Jocko Podcast 100 w/ Tim Ferriss - Musashi. Warrior Code and Life

2017-11-16T21:33:49Z

Join the conversation on Twitter/Instagram: @jockowillink @tferriss @echocharles 0:00:00 - Opening 0:01:00 - Tim's recent Silent Retreat. 0:09:12 - Musashi, An Epic Novel of The Samurai Era  3:03:52 - Final Take-Aways.  The Path. 3:33:37 - Support: JockoStore stuff, Super Krill Oil and Joint Warfare, Origin Brand Apparel, with Jocko White Tea,  Onnit Fitness stuff, and Psychological Warfare (on iTunes). Extreme Ownership (book), The Discipline Equals Freedom Field Manual.  4:02:26 - Closing Gratitude.

AI summary of episode

And his jacket, he had what might look like sort of a shiny, like, like, like, break dancing jacket is kind of what it looked like with like the elastic tube portions on the wrists. It was now passed noon on the 15th of the ninth month of 1600 Though the typhoon had passed now and then fresh torrents of rain would fall on the corpses on the tickazos up turned face Each time it came he opened and closed his mouth like a fish trying to drink in the droplets It's like the water they wipe a dying man's lips with he reflected savoring each bit of moisture His head was numb his thoughts the fleeting shadows of delirium His side had lost He knew that much Hadiyaki supposedly an ally had been secretly in league with the eastern army and when it turned on Mitsunari's troops at twilight the tide of the battle turned to He then attacked the armies of the other commanders Yukita Shimazu Koneishi and the collapse of the western army was complete In only half a day is fighting the question of who would henceforth rule the country was settled It was Tokujawa Yasu the powerful edaiz dimo Images of his sister and the old villagers floated before his eyes I'm dying he thought Without a tinge of sadness Is this what it's really like He felt drawn to the piece of death like a child Mesmerized by a flame It was like pouring oil on the flames Ignoring their leader the priest began to shout saying talk was cheap it was time to fight They were enthusiastically seconded by the Ronin who had grouped themselves In close formation, Musashi's left screaming cursing and waving their swords in the air They egged the priests on into action Musashi convinced that the Ronin were all mouth and no fight Suddenly turned to them and shouted all right which one of you wants to come forward All but two or three fell back a plate pace Each sure that Musashi's evil eye was upon him Two or the two or three brave ones stood ready swords out stretched In issuing at the challenge In the wink of an eye Musashi was on one of them like a fighting cock There was a sound of a popping cork and the ground turned red Then came a chilling noise Not a battle cry, not a curse But a truly bud blood curdling howl Musashi's sword screeched back and forth through the air A reverberation in its own body In his own body telling him when he connected with human bone Blood and brain spattered from his blade Fingers and arms flew through the air Most of the time Musashi wasn't really conscious of what he was doing He was in a sort of trans, a murderous dream in which body and soul were concentrated in this free-foot sword Unconsciously his whole life experience The knowledge his father had beaten into him What he had learned at the Sega Jara I don't know, I was taking linguistic classes and they would point out these weird weird commonalities that you say, well, that's, you know, like things that like the number one things like the sun things that, you know, everyone kind of has to have created a word for it. Yeah I bet if we had, you know, those little Like meters where people can vote Or like this spike on the Presidents of the Bates where things would be like People really agree with this thing If you had that right there But as you mentioned I fasted for the first five days out of 10 because I wanted to see how that affected my state and and I sat during meals effectively meaning Meditated during those times as well and it was an intense Unexpectedly intense experience because it unlayers your psyche in a fashion that I hadn't experienced before since you have no distractions You're not permitted to read there's no music There's no talking you're discouraged from any writing There are no devices and That means there's no real escape from whatever is rick ashing inside your own head and as you go through the passing days you drop into deeper layers of your personality and the stories that you've constructed for yourself as well as direct experience in memories that you haven't thought of in my case 2025 years 30 years 35 years in some cases these very vivid intense memories that come back and so people have a very difficult time at points and the teachers are there every other day to interact on a one-on-one basis to ensure that people don't have a complete psychotic break I suppose Did you hear Random question, but would you hear people like crying yeah in their rooms or whatever heard people crying? It means I'd like to fight Yeah, and so he he's gonna go and and I'm gonna pull a couple highlights out of this thing, but but the this guy if you please so this guy agon he Immediately does like a practice run at some board that he puts his Lance right through and it's sort of like an intimidation Tagged it right. So I should have just said wooden sword In that in and then through his life He traveled and he did all kinds of things and he fought 60 sword duals I used to think that they were all to the death, but they actually weren't right there some of them were just like if I you could submit You know the opponent could just say yep, you won and you could agree to get beforehand what the rules of engagement would be Okay, so they could have a discussion and determine the extent to which you could inflict damage on the other person So they weren't all to the death they could have a basically gentlemen's agreements like let's not kill each other today Otherwise Yeah, it gives you that and actually somebody asked me that the other day I was doing an event and guys says you know how do you how do you recharge your batteries Like it just seems like you're going hard all the time how do you recharge your batteries And my initial I actually responded I said look I don't to be honest with you I don't really recharge I mean I'm just going and there's this He had some stuff like have battles against whole castles attack people he was kind of crazy and so his reputation and then of course you know this is like I guess ancient social media right there is rumors and they would post signs about people and they would do these things to denigrate people's reputation and such and they had done that considerably to Musashi. The theories he had heard at the various schools of swordsmanship The lessons taught to him by the mountains and trees Everything came into play in the rapid movements of his body He became a disembodied whirlwind Mowing down the herd of roen and who by their stunned bewilderment Left themselves wide open to his sword I'm trying to think of why these particular passages But one of the things you know this disembodiment Which I talk about all the time being able to be detached from what's happening is so important as a person as a leader and as a you know in more slots you have to do it too If you're getting so wrapped up around the thought of what's happening You you won't make good decisions, but this actually goes beyond it This this is like getting in the zone This is Like, like, the path is, it might not be like, I want to do this thing, like, there's something else. somewhere right I did so is my first 10 day you know what you know what my notes weren't here after I said that my notes are dude question mark like dude Dude Because that's what makes me think just like dude Okay, tell us about it a little bit. There's the trim work that all that little stuff that takes longer than you think it's gonna take well So to just set the stage a little bit number one You were on the spotcast before which was an awesome episode and you talked about some of your hard experiences growing up and Going through college and actually having suicidal thoughts and Beyond that suicidal plans that was podcast number 50 and it really helped out a lot of people I got an immense amount of great feedback from people and so thank you for doing that And on that podcast we also briefly discussed a novel called Musashi and It's just this incredible book that you'd read and I had read and the ending of the book is just full on epic and I was trying to think of how to explain In a culture like Japan in that period what showing up an hourly might equate to in the US it would be like coming over to meet someone at their house Shaking their hands sitting down at the dinner table then like getting up on the dinner table and taking a shit right on their He thought dimly a man might as well be a dead leaf floating in the autumn breeze He himself looked like one of the lifeless bodies surrounding him He tried to raise his head but could only lift it a few inches from the ground He couldn't remember ever feeling so weak How long have I been here he wondered Flies came buzzing around his head he wanted to brush them away but couldn't even muster the energy to raise his arm It was stiff almost brittle like the rest of his body I must have been out for quite a while he thought Wiggling one finger at a time Little did he know he was wounded with two bullets lodged firmly in his thigh Low dark clouds shifted ominously across the sky the night before sometime between midnight and dawn a blinding raid had Drenched the plane of But I remember at the time Looking at this book and reading about the As they would call it on the back cover the best selling samurai epic And somewhere Reading that this book has sold Something absurd like 20 million plus copies in a country of Whatever might be 150 million people That seems now that I've been through the book process a few times Like it cannot be true Almost as if I was one of their, like had that level of goodness, which I don't, you know, I mean, I'm trying, but you know, when I was a young seal, I was a maniac, you know, I made Mousashi look like a brilliant saint with his youth. but I understand what it means to be alive And now that I know my whole life will consist of being tied to this tree I can't undo what I've done You're finally coming to your senses For the first time in your life you're talking like a human being I don't want to die Takazawa cried I want to live I want to go out try again do everything right this time His body convulsed with his sobbing Takuan please help me help me The monk shook his head I was just thinking about how labor intensive it would be you're telling us spreading posters like to hand create piles of posters that you then go post to denigrate someone like the equivalent of a tweet was sitting down for a week and hand making posters put around town and they do it in this book they don't know it's full time as they go on both sides people if you see the play the same thing I haven't seen it It's like with kind of regards after you basically say I want to meet you and do the old shooting The face with kind of regards and wishes for your continued health You know we've lost that there's something to that isn't there You know like can't you just have a feud and still be respectful to someone So you'd have like one guy with a garden hose and then another guy with like I kind of sword with like the tip cut off that's played open and he can catch people in a Guilty in from any conceivable position that most people wouldn't even consider a position Yeah, I've seen him I've seen him catch people in Guilty in people who weigh 300 pounds And not fat 300 like big big big people I mean, do that for like two minutes and we crack up and loosen up and realize, okay, everyone who's learning a new language has some type of sticking point like this and then he'd be like, okay enough fun and games now back to the hard stuff. yeah, it was a fun time days We get when you get to sleep deprivation which I've gone through some significantly sleep deprivation You know you have those kind of you know you take a trip without leaving the farm type situations and for me it was nothing Nothing crazy or anything you know I remember seeing stop signs in the ocean and Traffic lights in the ocean and stuff like that's not crazy. and I would not recommend it for most people really because I would have left The retreat three or four times probably were it not for one particular teacher Who had decades of experience with tens of thousands of retreating Because I felt like I was going to leave in worship that I came in that I had regressed to a very reactive emotional state and that it was going to be a huge handicap when I left I felt like I was regressing tremendously Like I watch people like a jerk like, why would you do that? My intention being to travel around in general area of Egan, ESA For about a year to continue my study of swordsmanship I did not wish to change my plans at this time But since I regret as much as you do that I was unable to meet you during my previous visit to your school I should like to inform you that I shall certainly be back in the capital By the first or second months of next year Between now and then I expect to improve my technique considerably I trust that you yourself will not neglect your practice It would be a great shame If Yoshiyoka Campos Flourishing school Were to suffer a second defeat like the one that sustained last time I was there In closing I send my respectful wishes for your continued health You're welcome and he was able to Write the ship a little bit along the way, but if if he had not been there and I had left Even on day nine I remember I was like People are supposed to be in this deep state of bliss or at least that was my perception I feel like I've just been rubbed rod all these nerves that I've numbed from difficult experiences in childhood and so on I have just been exposed to the surface Real quick though, it's far as pronunciation goes when there's like a double consonant you kind of say them both like like this Dakota you say, don't code. Yeah, and it's another, again, I know I don't relate to every normal person at all in very little ways, but like when I read that, I'm always like, yeah, that's what I'm talking about. and they don't move that's something I've said many many times Um Musashi then says after he does this you know like this crazy scream and puts his Lance through the wood He says are you ready now Back to the book this solicitor drove agon wild his muscles were like steel when he jumped he did so with awesome lightness I think it's like and then asking them to clean it up because it smells bad like it would be it would be that rude so of course and it also made me think of this book. that's Totally true totally true one quick story about Marcello, which also makes me you can tell Marcello's story I think about Musashi is he's famous for being hard to find when he gets called to the mat when it's his turn to compete Even at a world championship level and He is almost always found because Josh has had to track him down a few times a sleep Like in between the bleachers and like we're selling I mean, I will say, for this people out there, like, well, forgot to say, like, I don't know what my path is, I can't define it. But a lot of these languages like the, you know, even the pronunciation of like, A is A. You know, Japanese Hawaiian. But since the time of our first master the Hose Wayne has been celebrated everywhere for its Lands techniques the fighting that goes on here is a rough and there are no exceptions Before you go on perhaps you better read what's written at the beginning of the registry Hose Wayne picked up the book opened it and read the stipulation which he had skipped over before It said having come here for the purpose of study I absolve the temple of all responsibility in the event that I suffer Bottily injury or I'm killed I agreed to that said Hose Wayne with a slight grin It amounted to no more than the common sense for anyone committed to becoming a warrior all right this way So that's the introduction and that's actually cool too That's an old school jiu-jitsu thing when you come in for the other thing that would happen is challenge matches You know, like it's like you are not going to be able to do this to me right now because it's too slippery. Especially like the, like Turkish get the snatch to, like these ones where snatch of you take it. and I was as actually just Looking forward to describing the experience to our mutual friend Dr. Peter Tia who may be the most like cerebral intense impatient And a little person I've ever met to agree that even I find hilarious which is difficult to achieve in this world in this life and his level of obsession and perseverating on concepts and endlessly makes me want to do a second retreat with Peter When he's not allowed to tell me how he's feeling because I think the more you have Run your life through your prefrontal cortex the heart of you fall and you see what he's thinking about he's probably thinking about Like chicken Yeah, for dinner or whatever you know, I mean like his thoughts are just not there There's a certain agitation, there's a certain scattered feeling that I have, and as to reasons people get off the path, and I think people may have multiple paths, but you're going to say, that was going to say, because I've been, I'm trying to formulate what we're talking about, because I know exactly what you mean.

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Episode transcript

[00:00:00] This is Jockel podcast number 100 with echo Charles and me jockel willing good evening echo good evening
[00:00:08] And we have a guest with us tonight who is
[00:00:12] In large part responsible for this podcast existing in the first place
[00:00:18] Who has provided massive support behind pretty much everything I've done
[00:00:22] Including books and podcasts and events and all this other stuff that I've been getting after for the last couple years
[00:00:31] Since I departed the shadows and
[00:00:34] stepped into the normal world in fact. This is the person that pulled me from the shadows into the normal world
[00:00:42] Mr. Tim Ferris Tim
[00:00:46] Welcome to the show. Thank you for having me jockel and we have you in an
[00:00:50] An interesting state right now
[00:00:53] You do because you just got done with a 10 day
[00:01:00] Silent retreat and a five day fast embedded in there somewhere right I did so is my first
[00:01:06] 10 day you know what you know what my notes weren't here after I said that my notes are dude question mark like dude
[00:01:13] Dude
[00:01:15] Because that's what makes me think just like dude
[00:01:18] Okay, tell us about it a little bit. I know you'll probably cover it. It was it was in retrospect probably layering a few too many things on top of one another
[00:01:27] But it was my first
[00:01:30] Meditation retreat also my first silent retreat combined and
[00:01:35] Consistitive 10 days of waking up at 530 and
[00:01:38] I support that part in the beginning. I know it's sleeping in but starting at 530
[00:01:45] hadn't woken up with the stars in a while and
[00:01:47] then sitting for 45 minutes of meditation walking for 45 minutes of meditation and doing that until 9pm with the exception of meals
[00:01:57] But as you mentioned I fasted for the first five days out of 10 because I wanted to see how that affected my state and
[00:02:03] and I sat during meals effectively meaning
[00:02:09] Meditated during those times as well and it was an intense
[00:02:14] Unexpectedly intense experience because it unlayers your psyche in a fashion that I hadn't experienced before since you have no distractions
[00:02:22] You're not permitted to read there's no music
[00:02:26] There's no talking you're discouraged from any writing
[00:02:30] There are no devices and
[00:02:33] That means there's no real escape from whatever is rick ashing inside your own head and as you go through the
[00:02:41] passing days you drop into
[00:02:45] deeper layers of your personality and the stories that you've constructed for yourself as well as direct experience in memories that you haven't thought of in my case
[00:02:54] 2025 years 30 years 35 years in some cases these very vivid intense memories that come back and so people have
[00:03:05] a very difficult time at points and the teachers are there every other day to
[00:03:11] interact on a one-on-one basis to ensure that people don't have a complete psychotic break I suppose
[00:03:18] Did you hear
[00:03:20] Random question, but would you hear people like crying yeah in their rooms or whatever heard people crying?
