50 Years, 50 Lessons: What Mr. Miyagi Was Really Teaching Me
Three books can change your Thursday. One book can change your world.
Hello,
Next week, I turn 50.
It’s one of those birthdays that makes you pause. Not in a dramatic, over-the-hill kind of way, but in the quiet, sobering sense that time is real. That you’ve crossed into a new phase. A phase where you start to see the invisible architecture of your life—the threads you didn’t notice while you were busy pulling them. Where things that once felt random now begin to feel connected. Part of something bigger.
And in that reflection, one of the most unexpected teachers keeps coming to mind:
Mr. Miyagi.
Yes—that Mr. Miyagi. The quiet, humble, bonsai-trimming, wisdom-dropping mentor from The Karate Kid.
I was nine years old when the movie came out. I saw it in 1984 at the East Windsor Shopping Center cinema, and I was hooked. That Halloween, I dressed up as Daniel LaRusso. He was the ultimate underdog. From New Jersey. He got the girl. He won the fight. He had the crane kick.
But the real hero—the one I didn’t fully appreciate until much later—was Miyagi.
Because Miyagi never lectured. He didn’t posture. He didn’t preach.
He taught through presence. Through patience. Through paint brushes and sandpaper.
Through repetition, routine, and ritual.
He taught by showing up, again and again, without needing credit.
And what I realize now, all these years later, is that he wasn’t just teaching karate.
He was teaching life.
There’s a scene in the original film that still gives me chills. It’s the moment when Daniel finally understands. When all the sanding, waxing, and painting clicks into place, and he realizes that what he thought was meaningless labor was, in fact, training all along.
It’s at 3 minutes and 17 seconds in that scene. You can see it in Daniel’s eyes.
The shift. The click. The becoming.
The realization that he’s not who he was. That something has changed. That he is capable of more than he believed. That he’s already stronger, more prepared, more alive than he imagined.
That moment has stayed with me.
Because the most powerful lessons in life often come wrapped in the ordinary. In the things that don’t look like learning. The long days. The hard conversations. The missed opportunities. The jobs we didn’t get. The people who challenged us. The moments we wanted to skip, but couldn’t.
Looking back now, I see them differently. The setbacks, the repetition, the things I didn’t think mattered—they were shaping me the entire time.
So much of life is Miyagi-style learning.
You think you’re just waxing the car, but you’re becoming someone new.
You just don’t know it yet.
So in honor of turning 50, I’m sharing 50 lessons from Mr. Miyagi.
Not just for nostalgia, but because these lessons have followed me for decades. Some I recognized right away. Others took years to understand. Some made me smile. Others made me stop what I was doing and breathe.
They’re not about karate. They’re about character. About balance. Leadership. Integrity. Patience. Trust. Presence. Joy.
Lessons about when to act, and when to pause.
How to fight, and when not to.
What to hold onto, and what to let go.
Lesson by lesson, they’ve shaped how I lead, how I parent, how I work, how I live.
And maybe, without even realizing it, they’ve shaped you, too.
So here they are.
Fifty lessons I didn’t know I was learning.
Welcome to this week’s Three Book Thursday.
1. Wax on, wax off.
Discipline isn’t always obvious at first, it’s built through repetition, even when the purpose isn’t clear.
2. First learn stand, then learn fly. Nature rule, Daniel-san, not mine.
Master the basics before reaching for greatness.
3. Balance is key. Balance good, karate good. Everything good. Balance bad, may as well pack up, go home.
Life, like karate, is built on balance, between action and stillness, ambition and presence.
4. No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do.
Leadership is about responsibility. The mentor sets the tone
5. Daniel-san, never put passion before principle. Even if win, you lose.
Integrity must guide action, especially in conflict.
6. Best way to avoid punch—no be there.
Sometimes the smartest move is to avoid unnecessary battles.
7. Karate for defense only.
True strength isn’t about domination, it’s about restraint, control, and protecting what matters.
8. You trust the quality of what you know, not quantity.
It’s not how much you do, it’s how deeply you know it.
9. Whole life have a balance. Everything be better.
Balance isn’t a technique, it’s a way of living.
10. Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for whole life.
The dojo is a metaphor. The real training is in how we live.
11. Walk on road. Walk right side, safe. Walk left side, safe. Walk middle, sooner or later… get squish like grape.
Half-hearted commitment leads to pain. Choose a path, and walk it fully.
12. If come from inside you, always right one.
Trust your inner compass. True choices rise from within.
13. Daniel-san, you look revenge that way, start by digging two graves.
The pursuit of revenge consumes both the attacker and the attacked.
14. For person with no forgiveness in heart, living even worse punishment than death.
Holding on to anger is a prison of your own making.
15. Karate here. (points to head) Karate here. (points to heart) Karate never here. (points to fist)
Real power lies in wisdom and character, not force.
