没有左臂的人

Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. Take, for example, the story of one girl who decided to study judo despite the fact that she had lost her left arm in a car accident.

The girl began lessons with an old Japanese judo instructor. The girl was doing well. So she couldn’t understand why, after three months of training, the instructor had taught her only one move.

“Instructor,”the girl finally said, “Shouldn’t I be learning more moves?”

“This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know,” the instructor replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in her teacher, the girl kept training.

Several months later, the instructor took the girl to her first tournament. Surprising herself, the girl easily won her first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, her opponent became impatient and charged. The girl deftly used her one move to win the match. Still amazed by her success, the girl was now in the finals.

This time, her opponent was bigger, stronger and more experienced. For a while, the girl appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the girl might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. She was about to stop the match when the instructor intervened.

“No,” the instructor insisted, “Let her continue.”

Soon after the match resumed, her opponent made a critical mistake: she dropped her guard. Instantly, the girl used her move to pin her opponent.The girl had won the match and the tournament. She was the champion.

On the way home, the girl and her teacher reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the girl summoned the courage to ask what was really on her mind.

“Instructor, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”

“You won for two reasons,” the teacher answered.“First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. Second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”

The girl’s biggest weakness had become her biggest strength.

有的时候,你最欠缺的地方反而能成为你最大的长处。比如我们下面要讲的这个故事:一个在车祸中丧失了左臂的小女孩,决定去学习柔道。

小女孩向一位年长的日本老师学习柔道。小女孩学习进展不错,而三个月过去了,老师却只是重复地教授她同一个动作,这使得她很迷惑不解。

“老师,”女孩终于忍不住问,“能不能再多教我一些动作?”

老师回答说:“你只要把这个动作学好就可以了。”

尽管女孩并不明白老师的用意,不过她信任她的老师,于是继续努力练习,

几个月过去了,老师带她去参加她的第一场比赛。令女孩惊讶的是,她轻松地击败了头两个对手。第三个对手虽然比较强悍,但一段时间后,对手就开始心浮气躁。女孩巧妙地使用了她唯一的一招赢得了比赛。女孩自己虽感到不可思议,但她却进入决赛了。

这一次,她的对手更高大强壮,而且更加经验丰富。有一段时间女孩甚至显露出一些败相。由于害怕女孩受伤,裁判宣布暂停比赛。正当她准备终止比赛时,教练却制止了她。

“不,让她继续比赛。”教练坚持道。

比赛恢复后,她的对手犯了一个致命的错误:她放松了自己的防卫。女孩立即用她那一招压制住了对手。女孩终于赢得了这场比赛,也成为了这次竞赛的冠军。

回家的路上,女孩和老师回顾了比赛的每个招式每个环节。然后女孩鼓起勇气问了老师一个困惑已久的问题。

“教练,为什么我仅用一个招式就赢得了这次竞赛?”

老师回答她说:“你能获胜有两个原因:第一,我教你的招式是柔道中最难的动作之一,而你几乎完全掌握了它;第二,对手想要破解这个招式只有一个动作,就是抓住你的左臂。”

这个女孩最大的弱点,竟然成了她致胜的关键所在。