In 2017, late NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant was a guest on ESPN First Take. Retired 5-time NBA Champion Kobe shared his love for storytelling. In 2018, he won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball. Tragically, Kobe and his daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020.
First Take Host Stephen A. Smith, Kobe’s close personal friend, asked Kobe whether the NBA GOAT (Greatest of All-Time) conversation regarding him mattered. Michael Jordan, his mentor and friend, is almost universally considered the GOAT. Kobe answered, “I really don’t care.” He completed his illustrious 20 year NBA career. He moved on to what’s next.
Kobe reflected that you have to ask yourself, “Did I give everything I could?” No one worked harder on his game and himself, than Kobe did. His work ethic and focus were legendary. He was the basketball savant. Kobe didn’t care about being the GOAT. He worked on being the greatest that he could be. He put his head down. He put in the work. Kobe inspires me.
I’ll never be as great as Kobe and MJ at what they did. I can be the greatest that I can be at what I do. The late Mizukami Sensei, who was a father to me, said, “Just train. It’s not like you have to get somewhere.” I just train. I work on myself, not on others. That’s all I can do. As 8-year-old Jon, I never thought I would be good enough for Dad. I would never be good enough for anyone, especially me. Since then, I’ve come a long way putting my head down, putting in the work. I just trained.
The GOAT conversations are amusing at best, they are not profound or meaningful. The next GOAT will come along who is greater. That’s just life. There’s always someone who is better than I am. Handsomer. Smarter. Stronger. Richer. Maybe, I’m better than others. Although very few. Just kidding. In the bigger picture, I love myself for who I am and forgive myself for who I’m not.
In Aikido, Ishibashi Sensei said, “The safest place to be is under the attack, in the danger.” Sensei said, “The purpose of Aikido is to release your fear.” When the 250-pound punches to my face, I enter the attack and die with honor. I enter what I fear and let go my fear inside that I’m not good enough. Although my fear inside never completely disappears, every time I enter what I fear, I let go more of my fear. I free me. I give everything I can.
The GOAT distinction is temporal by definition. The next GOAT replaces the reigning GOAT. Time is undefeated. Still, greatness is meaningful when greatness is given away and passed on forward. Greatness begets greatness.
Dad scared me to my very soul when I was a little boy. Whatever I did or didn’t do only made him so angry at me. I profoundly got that I was not the son he wanted. I was his greatest disappointment in life. I would never be good enough for Dad. I would never be good enough for anyone, especially me.
Yet, the universe was kind. The late Mizukami Sensei trained me in Aikido for 25 years until he passed away. Sensei was a father to me. He taught me what it is to be a good man: Be of service to others; make a difference. Sensei generated the space for me to succeed, to fail, and grow from both. I was good enough just being me. I had nothing to prove. I was free to be. I have nothing, but mad love and respect for the late Mizukami Sensei. Although Sensei passed aways several years ago, he still stand by my side. He lives in my heart.
Mizukami Sensei was my GOAT Sensei. He taught both Ishibashi Sensei and me. Now, Ishibashi Sensei is my Sensei, my Big Brother. I’m Godan (5th degree black belt) because of them. I’m the greatest I could be, because of Mizukami Sensei and Ishibashi Sensei. I give everything I could.
I pass on all that Mizukami Sensei and Ishibashi Sensei bestowed upon me. I help guide Aikido students as they invent their greater-than versions that they don’t yet see. I give everything I can so that they can be the greatest that they can be. That’s more meaningful than being the GOAT. It’s not about me. It’s about them.
I’ll never be the GOAT in Aikido, in Systems Engineering, in writing or whatever. I give everything I can to be the greatest that I can be. I give everything I can to pass on whatever vestige of greatness I’ve gotten from others. I’m not the greatest. I’m the greatest that I can be. I work on myself, not on others. That’s all I can do. That’s all that we can do. I give everything I can. Give everything you can, too. Just train.
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Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash
