A 10-year-old boy decided to study judo
despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.
The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well,
so he couldn't understand why after three months of training the master had
taught him only one move.
"Sensei,"(Teacher in Japanese) the boy finally said, "Shouldn't
I be learning more moves?"
"This is the only move you know, but
this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the sensei replied.
Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.
Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament.
Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match
proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient
and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by
his success, the boy was now in the finals.
This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger and more experienced. For a while,
the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the
referee called a time-out.
He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened. "No," the
sensei insisted, "Let him continue." Soon after the match resumed,
his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy
used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament.
He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in
each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really
on his mind.
"Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"
"You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First you've
almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo and second the
only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left
arm."
The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
Moral of the Story:
Sometimes we feel that we have
certain weaknesses and we blame God, the circumstances or ourselves for it but
we never know that our weaknesses can become our strengths one day.
Each of us is special and
important, so never think you have any weakness, never think of pride or pain,
just live your life to its fullest and extract the best out of it!