Warrior's Way Podcast

Let’s take a look at cultivation of a state of mind that sees everything fresh, new and magical. Beginners Mind can change not just our training but the way we live our lives.

This could be the most important episode yet. Let’s look at how rare, how special and how nearly impossible the chances are that you managed to be born — but not just that, that everyone and everything has a life. What does that mean to you? How does that change your life? How does that change how you treat others and yourself? How do we use that to focus our training and our energy?

People are never the enemy, ignorance is. Once we learn this simple truth we can start to make real changes in our lives. The first step is to see suffering for what it is both in our lives and in the lives of all those around us. When we live in this way we live in and perceive a reality that is far different—and one that we need to do something about.

What are you? Why train? Why improve your life? These are foundational questions that you should be asking yourself. The next is, what is suffering and what can I do about it both in my life personally and in the world around me. Training can be a superpower that helps heal, transform and change everything.

The world around you needs help. We all know this. Sometimes this can seem an un-winnable situation but if we train ourselves to turn our anger and frustration towards something else something that blossoms into compassion and kindness we can make a bad situation better — ultimately it can change the world. Engaged and functional training means training for something more than for your own wants and desires it means helping others however you can.

We are in the midst of a ‘mindfulness revolution’ in which everyone seems to be singing the virtues of it to the point that it is becoming a commodity. In this episode we talk about the darkside of mindfulness and what we can do to use it to the true potential of it — and how we can use this radical shift to help not just save our lives but also to save our planet.

In our modern world stress and anxiety are a big part of our lives but if we learn methods of dealing with it, at least some (if not all) anxiety can magically disappear. In this episode we discuss my own experiences and the method I’ve come up with that I use called the DETAILS method, or the ‘lotus grows in muddy water’ approach. By no means is this way of dealing with the ups and downs of life perfectly but it works for me and I use it both as a method of training as well as truly examining this life.

How can visualization change your training? How does the creative spark of human experience drive us on to amazing things? What can we learn from NBA superstars and Tibetan Buddhism to get more from our own lives and training?

Life is change. Life is struggle. Life is suffering. All this is true but we can take this struggle and use it to become stronger, healthier, more resilient and anti-fragile. Learning that the struggle of life can be one of your greatest teachers can build empathy and compassion as well as strength.

This episode we talk about the collective, tribalism and why you need to ask hard questions about the place of both in your life, your path and what it means to follow the Way. The collective can lead to disaster if we are not careful and any path of self-development needs to understand this because in the end, what we truly are always matters more than who we believe we are what what we believe defines us.

What should we do with anger? Sadness? Frustration? Should we channel it into our training? Should we use it as the fuel to get things done? Should we avoid it and bury it completely? In this episode we examine what to do with reactive emotions without letting them drag us down a path of destruction and suffering.

In this episode we look at Growth Mindset and how learning to develop and open mind can not just improve your training but in very real ways can improve your life, your mental health, how relationships and your views about life. What do you know? What don’t you know? What do you not know you don’t know? What is completely outside of your knowledge? How does all of this lead to peace, understanding, compassion and maybe even more?

We are launching Season Four of Warrior’s Way Podcast with something new. This season we are going spontaneous and organic. Episodes will be in a way like we are going for a walk together, unscripted and getting to the heart of things. In this episode we talk about what training is, how we can bring it into our lives and make the magic of training transform everything.

We take a look at Stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and how his message has lasted two millennia and what it has meant to some of us and how we live our lives helping us through good and bad times. We talking about how learning a musical instrument can change your life and become a hugely important part of our training.

This episode we talking about how we can take Carl Jung’s active imagination process to ramp up our training to new levels. We also talk about how we can find more to add to our training even when we might think we don’t have many options.

We take a look at one of the most important icons in Buddhism, Shantideva who not just levitated and vanished but taught some of the most important lessons on compassion and loving-kindness and how we truly need to live our lives and train. We answer a listener question about the most important outlook to cultivate in our training and much more!

In this episode we talk about enlightenment, what it means and ask the question, where are all the enlightened people these days? We answer a listener question about how to integrate philosophy with action and live better lives.

This episode we examine the life of Vietnam’s Joan of Arc, Ba Trieu who rode a war elephant in rebellion against Chinese invasion. We talk about what a story like Ba Trieu’s can mean to our lives and our training. We answer a listener question about how to make the most from life in troubling times.

What is anger? How much do you carry around? Where does it come from? This episode we look at different exercises to learn to deal with anger in a positive way to increase our compassion and understanding. We also answer a question about getting more from our training.

