Other than the movie Rad, no movie molded my childhood and left a lasting impression more so than The Karate Kid. I found an interesting article that came up with some life lessons we can learn from Mr. Miyagi, Daniel-san, and The Karate Kid. I’ll highlight my top 3 favorite lessons from this list.

1. “Either you Karate do ‘yes’ or Karate do ‘no.’ You Karate do ‘guess so,’ *squish!*”

 When Mr. Miyagi asked Daniel if he was ready to learn Karate, Daniel’s response of “I guess so” irritated him to no end. The old man compared Daniel’s noncommittal response to walking down a road: walking on the left side of the road is fine, walking on the right side of the road is fine, but walking down the middle of the road will eventually get you squished. The lesson here is “Do or do not. There is no try”. When you decide you want to do something, you need to attack it with a 100% of your heart and mind, and have specific goals that you want to accomplish and then set out to do them. From most goals, giving it a shot for a week or two isn’t going to get you results, and thinking about it only half of the time isn’t going to get you where you want to be either.

2. “First learn stand, then learn fly. Nature rule, Daniel-san, not mine.”

Daniel desperately wanted to learn how to do the Crane Kick after just a few lessons. Miyagi responded that there’s a specific order of things in Karate just like in nature. It is nature’s progression that allows animals to survive in the wild, and its Karate’s progression that would ultimately allow Daniel-san to succeed as a student. Had Miyagi put the kid up on the stump and forced him to learn a Crane Kick before anything else, he might have failed miserably and given up. Instead, he taught Daniel progressively more difficult strikes, balancing techniques, and blocks, built up his confidence, and only then did he allow Daniel-san to learn the Crane Kick. Your life is no different. If you want to get stronger for example, don’t go to the gym and load 300 lbs on the bench press. Instead, start with a small amount of weight, learn the proper movement, and progress steadily each week, getting stronger and building momentum until you reach your goal.

3. “Hey, what kind of belt do you have?” “Canvas. JC Penney, $3.98. You like?”

When asked by Daniel-san what kind of belt he had, Miyagi gave a sarcastic answer that was also quite deep philosophically. How in the world does one of the best Karate teachers out there not have any idea what level belt he is? Because at the end of the day, it just doesn’t matter. Having a class system to determine your level is nice, but don’t let it be the only benchmark you use to determine your success. Competitions, contests, and achievements are great motivators to help you move forward, but never forget that the only person you’re really competing with when it comes to your health for instance, is yourself. Who cares if you ran in a 5k race but got beat by a 10-year old girl? Suck it up, remember your time from this race, and make sure you run your next race at least one second faster. No matter how big, slow, or weak you are compared to those around you, it really only matters if you’re getting healthier, faster, and stronger compared to the You from yesterday.

Work is work, and liquor is liquor.

One thing I love about Germany is the emphasis on maintaining a healthy work-life-balance. There is a very strict divide between work and free time in this country.

A great example of this comes from the English translation of the word Feierabend. In German, this refers to finishing work. If you ask someone when they have Feierabend, you're asking when their shift is over. But if we were to literally translate Feierabend to English, we'd end up with the mash-up celebration-evening. It's completely possible and acceptable to have Feierabend plans of going home, making some chili, and watching Netflix all evening. Because it's not just "being off work", it's "celebrate myself with some me-time". 

Germans are known to be very diligent and concentrated workers. Therefore this work-life-balance culture tends to become what we know as "work hard, play hard." And it culminates in the season of beer festivals, generally known as a Kirchweih, but regionally as Kärwa. Everyone comes together in traditional clothing, sings songs, rides roller coasters, eats festival food, and "plays hard." This is where a Feierabend can be taken quite literally. 

Yet another example of the value placed on "me-time" is the many times I have shown up to work with sniffles, or an obvious sore throat and been sent home to get better. My fellow teachers are not afraid of catching whatever bug I have - they are thinking of my well being and are following the German belief that you must do nothing but rest and relax in order to be healthy again. 

This disorganized, disjointed Loop really just wants to get the point across that 1) emphasis on a healthy work-life-balance is great, and we are so fortunate to be working for a company that values it, 2) German is a fun language that you should learn with me, and 3) Kärwa are a great place to immerse oneself in German culture, and if you are ever in Germany during this time, you should definitely attend - even just to observe.