In karate, each time you move up a belt, there are certain requirements you must first complete. One of them is the ever-popular wood breaking. At each assessment for my rank-up, I have to break an inch of solid pine wood with whichever technique is chosen.
The technique I was required to use was very difficult, and I had little practice on it. On top of that, I had to break through two inches of wood. I tried three times to break it and was unsuccessful each time. Every day after that I went to practice and got one chance each day to break it. For the first couple of weeks I couldn’t get it. It felt like I would never be able to get it—until I realized it was all mental. Once I believed that I could do it and hit it as hard as I could, the board broke. I finally received my belt and moved on to the next level having learned my lesson.