I started karate at 16.
Not by confidently walking into a dojo, but by calling the club for three months before In had the courage to step through the door.
The first three months were tough. I cried most weeks. I just couldn’t get it.
The instructor yelled, the movements felt impossible, and I walked out of sessions feeling useless and overwhelmed. My body wouldn’t cooperate, my confidence took a hit, and I seriously questioned whether I belonged there at all.
What I didn’t realise at the time was this: I wasn’t failing.
I was trying to learn everything at once.
So I took a step back.
Instead of pushing harder, I slowed things down. I unpacked the moves. I started looking for the structure behind the technique, the system behind the repetition. Once I could see the bigger picture, things shifted. Patterns emerged. Understanding replaced frustration.
I also learned something critical about myself: I learn best by doing and by sharing. Talking things through. Breaking ideas apart and putting them back together.
As my instructor, Hanshi Tino Ceberano says:
“I hear, I forget.
I see, I remember.
I do, I understand.”
“I hear, I forget.
I see, I remember.
I do, I understand.”
By 18, I earned my black belt. Became an instructor myself, and went on to achieve my 3rd Dan.
But the belt was never the point.
The real lesson I learnt that you must understand before you can teach. That structure creates clarity. That systems turn overwhelm into capability.
And that lesson has followed me ever since.
In leadership.
In business strategy.
In governance.
In cultural work.
In coaching.
I see so many leaders and business owners today who feel exactly like that 16-year-old version of me. Overwhelmed, doubting themselves, thinking they’re the problem.
They’re not.
They just haven’t been given the structure yet.
They haven’t unpacked the moves.
They can’t see the system.
They just haven’t been given the structure yet.
They haven’t unpacked the moves.
They can’t see the system.
My work now is about creating that moment of clarity. Helping people step back, see the bigger picture, and move forward with confidence and intention.
Because once you understand the system, everything changes.
And that belief?
It started on the dojo floor.
And that belief?
It started on the dojo floor.
So, I’ll leave you with this:
Where are you trying to master everything at once, instead of unpacking the system?
Where are you trying to master everything at once, instead of unpacking the system?
If you’d like support creating clarity, structure and momentum in your leadership or business, I’d love to work with you.
I LOVE this Jenni!
Well done!!
Very inspirational .
Thank you!☺️