The Bumblebee Shouldn't Fly… and Yet It Does

As a young child, I wasn't the most athletic of kids, a little on the chubby side actually. My mom's friends would walk up to me and pinch my fat cheeks exclaiming how cute I was. An already grumpy kid that I was, the unwanted attention annoyed me even more.

My older brothers were more athletic than me, they integrated our school's soccer team, track and field, and others. Me, on the other hand, had the honor to make captain of the chess team three years in a row. While I did try out for the other sport squads, I just never made the final cut.

In Karate however, I found something that I could do without having to "make the team". I developed at my own pace, and progressed according to my own efforts and capability. In time, I came to excel at Karate, just as my older brothers had done before me. But most importantly, I enjoyed it, and thrived doing it... Many years later, I still do.

To me, doing well at Karate was like the fly of a bumblebee. People wonder how a bumblebee can fly with such tiny wings and a large body. Similarly, one would ask, how could someone excel at Karate when they are not physically gifted?

The problem, I think, is that we make the wrong assumptions about the bees and about people. For a bumblebee it would be impossible to fly like a bird does. Instead, this oddly shaped insect has to flap its wings over two hundred times per second in order to get some lift. Same objective, different approach.

As a Karate practitioner, I could not rely on my natural ability to progress in my training. Instead, Karate required other things first, discipline, focus, perseverance, and determination. With that as a base, everything else came later on its own time.

I see this with my own students, but I also see it in everyday life. Those folks who have the mental strength to outwork their competition and to stay on task when things are difficult. Those are the folks who succeed, even against all odds. People wonder how they got there, and the answer is that, like the bumblebee, they flapped their wings furiously while many others tried to glide to their goals.

To my students I say, be more like the bumblebee, work hard, be consistent, and find a way to achieve your dreams, even if it requires a whole different approach. Not only are you more likely to succeed, but you actually become a much stronger individual through the journey. And that's what I wish for you as well.