[00:03:28] Definitely heard people crying people went through a lot of
[00:03:34] pain and there were sublime experiences as well in moments of deep clarity or
[00:03:43] alleviation of suffering but I I think that and I was as actually just
[00:03:48] Looking forward to describing the experience to our mutual friend
[00:03:53] Dr. Peter Tia who may be the most like cerebral
[00:03:57] intense impatient
[00:03:59] And a little person I've ever met to agree that even I find hilarious which is
[00:04:04] difficult to achieve in this world in this life and
[00:04:09] his level of obsession and
[00:04:11] perseverating on concepts and
[00:04:14] endlessly makes me want to do a second retreat with Peter
[00:04:20] When he's not allowed to tell me how he's feeling because I think the more you have
[00:04:26] Run your life through your prefrontal cortex the heart of you fall and
[00:04:33] I would not recommend it for most people really because I would have left
[00:04:38] The retreat three or four times probably were it not for one particular teacher
[00:04:43] Who had decades of experience with tens of thousands of retreating
[00:04:49] Because I felt like I was going to leave in worship that I came in that I had regressed
[00:04:56] to a very reactive emotional state and that it was going to be a huge
[00:05:02] handicap when I left I felt like I was regressing tremendously and he was able to
[00:05:08] Write the ship a little bit along the way, but if if he had not been there and I had left
[00:05:15] Even on day nine I remember I was like
[00:05:18] People are supposed to be in this deep state of bliss or at least that was my perception
[00:05:22] I feel like I've just been rubbed rod all these nerves that I've numbed
[00:05:27] from
[00:05:28] difficult experiences in childhood and so on
[00:05:31] I have just been exposed to the surface so I think it's I think it requires a high level of supervision and
[00:05:39] This may not be the the forum for
[00:05:42] Discussing what I'm about to say but for those people who have the experience it might make some sense
[00:05:48] it had the characteristics of a very
[00:05:54] A very strong psychedelic experience but laid out over ten days where there's no escape
[00:06:00] So instead of ripping off the band aid you are
[00:06:05] Being exposed to facets of your life and
[00:06:12] Character that perhaps you have not faced in decades
[00:06:16] So yeah, it was a fun time days
[00:06:20] We get when you get to sleep deprivation which I've gone through some significantly sleep deprivation
[00:06:25] You know you have those kind of you know you take a trip without leaving the farm type situations and for me it was nothing
[00:06:31] Nothing crazy or anything you know I remember seeing stop signs in the ocean and
[00:06:36] Traffic lights in the ocean and stuff like that's not crazy. Well, okay crazy, but it's not it wasn't some psychological sort of unpacking where I was meeting my former self or anything like that
[00:06:49] But yeah, you definitely that that's when I hear because I've never tried psychedelic drugs and
[00:06:56] When I would people talk about them to me it does not sound fun to me because I think that where I think that
[00:07:04] Where I would end up would not be I happy place and I don't really
[00:07:09] Need to hang out there very much and I should I should also say that I don't in the case of the silent retreat or in the case of
[00:07:16] Psychedelics do it for fun and
[00:07:19] And I've had a few people ask me
[00:07:22] Did you enjoy your experience? I had a few staffers afterwards. Oh, did you enjoy her a treat? I'm like I found it valuable
[00:07:32] I wouldn't use the word enjoy yeah, yeah
[00:07:36] Well, you obviously you're gonna unpack this thing and I'm sure you'll do awesome
[00:07:40] An episode talking about it as you look back on it right now your brain is it still still 70% there
[00:07:49] And they told us at the end which I thought was very appropriate because it applies to so many things
[00:07:53] They said or one of the teachers said you're you think you're normal right now and you're not you're very
[00:07:59] Hypersensitive your retreat is half done so it'll take 10 days the equivalent amount of time to reintegrate and get retethered
[00:08:07] And I remember thing to myself. I have fucking book lunch coming I don't have 10 days to gingerly walk my way back to reality
[00:08:14] But nonetheless
[00:08:17] That's true for so much right I mean it's if you have a book and your book is 90% done
[00:08:21] I'm right told a more seasoned writer when I was writing my second book
[00:08:25] I said I'm 90% done they said how congratulations you only a 50%
[00:08:31] Yeah, it's the trim work. It's just like building a house. There's the trim work that all that little stuff that takes
[00:08:36] longer than you think it's gonna take well
[00:08:39] So to just set the stage a little bit
[00:08:42] number one
[00:08:43] You were on the spotcast before which was an awesome episode and you talked about some of your hard experiences growing up and
[00:08:50] Going through college and actually having suicidal thoughts and
[00:08:54] Beyond that suicidal plans that was podcast number 50 and it really helped out a lot of people
[00:09:00] I got an immense amount of great feedback from people and so thank you for doing that
[00:09:04] And on that podcast we also briefly discussed a novel called
[00:09:12] Musashi and
[00:09:14] It's just this incredible book that you'd read and I had read and the ending of the book is just full on epic
[00:09:21] And it's also a thousand page book and it takes the whole the the the the
[00:09:25] The ending of the book is literally the last page and half so that's it you have to read a thousand page to get this thing
[00:09:32] This ending and we decided on that podcast that we would do do that book for podcast 100 so
[00:09:38] Here we are and we're gonna talk about the book
[00:09:41] Musashi by
[00:09:43] Eji
[00:09:44] Eji Kawah. Yeah, Eji you'll see Kawah and I'm just gonna accept the fact that I will be getting my Japanese pronunciation corrected
[00:09:53] All day long
[00:09:55] I won't correct it unless you want me to correct well
[00:09:57] Maybe after I get done with something you could tell me just gonna suck that's all there is too
[00:10:07] Now the book so if you don't know anything about it me motto, Musashi
[00:10:12] Great Japanese swordsman and he wrote the book the book of five rings
[00:10:16] And I actually covered that book on
[00:10:19] Podcast number 80 so if you haven't listened to 50 and if you haven't listened to 80
[00:10:23] Go listen to those two and it will give you some background which I don't want to spend a bunch of time on there because it's spend a bunch of time on it on that podcast
[00:10:31] But here's the basic understanding of whom Musashi was born into a samurai family around 1584
[00:10:39] Fought his first duel at the age of 13 against a grown man who he killed by throwing him to the ground and beating him with a
[00:10:46] Bokkin Bokkin Bokkin
[00:10:49] This is a wooden sword. So I should have just said wooden sword
[00:10:57] In that in and then through his life
[00:10:59] He traveled and he did all kinds of things and he fought
[00:11:03] 60 sword duals
[00:11:05] I used to think that they were all to the death, but they actually weren't right there some of them were just like if I you could submit
[00:11:12] You know the opponent could just say yep, you won and you could agree to get beforehand what the rules of engagement would be
[00:11:18] Okay, so they could have a discussion and determine the extent to which you could inflict damage on the other person
[00:11:24] So they weren't all to the death they could have a basically gentlemen's agreements like let's not kill each other today
[00:11:30] It's only do this one to broken bones and
[00:11:34] Handy-capping how do you you got it you got a that's a hardcore
[00:11:39] Conversation yeah, how do you come off not looking like the the was you don't want to be the first one to say hey
[00:11:45] Let's just break bones today. Let's just break bones. Yeah, you just be like now we're going to the death. That's it. Yeah, that's weird
[00:11:53] But yeah, so but a bunch of them were to the death a lot a lot of them were to the death and
[00:11:58] again
[00:12:00] That then he got done with that all that fighting and he wrote the book of five rings. He also wrote a book or a
[00:12:07] Like steps called
[00:12:09] Doco do close
[00:12:11] Japanese has this this stutter constant for people who are wondering why am I at the the Japanese Consigly area
[00:12:17] It's it's because I lived in Japan. It's my first trip overseas
[00:12:23] Ever
[00:12:24] From 15 to 16 as an exchange student where I was the only
[00:12:28] Not as the only American in a a 5,000 person Japanese high school where I also wore a uniform and
[00:12:35] Did judo and lived with a Japanese family for an entire year so that is why I am commenting on Japanese
[00:12:40] Doco doco doco doco is a
[00:12:44] Alone call is to walk let's say do is wage it's the same door from judo or Iki do which is way
[00:12:51] So it's the way of walking alone
[00:12:53] Yeah, and I should have said that that's the reason why I thought it would be awesome to have you on here because you do have this
[00:12:59] Knowledge not only of the language of the culture and you did this you did you've done a bunch of
[00:13:04] Weird stuff cool yeah, yeah, yeah, I was I'm at Japanese horseback archery right
[00:13:08] Which by the way, also pretty dangerous turns out
[00:13:12] Yeah, yeah, and so that's what that's why I wanted to have you on here because you've got a map master amount of knowledge that I don't have
[00:13:20] So again in that that doco doco
[00:13:23] Close enough we're going with it. Let's roll it is is covered in podcast 80 as well and also
[00:13:29] This is
[00:13:31] A spoiler alert and I guess I should do this every time I do a book because I do books on here a lot and I always tell what's gonna happen
[00:13:37] But for this one
[00:13:39] This is a spoiler alert because the book it does have the most epic ending I think it most be it might be the the most epic ending of any book
[00:13:46] I honestly think that it might be that and we are going to cover it
[00:13:51] So if you want to read this book
[00:13:54] Then and we gave you about a year to read it if you haven't read it yet
[00:13:57] Maybe you're not gonna read it and you should just listen, but if you do want to read the book and get the full satisfaction of it
[00:14:02] Then stop right now and then go read Musashi take another year to read which is a thousand pages long and and then
[00:14:11] Come back and listen us so can I say one thing? Yeah, absolutely all right this book
[00:14:17] And when we can get back into some of the history, but I bought this book. I have a paperback version
[00:14:22] Decades go in Tokyo at a bookstore called Kino Kuniyai and Shinjuku. It's a huge bookstore
[00:14:28] It's I want to say at least four floors maybe six or seven
[00:14:31] And I carried it around giving myself
[00:14:34] Scoliosis for years and years because I was so intimidated by this thing
[00:14:37] It's a few inches thick the paper is it's like onion skin
[00:14:42] That's like oh god, it's can't every time I pick it up. It's oh god, I can't get into this
[00:14:46] Once I started I could not put it down and I finished it in a couple of days. I mean, it's it's that good
[00:14:52] So it's don't be intimidated by this by the size
[00:14:56] It's not it's not as much of a a slog as you would expect
[00:15:00] Once you get into it you just get sucked in and the read the writing is beautiful
[00:15:04] It's very clean very clean writing and the story is
[00:15:09] That's another thing I should say to is
[00:15:11] So there's a bunch of intertwining narratives in there about a bunch of different people and characters
[00:15:17] And they they all are interesting and impactful and and they all add to the story
[00:15:21] obviously for a couple hour podcast we can't get in all those and and really
[00:15:26] Will be hitting like this this the main plot line I guess but there's all these other things that are that are going on
[00:15:35] That we're just don't have time to touch on and that are that are really great to read about and there's so many
[00:15:41] If this guy would have been a screenwriter. Oh my god. Yeah the dialogue alone. Yeah, the book worth it. Yeah, it's it's just a great book and
[00:15:50] That's that
[00:15:57] I guess we might as well get into it a little bit and when we did when I did podcast 80 with the book of five rings
[00:16:03] I started with the beginning of this book and
[00:16:05] I said when I did that that when we do this book I'm reading it again because it's so legit
[00:16:13] So here we go
[00:16:15] Tacazzo all right. Tacazzo Tacazzo lay among the corpses there were thousands of them
[00:16:25] The whole world's gone crazy. He thought dimly a man might as well be a dead leaf floating in the autumn breeze
[00:16:34] He himself looked like one of the lifeless bodies surrounding him
[00:16:37] He tried to raise his head but could only lift it a few inches from the ground
[00:16:41] He couldn't remember ever feeling so weak
[00:16:45] How long have I been here he wondered
[00:16:49] Flies came buzzing around his head he wanted to brush them away but couldn't even muster the energy to raise his arm
[00:16:56] It was stiff almost brittle like the rest of his body
[00:17:00] I must have been out for quite a while he thought
[00:17:03] Wiggling one finger at a time
[00:17:05] Little did he know he was wounded with two bullets lodged firmly in his thigh
[00:17:13] Low dark clouds shifted ominously across the sky the night before sometime between midnight and dawn a blinding raid had
[00:17:21] Drenched the plane of
[00:17:23] Segi Jajara
[00:17:25] It was now passed noon on the 15th of the ninth month of 1600
[00:17:29] Though the typhoon had passed now and then fresh torrents of rain would fall on the corpses on the tickazos up turned face
[00:17:39] Each time it came he opened and closed his mouth like a fish trying to drink in the droplets
[00:17:45] It's like the water they wipe a dying man's lips with he reflected savoring each bit of moisture
[00:17:52] His head was numb his thoughts the fleeting shadows of delirium
[00:17:57] His side had lost
[00:17:59] He knew that much
[00:18:02] Hadiyaki supposedly an ally had been secretly in league with the eastern army and when it turned on
[00:18:10] Mitsunari's troops at twilight the tide of the battle turned to
[00:18:15] He then attacked the armies of the other commanders
[00:18:18] Yukita Shimazu Koneishi and the collapse of the western army was complete
[00:18:24] In only half a day is fighting the question of who would henceforth rule the country was settled
[00:18:31] It was Tokujawa Yasu the powerful edaiz dimo
[00:18:38] Images of his sister and the old villagers floated before his eyes
[00:18:44] I'm dying he thought
[00:18:46] Without a tinge of sadness
[00:18:49] Is this what it's really like
[00:18:51] He felt drawn to the piece of death like a child
[00:18:56] Mesmerized by a flame
[00:19:00] So that's how the book kind of kicks off and
[00:19:07] This guy was just born on the battlefield basically and is fighting in these savage battles as a as a kid
[00:19:16] as a kid
[00:19:18] And I think it's interesting that you start the book where a guy's about to die
[00:19:23] You know and I think that's there's something significant to that and it's not the only time in the book where he's about to die he
[00:19:29] He faces these bad situations
[00:19:34] over and over again and
[00:19:39] Again this we just have to fast forward through massive chunks of this book and
[00:19:44] I was just gonna make one comment absolutely for those people who are wondering why we're saying Tokizul
[00:19:50] So Tokizul is
[00:19:54] He's represented by the same two characters that can also be read as mousashi
[00:19:58] So there are different readings for characters and Japanese depending on if they are
[00:20:03] Adapted Chinese readings or native Japanese readings so mousashi
[00:20:07] Is the what would be called the the kunyomi or the Japanese reading and Tokizul same two characters would be the Chinese reading
[00:20:16] Basically I mean the Chinese origin reading which is called on yomi so it's the same person
[00:20:21] Tokizul and then mousashi are the Japanese and Chinese characters
[00:20:25] Related linguistically they are very very similar so the
[00:20:30] The Japanese took Chinese characters which they call kanji and
[00:20:35] They converted them into two what are referred to as syllabaries so we have an alphabet
[00:20:42] ABCD we have vowels and consonants in Japanese they have what are called syllabaries meaning
[00:20:49] They are syllables instead of individual letters so you have kaki kukikou
[00:20:53] Mami mume mama sashi tsuse sayesul and
[00:20:56] Which is part of the reason much Japanese have so much trouble with almost every language they kind of got robbed when like the gods were handing out sounds
[00:21:05] So they're trouble with a lot of languages
[00:21:08] Including English but
[00:21:11] nonetheless
[00:21:13] those were simplified
[00:21:15] versions of
[00:21:17] The characters so for instance the character for
[00:21:20] That you could say represents peace in Chinese which is unso if for instance like
[00:21:25] A piece the word in Chinese would be unchuan so I've spent time in China as well in Japanese it's unzing
[00:21:32] It's all it's very similar and then the character for un is has a roof and then a woman under a roof and that
[00:21:40] represents peace
[00:21:41] That was then modified into the sound a the vowel a and
[00:21:47] There are fewer strokes in that so that's some of the framework for
[00:21:52] The Japanese writing systems if two syllabaries and then the Chinese characters that they use
[00:21:59] The languages are not mutually intelligible though are they not at all now there are certain
[00:22:06] words that are
[00:22:11] Not terribly close but maybe
[00:22:13] What you would find say between Portuguese and Spanish in care for instance
[00:22:18] so you would have a word like
[00:22:20] Telephone which is literally a
[00:22:23] Electric talk which is and even electricity has cloud and
[00:22:30] Dragon underneath it was kind of cool but anyway the that's d'Ainwah in Japanese
[00:22:35] D'Anhwah in Mandarin and then j'Anhwah in Korean
[00:22:39] Because a lot of the words in Korea were also borrowed from the Chinese characters
[00:22:43] But beyond that the grammar everything else is completely completely different
[00:22:50] And well, I think I actually in here cover where he gets where he comes up with a new name or when he decides to take the new name
[00:22:56] Yeah, so the guy that I'm talking on the beginning is Tim just pointed out that is Musashi thick
[00:23:00] That's a
[00:23:01] Takazu
[00:23:02] Takazu, it's a Takazu
[00:23:04] The zool is a long oh so Takazu
[00:23:07] Takazu
[00:23:08] Takazu
[00:23:09] That is Musashi
[00:23:10] Exactly
[00:23:11] And you'll find that out shortly
[00:23:12] For those people who are watching the video
[00:23:15] That is
[00:23:17] Takazu and Musashi those two characters
[00:23:20] Oh okay anyway
[00:23:22] What's so what is that what is the rest of that thing to say at the bookmark?
[00:23:25] What is this this is the wrapping
[00:23:27] Oh that was put around the cover of this book in the English section in Kino Kuenyo bookstore
[00:23:33] So that people could figure out what the content was without without having to read the back jacket in English
[00:23:38] So this is
[00:23:40] Musashi, umiyo watajar
[00:23:42] Kokenimun ga kue so on and so forth and then Miyamoto Musashi
[00:23:46] And then Yoshikawa AG
[00:23:48] This is all here and then a little description on the back
[00:23:52] Are there
[00:23:54] Just copies of this
[00:23:56] Everyone read this in Japan this I
[00:23:58] And maybe Mr. remembering this
[00:24:01] But I remember at the time
[00:24:04] Looking at this book and reading about the
[00:24:08] As they would call it on the back cover the best selling samurai epic
[00:24:12] And somewhere
[00:24:14] Reading that this book has sold
[00:24:16] Something absurd like
[00:24:18] 20 million plus copies in a country of
[00:24:22] Whatever might be 150 million people
[00:24:24] That seems now that I've been through the book process a few times
[00:24:29] Like it cannot be true
[00:24:31] But
[00:24:32] It is a very very very famous book in Japan
[00:24:35] And everybody's going to know who they would say Miyamoto Musashi
[00:24:40] So they would give the last name first
[00:24:42] Everyone is going to know who this guy is
[00:24:44] And they have
[00:24:45] I mean hundreds of comic books and so on
[00:24:48] Historical comic books, fictional comic books
[00:24:51] That have been written about Musashi
[00:24:54] Yeah
[00:24:56] And this thing originally came out in a series I think in
[00:25:00] 1939 or 1933 or 1935 or something like that
[00:25:05] And it originally came out as a series
[00:25:07] I think in like a magazine or something
[00:25:10] You can get quite possibly
[00:25:12] Could be the case I don't know
[00:25:14] I'm pretty sure
[00:25:16] So we'll go with it
[00:25:18] Alright
[00:25:22] Now we are going to
[00:25:24] Get to a point again we're fast forwarding it
[00:25:26] And at this point Musashi has been
[00:25:29] A cues of murder and he's been hung from a tree
[00:25:34] And Takuan
[00:25:36] Takuan
[00:25:37] Takuan
[00:25:38] Takuan
[00:25:40] Is sort of this kind of traveling priest on any sort of counseling
[00:25:44] And advising
[00:25:46] And
[00:25:47] Yeah
[00:25:48] Just sort of
[00:25:49] Counting and advising
[00:25:50] Musashi at this point
[00:25:52] And
[00:25:54] He's kind of wandering around as Musashi's now been a cues of murder
[00:25:58] And hung up up in this tree where they're going to eventually kill him
[00:26:01] And here we go
[00:26:03] Going to the book
[00:26:05] Takuan
[00:26:06] Save me
[00:26:07] Takuzo's cry for help
[00:26:09] Was loud and plaintive
[00:26:11] The branch was beginning to tremble
[00:26:14] As though it as though the whole tree were weeping
[00:26:18] I want to be a better man
[00:26:20] I realize how important it is
[00:26:22] What a privilege it is to be born human
[00:26:25] I'm almost dead but I understand what it means to be alive
[00:26:29] And now that I know my whole life will consist of being tied to this tree
[00:26:35] I can't undo what I've done
[00:26:38] You're finally coming to your senses
[00:26:41] For the first time in your life you're talking like a human being
[00:26:45] I don't want to die Takazawa cried
[00:26:47] I want to live
[00:26:49] I want to go out try again do everything right this time
[00:26:52] His body convulsed with his sobbing
[00:26:54] Takuan please help me help me
[00:26:58] The monk shook his head
[00:27:01] Sorry Takazawa
[00:27:03] It is out of my hands
[00:27:05] It is the law of nature
[00:27:07] You can't do things over again
[00:27:10] That's life
[00:27:12] Everything in it is for keeps everything
[00:27:16] You can't put your head back on after the enemies cut it off
[00:27:20] That's the way it is
[00:27:21] Of course I feel sorry for you but I can't undo that rope
[00:27:25] Because it wasn't me who tied it
[00:27:28] It was you
[00:27:30] All I can do is give you some advice
[00:27:33] Face death bravely and quietly
[00:27:36] Say a prayer and hope someone bothers to listen
[00:27:40] And for the sake of your ancestors Takazawa
[00:27:43] Have the decency to die with a peaceful look on your face
[00:27:47] The clatter of Takuan's sandals faded into the distance
[00:27:52] He was gone and Takazawa cried no more
[00:27:55] Following the spirit of the monk's advice
[00:27:58] He shut the eyes that had just experienced a great awakening
[00:28:02] And forgot everything
[00:28:04] He forgot about living and dying
[00:28:06] And under the myriad of tiny stars
[00:28:09] Lay perfectly still as the night breeze sighed through the tree
[00:28:13] He was cold
[00:28:15] Very cold
[00:28:17] I mean obviously wrote a book called Extreme Ownership
[00:28:22] Where you're responsible for your actions
[00:28:24] And you need to take responsibility for things in your life
[00:28:26] But this thing where he says I can't untie the rope
[00:28:29] Because it wasn't me that was that tied it
[00:28:31] It was you
[00:28:32] You put yourself in this position
[00:28:34] And that's the way it is
[00:28:36] Once your head is caught off you can't put it back on
[00:28:39] Musashi
[00:28:41] Or Takazawa gets he does crazy stuff too
[00:28:45] He's young and he does crazy things
[00:28:47] One of the crazy things he does is his sisters in some kind of jail or something
[00:28:51] And he just like attacks it
[00:28:53] And he loses and he gets arrested
[00:28:55] And he gets put in prison for three years
[00:28:57] And at this point he's
[00:29:01] Getting released from jail
[00:29:03] After he's been in jail for three years
[00:29:05] And again obviously I just skipped three years of this guy's jail time
[00:29:08] Which actually is pretty short in the book
[00:29:10] He's spent a lot of time in jail
[00:29:12] But he's been in jail for three years
[00:29:14] He gets out
[00:29:16] And here we he's having a conversation
[00:29:20] And here we go
[00:29:22] Takazawa smiled silently
[00:29:24] I want to wander about on my own for a while
[00:29:26] And then Takawan who's back at that's who he's having the conversation with
[00:29:30] Sorry he says you should not change your first name to
[00:29:32] Takawan and interjected
[00:29:34] Why not read the Chinese characters of your name as Musashi
[00:29:37] Instead of Takazawa
[00:29:39] You can keep writing your name as the same as before
[00:29:42] It's only fitting that everything should begin a new on this day of your rebirth
[00:29:47] Miyamoto Musashi, it's a good name, a very good name
[00:29:51] We should drink to it
[00:29:53] The following day they both left the castle
[00:29:55] Musashi was talking
[00:29:57] Musashi was taking his first steps into a new life
[00:30:00] A life of discipline and training in the martial arts
[00:30:04] During his three-year incarceration
[00:30:07] He had resolved to master the art of war
[00:30:11] Explain the first last name thing
[00:30:15] Miyamoto is that that's a place right?
