No matter how many times I practiced myself or even thought this kata to my students, I keep coming back to it. Every time I look at it with the same openness, curiosity and excitement as the first time I have ever seen it.

This is a very good exercise to cultivate the beginner’s mind (shoshin 初心), which is a concept derived from Zen Buddhism.

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are a few”.

I believe this is one of the secrets behind martial arts: always be a beginner and have the same desire to learn something new.

For myself, this is definitely the secret to keep moving forward, even after 30 years of practice.