subject: The Way A One Armed Student Learns Martial Arts [print this page] Bobby lost his left arm because of a childhood accident, but it didn't slow him down. He rode bikes, played sports, and did everything a child is supposed to do, except for one. He never did the martial arts, he figured he had finally found the one activity he would never be able to do.
When a martial arts dojo opened up in his neighborhood, however, he could not stop thinking about it. He would pass by slowly, staring at the kids working out inside. He would ask his friends who studied martial arts endless questions, but he never went inside the dojo because he knew that there was no way he could do that physical discipline.
One day a friend of his invited him to the dojo to witness a demonstration. Bobby went, and watched, and sadness ate at his heart like a chainsaw chews bushes. After the demonstration, Bobby was introduced to the instructor, who invited him to study the martial arts.
"I don't see how I could," said Bobbie, "since I only have one arm." The instructor smiled and merely said that having one arm wasn't a problem. He held that all things are possible to a man with a whole heart.
So Bobbie began his lessons in the ancient martial arts. He committed himself to the practice like a starving man attacks a plate of food, and he made good progress. Unfortunately, the instructor, while he would show Bobby all the moves, would only let him drill on one specific technique.
Day after day, week after week, Bobbie concentrated on learning this one technique. Dutifully, he worked out the problems with his execution until he could do the technique as smooth as silk. Still, the instructor would not let him move on to other techniques.
One day, the instructor came up to Bobbie and said, "I've put you in a tournament." Bobbie was flabbergasted, he just knew he was going to be beaten like a dirty rug and tossed like yesterday's salad. Still, his instructor believed in him, so he went to the contest.
He faced his first foe, and when the attack came, he used the one technique and won the match. And he used that one technique to defeat the second foe, and the third one. When the end of tournament came, Bobbie had won it all!
The next day Bobbie went to class and thanked his instructor. "The thing I don't understand," remarked Bobby, "is why that technique always worked!" His instructor grinned and said, "The only defense for that technique, in all the martial arts, is for your opponent to grab your left arm."
