Are you trapped in your pond?

bird trapped in pond by Rob J
Don't remain the champion of your own little pond - search for bigger ponds or you may find yourself floundering whilst those around you move forwards.

I'm sure that there can't be a single person who attended the World Cup who was not greatly impressed by the excellent standard of karate on display there. For me, it was my first ever opportunity to see my sensei, Jason Smith, competing. It was awesome to see him put into practice all of the subtle kumite techniques that he's shared with us over the years. He was beaten by Daniel Orange, with a beautiful round kick that scored an ippon, ruining a great effort, and suddenly introducing time pressure to a game plan that was holding up well until that point. Despite that, I'm even more proud of my sensei now, than I was before.

Daniel was a superb competitor, but he didn't win the Men's Opens either. It was great to see my sensei lose, and even better to see Daniel Orange lose. "Why?" I hear you ask. "Is it because you like seeing your sensei get his butt kicked for all those tough lessons? Or maybe you're just a mean old dog who gets pleasure from the failings of others?" Nah, nothing could be further from the truth. I have massive respect for my sensei, and great admiration for his abilities, he's my mentor, my hero and his philosophies on life are a daily inspiration to me. I would have loved to have seen him win the World Cup. But it was better for both of us that he didn't.

I look to my sensei as one of the finest examples of martial arts ability in the South of England, after sensei Joe Estrada of course. I know that sensei Jason works really hard at his karate and whenever I see him in the company of other regional senseis, I feel that he compares very well against them. If that's the case, how good must the person be who beat him? And what about the person who beat him? And the person who eventually won the World Cup? There's a hierarchy of skill, and awesome though I think my sensei is, there are still lots of levels above him.

Even looking at the World Cup winners, I know that there are levels above that; people who are so good that it would be unfair if they were permitted to compete - people like sensei Joe estrada, sensei Nabil Fanous and sensei Gavin Samin. And here's the really amazing thing, within GKR, there are people even better than them, Shihan for one!

I like to think that I'm pretty reasonable at kumite. I've won some medals and I do okay in the dojo. However, I've learned that I'm just a tiny, tiny fish in a huge ocean, and it's great! There's all these extra skills available for me to learn; all these additional tactics for me to adopt and master; all of these great martial artists for me to learn from, and take inspiration from.

I currently aspire to one day be as good as my sensei is now, but now I know that once I do reach that level, I'll just be on a low step of a tall ladder!

You might find it scary or intimidating to realise that you're not such a talent as you thought you were. Maybe you've been a big fish in a little pond - a red belt in a dojo full of greens and oranges. But like a plant that gets comfortable in a too-small pot, your growth may be stifled without you ever knowing it, limiting your progress and stunting the martial artist you can become.

So I encourage you to attend tournaments and seminars and events over the summer, and meet as many GKR people as you can, because it's only by swimming free of your pond that you ever truly get to experience the full benefits that GKR has to offer.

Like a baby turtle swimming out of a sheltered lagoon for the first time, it might be a daunting prospect, but you have such an exciting journey ahead, don't let ego, or comfort, or the illusion of security, or plain old fashioned nerves, hold you back from achieving all that you are capable of.

We're all part of a great tradition, and you can achieve so much more if you take a few chances.