The One-Armed Judo Champion • followHIM Favorites • Oct 12–18 • Come, Follow Me 2026

Hank Smith (0:03)

Welcome to followHIM Favorites. John is sharing a story to go with this week's lesson, Isaiah 58 through 66 John, where are we going? Yeah, there's a phrase in Isaiah 61 that says that the Lord will return beauty for ashes, which is kind of like making something wonderful out of something tragic.

So many stories like that in life. And Hank, this one is called the one-armed judo champion. So it was a 10-year-old boy that decided to study judo despite the fact he'd lost his left arm in a car accident, and he began lessons with a Japanese judo master, and he was doing well, but he couldn't understand why after three months of training, the master had only taught him this one move. Sensei, the boy finally said, shouldn't I be learning more moves? No, this is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know, Sensei replied. Not quite understanding, but believing the teacher the boy kept training. Several months later, he took him to his tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match was more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged. The boy used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, he was now in the finals. This time the opponent was bigger, stronger, more experienced, and for a while the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned the boy might get hurt, the referee called a timeout and he was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened and said no.

Let him continue.

So the match resumed. His opponent made a critical mistake. He dropped his guard and instantly the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was a champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. I mean, after all these months, such respect for the sensei, right? Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move? You won for two reasons, the sensei answered. First, you've mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for the opponent to grab your left arm. Wow.

And he didn't have one. So that's why he won. You come in thinking, I have this awful disadvantage. Actually, we can use that. We can return beauty for ashes. He goes on to say that instead of grief, he'll give us the oil of joy. Instead of the spirit of heaviness, he'll give us the garment of praise.

I love it. We hope you'll join us on our full podcast. It's called followHIM. You can get it wherever you get your podcast. We're with Sister Sharon Eubank this week. Yes, that Sister Sharon Eubank. And it is wonderful. It is so good. Then come back here next week. We'll do another followHIM Favorites.