I was 12 yr old at that time and a very athletic in many sports at school. One day I made a friend whose farther is a Badminton champion in my state. To cut the story short, I want to learn how to play badminton and good at it just like my friend. He took me to his farther's club where he also plays. My friend and me were the only kids in the club but his farther accepted my membership but never gave me chance to play in the court or taught me, the only time I played in the court was 10 minutes before closing where everybody packing up to go. After a year I decided to leave the club and learn from other friend without them knowing and later I moved to another school and after couple years I was very good (top ten in my state, a famous Liem Swie King's state) but had never play or met my friend and his farther for about 10 years later when I was invited to joint to a famous club and happen that my friend's farther was also the player there, he didn't recognise me. I was overseas for those 10 years to further my study (3 years in Kingston Ontario). Ofcourse My friend's farther was in his 50 and I was in my mid twenty and I had never played or bet again him as he was not my match anymore. The lesson that I learned from that was it made me so determine to proof it (to whom, I myself didn't know at that time) that I can be a good player without their helps. I didn't need to proof it to them, that was why when I met his farther 10 years later, I never told him who am I.
Great story sjoe! I love the "rejection and then come back later stronger" stories, because they always involve determination and mental toughness, which I believe to be very important attritbutes at higher levels of play. (The level of play that these things factor in, you decide) Good choice on not telling his father who you were. It would have been to cliched. Phil
sjoe, Really like ur story. Yeah, storm back yrs later, and find out the used so-call experts are nothing compare to u is a sweet feeling. Well, congrats!!! Hope someday, I can do something like that, however, still "suck" compare to a lot of them.
congratulations! you are much calmer than i, and that is very admirable i would have taken him one on one and spillt some blood. self control is very important. say, did u have any urge to play him and reveal yourself or did u just hold it back and let it go?
No, I didn't reveal myself or had any urge to play him (my friend), coz I knew that I will beat him. I had proven it to myself and didn't need to proof it to him or anybody else, after all he was my good friend without Badminton. Infact I had never met him since the last time I left school. He might have heard me from his farther if his farther did recognise me even without I revealing myself to his farther.
Nothing better than ending with a conclusion of you kicking ass huh! Good job. Too bad skill doesn't come easy for me!