The Karate Paradox

I’ve always found this simultaneously frustrating and wonderful. Frustrating because you know you will never do something perfectly no matter how hard you try. Wonderful because it means that, no matter where you are, you can always get better. It’s like the old phrase, “shoot for the moon”, meaning, set your goal to a level higher than you think you can achieve instead of limiting yourself to what you think you can achieve. For example, I’m in awe of Sensei Anna’s ability to throw round kicks (I’m sure we all are!). If I believe that I will never be able to achieve that level, I might decide that there’s no point in even trying. However, if I go into it with the attitude that I’m going to do everything I can to reach her level and I really try hard to achieve it, I’m at least guaranteed to get much better than I am today.