Changing deficiency to efficiency

After my first post on 'getting good marks', a student called me and told that he is lagging on certain quality and he felt that he is incapable of doing something.

I took a few minutes to tell him a story:

In a village, there was a boy, who does not have his left arm by birth. He had an aim and a long term wish to learn the martial art Judo. He went to many teachers who were excelled in Judo. Every time when he requested to teach him Judo, they all repeated the same that he has a deficiency – not having his left arm.

One final day, he met a Judo master who had agreed to teach him this art. The master had taught him one single move of attack and asked to practice this all times. Days passed and the boy was taught only this single move and not any other thing in Judo. The boy though having a great appetite for Judo and having a great belief in his master practiced only this move and at one point he had really excelled this single move.

The master nominated this boy for a tournament, and also advised him that whenever the boy finds a time to do this move, he had asked him to do this to his opponent. The boy successfully won his first round with this move. After few rounds where he managed to do this move and he really won all his opponents. Though surprised himself to win in all his matches, he did not took a chance to ask his master How? There was the final round for championship in which his opponent was comparatively bigger in size and in all respects. It was difficult for him to manage his opponent. At last at one instance he found a chance of doing his single move and he succeeded his Championship.

He went to his master and asked:

1. Why that when all others rejected him, why was that he accepted to teach him?

2. How he could win a tournament just by knowing only one move?

The master replied:

1. When I saw you I did not see your weakness instead I saw the eagerness in you to learn Judo.

2. To my knowledge in Judo, the only preventive move for an opponent to escape from the move, in which you have excelled enough, is to grab the opponent’s left arm. Fortunately, you do not have it, which became your strength.

Moral/Learning:

1. Please have the greatest appetite to learn something.

2. Also the teachers’ responsibility is to find the strengths and not the weakness in students.

3. If you know an area in a subject, please train yourself to get excelled in what you know.