By Goldenberg Sensei, Yon-Don

Sometimes it takes a disaster to realize how precious life is. It is all to common to hear expressions such as; I wish I would have..., I should have done this or that..., I meant to but ...

In karate training, although we say " Karate is a lifetime marathon" we do not want to wait a lifetime, because as can readily and soberingly be seen by the events of the Swiss Air flight, we never know how long or how short a lifetime is.

A turning point in my karate training came when as a green belt I was attending a workout and at a certain point I could not continue due to exhaustion. I respectfully asked my instructor if I may leave the deck as I was about to either faint or undergo reverse peristalsis.

The instructor yelled in a very loud voice, " NO, DO ONE MORE KATA", my response as usual was " arigato Sensei". I performed the kata, and at that point was able to continue as if my body and mind broke through a barrier to another level. I did not leave the class after that kata and was able to continue albeit still exhausted. The barrier was an emotional one.

When I asked to be excused I had thought I went as far as I could only to realize I had more.

The more we break our own self imposed barriers, or comfort zones, the more we realize everything is in our comfort zone.

There are two important points to realize;

1. We can only reach the outer limits of our comfort zone by giving 100% effort.

2. We can only realize a new comfort zone by giving X +1% effort where X is our previous comfort zone.

Don't wait for tomorrow let each class, bring you to a new comfort zone.

Arigato,
Goldenberg Sensei, Yon-Dan