[00:30:17] Or is it in this case in many cases
[00:30:20] It refers to originally a place
[00:30:23] So my understanding is that Miyamoto refers to whether it's a town or a
[00:30:27] Village or not province
[00:30:31] It would be smaller where his family originated from
[00:30:35] It's not always the case, but even if you look at English names
[00:30:38] You find the same thing
[00:30:39] So it could have been in English and in a lot of languages
[00:30:42] It often relates to an early vocation
[00:30:45] So far as, for instance, comes from far as
[00:30:49] Like FER or OUS, like Far as Oxide, Iron
[00:30:52] Because way back in the day
[00:30:54] At some point, my family worked with medals
[00:30:58] And that's where the name comes from
[00:31:02] Is Miyamoto the first name or the last name?
[00:31:05] Miyamoto is the last name
[00:31:07] So similarly the authors of this, the author of this book
[00:31:11] Aji Yoshikawa, the Yoshikawa is the last name
[00:31:14] And why do I say Miyamoto Musashi?
[00:31:18] The Japanese always say the last name first
[00:31:23] They say the family name first
[00:31:25] Except for in the skies case
[00:31:27] Eji, what they said this is
[00:31:30] Transitioning, got it, yeah
[00:31:32] That makes sense
[00:31:34] Making some progress
[00:31:35] So for instance, in J-
[00:31:37] Very slow progress in J-
[00:31:39] In the actual capability, maxing out where they are
[00:31:43] Yes, in Japan, for instance, even as a young kid
[00:31:48] When you're talking to your friends, you would never, I can't
[00:31:54] Recall even once saying someone's first name
[00:31:58] You would just say
[00:32:00] Oh, you know, Yamamoto, Tanaka
[00:32:03] So I've got you Ferris
[00:32:05] Yeah, you're calling me
[00:32:07] In my case, because Ferris was not confusing
[00:32:10] But they knew I was American and Tim
[00:32:14] Like, Timu, as they would say
[00:32:16] Which shorter, so they just called me, Timu
[00:32:19] Timu, Timu, Timu
[00:32:20] You get that in the military too, everyone kind of gets introduced
[00:32:22] By your last name and everyone for a while, everyone just kind of calls each other
[00:32:25] You know, willing, Ferris, J-Alps, you know
[00:32:28] Right
[00:32:29] But that's how they address each other pretty normally
[00:32:31] Oh yeah, all the time
[00:32:32] Yeah, with the exception of saying my host family where I'm dealing with
[00:32:36] Everybody who has the same last name, you're giving a confusing
[00:32:38] So then I would call him by their first name
[00:32:40] Jack, Jack
[00:32:42] All right, now
[00:32:44] This book does have a romantic interest in it
[00:32:49] I hate to inform everyone
[00:32:51] It's absolutely worth coming, covering because the way it gets handled throughout
[00:32:58] It's just freaking epic
[00:33:00] So his romantic interest is a woman named Otzu
[00:33:07] Otzu
[00:33:08] Yes, see?
[00:33:10] Otzu
[00:33:11] And again, we can't cover the whole story
[00:33:14] But this is his romantic interest
[00:33:16] And we will
[00:33:19] He's in the name of the story
[00:33:22] The main point is that even though he desires her and wants to be with her at the same time
[00:33:27] There's something that's more important to him
[00:33:29] And that is the way of the sword
[00:33:32] So here we go
[00:33:34] Back to the book, Musashi covered her small white hand
[00:33:36] Which was resting on the railing with his own
[00:33:39] Listen, he said plaintively
[00:33:41] I beg of you, just stop and think
[00:33:43] What's there to think about?
[00:33:45] I told you, I've just become a new man
[00:33:48] I stayed in that musty hole for three years
[00:33:50] I read books, I thought
[00:33:52] I screamed and cried
[00:33:54] Then suddenly the light dawned
[00:33:56] I understood what it means to be human
[00:33:59] I have a new name, Miyamoto Musashi
[00:34:02] I want to dedicate myself to training and discipline
[00:34:05] I want to spend every moment of everyday working to improve myself
[00:34:10] I now know how far I have to go
[00:34:13] If you choose to bind your life to mind
[00:34:16] You'll never be happy
[00:34:19] There will be nothing but hardship
[00:34:21] And it won't get any easier as it goes along
[00:34:24] It'll get more and more difficult
[00:34:28] When you talk like that, I feel closer to you than ever
[00:34:31] Now I'm convinced I would write
[00:34:33] I found the best man I could ever find
[00:34:35] Even if I searched for the rest of my life
[00:34:37] He saw he was just making things worse
[00:34:40] I'm sorry, I just can't take you with me
[00:34:44] Well then I'll just follow along
[00:34:46] As long as I don't interfere with your training
[00:34:48] What harm would it do?
[00:34:50] You won't even know I'm around
[00:34:52] Musashi could find no answer
[00:34:54] I won't bother you, I promise
[00:34:56] He remained silent
[00:34:58] It's all right then isn't it?
[00:35:00] Just wait here, I'll be back in a second
[00:35:02] And I'll be furious if you try and sneak away
[00:35:04] Oatsu ran off towards the basket weaving shop
[00:35:08] Musashi thought of ignoring everything and running to
[00:35:11] In the opposite direction
[00:35:14] Though the will was there, his feet couldn't move
[00:35:17] Oatsu looked back and called
[00:35:19] Remember don't try to sneak off
[00:35:21] She smiled showing her dimples
[00:35:23] And Musashi inadvertently nodded
[00:35:25] Satisfied by this gesture
[00:35:27] She disappeared into the shop
[00:35:30] If he was going to escape, this was the time
[00:35:33] His heart told him so
[00:35:35] But his body was still shackled by Oatsu's pretty dimples
[00:35:39] And pleading eyes how sweet she was
[00:35:41] It was certain no one in the world would save his sister
[00:35:45] Or save his sister loved him so much
[00:35:47] And it wasn't as though he disliked her
[00:35:51] He looked at the sky
[00:35:53] He looked into the water
[00:35:55] Desperately gripped the railing
[00:35:57] Troubled and confused
[00:35:59] Soon tiny bits of wood began floating
[00:36:03] From the bridge into the flowing stream
[00:36:05] Oatsu reappeared on the bridge
[00:36:07] In new straw sandals, light yellow leggings
[00:36:11] And a large traveling hat tied under the chin
[00:36:13] With a crimson ribbon
[00:36:15] She'd never looked more beautiful
[00:36:17] But Musashi was nowhere to be seen
[00:36:19] With a cry of shock she burst into tears
[00:36:23] Then her eyes fell upon the spot
[00:36:25] On the railing from which the chips of wooded fallen
[00:36:27] Their carved with a point of a dagger
[00:36:31] Was the clearly inscribed
[00:36:33] The message for give me
[00:36:37] Forgive me
[00:36:39] Forgive me
[00:36:47] I love how measured
[00:36:49] His emotions are in the prose
[00:36:51] He clearly did not dislike her
[00:36:53] That's heavy
[00:36:55] That's like I love you
[00:36:57] It's not against me
[00:36:59] It is
[00:37:01] But yeah, that is the nightmarre scenario for women
[00:37:05] That is a abandonment issues
[00:37:07] And having spent quite some time in the seal teams
[00:37:13] This is a real thing
[00:37:15] Guys, they have to choose
[00:37:17] Between this girl and their job
[00:37:19] And of course, some guys can wake at work
[00:37:21] And blah, blah, blah, blah
[00:37:23] And I did a pretty decent job of making it work
[00:37:25] But I'm telling you, it's hard
[00:37:27] There's a 90% divorce rate in the seal teams in the military tie
[00:37:29] So this is a real choice that guys had to make
[00:37:31] And it can be really hard
[00:37:33] And that's just a nightmare scenario
[00:37:35] And honestly, what's jacked up
[00:37:37] Is that the guys are actually trying to do the right thing
[00:37:39] They're actually trying
[00:37:41] They're looking at a girl saying, look
[00:37:43] You don't want to sign up for this
[00:37:45] Like this is not going to be fun
[00:37:47] And you know, of course
[00:37:49] People fall in love and they
[00:37:51] Those emotions start to take over
[00:37:53] Ridiculously
[00:37:55] And
[00:37:57] And you know, it's a
[00:37:57] And you know, it's one of those things
[00:37:59] But that's a nightmare scenario
[00:38:01] It for a girl
[00:38:03] Yeah
[00:38:05] And for a guy, I think this is the weird
[00:38:07] I can't speak guy girl
[00:38:09] I can't speak for girls
[00:38:11] Because I'm not one
[00:38:13] But for most guys, they read that
[00:38:15] And they kind of go, yeah
[00:38:17] At least I do
[00:38:19] I get it
[00:38:21] I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm
[00:38:23] I've been drinking the
[00:38:25] I'm a man and say where I coo
[00:38:27] I'm just like, I get it
[00:38:29] Yeah
[00:38:29] I bet if we had, you know, those little
[00:38:31] Like meters where people can vote
[00:38:35] Or like this spike on the
[00:38:37] Presidents of the Bates where things would be like
[00:38:39] People really agree with this thing
[00:38:41] If you had that right there
[00:38:43] And males between the ages of
[00:38:45] 18 and 35 were hearing that
[00:38:47] Yeah, yeah, walk away dude
[00:38:49] That's what they're thinking
[00:38:51] Wouldn't surprise it
[00:38:53] Yeah
[00:38:53] And I'm, uh, for the seal teams
[00:38:55] That's totally normal culture
[00:38:57] Yeah, oh yeah, bro, you got to choose the teams
[00:38:59] You got to choose the teams first
[00:39:01] You know, oh, you, you don't want to, you know,
[00:39:03] Don't want to put her through this
[00:39:05] So that's kind of messed up
[00:39:07] But it's the reality, sorry
[00:39:09] Well, especially imagine if your, your intention is to go
[00:39:11] Do all people to the death repeatedly
[00:39:15] Yeah
[00:39:15] I mean the, the odds are not in your favor
[00:39:17] Yeah, eventually someone's going to
[00:39:19] Be better than you
[00:39:21] What was that? Do you have that section mark that you were reading about how he felt about people that had gotten the upper hand on him?
[00:39:27] Because that was pretty epic
[00:39:29] Oh, I'll find it
[00:39:31] So, and that way people don't have to listen to a bad Japanese president
[00:39:35] Let's see
[00:39:37] All right, here we go
[00:39:39] Yeah
[00:39:43] The adversaries he hit
[00:39:45] I'm not going to do is go to job of reading his
[00:39:47] Jacko, he's been his well-practiced, plus he has the audiobook voice of Jacko, we're like
[00:39:53] The adversaries he had defeated, even the ones he had killed or half killed always disappeared from his mind
[00:39:59] Like so much froth
[00:40:01] But he couldn't forget anyone who got the better of him in any way or for that matter
[00:40:05] Anyone in whom he sensed an overpowering presence
[00:40:09] That was the line I underlined
[00:40:11] Anyone in whom he sensed an overpowering presence
[00:40:13] Men like that dwelt in his mind living spirits and he thought constantly of how one day he might be able to overshadow them
[00:40:21] Yeah, that's deep right there drive
[00:40:25] And that's also ego issues
[00:40:27] Clearly, those are people are hard to deal with
[00:40:29] Unless you recognize that it's your own ego that's causing these problems
[00:40:33] Because a lot of people are so intimidated by
[00:40:35] I've seen that many times where you get like a young seal that's a real badass when he's coming up
[00:40:41] And some of the senior seals, maybe that are also badass
[00:40:45] You basically get two alpha males in a room
[00:40:47] And it can be problematic
[00:40:49] Unless one of them really is the old guy realises
[00:40:53] Usually it's the old guy that realises, hey there's a young buck coming up
[00:40:55] What I should do is try to help him instead of trying to keep him down
[00:40:59] Because I'm jealous
[00:41:01] And that's when Musashi has that attitude of
[00:41:05] You know, he's in care about the people that he beats
[00:41:09] Yeah, he's like the Steve Jobs of Samurai
[00:41:13] Yeah
[00:41:15] Yeah, actually, I was thinking about this
[00:41:17] On your podcast
[00:41:19] It would be awesome if you did like
[00:41:23] If you did like the jobs book
[00:41:25] And you read parts of it and you thought about it
[00:41:27] I thought I think that would be cool
[00:41:29] Yeah, you know I've considered it because I've listened to a lot of your episodes
[00:41:35] Uh, as you're going through books and I have all my highlights
[00:41:40] Furthermore, and you saw this earlier I showed you my index that I created for your book, the field manual
[00:41:47] And I also have I noticed this is what I was looking at as you're reading
[00:41:51] My own index at the beginning of Musashi with the page numbers and things that I found interesting
[00:41:56] So I have everything locked and loaded and ready to go for all these books that I've read
[00:42:01] I think it'd be awesome especially because like for instance, you know, I do books about war primarily
[00:42:06] Because that's what I can relate to the most but you know, if you were reading business books
[00:42:10] And you were talking about you know what these people went through
[00:42:14] And then you could relate it to what you did and how you know, it's just I think it'd be
[00:42:17] I like the idea of biographies
[00:42:19] I'm because I recently not to digress too far but I interviewed
[00:42:23] Walter Isaacson who I know actually who wrote the jobs book
[00:42:27] And because he just finished a new book on DaVinci which is spectacular
[00:42:31] And yeah, I actually noticed that book because it's not selling my book whatever
[00:42:36] Walter, well, just a good for you Walter
[00:42:40] We're going to go off the rails for a second but so every year
[00:42:44] Or every time I have a book come out
[00:42:46] There's Inigarten who writes cookbooks, Barefoot, Kintessa who for whatever reason always comes out in the same week
[00:42:53] And then he's just like lining the wall she has her own walls in the bookstore
[00:42:57] So I'm like how am I going to compete against walls?