16. Fighting always last answer to problem.
The best warriors seek peace first, and strength only when all else fails.
17. Daniel-san, lie become truth only if person wanna believe it.
Self-deception is seductive. Be honest, especially with yourself.
18. Not everything is as seem.
Don’t rush to judgment, look deeper. Meaning often hides beneath the surface.
19. To make honey, young bee need young flower… not old prune.
Match energy with energy; seek growth with those who still seek it too.
20. Inside you have strong root. No need prove nothing to nobody except yourself.
External validation fades. True strength is rooted in knowing who you are and why you act.
21. Why break boards? What boards ever do to you?
Showy displays mean little. Purpose matters more than spectacle.
22. Win, lose, no matter. You make good fight, earn respect, then nobody bother.
Honor isn’t in the outcome, it’s in how you carry yourself.
23. Daniel-san, you stay focused. Your best karate still inside you. Now time let it out.
Sometimes the hardest part isn’t learning something new—it’s trusting what you’ve already built.
24. Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything.
Patience, precision, and presence can do what brute force cannot.
25. Ambition without knowledge is like boat on dry land.
Drive without direction is dangerous. Learn first.
26. Attitude is everything.
You can’t control every outcome, but you can control the posture you bring to every moment.
27. Lesson is in doing.
You don’t learn by hearing, you learn by acting. The body remembers what the mind forgets.
28. Secret to punch… make whole body punch, not just arm.
True strength is unified effort—mind, body, and spirit.
29. Never trust spiritual leader who cannot dance.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. Wholeness includes joy.
30. Daniel-san, not everything is about competition. Sometimes, best win is no fight.
Peace is often the higher form of strength.
31. Karate is for life, not for points.
It’s not about scoring—it’s about becoming.
32. Don’t forget to breathe. Very important.
In chaos, return to the breath, it grounds everything.
33. When storm come, tree bend… not break.
Flexibility is resilience. Strength without give breaks.
34. Whole body be your weapon. Whole life be your dojo.
Training is everywhere, if you’re paying attention.
35. You stay focused, Daniel-san. One step at a time.
The fastest way through overwhelm is to shrink it down to the next step.
36. Use head for something besides target.
Think before you act. Strategy beats strength.
37. First you learn rule, then you learn when to break it.
Mastery comes with discretion.
38. Daniel-san, too much advantage your enemy, always lose.
Don’t fight unfair fights. Choose wisely.
39. Always look eye! Always look eye!
Presence and respect begin in the eyes.
40. Daniel-san, never trust bad teacher. They teach you wrong way.
Choose your guides carefully. Not all leadership is worthy.
41. Let nature take its course.
Some things can’t be forced. Trust the unfolding.
42. First learn control. Then learn power.
Power without control is dangerous.
43. You feel shame, do wrong. You feel pride, do right.
The body often knows before the mind. Pay attention.
44. Daniel-san, never put focus on opponent. Focus on self.
Comparison distracts. Growth is internal.
45. This not tournament. This real life.
Train like it matters, because it does.
46. Teacher say, student do. Student trust. No trust, no learn.
Learning flows from trust. Protect it.
47. Even small tree grow big if roots strong.
Foundation is everything.
48. Daniel-san, when you feel life out of focus, always return to basic of life: breathing, balance, honor
When life feels chaotic or overwhelming, return to the fundamentals—breathing, balance, and honor.
49. When life spins, return to center.
You learn karate so you can learn not to use it.
50. This one’s blank… waiting to be filled by the next new lesson.
There’s a reason Mr. Miyagi’s lessons still resonate.
They weren’t just about fighting. They were about living—with discipline, with humility, with clarity, with heart. He wasn’t preparing Daniel to win a tournament. He was preparing him to move through the world with strength that didn’t require proving itself. With wisdom that came from practice, not performance.
And that’s the kind of learning I’ve come to value most.
At 50, I see it clearly now: the best lessons in life rarely arrive with fanfare. They arrive disguised as the ordinary. In repetition. In hard moments. In the things that feel inconvenient or unnecessary—until they become the very things that shape who you are.
Miyagi didn’t just teach Daniel how to defend himself.
He taught him how to be himself.
And somewhere along the way, he taught us too.
So if you’re in a season of sanding floors, painting fences, or showing up day after day wondering if any of it matters—trust that it does. Trust that the lesson is landing, even if you can’t see it yet.
You’re learning.
You’re becoming.
You’re preparing.
The work is working.
Because the best kind of strength doesn’t shout.
It’s built slowly, quietly—one lesson at a time.
Always ❤️📚💡
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Don’t take yourself too seriously. Wholeness includes joy. Thanks you for this reminder!
Happy birthday, I'm honoured to be one of those you share your notes with.