During our time away, we were lucky enough to attend a Ballroom Dancing demonstration, followed by a lesson, given by Strictly Come Dancing stars, Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag.

The demonstration was fantastic, only spoilt by Sally and I walking in late, as we had been in our Tai Chi class. After Anton had suitably chastised us for our timekeeping, and preferring Tai Chi to his performance, Erin joined him on stage for a quickstep that was simply mind blowing.

Now is probably the right time to say that I am not a fan of ballroom, or indeed dancing in general, as I am a male of a certain age that is only capable of injuring myself or others when on the dance floor. If I had two left feet it would be a start!

However, I can appreciate the skill, timing, coordination, and above all, sheer hard work that goes into a dance routine, especially one for demonstration purposes from world class competitors. I would like to say that I saw every move, but the delivery was so perfect, that one move blended seamlessly into the next.

After the demonstration there was an opportunity to attend a dance lesson given by Anton and Erin. Sally has been asking me to go to ballroom lessons for years and I have always managed to find an excuse, washing my hair, abducted by aliens and so on. The reason I didn't want to go is that I thought I would look stupid.

So what better time to try when on holiday with people you will never see again. Unfortunately, Anton had remembered us, from what is now known as ''The Tai Chi Incident', and this led to Sally and I learning a slow waltz very close to Anton and Erin, where they could keep an eye on us.

As they began to build up the moves, it became very reminiscent of training sessions learning kata. The left foot goes here, then transfer the weight to the right foot, step back with the left foot, not too far, spin round to face the front and stop.

Over the course of one hour, we built up the first twelve steps of a slow waltz.

Now for the point of this story:

Firstly, I had stopped myself trying something that I had always admired, as I didn't want to look stupid. As it turns out, I was surprisingly good at ballroom dancing for my first go, and certainly didn't feel stupid when I got the chance to practice the steps with Erin. This was after Anton had already swept Sally across the floor (as in dancing, not a leg sweep!).

Anyone can feel silly trying something new, but don't let that ever hold you back. This could mean with your techniques, or the loudness and spirit of your Kiai's, or just the heart and soul you put into your kata. No one will ever make you feel stupid, and if they do, then they are just jealous as they wish they could do it as well as you.

Secondly, in only one hour, we had learnt the first twelve steps of a slow waltz. We learnt a move then practiced it, then learnt another one and practiced it, then put them together and practiced again. Does this sound familiar?

The only way that you will ever improve at anything is to keep at it, even at times when you don't feel you are getting any better. Those that give up too easily will never succeed at anything, but those that stick at it will continue to achieve goals and desires far and beyond what they thought possible. This is not just in karate, this is in life in general.

Anton and Erin did not get to a world class standard by throwing in the towel when the going got tough!

Erin, Damon, Sally & Anton