Winning From Within: A Book That Trains More Than Just Your Body
By Roy Rolstad, ITF Radix
This summer, I received a very special gift.
Brendan Doogan from New Zealand, an incredibly dedicated martial artist and coach, visited Oslo, and during our conversations about training, mindset, and development, he handed me a slim, unassuming book: Winning From Within by Rachel Bates.
He said, “This one’s worth reading. It’s not about techniques, it’s about everything around them.”
He was right.
More than technique: how you think, how you train
Winning From Within isn’t a textbook about Taekwon-Do moves or a list of drills to run your students through. It’s something far more valuable: a guide to what’s happening inside us when we train, and how we can shape that inner world to serve our goals.
Rachel Bates, a Taekwon-Do instructor and former schoolteacher in New Zealand, combines psychological research, martial arts experience, and simple, practical language to deliver a book that reads like it was written for every student struggling with self-doubt, plateaus, or inconsistent progress.
The Four Mental Edges
The first half of the book explores what Bates calls the four mental edges:
1. Growth Mindset – The belief that you can improve at anything with effort and strategy. It’s the antidote to that internal voice that says “I’m just not good at this.”
2. Positive Self-Talk – Training your inner voice to become your coach, not your critic. It sounds obvious, but most people don’t realize how much they sabotage themselves with harsh internal commentary.
3. Mental Contrasting – Dream big, but plan realistically. Visualize your goals, but also prepare for the obstacles you’ll face getting there.
4. Failing Well – Perhaps the most powerful idea: that failure isn’t something to fear, but something to use. Bates reminds us that failure is simply feedback. It’s information, not identity.
As someone who has spent decades on the mats and in the dojang, I’ve seen firsthand how these inner skills often determine progress more than talent or athleticism. Bates captures that beautifully.
Practical Tools for Real Practice
The second half of the book dives into how to practice, and it’s pure gold, especially for anyone doing self-training or supporting others in theirs.
She covers everything from:
• Focus and goal-setting for each session
• The importance of slow training for building technical precision
• Why you should always start with the hardest part of your training while your mind is fresh
• And even why it’s worth getting over your discomfort and filming yourself for honest feedback
It’s structured in a way that makes it easy to pick up and apply immediately. This is the kind of content I often wish students had before they hit a plateau, lost motivation, or started doubting themselves.
Why it matters to ITF Radix
In ITF Radix, we’ve always emphasized that application is more than knowing techniques, it’s about understanding timing, mindset, and pressure. Winning From Within fits into that philosophy perfectly.
It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being intentional. It’s about training smarter, not just harder, and cultivating a mindset that makes that possible.
As instructors, if we want our students to develop real confidence, real awareness, and real ability, we need to go beyond drills. This book reminds us how to do just that.
A personal thank-you
To Brendan: thank you for the gift. It’s made an impact not just on me, but on the way I think about teaching, learning, and growth.
To anyone reading this: whether you’re a white belt or a seasoned black belt, I recommend reading Winning From Within. It might not change your technique, but it might just change your training.
– Roy
Local Instructors from around Oslo after a dinner when Sabum Brendan Doogan and Wesley Filiki conducted a part of “Smashfest 3” in Oslo, hosted by Christiania Taekwon-Do club.