A Japanese boy dreamed of nothing but becoming a famous karateka. His family, however, would not allow it. Then one day, in an unfortunate accident, the boy lost his left arm. Seeing how badly his spirits had sunk, his family hired a karate master to teach him.

In the very first lesson, the master showed the boy how to grab an opponent with his right arm and throw him over. In the second lesson, the third, and every lesson after that, they practiced the very same move.

One day the boy said, “Master, I’m bored. Can’t we move on to other techniques?” The master refused, telling him they would not finish until the boy was the fastest in the world at this one move. The boy grew so fast that he could throw even his master to the ground in the blink of an eye.

One day the master arrived with a paper in his hand: the boy had been entered into the junior karate championship. The boy was astonished. The next day, just before facing his first opponent, he asked anxiously, “Master, how can this possibly work? I only know one move. I’m sure to lose.” The master answered simply, “Just do your move.”

The boy stepped into the ring and eliminated his opponent with his single move. With that one move he reached the final, where he faced an opponent twice his size. At first he was terrified, but once again he performed the only move he knew — and defeated his last opponent too, becoming champion.

Overjoyed, he ran to his master and asked, “Master, I don’t understand. I know only one move, I have only one arm, and yet I became champion.” The master looked at him and said: “The move you have mastered is one of the hardest in all of karate. And it has only one defense — to grab your opponent’s left arm.”

This story has become a legend in many languages, and one of the great symbols of what it truly means to succeed.