part0011

An unknown Romanian female gymnast, at the age of 14, steps up to the uneven bar at the 1976 Olympics, in Montreal, Canada. She performs her routine with precision and grace. As she completes her routine, she sticks the landing after a full flip and a half twist in midair. The resounding applause from the audience was soon followed by the highest point possible from the judges - perfect 10. The score boards actually read 1.0 since the manufacturers of the scoring equipment used in Montreal Olympics did not imagine anyone scoring a perfect 10. Nevertheless, an unknown Romanian girl named, Nadia Comaneci, had achieved perfection in the world of gymnastics.

Nadia would go on to receive “perfect 10” scores six more times for different events during the Montreal Olympics. Nadia had set an unprecedented standard for perfection. But when multiple gymnasts began to record perfect 10s in future competitions, the idea of perfection began to lose its luster in the world of gymnastics. Soon after, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) revised their scoring method to no longer limit scoring to 10 by better defining difficulty and execution scores, thus inspiring future gymnastics to excel beyond previously defined, “perfect 10.”

Humans are not perfect, and neither is the world that we live in. It is through this imperfection that gives human beings the impetus to improve and strive towards bigger goals. If we have reached the pinnacle of our craft, it is sometimes easy for human beings to become content, then complacency sets in. Even in the world of sports, perfection is never defined as an end, as the International Gymnastics Federation sets new standards for future gymnasts to aspire to, beyond Nadia’s perfect 10. Even marathon runners’ records continue to get shattered with each competition, as the seemingly impossible time to beat keeps getting shorter.

In battle, martial artists recognize that pitfalls such as complacency and languidness cannot exist where one split second defines life or death. Martial artist continues to strive towards perfecting his skills without seeking an end. In this way, the ultimate goal is not about reaching perfection, but establishing the indomitable spirit in the artist as a result of the path traveled. The body is merely an instrument to perfect technical skills, but the underlying purpose of the austere training in karate-do and other martial arts is to maximize one’s potential. In the dojo, when the energy level of the students’ waver, motivation comes from either the sempai or sensei urging “more spirit,” thus pushing the students beyond their own boundaries. Without such encouragement, the mind would succumb to the weakened body and relent to exhaustion.

Karate-do actions demand repetition in order to make each technique execution as refined as possible. Continually striving to execute the so called, “perfect technique” or “perfect kata ( 型 ) ” is analogous to the definition of a limit in calculus or simple math concept of infinity. For most, infinity is thought of as limitless expansion such as the number of stars in the universe. Another form of infinity is the continual subdivision of a number whereby zero conceivable can never be reached. If you divide the number 2 in half the result is one, and if one is divided in half the result is half, and each division becomes infinitesimally smaller fraction with no conceivable means of reaching zero. In a similar manner, karate-ka continues to practice to minimize as much as possible to refine the techniques and movements towards perfecting their skills, in such a way as to make it more efficient and effective. But with human mental and physical imperfection as variables, it is inconceivable that one can reach the ultimate state of perfection consistently with each execution. However close we may come, there’s always room for ever so slight improvement. When we become satisfied with reaching perfection is when we no longer progress.

Thus, seeking perfection is about the journey towards incrementally progressing. As the path becomes progressively more difficult, the human spirit must become even stronger. Austere training in karate-do is about continuing to drive the mental and physical to the limit. In this way the practitioner learns to become relentless in overcoming one hurdle after another. The spirit that is being forged in the dojo is to prepare the karate-ka to apply the same level of effort in endeavors outside the dojo as well. Without effort there is no level of success.

Success is not based solely on talent. And all men are not created equal, in a sense that we are not all blessed with the speed of Usain Bolt, or gifted with the mental intelligence of Stephen Hawking or Albert Einstein. What defines success is the application of one’s potential to exceed expectations. Whether a person is gifted or not, the drive to excel achieves success. At 5 feet, six inches, Spud Webb not only played professional basketball against many of his counterparts exceeding the height of 6 feet, 5 inches, but also won the slam dunk competition in a game where height is a major factor. Obviously, he possessed talent, but he also worked diligently to exceed expectation. Sometimes those with the God given gift of physical talent or genius IQ may squander the opportunity for success by not putting in the effort, since most achievements comes to them without much effort.

As with talent, equality does not exist in the social climate; some are born into impoverished families while others are wealthy at birth. What determines how certain people succeed is not based on where they start, but instead on their path and the desire to succeed.

Maximizing one’s potential and seeking perfection does not necessarily mean to excel at multitude of things or become the best. Each in their own way can improve to the level that surpasses their own and other’s expectation. Karate-do training enables a non-athletic person or even those with physical disabilities to go beyond their own abilities. They may not obtain the same level of desired perfection that other karate-ka with athletic agility, but each level of accomplishment builds the confidence in the individual and furthers their potential. Misunderstanding such benefits, some laymen would believe karate-do cannot be practiced by those uncoordinated, disabled, or ail of health. On the contrary, karate-do training can improve one’s coordination, agility, and overall health. Some notable Okinawan karate-do masters, such as Nagamine Shoshin and Funakoshi Gichin began training at an early age to overcome their ill health condition. As a result of their relentless training in karate-do, Nagamine and Funakoshi not only overcame their ill health, but lived until the right old age of 90 and 88 years old respectively.

Much of one’s success and failure in life can be attributed not only to one’s skill but character as well. It is no surprise that a person interviewing for a prospective job would present their best character traits during the interview process. The ability to perform the prescribed job functions is usually evaluated with the candidate’s disposition in an interview. Even the simple act of ordering food at restaurants can mean good or bad service, depending upon the character of the patron. Waiters and waitresses are more willing to provide good service to customers with good attitudes rather than to the demanding ones. People tend to avoid those with bad character traits, whether in school or at work, because no one wants to associate with them. One’s character is judged daily for various situations; from both the people we know and from strangers.

In seeking perfection, character is often overlooked, since the physical attributes of the individual is more prominently displayed. In sports, some professional teams have even ignored bad behaviors of talented players in hopes that they will win games. But in the long run the character flaw becomes more of a hindrance and disruption to the team. Sometimes an average player with a good character is more beneficial to the team than a talented player with a poor attitude. Winning as a team requires good chemistry amongst the players. The infamous 1980 U.S. Olympic Ice Hockey team that defeated the heavily favorite Soviet team consisted of players that the coach, Herb Brooks, selected that would play well together, not necessarily the most talented hockey players. The same holds true in a work environment – teamwork is more beneficial to a company than a smart employee who is unwilling to work with others. Ideally the desire is to have both talent and good character. Hence in seeking perfection, both refinement of physical attributes and talent as well as one’s character is of equal importance.

Funakoshi’s introduction of karate-do to Japan would have most likely failed if not for one major factor – his character. In an era where Okinawans were not looked upon favorably by the Japanese, introducing an indigenous martial art most likely was scrutinized with skepticism by the Japanese audience. Funakoshi being well educated and a scholar in classical Chinese, was very astute in recognizing the importance of presenting karate-do for the purpose of physical education and perfecting an individual’s character as opposed to demonstrating some of the lethal self-defense techniques with the use of bare hands. While we may never know what actually transpired during Funakoshi’s first auspicious demonstration to the Japanese ministry, we can surmise it was presented with proper mannerism and etiquette. To do so otherwise would have brought consternation from the Japanese audience so enriched with honorific culture.