This week we take a look at the incredible story of Yasuke the first African Samurai — a true story that will blow your mind. We talk about the reality of life that we are all connected. We talk about how inclusion and diversity are so vital in the times we find ourselves. We answer a listener question about books anyone who wants to train should add to their bookshelf.

We look at an excerpt from a book by Zen trailblazer, Alan Watts on what it truly means to be human. We discuss that feeling in our lives that something is missing and what we need to do to find it. We answer a listener question about finding time to train and what matters the most.

We look at the incredible story of the man who became Last Crow War Chief in WW2 and examine the power of the transformative process of the Hero’s Journey. We look at what we need to do in our lives to achieve greatness and talk about our own power to become someone truly inspiring.

We take a look at the concept of selflessness and why it is so important to our training and how we live our lives. We answer a listener question about ‘what the big deal is with meditation’ and ways to get the most of it in our lives.

We examine an article by meditation teacher, Sharon Salzberg on finding true freedom in life. What is cause and effect? How do the things we do impact our lives and everything around us? How living and training to cultivate compassion and understanding can change our lives and our world. We look at how martial arts training with compassion can be a game changer for everything we do.

We examine the Buddhist view of getting more from life, living a more fulfilling life and a more happy one through thinking about the fact we will all die. An existential experience I had recently that helped make my life something far better and real. We examine an excerpt from the book The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self by Michael Easter. We answer a listener question about anxiety about getting back in the dojo and training in martial arts after COVID.

We take a look at happiness and change and what the Buddha said and what we can find for ourselves in our lives and through training. We also look at what is the best martial art to train in.

How exploration of our fear of darkness can reveal illumination of what comes after and what life really is about. We also examine how bringing Zen concepts of living in the moment changes everything and allows us to find our true potential. We answer a question about how to practice meditation regardless of how distracted our minds can be.

Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh suggests we carve out some personal space to breathe and train — what does that mean? How do we do it? Is it actually important to do? Finding a space to meditate and practice martial arts in our own homes. We also look at what it means to be a ‘Zen dude’.

We take a look at an excerpt from Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron’s book Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change that focuses on the ambiguity of being human, how to deal with change, our own mortality and dealing with a life that is always changing. We discuss what we all should do to stop COVID. We answer a listener question about how to learn to let go.

We examine the true roots of anger, why we feel it and what we can do about it from a Zen and martial arts perspective. We also look at what we can do to encourage others to train.

We look at an article from Tricycle Magazine about an amazing place in East Harlem called Peace On The Street that combines modern Zen with Martial Arts, talk about how to integrate Zen into our lives, why compassion is so important and some of the lessons COVID has taught. We also look at what we can do when we are feeling overwhelmed.

We look at the role of imagination and creativity in training and read up on what Dan Inosanto pointed us to in his book Absorb What Is Useful. We answer a listener question about lessons to learn from living in a time of global pandemic.

James Eke brings you a special post-season two special episode in which we look at the discipline it takes to develop mindfulness and a type of training that actually matters in these times we find ourselves in. We also answer a question about if we should be having physical contact with others before we find a way to pro text ourselves from COVID-19.

James Eke talks about an experience he had fighting a wolf in the woods and how he recounts how it changed his life and his view of training in his book, A Wolf In The Woods: Combat Essentials For The Martial Artist. We also answer a question about if you should be nervous to get back training even though your dojo has taken precautions.

James Eke looks into Zen man Alan Watts view on death, life and a whole lot more and what that means in terms of our training. We also answer a question about what to teach as we reopen after this phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

James Eke looks at what is required for training in the martial arts in this new time of COVID-19 and social distancing; namely creativity and adaptation. We also answer a listener question about feeling like a hypochondriac as a result of living through this lockdown.

James Eke looks at an article from the CBC on how monks find liberation in isolation and what all of us living through the pandemic can do to use this time to improve our lives. We also answer a question about how to get back to training in things that weren’t socially distanced before COVID-19 but will have to be as we move forward.

James Eke looks at an awesome article from The Guardian on how COVID-19 is completely messing with time in a crazy timey-whimy Doctor Who like way. We discuss what that means to our training. We also answer a listener question about breathwork training.

James Eke looks at a fantastic article about dealing with self-isolation as a vehicle towards becoming a better person and learning valuable lessons for living a better life in a better world thanks to the pandemic. We also answer a question about training jiu-jitsu by ourselves by tapping into our creativity.

James Eke looks at the tragic and inspirational story of Zen Master Thich Quang Duc. We also talk about the power of meditation and answer a listener question about paying your dues during the pandemic.