[00:42:59] I'm trying to get an end cap
[00:43:01] And then also on Amazon
[00:43:04] Every time I have a book come out, literally every time I took a screenshot of it
[00:43:08] A couple weeks ago and I said, man
[00:43:10] This book is so hardcore
[00:43:13] It's so undefeatable
[00:43:15] Giraffes can't dance
[00:43:16] It's a children's book
[00:43:18] Oh yeah
[00:43:19] And it's it's
[00:43:20] It is it is always just slaying
[00:43:23] My books on Amazon
[00:43:25] Fortunately not the same category for the best alchemists
[00:43:28] But yes, biographies and going through those to tie in pieces
[00:43:34] What also be fun because I could compare my mindset and state
[00:43:41] My development at the time that I made the highlights with my observations now
[00:43:46] A hundred percent and I think again
[00:43:48] I think that would be I think a lot of people would get a lot out of it
[00:43:51] Because you got something out of it
[00:43:53] And then you get to look back on it
[00:43:55] You get three perspectives
[00:43:56] You get the person's perspective
[00:43:57] You get your old perspective and you get your current perspective
[00:44:00] That's pretty legit
[00:44:02] That's a lot of growth and knowledge coming from
[00:44:04] Pretty quick statement
[00:44:06] So I just want to read one more and give it
[00:44:08] Since it's right across from what I just read
[00:44:11] Anyone in whom he's sentenced overpowering presence
[00:44:14] And I don't have the full context here because I'm just looking at
[00:44:17] Independent highlights but
[00:44:19] It appears that massage has been approached by several men
[00:44:24] In some environment and there are asking him a questions
[00:44:28] Small talk
[00:44:30] Massashi wondered why they were taking up their time
[00:44:33] And his with their small talk
[00:44:35] It became apparent that he would not find out unless he asked
[00:44:38] So the next time there was a break in the conversation he said
[00:44:41] Presumably you came because you have some business with me
[00:44:45] I love these lines
[00:44:48] The dialogue is so awesome
[00:44:51] Yeah
[00:44:52] They faint surprise at the very idea
[00:44:54] But soon admitted that they had come on what they regarded
[00:44:57] As a very important mission and it goes on and on
[00:45:00] Yeah, it's so many good lines in there
[00:45:03] So many good lines
[00:45:04] Here's a good part moving along in the story here
[00:45:07] He has throughout this thing
[00:45:09] It's
[00:45:10] When I was a kid and you remember you'd watch
[00:45:13] What was the Saturday morning or
[00:45:15] One day they'd have Kung Fu Theatre
[00:45:17] I think it was actually called Kung Fu Theatre
[00:45:19] And on Kung Fu Theatre it was always these you know my school against your school
[00:45:23] And you know you know that that seems neat
[00:45:26] But that's real like that stuff really happened
[00:45:28] And he had these feuds with various schools of martial arts
[00:45:33] Like you'd seen Kung Fu Theatre
[00:45:35] And in this particular one
[00:45:38] He had gone and kind of walked up on this one school
[00:45:42] And then but like the leader wasn't there
[00:45:45] And so he writes a letter
[00:45:48] And here's the letter that Musashi writes which is to
[00:45:52] Yoshiyoka
[00:45:55] Yoshiyoka
[00:45:56] Beautiful
[00:45:57] The same Yoshiyoka
[00:45:59] That is a Yoshiyoka
[00:46:00] It's a character
[00:46:01] What does Yoshimin
[00:46:03] Yoshiyoka
[00:46:04] That's a look at it
[00:46:05] Same I don't recall of him
[00:46:08] Yoshiyoshi this Yoshiyoshi that Yoshiyoya
[00:46:11] All that same Yoshiyoka
[00:46:13] And this Yoshiyoka
[00:46:14] So here's what Musashi writes the letter he says
[00:46:16] I am told that you and your disciples are searching for me
[00:46:19] As it happens I am on the
[00:46:22] I am now on the Yamoto High Road
[00:46:25] My intention being to travel around in general area of Egan, ESA
[00:46:28] For about a year to continue my study of swordsmanship
[00:46:31] I did not wish to change my plans at this time
[00:46:34] But since I regret as much as you do that
[00:46:36] I was unable to meet you during my previous visit to your school
[00:46:39] I should like to inform you that I shall certainly be back in the capital
[00:46:42] By the first or second months of next year
[00:46:45] Between now and then I expect to improve my technique considerably
[00:46:49] I trust that you yourself will not neglect your practice
[00:46:54] It would be a great shame
[00:46:56] If Yoshiyoka
[00:46:58] Campos
[00:46:59] Flourishing school
[00:47:00] Were to suffer a second defeat like the one that sustained last time I was there
[00:47:05] In closing I send my respectful wishes for your continued health
[00:47:10] You're welcome Musashi
[00:47:12] So I love the little jabs
[00:47:14] Your flourishing school wing
[00:47:17] It's so jacked up
[00:47:21] But yeah, that's old school talking smack
[00:47:24] Respect that's kind of what they do in the British parliament
[00:47:26] Oh Hamilton if you see the play the same thing
[00:47:29] I haven't seen it
[00:47:30] It's like with kind of regards after you basically say I want to meet you and do the old shooting
[00:47:33] The face with kind of regards and wishes for your continued health
[00:47:37] You know we've lost that there's something to that isn't there
[00:47:40] You know like can't you just have a feud and still be respectful to someone
[00:47:44] Yeah, I respect your intellect and your capacities
[00:47:47] And yet I will stop it nothing but until I destroy you
[00:47:50] So this is another dojo storm
[00:47:55] Which again this is a modern term that I think you jitsu people created
[00:47:59] I don't know did you ever use the term you never heard that before
[00:48:02] You've never heard dojo storm before
[00:48:04] Oh dojo storm is when you take your jitsu guys and you go to another and this happened
[00:48:10] Again in San Diego San Diego where we live is is it's gone through the phase already of all the schools being all
[00:48:18] All
[00:48:20] Battling against each other and really the battle there's multiple reasons
[00:48:25] One of them is because back in the day before YouTube
[00:48:29] You could actually have moves that you could keep contained in your school and you could say hey look
[00:48:33] Don't show anyone this because we're gonna use this in the next tournament and we want to which is exactly what happened in Japan too
[00:48:39] By the way, so with these schools with these schools
[00:48:42] So you'd have secret moves will now honestly with YouTube and every competition is on YouTube
[00:48:47] And you can watch anybody from any school and you can see what moves they're doing
[00:48:50] And there's all this online so so basically there's no more secret school
[00:48:54] You can knowledge anymore the other thing is economically
[00:48:58] At one time it was
[00:49:00] Don't leave my school because you're my student you're giving me 150 bucks a month and so don't go to another school
[00:49:06] And what that did initially it worked you could keep your students
[00:49:10] But people realize that if you want to get good you have to get out and train with other people sometimes
[00:49:15] And so if you weren't gonna let me go and train it other schools sometimes
[00:49:18] I'm not gonna train at your school
[00:49:20] And so they would actually end up losing students by trying to keep the students
[00:49:23] So I think that's what kind of level San Diego out
[00:49:25] And other areas that are high concentration jiu-jitsu
[00:49:28] Because yeah, it's because now it's you know people will come and go and train it different schools
[00:49:33] And everyone's cool. It's it's just a much more mellow atmosphere
[00:49:36] I was a member in 2000 when I first moved to the Bay Area and it was training in jiu-jitsu
[00:49:41] And I walked into the school to take my first class and they had
[00:49:45] It wasn't very well written from a legal standpoint
[00:49:48] But they had an NDA a non-disclosure agreement that they had people sign
[00:49:52] So they would not teach the inner working and techniques of said school
[00:49:57] Yeah, exactly. It used to be a lot tighter
[00:50:00] And I think you two pretty much is the thing that destroyed that
[00:50:03] Yeah, but but back in the day the dojo storms would take place
[00:50:07] Which was we would go from one school and go to another school
[00:50:11] That was let's say a school was saying oh we'll beat these guys
[00:50:15] Or we have better jiu-jitsu. Oh really got better jiu-jitsu cool
[00:50:17] Hello, how you doing? We're here to see who jiu-jitsu is better
[00:50:20] And it's the dojo storm and show up and and you know everything is determined on the map
[00:50:25] That's a beautiful thing about jiu-jitsu
[00:50:27] So this is old school dojo storming and this is against
[00:50:33] Hose Wayne
[00:50:35] Hose Wayne, I'd have to see how's this built?
[00:50:37] H-O-Z-O-I-N. Yeah, Hose Wayne. That's right
[00:50:41] Here we go for dojo storm
[00:50:45] And he's he's showing up there kind of looking for where the
[00:50:50] School is he's kind of like a little bit lost looking around for where the actual school is
[00:50:54] And there's a priest that he's working with when he reappeared the priest handed him a
[00:50:58] Registry and ink box saying write down your name and where you studied and what style you use
[00:51:03] He spoke as though instructing a child
[00:51:06] The title on the registry was list of persons visiting this temple to study
[00:51:12] Stured of the Holy Soin
[00:51:15] Hose Wayne opened the book and glanced over the names each listed under the date on which the
[00:51:19] Sam Rire student had called
[00:51:21] Following the style of the last entry he wrote down the required information
[00:51:25] Omitting the name of his teacher
[00:51:27] The priest of course was especially interested in that
[00:51:30] Hose Wayne's answer was essentially the one he'd given at the Yoshikos school
[00:51:35] He had practiced the use of the Truncheon under his father
[00:51:38] Without working very hard at it
[00:51:40] Since making up in his mind to study in earnest he had taken as his teacher everything in the
[00:51:45] Universe as well as the example set by his predecessors throughout the country
[00:51:50] He ended up by saying I'm still in the process of learning
[00:51:54] Hmm you probably know this already
[00:51:57] But since the time of our first master the Hose Wayne has been celebrated everywhere for its
[00:52:02] Lands techniques the fighting that goes on here is a rough and there are no exceptions
[00:52:06] Before you go on perhaps you better read what's written at the beginning of the registry
[00:52:12] Hose Wayne picked up the book opened it and read the stipulation which he had skipped over before
[00:52:18] It said having come here for the purpose of study I absolve the temple of all responsibility in the event that I suffer
[00:52:26] Bottily injury or I'm killed
[00:52:28] I agreed to that said Hose Wayne with a slight grin
[00:52:31] It amounted to no more than the common sense for anyone committed to becoming a warrior all right this way
[00:52:38] So that's the introduction and that's actually cool too
[00:52:41] That's an old school jiu-jitsu thing when you come in for the other thing that would happen is challenge matches
[00:52:45] And I don't know if you've seen videos from the old school gracey academy of the challenge matches
[00:52:48] Yeah, but those guys would come in and sign a waiver like hey if you die
[00:52:52] We're not we're not liable. This is the the old
[00:52:55] The old the like gray market black market copy over copy VHS of Grayson action. Yeah, yeah, yeah
[00:53:03] Yeah, we had my my old teacher Fabio Santos and he had videos of himself doing Gracie challenge matches at the Gracie school up in torrents
[00:53:13] And he would play him for us and it's the same thing yep sign your waiver and then you're going to get your own broken by the way first
[00:53:19] I break your leg the end up with you like why so in this point he goes into the school and there's some
[00:53:27] Badass he's not the head of the school, but he's like their best guy and he's up there kicking everyone's ass
[00:53:34] He's saying next and he's roughs a guy up and kicks his ass then next roughs that guy up next and finally no one else wants to fight
[00:53:42] And here we go this guy's name is ag agon a g o n agon
[00:53:48] Yeah, it's agon and unusual he's the guy that's been rough and everyone up is there is there no one else build agon?
[00:53:55] Now holding his practice Lance horizontally
[00:53:58] The brawny steward was comparing his registry with the faces of the waiting men he pointed at one
[00:54:04] No, not today. I'll come again some other time. How about you?
[00:54:08] No, I don't feel quite up to it today one by one they backed out until Musashi saw the finger pointing at him
[00:54:15] How about you if you please if you please what's that supposed to mean?
[00:54:21] It means I'd like to fight
[00:54:29] Yeah, and so he he's gonna go and and I'm gonna pull a couple highlights out of this thing, but but the this guy if you please so this guy agon he
[00:54:39] Immediately does like a practice run at some board that he puts his Lance right through and it's sort of like an intimidation
[00:54:47] Tagged it right. Oh, you want to train cool watch this
[00:54:50] He screams and he puts his Lance right through this this right through this thing and
[00:54:57] Actually there's a there's a the old the guy that had brought him into that a broad in Musashi's looking at him and saying hey
[00:55:04] Um, don't be a fool you look stupid. That's not a board you're about to take on meaning like you just killed the board the piece of wood, but that's this guy is not just a board
[00:55:15] Um, but it still didn't hit back. Yeah, and and paper targets don't shoot back and they don't move that's something I've said many many times
[00:55:25] Um Musashi then says after he does this you know like this crazy scream and puts his Lance through the wood
[00:55:34] He says are you ready now
[00:55:40] Back to the book this solicitor drove agon wild his muscles were like steel when he jumped he did so with awesome lightness
[00:55:47] His feet seemed to be on the floor and in the air at the same time quivering like the moonlight on ocean waves
[00:55:52] Musashi stood perfectly still or so it seemed there was nothing unusual about his stance
[00:55:57] He held his sword straight out with both hands, but being slightly smaller than his opponent and not so conspicuously muscular
[00:56:04] He looked almost casual the greatest difference was in their eyes
[00:56:08] Musashi's were sharp as a bird their pupils a clear coral tinted with blood
[00:56:13] Agon shook his head perhaps to shake off the streams and sweat pouring down from his forehead perhaps to shake off the old man's warning words had they lingered on
[00:56:22] Was he attempting to cast him out of his mind whatever the reason he was extremely agitated
[00:56:27] He repeatedly shifted his position trying to draw out Musashi, but Musashi remained motionless
[00:56:33] Agon's lunch was accompanied by a piercing scream in the split second that decided the encounter Musashi paried in counterattack
[00:56:41] What happened?
[00:56:44] Agon's fellow priest hastily ran over and crowded around him in a black circle in the general confusion
[00:56:50] Some trip over his practice lands and went sprawling a priest stood up his hands and chest smeared with blood shouting medicine
[00:56:58] Bring the medicine quick
[00:57:00] You won't need any medicine
[00:57:02] It was the old man who had come in the front entrance and quickly assess the situation
[00:57:08] His face turned sour if I thought medicine would save him I wouldn't have tried to stop him in the first place
[00:57:17] So that's it Musashi one shot one kill takes the dude out and
[00:57:23] Interestingly, here's the advice so that guy that had taken him in is the actual master and
[00:57:29] He says is your name me, Matthew, Musashi
[00:57:33] That's correct under whom did you study the martial arts? I've had no teacher in the ordinary sense
[00:57:38] My father taught me how to use the trungeon when I was young since then I picked up a number of points from the older
[00:57:43] Samurai and various provinces. I've also spent some time traveling about the countryside learning from the mountains and the rivers
[00:57:50] I regard them to as teachers
[00:57:53] You seem to have the right attitude, but you're so strong much too strong
[00:57:57] Believing he was being praised Musashi blust and said, oh no, I'm still immature
[00:58:03] I'm always making blunders. That is not what I mean. You're strength as your problem. You must learn to control it become weaker
[00:58:11] What's also fun to do and I'm thinking about doing this when I reread this book in full again is to spend some time on YouTube watching
[00:58:22] High-level condo competition to see how fast it is. Just a good idea of how much can transpire in the blink of an eye
[00:58:36] Is there a referee that calls it as a kill shot? How does it get scored in the first?
[00:58:41] There are referees, so I had a chance to train in Kendall when I went back to Japan about eight years ago
[00:58:49] Some of that eight or ten years ago, and I trained at this place called Q-Makeung
[00:58:54] And I still have the armor still have everything and you have to
[00:59:01] Much like calling your shots in pool, you have to call your target a split second before you hit it or as you hit it
[00:59:07] So you can see like men is head
[00:59:10] Dull is abdomen, cult is the gauntlet or the arm and then skit is jabbed to the throat which is pretty nasty
[00:59:19] And you line up in such a way the sword is the tip of the sword is basically pointing at your points throughout as you track them
[00:59:26] And you can see there are referees in cases of any type of their definitely referees in cases of any dispute. They're very rarely disputes
[00:59:35] But it's so subtle and the the misses are so close, much like really maybe hot really really high level boxing
[00:59:45] I mean when someone parries it's not like it's traveling a foot to the side of their head
[00:59:49] It's just grazing the side of their head and then they counter punch
[00:59:53] Then you see it in Kendall the movement's just faster
[00:59:55] So it's really wild to see you get your bell wrong when you get hit
[00:59:59] I expected because I saw the armor and the armor seems pretty hard that you don't you absolutely get your bell wrong
[01:00:06] Especially remember my first class and
[01:00:09] I you know I'm bigger than a lot of Japanese guys not all. I mean they're certainly some big Japanese guys
[01:00:14] And I was more heavily muscled and they're like, oh okay
[01:00:18] And there's and most of the Japanese this has been my experience in Japanese schools whether it's judo jiu jitsu
[01:00:25] I don't know otherwise spend some time way back in the day with the pancreas guys and so on before and it may really came to the US
[01:00:33] Is generally speaking everyone's pretty cool
[01:00:37] I guess supposed to sustain the US too then they're just one or two guys were like, oh
[01:00:41] Forner in my school. Okay. I want to run your bell
[01:00:45] And there was one guy there who wanted to want it to fight and I was like, okay
[01:00:50] Because I figured like my reflexes are pretty good, but the reflexes of head movement in kendo
[01:00:56] Bad idea you always want to have the sword in between
[01:00:59] You and your opponent and to protect the center line
[01:01:04] So if you start moving your head or your shoulders
[01:01:07] In such a way that you might say of a vape punch you really expose yourself
[01:01:12] So I ended up getting whacked not just on the top of the head
[01:01:15] But behind the armor because your back is open and the back of your head is open
[01:01:19] And so I ended up getting whacked like on the upper traps and neck with these she and I
[01:01:23] These bamboo swords which hurt those those absolutely will ring your bell
[01:01:28] So yeah, you feel it you're familiar with the dog brothers right?
[01:01:31] I am yeah those they bring it they really bring it
[01:01:35] Yeah, they're awesome. I have nothing but respect for the dog
[01:01:38] If you don't know what they are eating check them out on YouTube
[01:01:40] But they do full contact simulated knife and stick and I think it started with stick fighting
[01:01:47] Started with stick yes, start with the screamer and my understanding is they have the gathering
[01:01:51] I was watching these videos at the same time was watching the crazy in action videos
[01:01:56] Yeah, and I remember like oh people were just learning what a triangle choke was
[01:02:00] I was like oh I could choke people my legs. I was a new thing
[01:02:03] Yeah, and I remember seeing this video of I think it was the gathering where you have salty dog and so on
[01:02:09] And the participants who come just have to mutually agree on which weapons are acceptable
[01:02:14] So you'd have like one guy with a garden hose and then another guy with like
[01:02:17] I kind of sword with like the tip cut off that's played open
[01:02:22] And then they would go at it and I remember at this one point
[01:02:25] I saw this guy pull a guard you know the people are just going nuts some people have a cross helmet on
[01:02:30] I mean it's like just bonkers madmax and these two guys are going to add it and
[01:02:35] Once clearly a wrestler takes the guy down and gets caught in a triangle
[01:02:41] Oh my god, I guess that's it. And then he's like no, that's not it. The guy took his his a screamer stick and took the end of it and just shoved it right in between
[01:02:48] Guys, that's cheap
[01:02:50] Great way to break the triangle turns out
[01:02:52] And then just then just proceed it to beat the living shit out of him with a stick on the ground
[01:02:57] That's not fun
[01:02:58] I don't like that triangle defense
[01:03:01] I don't like that at all
[01:03:06] I think we're getting into another
[01:03:09] Just just good
[01:03:11] He's about to meet up with these more more of these
[01:03:15] Huzzoyne
[01:03:17] Guys for some battle
[01:03:19] All the priest carried lances black sleeves talked up
[01:03:22] They were ready for action apparently set up on avenging the death of a gun and restoring the temples on her
[01:03:28] They looked grotesque like so many demons from hell
[01:03:31] The Ronin formed a semicircle so they could watch the show and at the same time keep Musashi from escaping
[01:03:38] The this precaution however proved unnecessary
[01:03:42] From Musashi showed no signs of either running or backing down
[01:03:47] In fact he was walking steadily and directly toward them slowly paced by pace
[01:03:53] He advanced looking as if he might pounce at any moment
[01:03:56] For a moment there was an ominous silence as both sides contemplated approaching death
[01:04:02] Musashi's face faced when deadly white and through his eyes
[01:04:07] Stare the eyes of the god of vengeance glittering with venom
[01:04:12] He was selecting his prey
[01:04:16] Neither the Ronin nor the priest were his tents as Musashi their numbers gave them confidence
[01:04:21] And their optimism was unshakable still no one wanted to be attacked wanted to be the first attacked
[01:04:27] A priest at the end of the column of the Lancers gave a signal and without breaking formation
[01:04:32] They rushed around to Musashi's right
[01:04:34] Musashi, I am in shun shouted the same priest
[01:04:38] I'm told you came while I was away away and killed a gun
[01:04:42] That you later publicly insulted the honor of the Huzzoyne
[01:04:46] That you mocked us by having posters put up all over town is this true?
