened, no one else followed suit, so I looked like I was the ONLY one in the wrong, and the fingers all pointed my way. No one ever wants to be proven wrong or admit when they are wrong, and that is because of EGO!!!

Ego is the “I” or self of any person; a person as thinking, feeling, and willing, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others and from objects of its thought. When one's Ego gets full of itself, it loses something called HUMILITY! Humility is the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank, etc. As a martial artists, we try to live our lives and teach others to love their lives in a humble manner, full of humility and integrity.

One time, Lisa had a speaker come to Montclair and he talked about Ego and one of the biggest points he made on Ego was "Don't get offended." People take things out of proportion all the time and get offended over the littlest things! Because it doesn't agree with EGO!!! But we all have one. We all have an Ego. But it is to balance Ego with humility that is the true key to living life with integrity! And Samuel DeJesus is full of integrity! A great role model for future masters like myself.

When I did the Qi Gong meditation with Lisa at Sifu Pedro Yee's school, he talked about Ego as well. He said to not allow Ego to take over, but at the same time Ego give you drive! It allows for motivation! One of the people who commented on Master DeJesus's Facebook page interpreted Ego as Confidence! Interesting way to look at it. After all, we try to build self-confidence in our self and other as well. So as Master DeJesus put it, to train ourselves  to have a healthy balance of Ego and humility is the way toward a healthier life not only as a martial artist, but as a human being. Another thought provoking lesson from the mentors!

Yours in service,

A TRENTO