2025-10-29

Teaching my regular classes at the Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA.

When performing kata, you will make a mistake. It’s inevitable. You’ll never eliminate all of your mistakes, but what you can eliminate is your reaction to them. I’ve seen students react to their own mistakes by looking at me, shaking their head in dismay, swearing, etc., but I encourage them to eliminate those behaviors. Of course I know they made a mistake, and they know they made a mistake, but there’s no need to tell the world about it. Untrained spectators may not even notice and other students are almost certainly more worried about themselves than they are about you.

To be clear, I’m not saying you should ignore your mistakes, or stop working to correct them. Just worry about that after you’re done with the kata. During the kata, as far as everyone else is concerned, you should project a confidence that says “That’s exactly what I meant to do.”

You see, reacting to your own mistakes is a mental lapse, and we can’t afford those in karate. Every time you react to your own mistake you’re practicing and reinforcing that behavior … and it will become a habit. Now imagine you have to defend yourself for real, you make a mistake, shake your head in dismay, and drop your guard. That’s a gift you can’t afford to give your attacker. Karate isn’t just about physical toughness - it’s about mental toughness and discipline too.