In martial arts, mistakes aren’t deviations from the training—they’re a fundamental component of it.
In other words, learning how to recover from mistakes is just as important as learning how to properly punch and kick in the first place.
The reason is because in self-defense—one of the fundamental focuses of any martial art—there are no do-overs. You don’t get to ask your attacker to stop and re-attack you because you made a mistake doing your self-defense or you weren’t ready.
The self-defense must go on. Your thinking must carry on. Your movement must flow on.
And if that’s the end goal, then that has to be the way in which we practice—because the way we practice IS the way we’re going to perform.
And so it is in life.
Mistakes aren’t deviations from the path—they’re a necessary part of the path.
They’re opportunities for us to learn how to think quickly on our feet… to look for openings in unexpected circumstances…to practice being calm and collected even when we’re flustered or confused.
We learn to roll with the punches, both in martial arts and in life, because fighting is never perfect. It’s messy, ugly, and surprising… and preparing for THAT—practicing when it IS that—is preparing for life.
Preparing for perfect is planning for fantasy. And planning for fantasy is the REAL mistake.
P.s. Related: 37 Transformative Quotes On Failure To Consider For Your Success