Why some students Fail and other students Succeed!

This is something I consistently tell my students. The primary philosophy of Karate, Osu No Seishin, which translates to “The Spirit of Perseverance” or to never give up drives us through our training to always push forward, to realize through hard training that we are all stronger than we think we are, to keep pushing forward no matter how many times we fail, make mistakes or fall down. A Black Belt is not achieved by the best or most talented, but by the student that does not give up, the one that perseveres and pushes past the discomfort to find out they are stronger than they think, the student with Grit!
 I guarantee that every student learns this in Karate and in my class. We have been teaching this since Karate was formed and we will continue to do so. It is the cornerstone of what we do. It's the fundamental difference between comfort martial arts taught at many places now and real martial arts.
The most difficult part in my job to teach "Grit" is that it takes a village to do so. In a culture of quick gratification, where now in most Sports we don't keep score, everyone gets a trophy and everyone wins regardless of effort, we are unlearning this skill, not building it. I can teach whatever I need to in class, but if parents let their children quit as soon as it gets difficult, their children will not learn Grit, they will learn to quit. If teachers and educators, sports organizations and other influences in children's lives stop challenging children, stop pushing them to not give up, stop teaching them that success is built on failure and allowing kids to learn from mistakes, failure and loss, to learn to get back up and keep going we will create a generation without this essential skill. Grit is learned by the village reinforcing these beliefs and teaching them, supporting children through failure and mistakes, teaching them to never give up that this is a part of life and that in life like in Martial arts success is a marathon not a sprint.
OSU!