I love this quotation by Thomas Edison "our
greatest weakness is giving up.
The most certain way to success is to try one
more time."
Many times when a student asked Sensei
Nishiyama question about technique or express difficulty in getting something
to work, the answer was “keep trying”.
Sensei Nishiyama was a man of few words (when
it come to karate, he loved to talk when socialized), he said just enough to
give you direction, but wanted you to find out through training.
We must train than contemplate, repeat but don’t
be mechanic, don’t just keep going, reflect on what you do, some of the
understanding can only come through repetition, if something does not work,
figure out what should be done differently, usually the difference is subtle,
and therefore require awareness and openness.
That what “keep trying” means.