“It is difficult to understand the universe if you only study one planet.” – Miyamoto Musashi
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Growth is part and parcel of being a martial artist – if you are not open to others ideas and constantly finding ways to hinder it, you may want to reconsider your purpose for training in the martial arts.
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“Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.” – Daniel Boorstin.
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Learning is a life long process and the knowledge that you have is never enough. There is always more to know. The desire to learn is among the best characteristics a person can possess. But to learn deeply you have to have the enthusiasm to really want too and be open and willing to change those ideas and beliefs that you hold on to so vehemently.
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Willingness to learn, accept and change can give you the ability to create. The more things you learn, the more new ideas come to your mind.
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The ability to innovate requires a desire to learn a great deal and in depth. This is part of the core of the martial arts and why the ‘journey’ will continue throughout a lifetime.
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“That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you’ve understood all your life, but in a new way.” – Doris Lessing
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Martial arts require a person to continue to practice and improve upon their skills. For some, once they’ve earned their black-belt (and some who have earned a higher degree of black-belt), figure that their goal has been achieved and that there’s nothing left for them to learn…… There is always more to learn.
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There will always be a minority who will dogmatically stick to the karate they experienced in a given time period. “My sensei says (insert dogma), so it must be true and I will not change my mind”.
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One problem which constantly crops up is that often students, and some instructors too, have an idealized image of a sensei. Once a student gives his, or her loyalty to an instructor it may become blind obedience and belief. And of course they then remain stuck in the doctrines of others and not open to new concepts and ideas, dogmatically remaining unmovable in their belief that no other answer is correct but their own. 
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“The pursuit of knowledge is never- ending. The day you stop seeking knowledge is the day you stop growing” – Brandon Travis Ciaccio
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 Photo Credit: Miyamoto Musashi movie, Japan, 1944
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