Subj: If Superman Got In A Fight With Batman… Who Would Win?!?!
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Let’s Start Here
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When I came back to judo in 1997 after graduating from Howard University, I was raw. Green. My judo looked a little bit goofy and I was somewhat nerdy as a recent mechanical engineering graduate. I was (as I am now) madly in love with a young woman by the name of Traci Thompson. And she was working her way through medical school as I was working for the Daily Planet…uh…. I mean, Texas Instruments.
In some cases, I felt like I was Clark Kent. But I just didn’t know how to become Superman.
I was in judo to win. Let’s just be clear about that. I left the college environment of football, wrestling and track and I was trained to win.
However, after leaving the sport at the age of 12 and returning to it at the age of 22, getting my judo to the point where it was going to be “super” was not only tough, it was going to be doggone near impossible.
I remember growing up as young lad and watching Superman. I remember the cartoons and the movies, Superman I, II and III. My father took me to see all of them. I remember being in awe of his super strength, his speed, his power and his inability to lie. His honesty and devotion to others were probably the most attractive qualities of his character. It didn’t hurt that he could whip a lil’ ass too when necessary.
I thought being super-human was what I needed to get to the Olympics. And I chased after that.
I lifted, I ran, I threw, I studied, I trained….. I did it all. I tried to make myself into a super human-being.
Well one day while sitting in the cafeteria at the Olympic Training Center after the morning weight lifting session, the discussion started at the table about:
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“If Superman Got In A
Fight With Batman,
Who’d Win?”
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People were going on and on about it and coming up with different scenarios and finally one person said….
“The answer is simple. Batman would win because no matter what could or would ever happen, he would outsmart Superman, have some kryptonite on him or around him and he’d kill him. Batman would win because he would outsmart Superman and we all know that in battles such as this AT THIS LEVEL that the strongest guy does not win, nor the fittest, but the one that has those qualities and is the smartest.”
After he finished speaking, the table fell silent.
Everybody was very pensive, as was I.
When I finished eating I told myself, “Train like a super man, but behave like Batman.”
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Train Like You Want
To Become A Super
Hero
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The character of Batman is proof positive that you don’t need to be a “super” man in order to be a “super” hero.
Superman was genetically gifted.
And there’s nothing wrong with using your genetic gifts, but at the World Class level, EVERYBODY is genetically gifted, that ’s why they are world class. But, what will determine how good you are is your ability to be extraordinary in your behavior, deportment, attitude and preparation. See, Batman was a regular human being, with an extraordinary attention to preparation and detail.
Now that I’m older my desire is to be a Super Dad and a Super Husband because, quite honestly, being Superman is no longer a possibility nor is there an opportunity to hold such a position LOL.
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My Favorite Character
Now Is……
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Now that I’m more wiser, my favorite character is Batman.
And like Batman, it is my desire to arm my tool belt with as many weapons as possible and to make sure that my home has a vast reading library.
It is also my desire to make sure that I surround myself with other EXTRA-ordinary people as well.
With that being said, when 2015 rolls around I am going to hold more seminars and open up a few more coaching groups and slots in order to put more tools in the tool belts of others and to also surround myself with other people who are willing to do the “extra” in order to become “extra”-ordinary judo players, judo coaches and judo supporters.
So in the next few days please enjoy your holiday season and also be on the lookout for:
1. The opening of my Deliberate Practice Coaching Group (in January 2015)
and
2. my NEW Judo 2.0: Effective Strategies And Tactics Seminar (February/March 2015)
and
3. A host of training and development opportunities at Tampa Florida Judo in Tampa, Florida (All year long)
Take care and have a great holiday season.
Dedicated to Your Improvement,
Rhadi Ferguson, PhD
2004 Olympian