From American Shaolin by Matthew Polly:

“Coach Cheng believed that before a fighter could learn how to win, he first had to master losing. He had to experience defeat after defeat until there was nothing new to it, and thus, nothing left to fear…

It was an approach coach Cheng felt crucial for me to develop because the fear… left me paralyzed.”

I read American Shaolin recently and it was one of the most entertaining memoirs I’ve read. The above quote is one of those “little nuggets” that just stays with you.

As much as we might hate it –

In order for you to win you have to experience, first hand, what it means to be fearless. In order for you to conquer fear, you have to keep dealing, over and over again with defeat.

Losing is the necessary part of any game and the thing that you’ve got to master if you ever hope to really win.