[Loch-Ruadh] Fwd: [ChivalryToday] Respect Your Rivals

[Cat]

I thought this was interesting when I read on the DFT
list it so thought I would forward it.




 Respect Your Rivals
 By Scott Farrell
 ©2004, Shining Armor Enterprises
 www.ChivalryToday.com
 
 Athletes. We've come to think of them as relentless,
 even ruthless competitors whose singular goal is to
 crush their rivals into oblivion. You can see it in
 the words we use to describe their achievements,
 words like "stomp," "destroy" and "annihilate" that
 imply disdain and antipathy, if not outright
 contempt.
 
 Is an attitude of disrespect necessary in order to
 inflame competitive drive? There are plenty of
 coaches
 and trainers that would have their players believe
 so,
 but that hasn't always been the case. Back in the
 days
 of the age of chivalry, respect and rivalry weren't
 mutually exclusive terms. In fact, one of the most
 influential writers of the 15th century, Christine
 de
 Pizan*, advocated respect among competitors. 
 
 In her book "Faytes of Arms and of Chivalry," which
 was commissioned by Duke John "the Fearless" of
 Burgundy (himself one of the greatest sportsmen of
 his
 age), Christine explains how a competitor should
 treat
 his rivals:
 
 "According to the customs of true nobility a
 (competitor) must be respectful in all
 circumstances,
 meaning that even to his rivals he must be upright
 and
 truthful in act and judgment. Along with this, he
 will honor those opponents who are good and
 ritorious
 as he would wish to be honored by them ... He should
 not be stubborn, cruel or malicious, (but rather)
 magnanimous to the vanquished and to his inferiors."
 
 That approach to sporting competitions might draw
 scoffs today - but even among contemporary athletes
 we
 find that respectful rivalry is far from extinct. In
 the recent Wimbledon tennis tournament, Maria
 Sharapova, an underdog going into the event, found
 herself facing Serena Williams in the final round.
 When Sharapova won the match, she didn't grind her
 heel into the ground and howl, "In your face!"
 Instead, she embraced her opponent and said, "I have
 to take this trophy away from you for one year. I'm
 sorry. I'm sure we're going to be here ... many more
 times (to) fight for the trophy."
 
 Similarly, when Pam Reed was running the Badwater
 120-mile ultra-marathon (a grueling 24-hour race
 where
 men and women compete head-to-head), she'd been
 trailing behind favored runner Christopher Bergland
 for 11 hours. When she finally overtook him late in
 the race, she noticed that her primary rival was
 suffering severe heat exhaustion. She could have
 waved
 and shouted, "See ya in the emergency room, loser!"
 Instead, she directed her support crew to share her
 own limited supply of water with Bergland and got
 him
 back up and running. (Reed went on to win the race.)
 
 Actions like these (and countless other displays of
 respectful rivalry demonstrated by professional and
 amateur athletes every day) show that the spirit of
 chivalry lives on, despite the popular image of the
 merciless, aggressive athlete. On the most elemental
 level, respectful rivalry is nothing more than basic
 courtesy - we all want to be treated with respect,
 no
 matter how intense the competition is.
 
 Astute competitors would also point out that there
 are
 practical benefits to respectful rivalry: Keeping
 bluster and bravado in check gives a competitor a
 much
 more realistic assessment of the opposition.
 If you want to know the strengths and weaknesses of
 the competition, ask the player who's shaking their
 hands, not the one who's baring his teeth and posing
 for the sports drink ad. 
 
 Respectful rivalry isn't a genteel throwback to a
 dainty age "before people knew what real competition
 was all about." Medieval knights were some of the
 most
 competitive warriors the world has ever seen - their
 very existence depended on their ability to compete
 successfully. But they also knew that pettiness and
 vainglory can taint an otherwise
 worthy competition, transforming an athletic contest
 -
 or a political,social or professional one as well -
 into an ugly, egotistical mud-slinging match.
 
 Like great knights of old, the athletes who perform
 today's "Faytes of Arms and of Chivalry" are
 wonderful
 examples of how rivalry with respect brings out the
 noble competitor within us all.
 
 (*Yes, one of the most influential manuals of
 chivalry
 in social practice, military tactics and political
 doctrine in the 15th century was written by a woman
 ... but that's a subject for another column.)
 
 
 
 = = = = = = = = = =
 Scott Farrell says:
 My thanks to Dr. Kathleen Brooks and Prof. Nina
 Rosenstand, hosts of "Ethics: From Boardroom to
 Bedroom" for suggesting this intriguing topic when
 they invited me to be the featured guest on their
 show
 on World Talk Radio.
 To hear the webcast of the July 7 edition of
 "Ethics:
 >From Boardroom to Bedroom," go to:
 http://www.worldtalkradio.com/show.asp?sid=13
 
 = = = = = = = = = =
 Readers are permitted and encouraged to share this
 article with others as a way of furthering the
 understanding of the Code of Chivalry in the
 modern world. Scott Farrell's seminars on chivalry
 and
 the knightly virtues are available to businesses,
 schools and civic organizations throughout the
 Southern California area; more information can be
 found on our website. Please include all copyright
 statements and attributions when forwarding Chivalry
 Today articles. Copyright 2004
 Scott Farrell and Shining Armor Enterprises. Visit
 our
 website at
 www.ChivalryToday.com .
 
 _______________________________________________
 
 
 
 		



		
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