[01:04:51] No shouted Musashi, if you're a priest you should know better than to trust only what you see in here
[01:04:56] You should consider things with your mind and spirit
[01:04:59] It was like pouring oil on the flames
[01:05:02] Ignoring their leader the priest began to shout saying talk was cheap it was time to fight
[01:05:07] They were enthusiastically seconded by the Ronin who had grouped themselves
[01:05:12] In close formation, Musashi's left screaming cursing and waving their swords in the air
[01:05:17] They egged the priests on into action
[01:05:19] Musashi convinced that the Ronin were all mouth and no fight
[01:05:22] Suddenly turned to them and shouted all right which one of you wants to come forward
[01:05:27] All but two or three fell back a plate pace
[01:05:29] Each sure that Musashi's evil eye was upon him
[01:05:32] Two or the two or three brave ones stood ready swords out stretched
[01:05:36] In issuing at the challenge
[01:05:38] In the wink of an eye
[01:05:40] Musashi was on one of them like a fighting cock
[01:05:44] There was a sound of a popping cork and the ground turned red
[01:05:48] Then came a chilling noise
[01:05:50] Not a battle cry, not a curse
[01:05:52] But a truly bud blood curdling howl
[01:05:55] Musashi's sword screeched back and forth through the air
[01:05:59] A reverberation in its own body
[01:06:01] In his own body telling him when he connected with human bone
[01:06:04] Blood and brain spattered from his blade
[01:06:07] Fingers and arms flew through the air
[01:06:09] Most of the time Musashi wasn't really conscious of what he was doing
[01:06:14] He was in a sort of trans, a murderous dream in which body and soul were concentrated in this free-foot sword
[01:06:21] Unconsciously his whole life experience
[01:06:25] The knowledge his father had beaten into him
[01:06:28] What he had learned at the Sega Jara
[01:06:30] The theories he had heard at the various schools of swordsmanship
[01:06:34] The lessons taught to him by the mountains and trees
[01:06:36] Everything came into play in the rapid movements of his body
[01:06:39] He became a disembodied whirlwind
[01:06:42] Mowing down the herd of roen and who by their stunned bewilderment
[01:06:46] Left themselves wide open to his sword
[01:06:50] I'm trying to think of why these particular passages
[01:06:54] But one of the things you know this disembodiment
[01:06:56] Which I talk about all the time being able to be detached from what's happening
[01:07:00] is so important as a person as a leader and as a you know in more slots you have to do it too
[01:07:07] If you're getting so wrapped up around the thought of what's happening
[01:07:11] You you won't make good decisions, but this actually goes beyond it
[01:07:14] This this is like getting in the zone
[01:07:16] This is you know when you're not thinking anymore
[01:07:18] And always saying jiu-jitsu if you're thinking about your next move
[01:07:21] It's too late the other person's already doing something to you
[01:07:23] But that idea of being disembodied and being detached
[01:07:27] And not thinking about what you're doing but just doing it is epic if you can do it
[01:07:32] And we were chatting a little bit
[01:07:35] Echo you know I before we started recording about Marcello Garcia
[01:07:39] In New York and I've spent some time with Marcello and rolled with Marcello
[01:07:44] And I'm not by any stretch
[01:07:47] I would say good at jiu-jitsu but none of the last had a chance to spend some time in the mouth
[01:07:51] With him and handful of other guys
[01:07:53] Sweetest guy you can ever imagine people who don't know the name
[01:07:57] Suppose it's fair to say the Michael Jordan Mike Tyson
[01:08:01] Wayne Gretzky of jiu-jitsu wrapped into one he's he's just
[01:08:05] Kind of like the kimera after which the kamura is named
[01:08:10] So who was a very famous jiu-jitsu
[01:08:13] Fought Helio Gracie
[01:08:15] People in Japan used to say before kimera no kimera after kimera no kimera
[01:08:21] Like a nongering phenomenon
[01:08:23] And Marcello is I mean
[01:08:28] Gotta be close to that I mean he's he's really good and one of the things that you observe with Marcello
[01:08:33] And Josh Waitzkin who co-ends the school him was very close friend of mine
[01:08:37] And also considered a chess prodigy he was the basis for searching for Bobby Fisher
[01:08:40] He says that
[01:08:42] New Marcello is a nickname is the I think the king of the scramble
[01:08:46] But he doesn't view it as a scramble
[01:08:49] And what Josh was telling me is that Marcello can basically see a move in
[01:08:57] And movement in general in more frames per second
[01:09:00] So we're most people see position A transition that is kind of
[01:09:05] Undefined to position B he sees 30 positions between A and B
[01:09:09] And you see that when if you if you if you won't really see some wild stuff
[01:09:14] You can check out this look up the Marcello team which is his brand of
[01:09:18] Which is really
[01:09:20] It's it's so technical for something that can be so sloppy
[01:09:25] When people don't know there is so technical and he can catch people in a
[01:09:30] Guilty in from any conceivable position that most people wouldn't even consider a position
[01:09:37] Yeah, I've seen him I've seen him catch people in Guilty in people who weigh 300 pounds
[01:09:43] And not fat 300 like big big big people
[01:09:46] And then they try to come around his legs into say a north south position
[01:09:51] And he gets them to tap when they appear to have him in a north south position
[01:09:57] But he seems to be able to access this same type of mind state at will
[01:10:02] Yeah, I mean obviously it has to do with he's training all the time
[01:10:06] I mean all the time and yeah all the time and he just turns his mind off and his body is working
[01:10:12] I bet you if you hooked up like brain scan and you see what he's thinking about he's probably thinking about
[01:10:17] Like chicken
[01:10:19] Yeah, for dinner or whatever you know, I mean like his thoughts are just not there
[01:10:23] And that's how I feel when I have good when I do good you do I come off the mat
[01:10:27] And I don't
[01:10:27] I don't
[01:10:27] Some will say hey, what was that movie?
[01:10:29] Did I mean I have no idea what I just did you know I just have no idea we don't know what happened
[01:10:33] And and sometimes if you're thinking about something you might remember bits and pieces
[01:10:37] But that's what he's talking about in that section is like hey, it's not even
[01:10:41] You're not even there. It's all the trainings there
[01:10:44] Things you've been instructed the practice that you've done that's what's there
[01:10:48] And that's what's executing the movements
[01:10:50] It's a beautiful place to be whenever people ask me about meditation
[01:10:54] Yeah
[01:10:55] Like do you meditate joccal?
[01:10:56] Yeah, do you do you do you do?
[01:10:57] I do
[01:10:59] Yeah, I think the brain
[01:11:01] Yeah, I mean it's just present state awareness and not
[01:11:05] Endlessly thinking about whatever it is that might occupy and distract you
[01:11:11] Otherwise
[01:11:12] Yeah, it gives you that and actually somebody asked me that the other day
[01:11:15] I was doing an event and guys says you know how do you how do you recharge your batteries
[01:11:20] Like it just seems like you're going hard all the time how do you recharge your batteries
[01:11:24] And my initial I actually responded I said look I don't to be honest with you
[01:11:28] I don't really recharge I mean I'm just going and there's this
[01:11:31] And then as I thought about it
[01:11:33] I said actually no I'm wrong I recharge all the time
[01:11:36] I'm solar past
[01:11:37] Yeah, I'm solar past
[01:11:38] I move myself to get energized right I like the wind up watch or whatever
[01:11:42] But no the reality is is I recharge myself through physical activity
[01:11:49] That's where I recharge myself is by surfing into jitsu and working out that's the recharge
[01:11:54] So I just to build on that because I think it's really important
[01:11:58] People think of recharging as as physical rest
[01:12:03] But if anyone has really gone through a very very stressful period in their lives
[01:12:09] Whether that's the death of a loved one or break up anything that you obsessively think about
[01:12:14] You can not move for most of the day and feel like you've run five marathons
[01:12:20] So by getting out of your head and into your body say in jitsu or surfing
[01:12:25] You're taking a break from these lures that we can replay
[01:12:30] That are what drain the battery
[01:12:33] Yeah, I think it's I you know again luckily the guy asked me that question
[01:12:37] And I realized as I was answering you're first I sounded like an arrogant jerk
[01:12:41] I was like oh I'm always on you know I don't need no recharge
[01:12:44] Look that's not true actually if I go days without training or without working out
[01:12:49] I start to feel like crap and how do I recharge I get home and I'm like oh there's my squat
[01:12:53] Racken and or there's the mat and you can get on it and drain so yeah, that's
[01:12:58] Totally true totally true one quick story about Marcello, which also makes me you can tell Marcello's story
[01:13:05] I think about Musashi is he's famous for being hard to find when he gets called to the mat when it's his turn to compete
[01:13:15] Even at a world championship level and
[01:13:19] He is almost always found because Josh has had to track him down a few times a sleep
[01:13:25] Like in between the bleachers and like we're selling Marcello you're up and be like oh, okay
[01:13:30] Cool and who like get up and stretch and literally walk 50 feet like
[01:13:36] Seven seconds later on to the mat for the finals and the world championships and just turn it on and then just throw people
[01:13:42] And that's cool too and I don't know if I hit in the book, but that's Musashi
[01:13:46] One of Musashi's things is Musashi would show up late. He'd have doels and he'd show up our late 15 minutes late 20 minutes late and have that person getting all frustrated
[01:13:55] Yeah, no it's in in I mean you it's I was thinking about this because I I was I
[01:14:01] Remember this about Musashi and I was trying to think of how to explain
[01:14:06] In a culture like Japan in that period what showing up an hourly might equate to in the US it would be like coming over to meet someone at their house
[01:14:19] Shaking their hands sitting down at the dinner table then like getting up on the dinner table and taking a shit right on their
[01:14:25] I think it's like and then asking them to clean it up because it smells bad like it would be it would be that rude so of course and it also made me think of this book. I think it's called winning ugly
[01:14:36] It's about tennis, but it relates to this form of psychological warfare and like taking too much time like in between serves and making your opponent unnerved
[01:14:48] So that even if they're technically superior you can end up beating them and so Musashi it's it's the simplest trick in the book, but he would show up late late
[01:14:57] And these people lose their minds and and then if they're like oh the sky always shows up late and then he shoved three hours early and scout the whole place out and then kill everybody
[01:15:08] Good. This was an interesting piece. Here's another weapon and he's working with this guy who designs weapons and it's called the chain ball sickle
[01:15:22] So it's like the sickle and then a chain and then a ball. Again, this is a reminds me of Kung Fu movies when I was a kid, but he's seeing this and here this guy's name is bacon
[01:15:31] B-a-i-k-e-n, bacon. Did you just chime in over there at Coach Ross? Yeah, why is that?
[01:15:40] Because I know, but not not many you guys do you think it's good. You speak Japanese or something you've been hoping down on me?
[01:15:47] A little bit. I do like the idea of calling him bacon though.
[01:15:51] I might, if I have another kid, I might name him bacon.
[01:15:56] No, you know, in Hawaii the pronunciation. This is very similar. Yeah.
[01:16:01] Bacon. Bacon insisted. You said you wanted to hear more about this chain ball sickle. I'll tell you everything I know, but let's have a few drinks while we're talking.
[01:16:11] When E will returned with a socky, bacon poured some into a heating jar, put it on the fire and talked a great length about the chain ball sickle and ways to use it to advantage an actual combat.
[01:16:23] The best thing about it he told Mousashi was that, unlike a sword, it gave the enemy no time to defend himself.
[01:16:28] Also, before attacking the enemy directly, it was possible to snatch his weapon away from him with the chain.
[01:16:34] A skillful throw of the chain, a sharp yank, and the enemy had no sword. Still seated, bacon, bacon, demonstrated a stance.
[01:16:43] You see, you hold the sickle in your left hand and the ball in your right. If the enemy comes at you take him with
[01:16:51] the blade, then hurl the ball at his face. That's one way.
[01:16:55] Changing positions he went on. Now in this case, when there's some space between you and the enemy, you take his weapon away with the chain.
[01:17:02] It doesn't make any difference what kind of weapon is. A sword, lance, wooden staff, or whatever.
[01:17:08] Bacon went on and on telling Mousashi about the ways of throwing the ball about the ten or more oral traditions concerning the weapon,
[01:17:15] about how the chain was like a snake, about how it was possible by cleverly alternating movements of the chain and sickle to create optical illusions
[01:17:22] and cause the enemy's defense to work to his own detriment, about all the secret ways of using the weapon.
[01:17:29] Mousashi was fascinated. When he heard talk like this, he listened with his whole body, eager to absorb every detail.
[01:17:37] The chain, the sickle, two hands. As he listened, the seeds of other thoughts formed in his mind. The sword can be used with one hand, but a man has two hands.
[01:17:50] And that's where he gets this idea of for using two swords when he fights. And I'm sure you know more about that than me.
[01:18:00] Yeah, so he originated a style that has many different names. I think they're a few different.
[01:18:12] I'm probably going to get this incorrect, but there's like neat any cheer. I think it's one way to say it.
[01:18:18] But the form of having one long sword and then the equivalent of say, I would imagine in the military of a sidearm, like a pistol. So you have your primary, and then you would have your whatever it might be.
[01:18:36] And then you would have a lot of 19 or whatever. And typically, same where I would use their primary and then failing that if it broke or if it would, if they were disarm, then they would use their shorter sword.
[01:18:49] And he would, in some cases, utilize both simultaneously, which is very, very highly highly unusual.
[01:18:56] And then they're completely different method of fighting because the grip on the sword is very, very particular when you look at say a kind of sword and how it's positioned.
[01:19:08] If you, if you have then two swords, it requires a completely different repertoire of technique. And I don't know. I don't recall offhand if they get into it in this book, but with Sashi was also an expert in weaponry throwing.
[01:19:23] And then in instances, and I would love to have seen this. And I'm sure there's a video on YouTube of someone trying this, but he would routinely throw his shorter sword.
[01:19:34] And also later on, because he was, and I don't want to skip too far ahead, but he would also instruct in the use of shooting in which are the throwing stars.
[01:19:44] And I would like to expert at throwing weapons as well as wielding the sword. And it's a completely different school of training that some people still use in Kendo.
[01:19:57] At the highest levels, I haven't seen it very much because I think there aren't as many teachers.
[01:20:02] Is that legal? It is legal, as far as I can tell.
[01:20:05] I've seen them demonstrate it, and you can find some video, not much, but a little bit of video of using one short and one long.
[01:20:15] And it's, it's, they're not a degree of difference. They're different species altogether.
[01:20:21] Yeah.
[01:20:22] That's weird. Sometimes when I'm rolling, you get to.
[01:20:25] And you get sweaty enough and slippery enough, and it's, it's a little bit of a different sport.
[01:20:31] You know, like it's like you are not going to be able to do this to me right now because it's too slippery.
[01:20:36] And, and same with gui and no gui, and it's weird, you know, of course, I always tell people like gui and no gui, they're different but they're the same.
[01:20:43] And then it's, it goes one degree further, because when you get to super slippery, no gui, it's, it's about the difference between gui and no gui.
[01:20:51] Maybe not quite as much, but another Marcello story.
[01:20:55] Yeah.
[01:20:56] So I trained with Dave Kemareo for a period of time who I was one of my favorite human beings, just a sweetheart of a gui and a hell of a competitor and also high level judo.
[01:21:06] Yeah.
[01:21:07] And so when he competed in jujitsu, most people were terrified of his stand up and they had to kick their hips back and then he would do a flying arm bar and routinely used flying arm bars on everyone.
[01:21:17] Yeah.
[01:21:17] He used a total beast competitive.
[01:21:18] I was on the competition circuit around the same time as him and some of the other guys we were talking about earlier.
[01:21:24] And they, they were killers.
[01:21:26] So Dave went to New York and trained with Marcello for a period of time.
[01:21:30] And to me, I mean, Dave, he's a high level competitor.
[01:21:33] Like I've never seen Dave thrown around or anything like that.
[01:21:37] And so he's telling me about his experience and he's friends with Marcello, but the experience of rolling no gui.
[01:21:43] And I was like, oh well, that makes, I suppose that makes sense.
[01:21:46] I've heard so much about Marcello, but once you put on the gui, it was different game.
[01:21:51] I assume because of all your experience at jujitsu and he's like, no, it was even worse.
[01:21:56] Yeah, I find that with Dean of the club.
[01:21:59] My buddy Dean is, you know, a world champion multiple times with no gui.
[01:22:03] And everyone thinks, oh, well, if you put the gui on, maybe you can neutralize some stuff.
[01:22:07] No, it's worse because you can't move at all.
[01:22:10] And he, and it's not like he doesn't know jujitsu with gui.
[01:22:13] He's savage.
[01:22:15] So if someone's really good, he gives him more control.
[01:22:19] They already have control over you. Now they have even more control.
[01:22:22] Now they have handles.
[01:22:23] Yeah, it's not fun.
[01:22:24] You got one you want to read?
[01:22:29] You know, yeah, I want to just, these are, these are things that I highlighted when I was really just coming into the professional world.
[01:22:38] And felt like I needed to toughen myself on a number of different levels.
[01:22:44] And this is one that I highlighted.
[01:22:46] This is from fairly early in the book, which means it's like the end of a normal book.
[01:22:51] Early in the book.
[01:22:53] And it's talking about a period of his traveling.
[01:22:56] And he says, or I should say, read,
[01:22:59] He stopped along the way to look at several well known temples.
[01:23:02] And at each of them, he bowed and said, two prayers.
[01:23:04] One was, please protect my sister from harm.
[01:23:07] The other was, please test the lowly moussaishi with hardship.
[01:23:11] Let him become the greatest swordsman in the land or let him die.
[01:23:15] Please test the lowly moussaishi with hardship.
[01:23:20] That's what he's praying for.
[01:23:22] And that's what you would think when you were getting into the professional world, you're like,
[01:23:26] All right, bring it.
[01:23:27] Because you were scared.
[01:23:28] You think you were scared about what was going to happen?
[01:23:30] I knew that I had relatively high pain tolerance.
[01:23:37] And I could handle a lot of workload.
[01:23:41] So I was preparing myself for several years of being lowest on the total pole and suffering.
[01:23:48] God.
[01:23:49] But making up for a lack of experience by just absorbing more punishment in the form of just working
[01:23:57] all your hours, work hard, doing more, always doing more.
[01:24:01] And serve me well at the time.
[01:24:04] God an idea for a book anyways.
[01:24:06] I guess.
[01:24:07] Exactly.
[01:24:08] And then when I disintegrated and self-employed it, I had an idea for a book.
[01:24:13] Yeah, there's go.
[01:24:15] This is another one.
[01:24:17] And it's referring to, I believe.
[01:24:21] Moussaishi's writing and it says, well, his writing has a certain childish quality.
