KAIZEN DAILY IMPROVEMENT
Kaizen is a Japanese word that simply translated as "improvement." However, like many Japanese terms, the word encompasses far more than its literal English translation. It means more than simple improvement, and instead suggests continuous, gradual, orderly and never-ending improvement, as well as the willingness to pursue incremental improvement a small step at a time. The concept of Kaizen in karate training means that your techniques must be a little bit better than they were yesterday

A ski instructor once provided me with an important example of Kaizen. Despite living in New England all of my life, I never attained any skill at skiing. Finally, during a winter vacation, I enrolled in a week-long ski program at a local ski resort. We would ski in a group lesson in the morning, then have free skiing time in the afternoon. One evening, after the third day of lessons, I ran into my ski instructor in the pub. He greeted me enthusiastically and asked how my free skiing went that day... I told him that I thought I did great... He asked how many times I fell. I proudly replied, None! He shouted as if perplexed, None?!??!!?!?, and shook his head sadly. When he saw the confused look on my face, he continued, I thought you would try harder than that, then patted me on the shoulder and walked away. He later explained that he wanted his students to push themselves at least a little beyond their abilities, and if I had done that, I would have fallen down at least a few times. Since then, whenever a student falls down in my class while we are practicing spinning kicks or flying kicks, I congratulate them for pushing a little beyond, and tell them the above story about my ski instructor.

I consider that Kaizen is a perfect approach to Karate training for two reasons... The first is obvious... each time I enter the dojo I try to make everything I do be just a little bit better than the day before. The additional hidden meaning is not to become impatient, push too hard and frustrate myself... rather, I strive to maintain incremental, but constant improvements. Life is busy and complex... it is important to have patience with yourself, and incorporate your training into a pattern that you can maintain...in the end you will progress further. Ive seen many students, and many of my peers over the years, dive head-first into karate, training every night, staying after class and doing extra... and what typically happens is that these people burn out after a relatively short time... and never train in karate again. While it is certainly true that I had my lazy periods, and could have devoted more time to training here and there, Im still at it decades after I started, and I am convinced that this is because of maintaining an overall approach of small, but consistent, advances... Kaizen.

The same approach is what can help anyone maximize their abilities at daily tasks... school, a musical instrument, painting... It can also help one overcome major but temporary tasks like writing a term paper, a thesis, or remodeling a house, etc.


LEAVE YOUR PROBLEMS OUTSIDE THE DOJO
Every so often someone in the class, sometimes myself, is obviously under some stress in life. I've used the bow upon entering the dojo as a demarcation point. I always tell new students that we bow upon entering and leaving the dojo in order to consider the dojo a special placea place where we step aside from the our daily problems I advise them that they should consider leaving their problems outside the dojo door, just as they leave their shoes outside when they bow before entering, they make a serious effort to cast off their ongoing difficulties, and relish an hour or two of freedom for their spirit. I usually smile, pat them on the shoulder and say, "Don't worry, your problems will still be waiting out there for you afterwards, and you can deal with them then." This "wisdom" is really me talking to myself, and I'm just letting them in on how I have tried to handle things over the years.

Every so often, however, when I bow and leave the dojo, only my shoes were out there. Whatever problem I had on the way in had either vanished, or seems very much smaller.


YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS CAN'T EXCEED YOUR DREAMS
Long ago when I was a student and training in one of the college clubs, the instructor, who had superb form, reminded the class to stretch every day if possible. He pointed out that one's kick could never go higher than one's stretch. That is, if you can't stretch your leg to the side as high as your waist, then you wont be able to launch a side-kick at waist-height. As young karate students, in our eagerness to start kicking and punching, we often neglected stretching. This instructor's point has stuck in the back of my mind over the decades since then. Initially, it was just a reminder to stretch. Later, it encompassed more of life. It became a general reminder to think ahead, to plan how a meeting might go, to plot a long-term strategy and to dream. "Your kick cant go higher than your stretch," expanded to include "Your actions can't go beyond your plans," and finally, to mean "Your accomplishments can't exceed your dreams."

Stretch your body, stretch your mind.

Dream. Then, make it so.