Tap Out
In martial arts, the universal signal for surrender is the tap out. The tap out is literally what it sounds like. You tap, with your hand, on your body or your opponent’s body to signal you give up or surrender. If you do not tap, you could end up with separated joints, broken bones, or choked out cold.
I recall fighting in a tournament many years ago as a green belt where I should have tapped myself out but didn’t. I hit a guy in the head with a ridge hand strike and separated my right shoulder. Rather than tap myself out, I reset my shoulder and kept fighting. Once again, I separated my shoulder. Two shoulder separations in less than five minutes. That’s not too smart is it? After the second time, I tapped myself out. To this day and a surgery later, I still have issues with my shoulder all because I did not tap out.
Situations in life are much like martial arts contests. You have to know when to tap out sometimes. It does not mean you are a lesser person or a quitter. It actually means you know when you are in a situation you cannot successfully get out of or recover from without significant pain or damage to your body. There are times where tapping out is your only logical option. Do you know when to tap out, or do you continue to get injured by the same types of things? Some of my best lessons in life have been when I tapped out.
In martial arts, the universal signal for surrender is the tap out. The tap out is literally what it sounds like. You tap, with your hand, on your body or your opponent’s body to signal you give up or surrender. If you do not tap, you could end up with separated joints, broken bones, or choked out cold.
I recall fighting in a tournament many years ago as a green belt where I should have tapped myself out but didn’t. I hit a guy in the head with a ridge hand strike and separated my right shoulder. Rather than tap myself out, I reset my shoulder and kept fighting. Once again, I separated my shoulder. Two shoulder separations in less than five minutes. That’s not too smart is it? After the second time, I tapped myself out. To this day and a surgery later, I still have issues with my shoulder all because I did not tap out.
Situations in life are much like martial arts contests. You have to know when to tap out sometimes. It does not mean you are a lesser person or a quitter. It actually means you know when you are in a situation you cannot successfully get out of or recover from without significant pain or damage to your body. There are times where tapping out is your only logical option. Do you know when to tap out, or do you continue to get injured by the same types of things? Some of my best lessons in life have been when I tapped out.
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