Another example of how a Wise Mentor can have an invaluable influence on his mentee is the story of a disabled boy. And his master is Sensei - a wise and committed teacher. This is the story of a boy (let's call him Johny) who lost his entire left arm in a car accident, but didn't give up in his life.
So today, as part of our series of inspirations, which is called "Coaching Stories", we will show how smart practicing sports in cooperation with an experienced coach can have a huge impact on our whole lives.
Everyone can develop their perfection despite the handicap
He started judo training under the supervision of an experienced Sensei. He was doing very well. But he couldn't understand why Sensei only taught him one trick for the whole 3 months.
"Sensei," said the boy. "Shouldn't I be learning other tricks?"
“It's the only trick you know and the only one you'll ever need,” Sensei replied.
Johny could not accept the answer. But he trusted his teacher, so he kept working stubbornly.
A few months later, Sensei invited the boy to take part in the first tournament. Janek was overjoyed. Surprisingly, he won the first fight very easily. The third fight turned out to be very difficult. However, after some time, Janek's opponent became impatient that he could not win with the one-armed boy, he lost his vigilance and Janek perfectly made his one trick by winning the fight ahead of time.
Unable to believe what was happening, Johny reached the finals.
This time, however, the opponent was much tighter physically and more experienced. Janek was losing. He landed on the mat a lot. The referee, fearing that Janek might be seriously injured, ordered a break in the fight and went to Sensei.
"Let's stop this," said the judge. "The boy has no chance."
"No," replied Sensei. "Let him fight." At the same time, he whispered something in Johny's ear.
The fight was slowly coming to an end and it seemed that nothing would change. At some point, however, the opponent lost his concentration, Johny quickly made his only catch and won the fight by ippon. He won the entire tournament! He became the champion!
On the way home, Sensei analyzed every fight and every move with Johny. Johny, however, could not stand it and found the courage to ask the question that had been troubling him all the time.
- "Sensei, how is it possible that I won the tournament knowing only one catch ?!"
“For two reasons,” Sensei replied.
- "First of all, you almost perfected one of the most difficult grips in all judo."
- "Second, the only effective defense against this grip is a left-hand counter"
What other lessons can be learned from this story?
Albert Einstein, among many wise sentences, uttered this golden thought:
We are all geniuses. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb trees, it'll spend its whole life thinking it's stupid.
And famous tennis player Arthur Ashe summed it up with this quote:
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
Make full use of your potential in harmony with yourself. Because everyone has great potential - even a boy without an arm. If you make full use of what you have - you will strive for perfection, and this will enable you to achieve above-average goals. And if you do it in accordance with your truth, without looking at others, without copying others - you will create something absolutely unique.
See also other coaching stories and parables: