Re: Waldorf School Graduate?
[FADE IN. “The Dragon” is sitting on a hillside, overlooking the countryside. Nearby is a lake, which can just be seen in the bottom left corner of the screen as the camera pans round. The hillside, like the countryside, is a lush green, and the sun is shining, though a cold breeze blows the grass gently. Brown is dressed how many fans have come to expect - jeans and a fleece]
Karl: If you look down there, a few miles away, you can see where I started out from this morning. I’ve still a ways to go to reach the summit of this hill, but I like to stop every now and then to see where I’ve come from, because if you forget where you’ve come from, and what’s gone before, you lose the present. But even knowing what’s gone before can never tell you what the future holds. There are numerous possibilities - some more likely than others, but all even just remotely possible. Going up this slope, an accident could happen, or I could reach the summit without incident. Or I could stop and have a chat with other people who’ve decided to make this ascent.
But let’s think for a moment if an accident were to happen - what would it be? Would I simply turn my ankle, or get caught up in a sudden storm? If the latter, would it be the rain, wind, hail, lightning, or snow which caused the accident? As much as mankind likes to think he can predict something, no prediction is ever infallible. No prediction is certain. And if you look through history at the great thinkers and prophets - most, if not all, of the predictions they made are so vague that when something looks like it might remotely have something to do with that prediction happens, someone, somewhere, thinks it was foreseen. Make a vague statement, and people can read into it what they like, when they like. The future, as much as we like to think otherwise, is not determined or set - hence why Scrooge was able to alter his future in Dickens.
But, facts clear as they are, some people still hold the delusion that they can predict the future, and many of those believe they can predict the future based on what has gone before. Sometimes they may hit their mark - but as Hida himself has admitted, they don’t always manage to.
So, if his predictions are not always right, what tells him it’s going to be this time?
Let’s look at some facts from this tournament, Hida. It started with thirty two people. One of the people predicted by many as the victor, Ken Cloverleaf, lost to someone who was wrestling his first match, in the first round. Many then predicted a Cinderella story for Joe Average, until Beast took him out. Many thought Dan Ryan and John Adams would have a stellar big-man match, until Dan destroyed Adams. Many people predicted a different final in Calgary to the Wildstar versus Mister Entertainment match they’re getting - and the Las Vegas odds had Stephen Shane defeating me in the second round.
Sure, some predictions have come true - Dan Ryan, Beast, and yourself have made it through to the quarter finals. But the beauty, for the fans, of a tournament like this is to see for themselves who, on each night, is the better wrestler. It is for wrestling fans what the FA cup is for football fans - can Manchester United continue their dominance or will they get knocked out by lowly Burton Albion? The smart money is on United - but anything can happen. A bit of luck, or a loss of concentration for a split second, can make all the difference.
In any sport.
If you want to continue to live in your own little world, where your past exploits are what you have to back-up your name, then I feel sorry for you. The harsh reality of life is that the past is done. To use football again, Wolverhampton Wanderers were the team, the best team in Europe, defeating the Honved side which held many of the Hungarian internationals who a couple of years previously had thrashed England six three at Wembley, where England had never lost. That was the nineteen fifties. Thirty years later, they came within two minutes of going out of business, before someone came along and saved them. Many Wolves fans assume that they have a right to be in the top division because of how great they were - when the harsh reality is another long, hard slug to get to the play-offs for the final promotion spot. Those fans, Hida, talking about the past exploits of their club, are like you talking about how, because of your past, you’re entitled and destined to go all the way. Sad, and deluded.
You have no right to this tournament, any more so than I do. Stephen Shane said very much the same things you have done so far - and he’s no longer here. Many of the people who’ve now left this tournament said, because of their past, they were going to win this tournament. And where are most of them now? Sitting in the stands, watching, because they stayed in their own little heavens, believing themselves to be great because of the past, and refusing to admit that anything can, and does, happen. They, as unoriginal as you, believed the lies they told themselves - they believed their own hype that they would coast through this tournament, and that no-one and nothing was going to stop them. Confidence, like I said before, is one thing - overconfidence is another.
As for your assertions of how easily you’re going to defeat me, I’ve heard all that several times before. You may beat me. It’s a possibility. But it certainly won’t be a stroll for you. I’ve faced stronger, quicker, more intelligent and overall better wrestlers than you, and the few who’ve beaten me have found it far from easy. To underestimate an opponent in the manner you’re doing, whilst showing confidence, will lead to your downfall. No, not because it’s misplaced confidence and arrogance.
Because it’s a contribution to the same lie that you live in. The fans can see through your bluffs, Hida. They got tired of the same cookie-cutter promotional segments five or six years ago when everyone who thought themselves a bad-ass would say the same things. I’m great. I’m not going to lose. If I do lose it’ll be a fluke. I’m going to destroy you. The fans grew tired of that, because they could see it was a sham. They could hear the confidence being used as a shield, trying to deflect the slings and arrows of fate.
Why don’t you try something original, Hida? I’m fully aware you are a force to be reckoned with, but think how much more so you could be if you dropped the act. Drop the crutch of past accomplishments as meaning something once the bell rings - because once the bell sounds, it’s the present that counts. It’s the mental and physical conditioning that counts. It’s no longer a game of words but of thought and deed. Your words may bolster your confidence, but it’s the same false heaven where you’re past exploits mean you’re a shoe-in.
Far from it, Hida. If you keep telling yourself how great you are - if you keep hiding behind words and past glories, then you’re doomed to failure before the bell even rings. Because whether you like it or not, the greatest opponent in any match isn’t the person across the ring - it’s yourself. Can you overcome your own limitations, push yourself beyond what you believe possible, and still hold your head high? Will you defeat yourself, or will yourself defeat you?
I’ll leave you to consider that, Hida. I’ll see you in Portland.
[With that, Karl stands up, straightens his jacket, and continues his ascent to the summit. The camera pans round to show the scenery again as we FADE OUT]