[01:24:27] But there's an appealing.
[01:24:28] What can I say, directness about it?
[01:24:30] If I had a swordsman in mind, I would say it shows spiritual breadth.
[01:24:34] The boy may eventually be somebody.
[01:24:36] I just like that.
[01:24:38] The childish directness.
[01:24:40] Yeah.
[01:24:41] Yeah, those good stuff.
[01:24:44] And again, that's what you were thinking about yourself.
[01:24:47] Like, hey, at that time you were the young swordsman coming up in the business world.
[01:24:52] That's right.
[01:24:53] Having to make things happen.
[01:24:55] There's another fight scene here.
[01:25:01] He called him fight scenes.
[01:25:03] I don't know if that sounds like a movie, a kung fu movie.
[01:25:06] Not that there's anything wrong with kung fu movies because some kung fu movies are awesome.
[01:25:10] But some of them are also cheesy.
[01:25:13] Sure.
[01:25:14] The or movie professional there, echo troughs.
[01:25:17] Yeah, I don't think you'd be called a scene if it's in a book.
[01:25:20] Okay.
[01:25:21] I don't know though.
[01:25:22] I don't know.
[01:25:23] Is this not a scene if it's in a book?
[01:25:25] I think it could be.
[01:25:26] We could use a scene.
[01:25:27] It reads like a screenplay.
[01:25:29] So if it were a screenplay, we could call it a beat or a scene, I think.
[01:25:32] Here's a scene.
[01:25:34] After an inner, this is a fight with a guy named Denshin Chiro.
[01:25:40] After an interval of two or three breaths, Denshin Chiro shouted, Musashi, he was well aware that the man standing several feet above him was in a very advantageous position.
[01:25:49] Not only was he perfectly safe from the rear, but anyone trying to attack him either from the right or left would first have to climb up to his level.
[01:25:57] He was thus free to devote his entire attention to the enemy before him.
[01:26:00] So he's about to fight this guy.
[01:26:02] And as you said earlier, sometimes he shows up late, sometimes he shows up early.
[01:26:05] In this case, he showed up early and he got an elevated position.
[01:26:08] And so his enemy, Denshin Chiro, is sitting there looking going, oh, this sucks.
[01:26:12] I'm below him.
[01:26:14] And he's protected from the back and left and right.
[01:26:17] And then Musashi says, are you ready?
[01:26:22] Musashi's question was calm but trenchant.
[01:26:25] Falling like so much ice water on his opponent's feverish excitement.
[01:26:30] Denshin Chiro now got his first good look at Musashi.
[01:26:34] So this is the bastard he thought.
[01:26:36] His hatred was total. He resented the maiming of his brother.
[01:26:40] He was vexed at being compared with Musashi by the common people.
[01:26:44] And he had an ingrained contempt for what he regarded as a country upstart posing as a samurai.
[01:26:50] Who are you to ask? Are you ready?
[01:26:52] It is well past the hour of nine.
[01:26:55] Did I say I'd be here exactly at nine?
[01:26:57] Don't make excuses.
[01:26:58] I've been waiting a long time.
[01:27:00] As you can see, I'm fully prepared.
[01:27:02] Now come down from there.
[01:27:04] He did not underestimate his opponent in the extent of daring attack from his present position.
[01:27:11] In a minute, answered Musashi with a slight laugh.
[01:27:15] There was a difference between Musashi's idea of preparation and his opponents.
[01:27:20] Denshin Chiro, though physically prepared, had only begun to pull himself together spiritually,
[01:27:27] whereas Musashi had started fighting long before he presented himself to his enemy.
[01:27:32] For him, the battle was now entering its second and central phase.
[01:27:38] At the Guion Shrine, he had seen the footprints in the snow,
[01:27:42] and at that moment his fighting instinct had been aroused.
[01:27:45] Knowing that the shadow of the man following him was no longer there, he had bowled the end of the gate,
[01:27:51] and made a quick approach to the kitchen.
[01:27:54] Having awakened the priest, he struck up a conversation, suddenly questioning the man as to what had been going on earlier in the evening.
[01:28:01] Denshin Chiro, disregarding the fact that he was a little late, he had had some tea and warmed himself up.
[01:28:08] Then when he made his appearance, it was abrupt and from relative safety of the veranda.
[01:28:13] He had seized the initiative.
[01:28:16] I guess I was wrong in this section. He doesn't show up late, but he shows up late,
[01:28:20] but he gets to an advantageous position without the other guy realizing it, which is just as cool.
[01:28:26] Did you find one?
[01:28:27] I've got so many.
[01:28:29] This one is good, because it highlights how profound is maybe too strong a word,
[01:28:37] but deep some of the characters in the book are besides Musashi,
[01:28:44] because there are quite a few characters in here.
[01:28:47] This is a teacher, this is an exchange between, as far as I can tell,
[01:28:54] Kizai Mon who is one of the teachers or a prospective teacher, and Musashi has brought a letter that he wants.
[01:29:04] He's I'm one to read, which is some type of request for instruction.
[01:29:10] And Kizai Mon is ignoring both Musashi and the letter.
[01:29:14] And he says, but just please read the letter, I don't want to.
[01:29:17] Just please read the letter, no, I'm not going to read your letter.
[01:29:20] And then he says, please read the letter.
[01:29:22] I don't need to.
[01:29:24] And then Musashi says, what's the matter?
[01:29:26] Can't you read?
[01:29:27] Because I'm unsnored.
[01:29:28] And then Musashi says, well, if you can read it, this is what he says.
[01:29:33] You're a tricky brat.
[01:29:34] The reason I said I don't need to read it is that I already know what it says.
[01:29:38] Musashi says, even so wouldn't it be more polite to read it?
[01:29:42] And this is how the teacher responds.
[01:29:44] Student warriors swarm here like mosquitoes and maggots.
[01:29:47] If I took time to be polite to all of them, I wouldn't be able to do anything else.
[01:29:51] And then he continues, I feel sorry for you however.
[01:29:54] So I'll tell you what the letter says, all right.
[01:29:57] This piece right here is just good.
[01:30:01] This is the continuation of that that fight scene, which actually goes on for multiple pages.
[01:30:08] His technique is better than mine, Musashi thought candidly.
[01:30:12] He had the same feeling of inferiority at Kauyu Gaio Castle when he had been encircled by the four leading swordsmen of the Yagu school.
[01:30:22] It was always this way when he faced swordsmen of the unorthodox schools for his own technique was without form or reason.
[01:30:30] Nothing more really than a doer die method.
[01:30:34] Staring at Detshin Chero, he saw that the style Yoshika Kempo had created and spent his life.
[01:30:43] Both simply simplicity and complexity was well-ordered and systematic and was not to be overcome by brute strength or spirit alone.
[01:30:54] Musashi was cautious about making any unnecessary movements, his primitive tactics refused to come into play.
[01:31:01] To an extent that surprised him, his arms rebelled against being extended.
[01:31:06] The best he could do is maintain a conservative defensive stance and wait.
[01:31:10] His eyes grew red searching for an opening. He prayed to Hachiman for victory.
[01:31:15] And then they go through and it's this dead silence snow accumulated on Musashi's hair.
[01:31:22] And then he kind of breaks him down mentally.
[01:31:27] Detshin Chero's feet inched forward.
[01:31:30] At the tip of his sword, his willpower quivered toward the start of a movement.
[01:31:35] Two lives expired with two strokes of a single sword.
[01:31:39] First, Musashi attacked to his rear.
[01:31:41] So a guy had snuck up behind him. Musashi kills that guy and then kills.
[01:31:45] It's just another great battle scene.
[01:31:50] And the eyes, they talk about the eyes quite a bit in this book.
[01:31:55] And I'll come back to Kenno where you experience something that's very uncommon in Japanese culture,
[01:32:01] which is really intense direct eye contact.
[01:32:04] Doesn't happen a whole lot in Japanese culture even in the martial arts.
[01:32:08] In judo, it's more of a relaxed gaze and you might come out first and there's some yelling.
[01:32:14] So you'll hear that quite a bit. I don't know if non-Japanese do it, but in Japan, when I was watching certain people,
[01:32:19] or competing myself and you'd hear people like you.
[01:32:23] You're shy.
[01:32:24] And after they bow, they'll let out a bit of a scream.
[01:32:27] But then it's down to business.
[01:32:30] And in Kenno, you hear a lot more vocalization and really intense eye contact.
[01:32:36] Are you trained to look at their eyes?
[01:32:38] Yeah.
[01:32:39] Okay.
[01:32:39] So where do you look in wrestling?
[01:32:42] In wrestling, and I should say, I mean, I was a decent high school wrestler,
[01:32:47] I had a good competitive record, but I wouldn't consider myself anywhere.
[01:32:51] Like a D1 wrestler, just mop the floor with me.
[01:32:54] But I would typically have kind of more of a soft, like hips.
[01:33:00] I mean, I'm always looking at people's chest and every sport.
[01:33:03] I'm looking at like naval and chest.
[01:33:05] I usually kind of watch in the hips in wrestling.
[01:33:08] Yeah.
[01:33:09] But in Kenpo, they teach you to look at the eyes.
[01:33:11] In Kenno.
[01:33:12] Oh, sorry.
[01:33:13] I know they teach you to look at the eyes.
[01:33:18] And are you looking for like to see what they're going to do?
[01:33:21] That's where you're going to see their movement.
[01:33:23] You know, there isn't any explicit instruction in why.
[01:33:26] But you can unicate a lot with your eyes.
[01:33:29] And so you can tell if someone's intimidated.
[01:33:32] You can tell if someone's angry.
[01:33:35] You can tell.
[01:33:36] You can also throw people off.
[01:33:38] So for instance, I mean, you have men, though, cold day and all this stuff.
[01:33:41] And I realize pretty quickly is that much like and say,
[01:33:45] Moitai.
[01:33:46] So it's high kick boxing.
[01:33:47] One of the oldest tricks in the book, which is really, really unpleasant.
[01:33:50] If you happen to get caught with it.
[01:33:52] He is particular, at least since I, I gagged well up to say,
[01:33:56] I got caught with it when I went to Japan because I wanted to also
[01:33:59] cross train in striking.
[01:34:01] And so I went to a number of schools, including a place called
[01:34:03] Seidel Kai-Kang.
[01:34:05] And Kang is, is it's at the end of like cold or con.
[01:34:08] This, this con, whatever it is.
[01:34:10] It's a place of practice, right?
[01:34:12] And first time I sparred someone in the karate schools in Japan, like
[01:34:19] Kilkoshi and then so on, they don't have head contact with the
[01:34:23] fists, but it's bare fisted.
[01:34:24] So you're punching each other in the chest, body and so on.
[01:34:27] And this guy was wailing on my legs.
[01:34:30] He was just like hitting me with these, these roundhouse kicks
[01:34:33] to the legs.
[01:34:34] And I'd never even seen like kicks before.
[01:34:37] So I was punching him right in the chest, like just below his collarbone, right
[01:34:41] below his throat, and then punching him in the stomach, and he was kicking me in
[01:34:44] the legs.
[01:34:45] I was like, hey bro, I'll do this all day long.
[01:34:47] And so, I'm punching the chest and I had to skip school in the next
[01:34:50] day because I couldn't rock.
[01:34:52] But the trick in my tie that you see a lot is like, look at the
[01:34:56] leg.
[01:34:57] Look at the leg.
[01:34:58] Look at the leg.
[01:34:59] Look at the leg.
[01:35:00] Look at the leg.
[01:35:01] Look at the leg.
[01:35:02] Look at the leg.
[01:35:04] Look it can still really.
[01:35:05] And you see a lot of people get knocked out that way.
[01:35:08] So in Kenno, you can do something very similar
[01:35:11] where you're sort of telegraphing deliberately with your eyes
[01:35:15] and going for a certain target, you get parry.
[01:35:17] You do that four or five times and then you
[01:35:19] telegraph the same way and go for a different target.
[01:35:23] But yeah, the eye contact is really intense.
[01:35:27] And if you watch Kenno, let's say YouTube
[01:35:30] and imagine what the eye contact is like,
[01:35:33] if their eyes are like wide open staring at each other,
[01:35:36] it adds another layer of flavor to the entire experience.
[01:35:42] And then you can read a passage like this
[01:35:43] and you're like, oh, God, I can see it.
[01:35:46] And it's opposite of GJ2,
[01:35:48] where you don't really look at the person.
[01:35:50] It's almost like the little unwritten rule.
[01:35:52] Like don't know eye contact.
[01:35:53] Yeah.
[01:35:55] No gazing lovingly into someone's eyes.
[01:35:57] I only do it purposefully when I'm trying to really mess
[01:36:01] with someone.
[01:36:02] Oh, I just look right at him and shake my head very subtly.
[01:36:07] Yeah.
[01:36:08] And you probably noticed that they never really look at you.
[01:36:14] Unless you do it super deliberately.
[01:36:15] Like if you try to roll with someone, when you roll with someone,
[01:36:17] try to like notice where they're looking.
[01:36:20] It's almost like they're just blank.
[01:36:21] Yeah.
[01:36:22] I try to work with you.
[01:36:23] The blank.
[01:36:24] Yeah.
[01:36:25] I mean, that's a weird thing too.
[01:36:27] It's what you do to you don't even have to use your eyes.
[01:36:29] Like I used to notice I don't notice it so much anymore.
[01:36:32] I used to notice if someone was in a good position on me,
[01:36:33] I would actually close my eyes.
[01:36:35] I started viewing it like I was not, it was a wasn't smart.
[01:36:38] Like I was doing it to relax myself.
[01:36:40] Someone gets in a good position.
[01:36:41] I just closed my eyes because you know where they are.
[01:36:43] They're freaking on your back or they're across the side.
[01:36:46] You know exactly where they are, but I would just close my eyes
[01:36:49] to kind of relax.
[01:36:49] I don't do it anymore because it seems like a bad idea, right?
[01:36:52] Why would you close your eyes?
[01:36:53] That's stupid.
[01:36:54] It burns a lot of energy though.
[01:36:55] I remember doing training with Leard Hamilton,
[01:36:59] who's one of the most famous big wave surfers of all time.
[01:37:03] Yeah.
[01:37:04] If anyone hasn't seen the documentary, writing giants,
[01:37:05] oh my god, go see that.
[01:37:08] The invention of toe and surfing, holy god.
[01:37:11] And he leard his beast.
[01:37:14] I mean, he's one of the most incredible physical specimens
[01:37:16] I've ever seen.
[01:37:17] He's in his 50s and just wipes the floor with,
[01:37:20] like first round draft picks routinely in terms of workouts.
[01:37:24] And he likes to do a lot of underwater training with weights.
[01:37:28] And he's devised all of these original exercises.
[01:37:32] Like there's one called ammo boxes where you hold a dumbbell.
[01:37:36] He holds a 50 pound dumbbell to his chest
[01:37:38] and then swims across the surface of the pool
[01:37:41] or just slightly submerged with one arm.
[01:37:45] And then does all manner of different exercises.
[01:37:47] And his wife Gabby Rees, who is also a world class athlete
[01:37:52] of her own, right?
[01:37:53] Said to me, relax your eyes because underwater,
[01:37:56] when I'm holding like 250 pound dumbbells,
[01:37:58] understandably my eyes are bugging out of my head
[01:38:00] and she's like you're burning too much energy.
[01:38:02] She's like try relaxing your eyes.
[01:38:04] And I could hold my breath for another 10, 15 seconds,
[01:38:07] just by relaxing my eyes.
[01:38:10] And just another side note that's related.
[01:38:14] And I think relates to a lot in this book also,
[01:38:17] not just jujitsu, is in tango, making it a point
[01:38:21] to bring up tango every time we talk publicly.
[01:38:23] But not cool, not cool.
[01:38:26] Hey, this is the best female dancers
[01:38:30] very frequently close their eyes
[01:38:33] because if they try to read the males movement
[01:38:37] in order to respond, it's already too late.
[01:38:40] If they try to do it visually, it's too late.
[01:38:42] And I think that with a lot of martial arts,
[01:38:44] certainly, that in particular with grappling,
[01:38:48] I mean, your body is always going to sense it
[01:38:50] before your eyes can interpret it.
[01:38:51] Maybe that's why I was doing it originally.
[01:38:54] Much like the female tango dancer.
[01:38:56] Sure.
[01:38:57] So I remember Greg had a drill where you'd start back to back.
[01:39:01] And he said, OK, you got to close your eyes.
[01:39:02] It's going to trust you.
[01:39:03] You got to close your eyes.
[01:39:04] And then grapple.
[01:39:06] And I remember doing it and think, oh, it's not that much harder.
[01:39:08] It's like as long as you're already connected with it.
[01:39:11] It's not that much harder.
[01:39:14] So speaking of tango dancing and women,
[01:39:19] he's, again, Otu is in and out of the book.
[01:39:26] And at this point, he is heading to a battle
[01:39:28] in the Audzur against him and Otu wants to go in with him.
[01:39:32] And she actually wants to die if he dies.
[01:39:35] And so he's having a conversation with her.
[01:39:37] And here we go.
[01:39:38] Don't be a fool, Otu.
[01:39:40] He's suddenly blurred.
[01:39:41] There's no reason why you should die.
[01:39:43] The strength in his own voice and the depth of his feeling
[01:39:46] surprised even him.
[01:39:48] There's one thing from you to die fighting against the Yoshiokas.
[01:39:51] Not only is it right for a man who lives by the sword
[01:39:54] to die by the sword, I have a duty to remind those cowards
[01:39:58] of the way of the samurai.
[01:40:00] You're willingness to follow me to death
[01:40:02] is deeply touching, but what good would it do?
[01:40:05] No more than the pitiful death of an insect.
[01:40:10] Seeing her burst into tears, you regretted the brutality
[01:40:13] of his words.
[01:40:15] Now I understand how over the years I've lied to you
[01:40:19] and I've lied to myself.
[01:40:21] I didn't intend to deceive you when we ran away
[01:40:23] from the bridge, from the village, or when I saw you
[01:40:25] at Hanada Bridge, but I did by pretending to be cold
[01:40:29] and indifferent.
[01:40:30] That wasn't the way I really felt.
[01:40:33] In a little while, I'll be dead.
[01:40:36] What I'm trying, what I'm about to say is the truth.
[01:40:39] I love you, Otu.
[01:40:40] I throw everything to the four winds and live out my life
[01:40:43] with you.
[01:40:44] If only after a moment's pause he continued
[01:40:48] in a more forceful vein, you must believe every word I say
[01:40:51] because I'll never have another chance to tell you this.
[01:40:54] I speak with neither pride nor pretence.
[01:40:57] There have been days when I couldn't concentrate
[01:40:58] for thinking about you nights I couldn't sleep
[01:41:01] for dreaming of you hot passionate dreams.
