It didn’t seem like a bad idea, or a great one. At my mom’s suggestion, I walked into Black Belt Academy for my first karate class. I didn’t know then that the institution wouldn’t just teach me self-defense, but would radically change my perspective in life. The “dojo”, or training hall, was quiet, unassuming, not unlike the homes around it. The difference was only apparent when I entered, in the rubber lining on the floor, the...