I have read this Story couple of times before hearing it from my Teacher on August 12th, more than 15 years ago.
Story is about a boy who does not have his left arm, but wants to learn Judo. His parents take him to multiple masters, who were not ready to accept the boy as a disciple for his weakness. For a martial art like Judo, having strong arms is critical and how can this boy without an arm can ever learn judo was the question from every master.
When I was hearing this from my teacher, there was a thought in me for a moment that said, “I already knew this story”. Exactly at the same time, my teacher’s voice guided me saying “You cannot step into the same river twice. Even though you are keeping foot in the same place in the river, water that is flowing is new and hence it is new river. With your new maturity, listen to this Story as if you are listening to it for the first time”. All my attention now, was focused on the Story.
The boy’s parents were very persistent and thought, there will at least be ONE master who will accept our Son as he is and teach him martial arts. And when you don’t want to give up, there is always an answer. They found a master who was ready to accept the Boy and teach him Judo. Boy and his parents were very happy for what’s happening in their life.
The boy starts his Class and Master teaches him one move and asks him to practice the move. The boy is excited. Something that he never thought is going to happen, is happening to him now – Learning Judo. With complete dedication, he practices the move thought by his Master. Days passby, and the Master is teaching new moves for his other students but asks this boy to practice the same move more. The boy is now confused, Did the Master accept me as a student just to make sure I dont feel bad and is actually not interested in teaching me. But decided to focus on what Master is asking him to do.
A day came, where there was a Judo competition in the nearby Town. Master asked this boy to join the competition. So, here is the boy with one arm, in a Judo competition where best student of all Masters participates. The first game is about to start and seeing the boy with one arm, audience share their sympathy for the boy. But to everyone’s surprise, the boy wins the match very easily. Everyone, including the boy thinks it is some kind of luck and would be difficult for him as competition progresses.
To everyone’s surprise, this boy wins the subsequent matches and has entered the FINALS. From a sense of sympathy, he becomes crowd favorite now. No one knows how he is winning, but everyone is excited for him. Now, he is in the Finals. He goes to his Master and asks what he should do now as his Opponent is the best student in the entire town and is defending champion. Master responds to the boy to “Be calm and just play your regular move“. He decides to follow his Master’s words. He does not do anything different, but does his one known move, and WINS the FINALS. He couldnot believe himself. Everyone is so happy for him and Tears run down his Parents eyes and his Master is very proud of him.
On his way back to his Town, boy asks the Master, how did he with one hand and one single move, manage to win the competition with best of best from all Masters. The Master who remained silent throughout, tells him now, “There are 2 reasons why you won the Competition.
1. You mastered one of the most difficult moves in Judo.
2. The only counter that your opponent can do for your move is to pull you down holding your left arm (which you don’t have)”
My teacher paused after this story to let the story settle in and continued to tell something, which transformed me completely.
Let the whole world know my weakness. But what is my ONE single signature strength that not only puts all my weakness aside, but makes me a Winner, because no one else can touch me on me strength. Like the boy, where the entire world knows his weakness, but he did not have 100 different strategies to WIN. He had ONE core Strength that made him a Winner. Similarly, what is going to be that ONE differentiator in my life. Not out of arrogance, but out of the confidence that I have in my Strength, I should be able to do everything Extraordinary and WIN.
That made me think – what is that ONE signature strength of mine, that I am not using enough or exploring more. That was the start of getting me organized / tracking things down / noting important things / not missing anything at work / not letting things fall of the crack / when I Commit to do anything I give myself completely – overall I started being more Accountable (on myself) and Driving for Results. I have certainly not reached there and every experience I go through, makes me think and learn new things that I am enjoying. I am working on this.
As Bruce Lee said – “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times”
So here is the ONE line summary
Let the Whole world know your weakness – what is going to be that ONE signature strength that you are going to develop and conquer the world.
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