Nana korobi yaoki 七転び八起き means perseverance in the face of adversity, and refusing to accept failure. In other words, it is the grit and resolve to reach a goal, or to die trying.
The "...or to die trying" part is not intended to mean sacrificing oneself. Instead it is a dedication to reaching for a goal as a mortal being. None of us knows how much time on earth has been allotted to us, so to stay down and accept failure as inevitable and permanent is to deny that one is alive as a conscious being in the world.
In his book Moving Toward Stillness, Dave Lowry writes about Yasuhiro Yamashita, a well known Judoka who won more than 500 matches in his competition career:
Once, after he captured still another national title, I recall something he said that, to me, seemed to sum up Yamashita's philosophy on competition and said a lot about his successes. "Just before a tournament," Yamashita told reporters, "I always take a bath, and in the weeks before a competition I try to keep my surroundings neat and well-ordered, so I won't be ashamed even if I die during a match."
The only excuse for not getting back up and trying again is death.
