Video summary
In this episode of Take It Uneasy, Ryan Hall explores the profound value of competition for martial artists and athletes alike. He argues that while winning a title like an ADCC gold medal might bring temporary glory, true success is defined by real-world self-defense capabilities rather than trophies alone. Competition serves as a crucible that teaches the authentic purpose of martial arts: effective defense in life's unpredictable scenarios. Hall emphasizes that when approached correctly with proper focus and dedication, competition forces individuals to improve because strong opposition highlights areas for growth. He contrasts this serious approach with "cowardly" attitudes where participants half-ass their preparation or seek excuses after a loss, noting that such behavior yields hollow results regardless of the outcome. Hall stresses that honest self-analysis is critical in high-level environments like tournaments, where everyone is fully prepared and there are no easy outs to hide behind. He draws inspiration from Frank Herbert's *Dune*, specifically the concept that searching for freedom often leads to slavery by one's own desires, whereas seeking discipline grants true liberty. This philosophy applies universally across parenting, military service, business, and athletics; those who make immense commitments demonstrate a level of dedication that commands respect even if they do not achieve top-tier results like gold medals. The moral victory comes from mastering one's mind and body through the rigorous process of denying oneself distractions to pursue valuable goals, proving that success is reserved for those willing to pay its price. The discussion highlights how true hard work involves more than just showing up; it requires constant reassessment, re-evaluation, and listening to honest feedback from respected peers rather than dismissing criticism due to ego bias. Hall points out the reality that longevity in a sport does not guarantee skill, citing examples of jiu-jitsu practitioners who have trained for fifteen years yet perform poorly compared to those with only four years of experience but superior focus and direction. This distinction underscores that ability is rarely accidental; it stems from an unwavering commitment to improvement and the courage to confront uncomfortable truths about one's performance. Ryan Hall also admires late-career success stories like Randy Couture and Rick H, who started their MMA careers in their thirties but reached elite levels due to their dedication and understanding of focus. These individuals exemplify how deep work ethic transcends age or initial skill gaps, making them dangerous opponents not just because of specific techniques like Judo or wrestling, but because they possess a level of mental fortitude most cannot comprehend. Hall concludes that while the process of looking inward objectively can be painful as it reveals flaws and drives some to become "neurotic," this brutal honesty is essential for high achievement. Ultimately, he asserts that there is an inverse relationship between being well-adjusted by normal standards and becoming a top achiever; those who push themselves to higher levels often sacrifice comfort and social ease in pursuit of excellence.
Read the full video transcript
you have been both a supporter and a
Critic of
competition um what do you think is the
value of competition for a martial
artist um I believe that the value
competition is in that it teaches you
the true purpose of martial arts and and
and again the true purpose of martial
arts is being able to defend yourself
and whatnot and all of these other
things in real life yes because you
let's say you win the ADCC gold medal
but you know you get slapped around by
someone bigger and stronger than you at
a bar that people will talk about how
sweet that gold medal is but for the
rest of your life it'll feel pretty
Hollow that wouldn't you know not what
we're looking for but what I'm talking
about I guess is what I believe
competition develops if approach
properly is proper Focus proper
dedication because anytime you have a
very defined goal and strong opposition
it will force you to be better period
the better your opposition is if you
focus and you take your what you're
doing seriously the better you become
period people are better wrestlers today
than they once were people are better
basketball players today than they once
were military is better now than it was
in the past because of all of the
competition that you know that has
existed over the course of time and and
you know if you go out competition if
you go out and just kind of it
if you're like oh I'm going to go out
and see how it happens like that's a
cowardly way to approach competition and
that that gets you nothing that doesn't
teach you to really do the right things
and the same thing not not properly
preparing even if you win that was a
cowardly way to approach it because you
intentionally left yourself an out which
was if I win oh man I'm talented and
blahy blah and if I lose it's well you
know I mean I I could have I didn't
really train that hard well if that's
the case then you shouldn't have been
out there Win Lose or Draw I don't care
if I've got a student that I think is
going to win win gold at the World
Championships if he or she does not
train properly ahead of time I will not
allow them to go and if they go I will
send them off the team you know and hey
they can do what they want they're a
grown adult I'm not the boss of them but
I am the boss of my team I'm the boss of
my gym and that's not how we conduct
ourselves and it has way less to do
about the physical you know the result
than it does about the proper
preparation because proper preparation
and proper focus and dedication over the
Long Haul yields positive results but
most importantly it's about are we
conducting ourselves in in a in an
honorable and respectable manner so I
believe that competition really teaches
us that because in the room you know
there's always like oh it was practice
oh I was kind of this to that happened
today the other thing when you go to
competition everyone is that's on
everyone is on that day because everyone
is trained for that specific moment and
we'll see what happens so you get the
most honesty out of a out of a time like
that and the higher the level the better
it gets in you know provided that
there's not a lot of cheating but
regardless you know from an athletic
performance perspective it is the most
honest thing because and it's the it's
the toughest as well because it takes it
takes courage and it takes some heart to
really properly prepare and put it on
the line because you're risking horrible
disappointment i' I've prepared so hard
before and tried so hard and I've won
and I've prepared other times and I've
tried so hard and I've failed and it
hurts it really hurts it doesn't hurt
nearly as much if you kind of half ass
it because you didn't put that much into
it but again that's how a coward
approaches things if you have if if
you're going to conduct yourself the
right way you prepare properly you train
hard and then Win Lose or Draw you deal
with the results and that's what I
