After leading his New England Patriots to Super Bowl LIII victory over the Los Angeles Rams, quarterback Tom Brady told a post-game interviewer, “You gotta grind it out.” That was Tom’s ninth Super Bowl appearance and his sixth Super Bowl win. No player in the history of the NFL has won six of them. Not one.
Don’t call Tom “the GOAT,” though. At Disney World, the following Monday, his dear friend and Religion of Sports partner, NFL Hall of Famer Michael Strahan, said, “You are the GOAT (Greatest of All-Time).”
Tom said, “It makes me cringe.” He would rather that Michael says, “You’re trash…You’re too old.” Tom and Michael laughed, hysterically. Tom’s sense of humor and humility distinguish him as the GOAT, he is.
The Patriots defeated the Rams 13-3 in Atlanta: It was the lowest scoring game in Super Bowl history. The game transformed into a fierce defensive battle. The score was 3-3 going into the 4th Quarter of play.
With about 7 minutes left in the game, the Patriots found their rhythm and marched down the field. Tom completed clutch passes to Julian Edelman and Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski. Tom handed off the ball to Running Back Sony Michel, scoring the “go ahead” touchdown. Patriots were up 10-3.
On the subsequent possession by the Rams, Quarterback Jared Goff threw an interception, downfield, to Patriots Cornerback Stephon Gilmore, virtually sealing the game. The Patriots scored a field goal, resulting in a final score of 13–3, making the Patriots Super Bowl Champions, yet again. Tom and the Patriots “grinded it out.”
Before the game, ESPN’s Jeff Darlington talked with Tom Brady in a TV interview. Forty-one-year-old Tom had gone on record as saying that he wants to play until he’s 45 years old. Undoubtedly, everyone is thinking, “WTF?” I get it, though. I get Tom.
Jeff asked Tom, “When do you know it’s time?” Tom said that he’ll know when. Right now, he loves what he does. He has joy. He said, “I love playing football. I really do.”
That’s why you “grind it out.” That’s why at 56 years-old I practice Aikido every Sunday morning at 8 AM. I get up a quarter after five in the morning, so I can stretch out my aging body and joints. After I meditate, I eat my oat cereal, blueberries, and soy milk, then drive to practice.
In Aikido class I throw my partner to the mat, then he or she returns the favor. We, both, get up and do it all over again. Yeah, at my age it hurts, leaving me aching. So, I cross-train outside of class, as well as stretch and ice my shoulder after practice. I may even need to take a nap. I’m almost 57 years old, after all.
I grind it out because Aikido was my first love. I fell in love with it after my Mom made me take a class when I was 12 years old. Having been a self-described short, fat geek, I discovered that I could actually be good at something physical. That was so awesome for me, despite the fact that I gave it up at 14 years-old to concentrate on my college prep-school studies.
A couple years after I moved up to Los Angeles for work, my friend Charlie asked if I wanted to check out an Aikido class in West Los Angeles. I said, “Sure,” and that’s how I eventually met Sensei Dan. That was the beginning of our 25-year journey of mastery together.
Sensei became a father to me. He taught me what it is to be a good martial artist. More importantly, he taught me what it means to be a good man.
I’m never more alive or more self-expressed than when I’m trading iriminage throws with Jackson, or when I teach Mariko to use her center–her ki–to throw me. I grind it out because I love Aikido and love what I do. I believe the Art of Mastery is about the love.
Sunday morning Aikido class was made up of Sensei Bobby, George and me. Perhaps, it was because it was Super Bowl Sunday. Who knows? Sensei worked with me on getting fundamental weapons technique for the bokken, the wooden sword. I did it over, and over, and over, again. I got a little bit greater than I was, though I’ll still have to practice more.
O-Sensei said, “True victory is the victory over oneself.” There’s no external opponent. There’s just me and I know what the deal is: Grind it out, practice, and practice some more. Just like Sensei Dan used to always say, “Just train.”
I get that mastery isn’t about perfection nor about being the greatest. Mastery might be just staying the course. Keep striving to become greater than you are now. I keep grinding it out to become greater than I know myself to be. Mostly, I do it because I love what I do.
Perhaps, we don’t stop practicing because we get old. Maybe, we get old because we stop practicing. We must do what we love for as long as we can, always realizing what we can–and used to–do. This might also be the wisdom that comes along with our Mastery Paths.
Grind it out because you love.
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