[01:41:04] Otu dreams that nearly drove me mad,
[01:41:07] often I've hugged my palate, pretending it was you.
[01:41:11] But even when I felt like that,
[01:41:13] if I took out my sword and looked at it,
[01:41:15] the madness evaporated and my blood cooled,
[01:41:20] her face turned toward him, tearful, but as radiant
[01:41:23] as the morning glory, she started to speak,
[01:41:26] seeing the fervor in his eyes, her words caught in her throat
[01:41:29] and she looked again at the ground,
[01:41:32] the sword is my refuge.
[01:41:34] Anytime my passion threatens to overcome me,
[01:41:37] I force myself back into the world of swordsmanship.
[01:41:40] This is my fate, Otu.
[01:41:43] I'm torn between love and self-discipline.
[01:41:46] I seem to be traveling on two paths at once,
[01:41:48] yet when the past diverge,
[01:41:50] I invariably manage to keep myself on the right one.
[01:41:54] I know myself better than anyone does,
[01:41:57] I'm either genius nor a great man.
[01:42:00] He became silent again,
[01:42:01] despite his desires to express his feelings honestly,
[01:42:04] his words seem to be concealing the truth.
[01:42:08] His heart told him to be even more candid.
[01:42:11] That's the kind of man I am.
[01:42:13] What else can I say?
[01:42:15] I think of my sword and you disappear
[01:42:17] into some dark corner of my mind.
[01:42:20] No disappear altogether, leaving no trace.
[01:42:25] At times like that, I'm happiest and most satisfied
[01:42:28] with my life.
[01:42:30] Do you understand?
[01:42:31] All this time you've suffered,
[01:42:33] you've risked your body and soul on a man
[01:42:34] who loves his sword more than he loves you.
[01:42:38] I'll die to vindicate my sword,
[01:42:40] but I wouldn't die for the love of a woman,
[01:42:43] not even you.
[01:42:45] As so much as I'd like to fall in my knees
[01:42:47] and beg forgiveness, I can't.
[01:42:55] Yeah, another speech.
[01:42:57] Another scene that most women would rather not go through.
[01:43:00] Yeah, and it's another, again,
[01:43:03] I know I don't relate to every normal person
[01:43:06] at all in very little ways,
[01:43:08] but like when I read that,
[01:43:09] I'm always like, yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
[01:43:12] And I'm in married for 20 years to an awesome woman.
[01:43:15] And, but yeah, when I hear that, I just think, yeah,
[01:43:18] that's how you do it, right?
[01:43:20] Hey, look, every time I would think about you,
[01:43:22] I just look at my rifle and be the, I'm good.
[01:43:25] I wanna chime in with another one that is not chronologically.
[01:43:30] Yes, sorry, we're out of sync.
[01:43:32] Oh, it's okay, but the ones that I underlined
[01:43:35] tend to be universally.
[01:43:37] I think universally applicable in some ways, yeah.
[01:43:41] So to the fore, this is apparently a discussion
[01:43:45] about some type of battle,
[01:43:48] and they're going back and forth.
[01:43:54] All right, so this is Musashi.
[01:43:57] Then what else can I do, but challenge him?
[01:43:59] I realize, of course, that even if I do,
[01:44:01] he'll probably refuse to come out of retirement,
[01:44:03] so I'm challenging this whole castle to a battle instead.
[01:44:06] A battle, of course, the fore.
[01:44:10] And then, here we go.
[01:44:13] So his arms still held by Kazimone and Debutchi.
[01:44:16] Musashi looked up at the sky.
[01:44:18] There was a flapping sound,
[01:44:19] as an eagle flew towards them
[01:44:20] from the blackness involving Mount Kassagi.
[01:44:23] Like a giant shroud, it's silhouette,
[01:44:25] hid the stars from view before it glided,
[01:44:27] noisely down to the roof of the rice storehouse.
[01:44:30] And then this is the part that I highlighted.
[01:44:32] To the four retainers, the word battle,
[01:44:35] sounded so melodramatic as to be laughable,
[01:44:38] but to Musashi, it barely suffice
[01:44:40] to express his concept of what was to come.
[01:44:43] Ha ha ha ha.
[01:44:46] Yes, yes.
[01:44:49] This part, so Musashi said had this,
[01:44:52] another clan, another group that he's been battling with.
[01:44:57] And the senior guy in the family,
[01:45:01] the senior guy from the school died,
[01:45:03] or isn't, yeah,
[01:45:05] he's died.
[01:45:06] And this 13 year old boy is now the senior guy
[01:45:08] and the family, his name is again Jiro.
[01:45:12] And he shows up.
[01:45:14] So he's challenged as well.
[01:45:15] Again, he challenges all these people to fight,
[01:45:17] and he shows up and they show up.
[01:45:19] And he gets there, it's by some tree.
[01:45:23] And of course, it starts off.
[01:45:24] Musashi, you're late.
[01:45:25] Try to horse first.
[01:45:26] Try to horse voice.
[01:45:27] Took a shit on my dinner table.
[01:45:29] Many took encouragement from Musashi's declaration
[01:45:33] that he was alone.
[01:45:35] Believe me, it was a trick.
[01:45:37] They started looking around for phantom seconds.
[01:45:39] A loud twang off to one side,
[01:45:41] a loud was followed, a split second later,
[01:45:45] by the glint of Musashi's sword flashing through the air.
[01:45:49] Oh, someone shot an air out of him.
[01:45:50] The arrow aimed at his face broke.
[01:45:53] Half falling behind his shoulder, the other half.
[01:45:56] The other half near the tip of his lowered sword.
[01:45:59] A rather where his sword had just been.
[01:46:03] From Musashi was already on the move.
[01:46:06] His hair bristling like a lion's mane.
[01:46:08] He was bounding toward the shadowy form
[01:46:11] behind the spreading pine.
[01:46:13] Gingiro hugged the tree trunk, screaming help.
[01:46:18] I'm scared.
[01:46:19] Gazeimon jumped forward, howling as though the blow had struck him,
[01:46:24] but it was too late.
[01:46:25] Musashi's sword sliced to two foot strip
[01:46:29] of bark off the trunk.
[01:46:31] It fell to the ground by Kingiro's blood covered head.
[01:46:37] It was the act of a ferocious demon, Musashi,
[01:46:40] ignoring the others, had made straight for the boy.
[01:46:45] And it seemed he had had this in mind from the beginning.
[01:46:50] The assault was of a savagery beyond conception.
[01:46:54] Kingiro's death did not reduce the Yoshi,
[01:46:56] because Yoshioka's fighting capacity in the slightest
[01:47:00] would have been nervous excitement rose to a level
[01:47:03] of mergers frenzy.
[01:47:07] And so that's how he kicks off the battle.
[01:47:09] There's the 13 year old boy and he goes right for him
[01:47:11] and cuts off his head.
[01:47:15] So, and this is the first time he starts using both swords.
[01:47:21] I think this is the first time onlookers
[01:47:23] who had a clear view of him covered their eyes in horror.
[01:47:25] This is as this battle continues.
[01:47:27] Most more ghastly still was the sight of the dead
[01:47:30] and wounded left than his wake.
[01:47:32] As he continued his tactical retreat up the path,
[01:47:34] he reached a patch of open land
[01:47:36] where his pursuers served forward in a mass attack.
[01:47:39] In a matter of seconds, four or five of men had been cut down.
[01:47:42] They lay scattered over a wide area,
[01:47:44] more a bon test to mone to the speed
[01:47:46] with which Musashi struck and moved on.
[01:47:49] He seemed to be everywhere at once.
[01:47:51] But for all his agile shifts and dodges,
[01:47:53] Musashi clung to one basic strategy.
[01:47:56] He never attacked a group from the front or the side,
[01:47:59] always obliquely at an exposed corner.
[01:48:02] Whenever a battery of samurai approached him head on,
[01:48:05] he somehow contrived to shift like lightning
[01:48:07] to a corner of their formation
[01:48:09] from which he could confront only one or two of them at a time.
[01:48:14] In this way, he managed to keep them essentially
[01:48:16] in the same position.
[01:48:18] But eventually Musashi was bound to be worn down.
[01:48:21] Eventually, too, his opponent seemed to be
[01:48:24] seemed bound to find a way to thwart his method of attack.
[01:48:26] To do this, they would need to form themselves
[01:48:29] into two large forces before and behind him.
[01:48:33] Then he would be in even greater danger.
[01:48:37] It took all Musashi's resourcefulness
[01:48:39] to stop that from happening.
[01:48:41] At some point, Musashi drew his smaller sword
[01:48:44] and started to fight with both hands.
[01:48:47] While the large sword and his right hand
[01:48:48] was smeared with blood up to the hilt
[01:48:51] and the fist that held at the small sword
[01:48:53] and his left hand was clean.
[01:48:54] And though it picked up a bit of flesh,
[01:48:57] the first time it was used, it continued to sparkle,
[01:49:00] greedy for blood.
[01:49:02] Musashi himself was not fully aware
[01:49:04] that he had drawn it, even though he was wielding it
[01:49:06] with the same deafness as the larger sword.
[01:49:11] So he's just getting after it with two swords.
[01:49:14] And eventually, Ron crowd cried a thousand voices,
[01:49:17] you fighting by yourself, Ron, Ron, while you can.
[01:49:20] So he just crushes everyone.
[01:49:22] There's another weapon that I don't know if they
[01:49:26] talk about in this book that he was quite a depth
[01:49:30] that using as I understand it before,
[01:49:33] he began fighting with two swords.
[01:49:35] And it goes by a number of different names
[01:49:38] and English, sometimes it's called the Jat or Jati,
[01:49:41] J-U-T-T-E in Japanese.
[01:49:43] It's Jite means 10 hands literally.
[01:49:48] And it was a baton, basically.
[01:49:52] If you could imagine, this will make sense in a moment.
[01:49:57] If you could imagine a half-inch thick iron rod
[01:50:02] that's about 18 inches long or 12 inches long,
[01:50:05] that then has what looks like the clip of a,
[01:50:09] say, ballpoint pen, that is a little,
[01:50:13] that is pulled away from that rod,
[01:50:19] so that you have a space in between this hook effectively
[01:50:24] and the rod.
[01:50:25] Palisguards and so on would use these as,
[01:50:29] the equivalent of a police badge
[01:50:30] because they were forbidden from having swords in certain quarters
[01:50:35] because they could be used to assassinate
[01:50:37] higher ranking officials and so on.
[01:50:40] And you could use that in combination with a sword
[01:50:45] to effectively parry or catch the blade
[01:50:51] in between those two prongs and then twisted away.
[01:50:54] And then twisted away or just use it to temporarily
[01:50:57] arrest the use of that blade
[01:50:58] and then pull your own long sword and cut someone down.
[01:51:02] And Musashi was very adept as I understand it
[01:51:06] using the G-Dead before he started using two swords.
[01:51:11] You could also just use the G-Dead
[01:51:12] like club-seminated, and it's a big,
[01:51:15] which I'm sure is exactly what it was used for.
[01:51:18] Now, as the story progresses, he matures
[01:51:22] and starts moving into a little bit of a different phase
[01:51:26] and this is kind of where the first time he starts,
[01:51:29] he's wounded and he's traveling
[01:51:31] and eventually he lays up for the night.
[01:51:33] After the incident, Musashi went to his room
[01:51:37] where he lay awake in the dark as eyes glistening.
[01:51:39] The way of the samurai, he concentrated on this concept
[01:51:43] as it applied to himself and to his sword.
[01:51:46] Suddenly he saw the truth.
[01:51:48] The techniques of a swordsman were not his goal.
[01:51:52] He saw the all embracing way of the sword.
[01:51:55] The sword was to be far more than a simple weapon.
[01:51:59] It had to be an answer to life's questions.
[01:52:03] The way of Usugi Kenshin and Date Mons,
[01:52:07] Musuname was two narrowly military, two hidebound.
[01:52:14] It would be up to him to add to it its human aspect,
[01:52:19] to give it greater profundity, greater loftiness.
[01:52:23] For the first time, he asked whether it was possible
[01:52:26] for an insignificant human to become one with the universe.
[01:52:32] He started to, like I said, mature, do you got one?
[01:52:37] Yeah, I have one which I think is philosophically very similar
[01:52:42] and brings back one of the characters that you read about earlier.
[01:52:46] And I refers to a lesson that he learns from,
[01:52:50] or head learn from Takawan.
[01:52:52] And here's how it goes.
[01:52:54] It wasn't that he, that's Musashi, had forgotten the lesson,
[01:52:57] Takawan had taught him the truly in that is.
[01:53:00] The truly brave man is one who loves life,
[01:53:03] cherishing it as a treasure that once forfeited can never be recovered.
[01:53:07] He well knew that to live was more than to merely survive.
[01:53:11] That's the one that I highlighted.
[01:53:13] The problem was how to imbue this life with meaning,
[01:53:16] how to ensure that his day would cast a bright ray of light
[01:53:21] into the future, even if it became necessary to give up that life for a cause.
[01:53:25] If he succeeded in doing this, the length of his life,
[01:53:29] 20 years or 70 made little difference.
[01:53:32] A lifetime was only an insignificant interval in the endless flow of time.
[01:53:37] I think I've heard you say that quote before.
[01:53:40] I'm not just surviving, living is not surviving.
[01:53:44] That's kind of wild, maybe this is where I got, maybe this is where I got.
[01:53:46] I don't think I've heard you say the quote, but I think I've heard you say that concept before.
[01:53:50] Yeah, I have.
[01:53:51] And maybe I mean, this is where it accepted me 20 years ago,
[01:53:54] and I'm just asking. He ends up with a guy named E.O.
[01:53:59] who's sort of a student of his.
[01:54:02] And they're living in the mountains.
[01:54:04] And again, I think this is as, as he's starting to mature and grow
[01:54:10] in this area where he's going to, where he is.
[01:54:13] It's a mountainous area in Japan.
[01:54:15] And from those of you that haven't been in Japan,
[01:54:17] it's got some incredibly beautiful mountains and incredible.
[01:54:21] Yeah, beautiful.
[01:54:22] Even right outside of Tokyo for people who are ever thinking of going,
[01:54:26] there's a place called Niko, which is N.I.K.K.O in the O's Long.
[01:54:30] Niko and it'd be beautiful, temples and mountains.
[01:54:35] That is where I did the Japanese horseback archery.
[01:54:37] Just as a side note on the Japanese horseback archery, it was so great.
[01:54:41] So there are not, as you would imagine, many schools for horseback archery.
[01:54:45] But one of the, one of the families, one of the clans that still exists,
[01:54:50] the O'Gasawa, so the O'Gasawa does the family and then, or do you,
[01:54:54] like, RYU is the school.
[01:54:56] And that, that, that, do comes up a lot in Wisaashi's life.
[01:55:00] If you look at the history, it's like such and such,
[01:55:02] do you, such and such, do you like the, the school of whatever.
[01:55:06] And O'Gasawa, or do Japanese horseback archery
[01:55:10] is what I ended up studying with one of the members of the O'Gasawa family.
[01:55:16] And we did it in Niko, which is a stunning place to train.
[01:55:19] And just as a little, a little bit of context on what exactly this means.
[01:55:25] So the ceremonial version of Japanese horseback archery entails a straight away
[01:55:33] that is marked off in, in, in my case, with metal rods like rebar.
[01:55:40] So you effectively have these stakes in the ground that are about three feet high of rebar.
[01:55:46] Like every five feet, two parallel lines running, let's call it 300 or 500 feet.
[01:55:52] And you get on a horse at the very beginning of this track.
[01:55:56] And there are three targets laid out equally distance over that 500 foot space.
[01:56:02] And the first one probably comes up at about a hundred meters.
[01:56:06] And there are about the size of a big dinner plate.
[01:56:10] And you're on the horse.
[01:56:12] The saddle is wood, so you don't sit on it.
[01:56:14] You do, you squat above it.
[01:56:17] And you have tabby on which these split socks, you don't have shoes on.
[01:56:21] In these stirrups that actually do not enclose the foot around the foot.
[01:56:27] They don't encircle the foot.
[01:56:28] You stick it in kind of like a slipper.
[01:56:31] And you have a really wide stance.
[01:56:35] And then you have a bow, which is about six feet long.
[01:56:38] In my case, in my left hand.
[01:56:40] And the bottom of the bow, you keep inside your thigh.
[01:56:44] And then you have arrows that are stuck into your belt on your lower back.
[01:56:48] And your first arrow is knocked.
[01:56:50] And then you pull the lines slightly and lock it down with your index fingers so that there's tension on it.
[01:56:58] And then you have the reins.
[01:57:00] And you take off at a full gallop.
[01:57:02] And then you throw the reins down.
[01:57:04] And you fly it.
[01:57:05] You gallop with no control of the horse.
[01:57:08] And these rebar that are set every five feet.
[01:57:11] Keep the horse galloping in a straight direction.
[01:57:13] And you fire the first arrow at the first target.
[01:57:15] And then you have to reload your arrow by reaching to your back, pulling the arrow out.
[01:57:19] And there's a really technical, somewhat complicated way of knocking the arrow very, very quickly while you're riding a horse.
[01:57:27] And then you intend to hit the next two targets.
[01:57:32] While you're yelling, there's certain things you're supposed to yell as you shoot at your target.
[01:57:36] And it's, it's an incredible, incredible demonstration.
[01:57:42] And they do this at the temples in Nekol, which, to me is what comes to mind in terms of imagery when we're talking about his experience in these mountainous regions.
[01:57:52] And yeah, lesson number one, or you do not want to fall off.
[01:57:57] And people do fall off because if you fall off your horse, you get trampled by the horse and you hit the rebar.
[01:58:04] But the reason I brought this up is that everyone is seeing restaurants say that say it's established in 1946 established 1987 established whatever.
[01:58:18] And the sun, a pretty young guy in his mid 30s, really strong.
[01:58:23] The bow eye shot had maybe at a 60 pound or 65 pound tension, which is surprisingly difficult for people who have not done much archery to hold that at full extension for a period of time.
[01:58:33] Especially in a horse.
[01:58:37] It's like 65 is 70 pounds is quite legit on a long bow or a recirf bow.
[01:58:43] And he was pulling a bow that was 120 pounds, like nothing.
[01:58:48] And his jacket, he had what might look like sort of a shiny, like,
[01:58:55] like, like, break dancing jacket is kind of what it looked like with like the elastic tube portions on the wrists.
[01:59:04] And on the back it said,
[01:59:07] Ogasa, Oda, Yabusa, me established 1157.
[01:59:12] Let's just like, yeah, this goes back away.
[01:59:16] Did you hit the targets?
[01:59:17] At the very end, I did, yeah.
[01:59:19] You got him.
[01:59:20] Because you know, shooting from vehicles is really is really hard.
[01:59:23] Shooting guns from vehicles. I mean, it's just hard.
[01:59:25] I can't imagine trying to do a bow or arrow on horseback on a wooden saddle.