believe is the real benefit of compet
comptition if approached properly do you
admire somebody who sacrifices you know
like 10 20
years um of their life in that singular
pursuit of competition towards a gold
medal at the Olympics say which is most
of the Olympians do goodness absolutely
I mean I admire anyone that's willing to
sacrifice and willing to work hard in
any area of life actually a book that
I'm reading again that I really really
like is U Dune it's uh I don't know it's
I'm kind of like sci-fi nerding out on
everybody but basically you know one of
the things that you know one of the one
of the you know things that the the
author was gu named Frank Herbert and
it's widely regarded as one of the you
know greatest science fiction novels
ever if not the preeminent but anyway
one of the things you said you know is
if you if you search for Freedom you
actually end up becoming a slave to your
own desires ironically and if you search
for discipline you find Liberty because
you're able to make yourself do what you
want in the long run whereas if I'm like
oh I'm going to do whatever I want all
the time and and screw you dad I'm going
to do what I want and that's kind of
like a teenager type attitude you end up
getting into a bunch of nonsense but
anyone that's able and again this
doesn't matter it doesn't mean that it's
athletic it could be in any area of
human endeavor any area of life it could
be parenting it could be military it
could be Athletics it could be business
it could be school it could be anything
but if as long as you're making you know
an incredibly large commitment I have an
immense amount of respect for the for
the level of dedication and the level of
of commitment and the level of of risk
that that you're taking emotionally
psychologically because hey like you
said you work 20 years you get that gold
medal but there's other people that work
20 years and got the silver most people
most metal now most people most people
that think they work hard don't I'll be
frank you know like seriously I said
that in class the other day like again
it's like I don't want to be too
negative but most the people most people
that think they work hard do not how do
you know that if you're working hard or
not I think you know but most people are
not very honest with themselves they
most people would press a button in my
experience you know they would prefer to
be look like the thing than be the thing
right and you know that's that's fine
but it really I can't I think Sun Su
said it it's like Victory is reserved
for those willing to pay its price and
there is a price and now that doesn't
guarantee that if you pay the price that
you will have Victory but you guarantee
but I mean from a physical perspective
but you will have the moral Victory
regardless because you will have you
will have learned discipline you will
have shown not only to others forget
others you do it not for others but for
yourself you you show that you are the
master of your own mind and of your own
body and of your own circumstance and
you can discipline yourself and focus
and you deny yourself certain things in
the pursuit of something something that
is valuable to you and that is
incredibly useful in any area of life
and that's I mean not shocking to me why
the same reason that you'll see guys
that were you know like high level
military like kind of big dogs in SF
World get hired by let's say for
instance a Fortune 500 company cuz what
would they know about business nothing
but also everything because that level
of focus and dedic like you don't get to
that level of ability in something by
accident and that's what I think you
know like again the value of competition
and what they do competition only it's
as serious as it gets you know because
if you don't get the gold medal uh you
may not you may not walk out of it but
basically um I have an immense amount of
respect for anyone that that is willing
and able to over the Long Haul put that
time in but I have to trying hard
doesn't mean just getting on an airdine
bike and walking off the mat or having
to be carried off the mat it means
thinking approaching reassessing
re-evaluating saying how could I be
better and it takes honest honest
self-analysis and and also it takes a
lot of times because let's say you know
I think I'm doing well but I have to say
hey Lex you know I mean no matter how
how well I believe I look at myself I'm
still biased I'm I'm still looking at
myself what should I be doing better I'm
going to find other people that I
respect and people that I think can tell
me and I'm going to ask them and then
I'm going to have the courage to listen
to them and not just dismiss what
they're saying out of hand and if you're
doing those things then I believe that a
lot of times you're working hard but I
know plenty of people that come in it's
just like in jiujitsu there's plenty of
people that have been training for 15
years that frankly suck and there's
plenty of people that have been training
for four that are pretty dang good you
know for and again are they the best
person that's been training for four
years is still compared to like Cina not
that good but they could be really
really really good because they
understand how to be directed and how to
focus and I believe this is something
I've discussed you know before with with
some other you know friends of mine you
know that some of whom are at a very
high level of MMA others that are at a
high level of Juds wrestling or whatever
um look at guys like Randy Couture guys
like Rick H they're on their second
career they started MMA when they were
like
32 and yet they got to the top maybe
they weren't always Champion but they
were freaking good why because their 26y
old self would be scary but you know
like hey um they know what it is to be
dedicated and work hard and because
again they're Olympians like you said on
on a level that a regular person has no
concept of so I think that that is
ultimately the skill it's not the oh man
this person's dangerous because he's got
good Judo or good wrestling no this
person is dangerous because he or she
knows how to work their ass off and be
focused on a on a level that most people
can't comprehend and that's what
produces success in any area of life in
my opinion yeah and be brutally honest
with yourself at all times and it's
things sometimes you know I think it's
like the price of of of looking inward
you know objectively is that you're not
going to like what you see a lot you
know and cuz even if you're like oh man
I'm 90% the way I want to be it's like
if you are going to take that next step
in my opinion it's you're going to focus
on the 10% cuz it's like oh man we're
doing a lot of things good yeah who
gives a let's talk about what we
need to improve on you know and that's a
little bit less fun but in the long run
I think uh it's what's it's what's going
to drive you to a higher level but at
the same time I think it's what makes a
lot of people that are like that a
little bit neurotic and nutty by compar
by a normal standard right but again you
show me someone that's super well
adjusted and I'll show you someone
that's probably not a high
achiever
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