Just Sweat

What’s the secret to becoming good at karate?

The answer is simple: there’s no secret. If you want to become great at karate you just need to practice hard and often both at the dojo and at home.

When I was a little boy, I wanted to be like my teacher and the other black belts. Their basic form was beautiful, their kata was crisp, and their fighting was strong! However, my basic form, kata and fighting didn’t look like theirs and I became frustrated.

One day my mom suggested that I discuss this problem with my teacher. So, the next time I went to the dojo I asked my teacher to tell me the secret of how to be become a great karateka. “There’s not secret,” he replied. “Just come to the dojo and practice hard.”

But how would I know if I were practicing hard enough? “That’s easy,” he said. “If you sweat during class, then you’re practicing hard. If you don’t sweat, then you need to practice harder.”

I liked his answer because it meant that I, too, could become a great karateka. However, what if my teacher were wrong? I shared my concern with my mom and she said that sometimes we have to trust what our teachers say.

I liked mom’s answer and decided to follow my teacher’s suggestion. Every time I went to class, I made sure that I practiced hard enough to sweat. If my dogi (uniform) was dry at the end of class, I hadn’t worked hard enough. However, that rarely happened. I usually went home with a wet dogi and a big smile on my face.

Eventually, my basic form improved, my kata became crisp, and my fighting became stronger! So, my teacher was correct, and all it took was trust and hard work.

So, don’t waste your time searching for some “secret” to becoming great at karate. Just come to class often, practice at home and make sure that you always sweat. Just sweat! OSU!

Note the Challenge Words in blue italics:

1. Crisp – clear, precise, quick
2. Frustrated – upset, discouraged, annoyed
3. Concern – a reason to worry
4. Suggestion – an idea or proposal that we make to another person

Facing Our Responsibilities

There was once a boy who liked to have fun so much that he didn’t do the things that his parents or teacher asked.

Every morning, his mom asked him to make his bed. “I’ll do it when I get back from school,” he always replied as he ran off to play.

Every afternoon, his teacher reminded him to do his homework before leaving school. “I’ll do it after I get home,” he always replied as he ran off to play.

Every evening, his dad asked him to take out the garbage. “I’ll do it before I go to bed,” he always replied as he ran off to play.

The problem was that the boy didn’t want to make his bed after he got home from school. Nor did he want to do his homework because he was too sleepy. Nor did he want to take the garbage out because it was already dark and he was scared to go outside.

As a result of his disobedience, his mom, teacher and dad would become angry with him. So, soon playtime wasn’t so much fun because the adults were angry with him. What could he do?

He thought and thought and, one day the boy discovered the key to solving his problem. Instead of running away from his responsibilities, he would face them immediately. Instead of procrastinating, he would do what his parents and teacher asked right away.

Lo and behold, soon his mom, dad and teacher were very happy with him. His mom sent him off to school with a big kiss, his teacher sent him home with a big smile, and his dad put him to bed with a big hug.

Seichou Karate® students don’t run away from their responsibilities or problems. They face them. OSU!

Note the Challenge Words in blue italics:

1. disobedience - refusal or failure to obey

2. responsibilities - things that we must do; duties or obligations.

3. procrastinating - to postpone or delay needlessly

About Your Friends

There is a Spanish proverb that says "dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres." It means that if you tell me about your friends, I'll tell you about yourself.

It’s natural to want to have friends, but we shouldn’t try to be friends with everybody.

When I was a child I wanted everyone to like me, so I tried hard to make friends with all of the other children. If one child liked strawberry ice cream, I told him that I liked strawberry too. If another child liked basketball, I would say that I liked basketball too. This didn’t work out well because no matter how hard I tried there were kids who didn’t like me. There were even some who treated me unkindly.

For instance, one day when I was 9 years old I was playing soccer with other children at school. We were practicing throwing the ball in from the sideline. It was my turn to throw the ball in, but one of the other boys wanted to take my turn and he demanded that I give him the ball. When I refused, he punched me in the mouth. I dropped the ball and fell down. My mouth hurt a lot and I started to get a headache. Too dizzy to stand, I just stayed there for a while crying because I was embarrassed. Finally, I sat up and discovered that the boy who had punched me had run away. None of the other children came to help me.

After that day I thought a lot about what had happened. I didn’t understand why the boy had punched me because I hadn’t mistreated him. I was just taking my turn. Finally, after a long time, I realized that I was not the source of the problem. The boy who punched me had been completely wrong. I came to understand that although it is important to treat other courteously, there are two reasons why it is not possible or desirable to be friends with everybody.

First, no matter what we do, we will meet people who simply don’t like us. We should not pretend to be like others because when we pretend to like the things that others like, we lose ourselves. A true friend will like and respect us just the way we are.

Second, there are people in this world who are bad. We should be courteous to bad people, but we should not try to make friends with them because they do bad things and, in order to be friends with them, we too must also do bad things. So, in the end we will become bad.

The best policy is to make friends with people who don’t criticize us for our differences, instead they like and respect us for them. Most importantly, when choosing your friends you should remember the Spanish proverb… "dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres." OSU!