The Master and Competition

 "Master," said Po, "are you going to enter the Masters Tournament this year."

"Po, the master has no need of competition, so to answer your question, no.  Is there anymore tea?" replied the master.

"I will fetch more tea, master.  Why do you no longer need competition?  You won the Masters Cup five years in a row," said Po.

"Ah, yes, well even the Master learns things.  I was younger and didn't understand pickleball.  Winning was important then, but no longer."

"What is important now Master?" asked Po.

"Think Po, of the components of a ball hit.  The path, the paddle position, the body position, weight shift, body rotation, perhaps some arm swing, wrist pronation and supenation, yes?"

"Yes, I remember Master, the eight major parts to the hit.  We studied it in our first year here."

"Then what else comes before that?  You've studied it,  tell me Grasshopper."

"Prior to the hit," Po retreats to his teachings and begins to recite, "the player must arrive at the ball, he must steady his body, prepare to strike with weight properly placed.  His mind must be cleared and ready for the moment to come, be unburdened by prior points, and be unburdened with the expectation, either false or true of the resultant hit.  Nor must he expect to win the point with his strike.  He must seek and believe in only the purity of the strike taking place in the now.  There is no past, there is no future, there is only now.  In the proper frame of mind, all time will slow, the ball will slow, its spin will creep around the ball, slowly.  The player will begin the stroke with paddle and body as one.  The ball will contact the paddle precisely in the center of the paddle."

"Ah, very good Po, you have recited your lessons, but have you learned them?  Can you apply them when you play?" asked the Master.

"Not yet, Master, but I've come close a few times."

"Shall we journey deeper then Po?  What comes before the arrival at the hit?"

Po returns to his lessons.  "The player was balanced and no longer in motion as the ball reaches the opponent, he watches the swing and paddle and knows where the ball will go.  As the ball leaves the paddle, the player has moved to the hitting position, once again stopping.  The paddle will setup for the desired stroke, depending on the expected bounce of the ball and to produce the exact spin the shot requires."

"Yes, again have you learned this lesson?"

"It is difficult, Master, there is much to think about."

"Perhaps the answer is not to think?  The answer is to do?  You become one with the hit.  It is an extension of yourself or perhaps you disappear and the hit becomes everything.  Your Id vanishes, your self vanishes, the hit and the movements before the hit become the universe.  You transcend time and place. You mentioned that time slows, it in reality becomes a slow river that you drift along.  That is the essence of the hit."

"Master, I am humbled.  What is it like to achieve this state?"

"It is beauty and grace and the embodiment of all we seek to know and understand at the temple.  Along your journey as a acolyte, you will approach this understanding.  When you become a grand master, you will know this.  It will be part of you and it will free you.

"And when you achieve this state, there is no need of tournaments or competition.  The purity of the art form is complete and there is no need strive for a medal or a trophy engraving.  These things are markers on the path to enlightenment and at the journey's end, they are no longer required nor sought.  

"But we were talking tea, yes?  And see if there are any of the coconut cookies?"