The Spiritual Side of Ping Pong

The first things first . As with any activities, sport and indeed in life, we must always put the first things, first. In short, prioritize. Life's journey is never in a straight line, through ups and downs we learn, we fumble, we pick ourselves up and carry on the journey till, God Almighty permitting we reach our destiny.

Is there really a spiritual side of ping pong ? Some would ask, some would even mock. Yes as much as there is a scientific side of ping pong there are two or three times more on the spiritual side. May Allah SWT grant us understanding. Amin.

Quoting A. Einstein :

A human being is part of a whole called by us universe, a part limited by time and space. He experience himself (herself) his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons closest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in it's beauty.

Un qoute.

This pretty much sums up scientifically.... in reality, there are thousands of variation in terms of specific occurred during a rally and anticipated calculations. As we journey through life and progress in this sport, our task is to free ourselves from this prison, and liberate ourselves to the spiritual side of Ping Pong and Life. Indeed in life on earth. Body, Mind and Soul, In response to free ourselves from the "prison". Embrace all living creatures with compassion, cherish and appreciate the whole of nature in it;s beauty and glory. This wraps up the spiritual side of Ping Pong in a nutshell.

Table Tennis is a sport, (not war) like any other sports and activities such as Martial Arts, Golf and Gymnastics everyone begins with the same endowments from Our Creator. Players need other players to improve from one stage to another, beginning with basics they all progress, some learn faster, some learn slower and some let's face it have never learnt, in various aspects of technical, tactical, mental, physical and spiritual. Unfortunately, the spiritual side has been ignored, neglected or totally abandoned. Incidentally, God Almighty has endowed mankind with intellect (and freewill) but to some He grants more and to some He withholds.

First things first, respect for all players. The next time you have someone to play ping pong with, thank him for playing with you, whether you win or loose does not matter, you both spent that time together enjoy the session together and learnt from it. Respect, appreciate and value the person playing with you. Even if he has lost the game or match to you. If however he won the match, thank him all the more for counting you a worthy opponent. There are among players those who are choosy for reasons known by themselves and assumptions made by others. Personally I learnt the most from children and my students. They taught me more than they know and without saying a word. they taught me.

I learnt one important lesson about one who is passionate about learning ping pong and has attained the spiritual side of the game. Students of mine who have lost to me in games time and again, would grab any opportunity and would plead to play with me again even though they lost.

Respect all even if they do not play or are not as good as you are. Respect the Club's House rules, the Local Federation, the National Federation and the International Federation. Respect the Rules Governing the game. the officials and most importantly your Coach and Team Manager.

When talking about technical or tactical aspects, seek first to understand before you justify your actions. Learn from people who knows and have the knowledge, not collect opinion seeking to gain support, or people who are so egoistic that they only want to show off how good they are. This is an indication of whether or not you have the spiritual side of ping pong in you.

Next, take responsibilities of your own progress. Don't blame your parents, your teachers or your coach. Ask them what you need to improve on and LISTEN, absorb and understand so that you can improve yourself.

Then, take time to appreciate the beauty of nature and mother earth (God Creation) and creation, of which you are a part of. Dr. Kenneth Blanchard uses the term "Different Strokes for different folks" in which he suggested that there are four different leadership styles. The execution of these styles are dependent on the specific task to be performed and the level of competency of the person performing the task. Yes, there are men nowadays who do not know the smell of flowers anymore, and women who do not even know how to fry an egg. It's kind of like gone topsy turvy !

Yes the spiritual side of Ping Pong exist ! And all things belongs to God Almighty.

A beautiful reminder first to myself and to all brothers and sisters, Ummah of Rasullullah SAW. It has nothing to do with ping pong but from here is a priceless lesson we learn on Allah's Earth.

Published this 10th Day of Ramadhan 1437 Hijri . Have a blessed and meaningful Ramadhan.

Don't forget your Ping Pong !