We often learn more from searching for an answer and not finding it than from simply being given the answer itself.

It’s not hard to learn more if you are open to it. What is hard is to unlearn something when you discover you may have been doing it wrong all along.

I remember over 45 years ago when I changed to an Okinawan style of karate and realised how wrong I had been doing things. Of course, what the Okinawan teacher really meant was wrong for his karate.

The adjustments took time, but I was happy to be learning something different – something I wanted to do.

Even if you never change styles like I did, remember there will always be something new to learn. Always consider yourself a student.

You should welcome the opportunity to learn more.

There is always another level. Even the things you know right now, at this moment, have a deeper level and a deeper understanding waiting behind them.

Proficiency simply means you are proficient in what you know today – and still an apprentice in what you don’t.

The moment you believe you have nothing left to learn is usually the moment your progress stops.

It is the quality and depth of your knowledge that matters, not how many techniques, kata, or belts you can collect.

Everyone believes they are open-minded until something they know is questioned or critiqued.

But being open-minded is essential if you want to advance your knowledge. It is only possible if you accept that you may not yet have all the information.

And I don’t mean the kind of superficial knowledge some people pick up after watching a video or reading a few pages in a book, where they suddenly become experts in their new discovery and begin teaching it to others.

Being open-minded is an essential trait if you truly want to deepen your understanding of your martial art. It can be uncomfortable when new information challenges long-held beliefs.

Mistakes are something we should embrace.

Something reminded me of this recently. As an avid Formula 1 fan, I heard one of the team principals explain that during testing they actually want faults to appear in the new car. The sooner the problems reveal themselves, the sooner the team can understand them and improve the car before the first race.

Mistakes reveal information.

They allow us to learn, adjust, and understand more deeply. Remember the Japanese saying: Saru mo ki kara ochiru (猿も木から落ちる) – Even monkeys fall from trees.

Skill does not eliminate mistakes.

Experience does not guarantee perfection.

Even the best lose balance sometimes.

Failure is not proof of incompetence.

It is proof of being human.

An open mind leaves room for someone to place a worthwhile thought inside it.

Perhaps that is part of Dōkeshi no Michi – the path of the humble learner.

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