What Wrestling and Karate Taught Me About Leadership
Long before I was running a company or mentoring teams, I was wearing a singlet and sparring in a gi. I wrestled in high school—captain senior year—and studied two styles of karate, earning belts in both. At the time, I thought I was just getting stronger. Turns out, I was also learning how to lead.
Here are a few things those sports drilled into me—literally and figuratively—that still shape how I lead today.
1. You’re on your own—but never alone
In wrestling, when you’re on the mat, it’s just you and your opponent. No one’s coming to save you. Same in karate. You can’t fake readiness—you either trained, or you didn’t.
Leadership is like that. At the end of the day, the decisions are yours. The accountability is yours. But behind the scenes? A team, mentors, training, and support make all the difference. You do the work alone—but you’re backed by others.
2. Pain is a great teacher (if you listen to it)
A bad takedown or lazy block in karate doesn’t go unnoticed. You learn—fast. The feedback is immediate and usually lands somewhere between “ouch” and “lesson learned.”
In business, mistakes hurt too—missed sales, bad hires, lost clients. Leaders who ignore those signals keep making the same mistakes. The best ones learn quickly, adapt, and come back stronger.
3. Discipline > motivation
There were plenty of mornings I didn’t feel like cutting weight, drilling techniques, or getting punched (lightly) in the face. But I showed up anyway.
That’s what leadership requires. You won’t always feel inspired. You won’t always have clarity. But if you’ve built discipline—habits, routines, and standards—you can push through.
4. Respect is earned, not assumed
In martial arts, you bow to your opponent. In wrestling, you shake hands before and after every match. You respect the work, the grind, and the person across from you.
Good leaders don’t demand respect—they earn it. Through consistency, fairness, and effort. And they give it, even when it’s not reciprocated.
5. Control what you can
Wrestling teaches you how to use leverage, not brute strength. Karate emphasizes control, not chaos. You don’t win by panicking—you win by staying focused, calm, and in control of your breathing and your mindset.
That’s leadership. You can’t control the market, the economy, or client decisions. But you can control how you respond. How you show up. How you lead.
I didn’t know it at the time, but wrestling and karate were less about fighting and more about focus. Less about toughness and more about resilience.
Turns out, those early lessons still apply—whether you’re on the mat or in the boardroom.