[01:59:31] Yeah, it's definitely a different thing.
[01:59:34] I was very surprised that I actually ended up hitting the targets, but, yeah, at the very end.
[01:59:38] How long did you train it for?
[01:59:41] Another thing I would not recommend.
[01:59:44] I crammed it into a week.
[01:59:46] I had a week to train.
[01:59:48] Did you know how to ride a horse before?
[01:59:49] I had some experience on a horse, but western.
[01:59:53] And western style for people don't know.
[01:59:57] If you think rodeo, where you're effectively seated in the saddle,
[02:00:02] it's kind of like the Harley Davidson of horse riding.
[02:00:05] Like your feet are out in front of you, you hear your heels are dropped.
[02:00:08] You don't post.
[02:00:09] And Japanese is somewhere between, it's closer to English,
[02:00:16] where you'd be more elevated.
[02:00:19] And the position is very, very different.
[02:00:22] You're effectively almost a solo stance.
[02:00:25] Like you're very much abducted.
[02:00:28] Like your groin is very, very open.
[02:00:31] So I was extremely sorry.
[02:00:33] I felt like I was doing like suspended squat practice for hours every day.
[02:00:37] So after a few days of that,
[02:00:39] pretty uncomfortable.
[02:00:40] And we lost three days.
[02:00:43] I want to say to rain.
[02:00:44] We couldn't. We couldn't. We had two dangers for the horses and the humans
[02:00:48] to train doing anything in those conditions.
[02:00:51] So we had about four, I'd say four days of real training.
[02:00:55] So speaking of rain, they're up there.
[02:00:58] Musashi and Eori are up there.
[02:01:03] Well, here we go into the book.
[02:01:05] As autumn waned, the insect voice is faded into silence.
[02:01:08] Weaves withered and fell.
[02:01:10] Musashi and Eori finish their cabin because they built a cabin.
[02:01:13] And dressed themselves the task of making the land ready for planting.
[02:01:17] One day while surveying the land,
[02:01:18] Musashi seldom found himself thinking it was like a diagram of the social unrest that lasted for a century after the owned in war.
[02:01:24] Such thoughts aside, it was not an encouraging picture.
[02:01:28] Unknown to Musashi.
[02:01:30] Hot to hot hot and gahara had over the centuries been buried many times by volcanic ash from Mount Fuji.
[02:01:38] And the tone river had repeatedly flooded the flatlands.
[02:01:42] Whenever when the weather was fair and the land bone dry.
[02:01:46] But whenever there was heavy rains, the water carved out new channels.
[02:01:51] Caaring great quantities of dirt and rock along with it.
[02:01:54] There was no principal stream into which smaller ones flow naturally.
[02:01:58] The nearest thing to this being a wide base in that lock sufficiently.
[02:02:03] Sufficient capacity or does our lack of sufficient capacity to either water or drain the area as a whole.
[02:02:09] The most urgent need was obvious to bring the water under control.
[02:02:13] So it's got this big piece of land.
[02:02:15] And he thinks our camera turned us into a farm.
[02:02:17] He doesn't really know that there's no pathway for the streams.
[02:02:22] When the water comes down out of the mountains and when it rains,
[02:02:24] he doesn't know that there's nowhere for it to go.
[02:02:26] It doesn't make sense to the water.
[02:02:27] So it just kind of floods everything.
[02:02:30] Still the more he looked, the more he had questioned why the area was undeveloped.
[02:02:36] They won't be easy, thought, excited by the challenge posed,
[02:02:39] joining the water and earth to create productive fields was not much different than leading men and women in such a way that civilization might bloom.
[02:02:46] To Mousashi, it seemed that his goal was in complete agreement with his ideals of swordsmanship.
[02:02:52] He had come to see the way of the sword in a new light.
[02:02:56] A year or two earlier, he had wanted only to conquer all rivals.
[02:03:01] But now the idea that the sword existed for the purpose of giving him power over other people was unsatisfying.
[02:03:07] To cut people down, to try and over them, to display the limits of one strength seemed increasingly vain.
[02:03:14] He wanted to conquer himself, to make life itself submit to him, to cause people to live rather than die.
[02:03:22] The way of the sword should not be used merely for his own perfection.
[02:03:27] It should be a source of strength for governing people and leading them to peace and happiness.
[02:03:34] He realized his grand ideals were no more than dreams and would remain so as long as he lacked the political authority to implement them.
[02:03:42] But here in this wasteland, he needed neither rank nor power.
[02:03:47] He plunged into the struggle with joy and enthusiasm.
[02:03:51] Day in and day out, stumps were uprooted, gravel sifted, land, level, soil, and rocks made into dikes.
[02:03:59] Musashi and Eori worked from before dawn until after the stars were shining bright in the sky.
[02:04:06] Now, as he's doing this, the villagers keep coming by.
[02:04:10] And they say, what do they think they're doing in?
[02:04:12] How do they think they can live in the place like that?
[02:04:14] And you're wasting your time.
[02:04:15] That's what the all the villagers are saying to them.
[02:04:17] They've seen this for, you know, since 1100 or whatever they've seen this place get flooded.
[02:04:22] And he keeps going, he keeps, you know, trying.
[02:04:26] And every time he makes some progress, he, or it'll rain.
[02:04:30] And everything gets washed away or it'll get flooded.
[02:04:33] And then he thinks he's doing okay and it's a big snow in the mountains, everything survives.
[02:04:36] But then it falls and everything, and then all the water comes down again.
[02:04:40] So he goes on, he keeps working the land, he keeps trying to make it work.
[02:04:45] Back to the book, Musashi carried on and his stubborn struggle throughout the winter into the second month of the new year.
[02:04:51] It took several weeks of strenuous labor to dig ditches, drain the water off, piled dirt for a dike and then covered it with heavy rocks.
[02:04:59] Three weeks later, everything was again washed away.
[02:05:02] Look, Eori said, we're wasting our energy on something impossible.
[02:05:06] Is that the way of the sword?
[02:05:08] The question struck close to the bone, but Musashi would not give in.
[02:05:13] Only a month passed before the next disaster.
[02:05:16] A heavy snowfall followed by a quick fall, Eori, on his return trips from the temple for food inevitably wore a long face for the people there,
[02:05:25] rode him mercilessly about Musashi's failure.
[02:05:28] And finally, Musashi himself began to lose heart.
[02:05:32] For two full days and on into a third, he sat silently brooding and staring at his field.
[02:05:39] Then it dawned on him suddenly.
[02:05:43] Unconsciously, he had been trying to create a neat, square field, like those common in other parts of the plain.
[02:05:50] But this was not what the terrain called for.
[02:05:54] Here, despite the general flatness, there were slight variations in the lay of the land and the quality of the soil that argued for an irregular shape.
[02:06:03] What a fool I've been, he exclaimed aloud, I tried to make the water flow where I thought it should, and forced the dirt to stay where I thought it ought to be.
[02:06:14] But it didn't work.
[02:06:16] How could it?
[02:06:18] Waters, water, dirt, dirt.
[02:06:22] I can't change nature.
[02:06:25] What I've got to do is learn to be a servant to the water and a protector of the land.
[02:06:31] In his own way, he had submitted to the attitude of the peasants.
[02:06:35] On that day, he became nature's man's servant.
[02:06:39] He ceased trying to impose his will on nature and let nature lead the way.
[02:06:44] While at the same time seeking out possibilities beyond the grasp of other inhabitants of the plain.
[02:06:51] The snow came again, and another fall, the muddy water ooze slowly over the plain.
[02:06:57] But Musashi had had time to work out his new approach and his field remained intact.
[02:07:03] The same rules must apply to governing people he said to himself.
[02:07:08] In his notebook, he wrote, do not attempt to oppose the way of the universe.
[02:07:14] But first, make sure you know the way of the universe.
[02:07:19] As I was telling one of my steel buddies about this, we were talking about that.
[02:07:28] You can't, as a leader, a lot of times people want to change people.
[02:07:33] You want to change them.
[02:07:35] And you just, you can't change people.
[02:07:38] You can shift them and they can change themselves.
[02:07:42] But when you try to impose change on someone, you try to make someone what you want them to be,
[02:07:47] it's very difficult to do, if not impossible.
[02:07:50] I was talking about this one, had a guy in a seal platoon.
[02:07:54] And he had potential, right?
[02:07:56] But he had some flaws.
[02:07:58] You know, he was a blout now from that kind of thing.
[02:08:01] And just wanted to bring him along and try to everything.
[02:08:06] Beatings, counselings, befriending, more beatings, did everything.
[02:08:14] And you know, he would like to make slight adjustments for a little while.
[02:08:17] And then he'd go back to just being the way he was.
[02:08:19] And eventually I said, okay, well, we have to, that's the way he is.
[02:08:22] That's the way this person is.
[02:08:24] And you know, how do we work with him, so he's working within the confines of things that he can do and do them,
[02:08:33] exceptively.
[02:08:34] But I think people get caught on the idea that they're going to change people.
[02:08:38] And it's really hard.
[02:08:39] And you see this, especially with people getting involved in relationships with people that they think they're going to be able to change.
[02:08:43] And you're not going to be able to do it.
[02:08:45] I have a question for you, Jago.
[02:08:47] In your own life experience, how do you separate the way of the universe, meaning in you personally, the things that are just you that you shouldn't try to change versus the things that you should try to improve.
[02:09:04] Because I think that there's the temptation for a lot of people to say, well, that's just the way I am.
[02:09:09] But it's it absolves them of the responsibility of doing the work.
[02:09:13] I got asked a similar question and it'll tie into it.
[02:09:16] But I guess by those working with the company the other day and a guy asked, you know, if I've got a guy that's really good at something,
[02:09:22] but a person that's not really good should I just give up on trying to get the person that's not good at that job,
[02:09:27] give up on them and just let the person that's good at it, do it.
[02:09:30] And I said, well, yes, and no, I mean, if we have somebody that is a really good shot like he's a sniper.
[02:09:38] But we got a guy that's not a good shot.
[02:09:40] Okay, so we're going to give the sniper all the good missions and he's going to go do all the tough shots.
[02:09:44] Okay, yeah, that makes sense.
[02:09:45] That doesn't mean we just let the other guy never learn how to shoot.
[02:09:48] No, we actually continue to train him and make him better.
[02:09:51] And I think it's the same thing with your individual self, right?
[02:09:55] If I've got weaknesses, I don't just say, well, I'm just going to avoid being in those areas where I'm weak.
[02:10:01] I'm going to actually go and try and get better with them.
[02:10:04] Now, I'm not going to make that the focus on my life, right?
[02:10:07] I'm not going to try and become a ballerina, right?
[02:10:11] What I like to be more flexible, absolutely.
[02:10:14] Do I need to work on that? Absolutely.
[02:10:16] But I'm not trying to become a ballerina.
[02:10:18] I wouldn't focus on that because it would be a significant waste of my time and of my entire life in a very fruitless situation.
[02:10:26] But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try and be more flexible, right?
[02:10:29] So I think you, you still apply some time to try and improve it,
[02:10:34] but you don't waste valuable energy.
[02:10:37] You'd still look at what you're good at and say, you know, I'm better at doing jigsaw, I'm better at whatever.
[02:10:43] Can I tell you one of the thoughts that for whatever reason consume my mind for about an hour and a half during my silent meditation retreat?
[02:10:53] I was thinking about giraffe's can't dance.
[02:10:57] This book, this demon slayer that crushes me on Amazon, always by five spots.
[02:11:03] When I launch a book and I started thinking about how incredible it would be to take
[02:11:10] Jaco, the cartoon character, as seen in the Jaco approved logo on your T and have a parody of that book called Jaco Cant Dance.
[02:11:22] With like thought bubbles of what you're thinking throughout the book.
[02:11:26] In any case, for whatever reason that is what my mind decided to settle on and I'm sorry.
[02:11:35] So confession over confession.
[02:11:38] So do you find that yourself that you say like, oh, I'm not good at this argument of void it or do you find yourself getting focused?
[02:11:44] Because you know, you're talking about what Mousashi's, what they described Mousashi doing as earlier,
[02:11:48] which is I only worry about things that are beating me, right?
[02:11:51] I only worry about the opponent of the beat me.
[02:11:53] I'm just like the only book you think about as this book, giraffe's can't dance, which is the one book that beats you because I know that's what you're focused on.
[02:11:59] I can't worry about these other books that you can't be crap out of.
[02:12:02] I also just like talking about it because I love the fact that it's called giraffe's can't dance.
[02:12:07] Yeah, and it kicks your ass.
[02:12:09] Do you think you get focused on things that are that you shouldn't be focused on?
[02:12:13] Or that you're wasting time on?
[02:12:15] I, you kind of know what you're good at. I do. I think that I've become better at working on or distinguishing between low level weaknesses and high level weaknesses.
[02:12:32] And what I mean by that is if you imagine say, hey, people have seen like a champagne pyramid,
[02:12:40] or sometimes built at weddings where you stack up all of these champagne glasses and you pour into one, or could be any type of glass, and it cascades down into the others.
[02:12:51] Or you could think of it through a domino analogy. I use this analogy a lot looking at lead domino's like, what can I do?
[02:12:57] If I have a task list, let's say, which of these five tasks will make all of the others easier or irrelevant?
[02:13:05] And that'll help me sequence things in the right order.
[02:13:08] So that I'm not wasting energy. If I've ten years of energy, I'd rather focus on identifying at least to begin with the lead domino's.
[02:13:17] And so a high level weakness would be a lead domino.
[02:13:22] Something that has downstream negative effects on many different areas, even that can compromise your strengths.
[02:13:31] Right. So for me, for instance, I think for a very long time, I've viewed, I only viewed impatience through the lens of the benefits of aggression, because having a good offense has always been my model ever since I became fascinated by Dan Gable,
[02:13:56] who is about as close to 100% offense, legendary wrestling competitor and coach.
[02:14:06] And I have a lot of stories about Dan Gable, incredible, incredible guy, but I would have realized in the last few years, for instance, is that there are low level weaknesses.
[02:14:14] Let's say, I am not a programmer. I am not good at ABCD or E skill that is more of a technician's craft.
[02:14:26] I will not spend time on those things. If I can delegate it, we're out there.
[02:14:31] If there are core psychological traits that are higher order that can negatively impact other things, then I've realized, for the long haul, I do want to at least experiment with developing those capacities.
[02:14:50] What I think has helped me a lot is I'm always, and I was, when I was in the field teams, I was always looking at other people. I was always looking at their leadership. I was looking at what they're doing. I was looking at why they weren't getting along. I was looking at what was wrong with the cartoon.
[02:15:06] And as I would sit there and watch these people, I would learn from them. I'd see two people that didn't get along. I'd say, why can't these guys get along? What's wrong with them? I'd watch them.
[02:15:18] I'd see that this one guy has a giant ego. Oh, and so is the other guy. Instead of one of them disarming the other guys ego, they both can't figure that out. And so they're just battling. You got that inside of a seal between it's a horrible thing.
[02:15:34] I could see to myself where I would see, oh, I've got frustrated with someone, I'd say, or I'd get, I'd have a negative thought about someone. I'd think, well, how do I have that negative thought about that person? That's actually a badass or it seems like a really strong personality or a strong presence. Why do I have that? Oh, I have that because that's my ego. And it's the same thing with when I see people getting excited.
[02:15:59] I don't think excitement is usually a positive thing. I mean, it's not a negative thing, but sometimes people in a meeting, someone just immediately has an opinion.
[02:16:08] And I think, and I watched their opinion fall apart because they didn't listen long enough. They didn't assess things long enough. And so I hear them state their opinion and they stayed it with vigor and with conviction.
[02:16:22] And then you listen to it and all of a sudden they, they can't help but look bad because what they initially thought was wrong. And I probably had the same thoughts. I said to myself, I kept my mouth shut and I listened.
[02:16:34] And so I'd see people do that and I'd say, you know what, when you're in a meeting and there's people talking about things, you don't need to say anything.
[02:16:40] You don't need to appear stupid or whatever. It's a better do appear stupid than open your mouth and remove all doubt, right?
[02:16:45] But I would learn these things about people which I think were helpful to me just by watching and seeing people and being really a really kind of a jerk in my own mind.
[02:16:56] Like I watch people like a jerk like, why would you do that? What's wrong with you? Very accusatory tone in my own head.
[02:17:03] But then it was really easy for me to flip that back on myself all the time and say, well wait a second, you do that too. Wait a second, you make that the same mistake.
[02:17:10] But I think that from a psychological perspective, I think what's given me a good perspective of my own psychology is watching other people intently and closely with the goal of actually helping them correct that, of going up to the guy and say, hey man, this is your ego versus that guy's ego.
[02:17:28] And you're either going to want to you who is going to have to disarm the other one or your guys are never going to go along and this never do you move forward.
[02:17:35] And so I think that really helped me out a lot. I'm sure it did and I have found certainly that there are many benefits in my case of being a solo practitioner, so to speak, being unemployed, slash self employed for decades now.
[02:17:54] But one of the clear downsides that I don't have that in person peer group to observe or superiors or subordinates to observe with the rare exception of a handful of employees now, but
[02:18:08] the what I ended up doing for myself to try to improve because I didn't have I assumed and I think this is good for a lot of people do assume that you may not have sufficient self awareness to accurately self diagnose your weaknesses and strengths.
[02:18:26] So I would seek out environments that made it very obvious and the way I did that and I think Musashi in a way, a ludes to this is if you say are on the battlefield.
[02:18:43] In Musashi's case, your strengths and weaknesses or at least your weaknesses tend to become clearer or magnified. So if I could put myself into a really intense training environment like aka and San Jose.
[02:18:58] I had a lot of professionals there at the time, came the last guys and a number of others and training with Dave and a handful of folks. I could watch my response to increasing levels of stress. How did I respond to extreme heat?
[02:19:14] What was the self talk when I wanted to quit? Did I at what point was I inclined to try to find someone easy to roll with? Like how many rounds did it take, right?
[02:19:29] I would note that and I would actually take notes. I bring my notebook and you can see I have notebooks everywhere here and I would note the not just the technical learnings and what I wanted to approve but the decisions and the self talk that I made that I want to approve upon.
[02:19:47] I would like to try to identify the high level weaknesses that I could work on because everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.
[02:20:01] It's all great and theoretically academically beautiful to sit down and try to self analyze when you're journaling in the morning which I also do but it's quite another thing to be like okay tough guy.
[02:20:11] Even with that long explanation I just gave it looking at all these people. I wasn't consciously thinking.
[02:20:19] Actually I wasn't even consciously thinking about it from a psychological perspective. I was just thinking it from a pragmatic here's two guys why don't they get along.
[02:20:27] And then when I would see myself do it I go oh you're doing the same stupid stuff. It wasn't like this idea of I was looking at myself and I was just doing what I had to do right.
[02:20:42] I guess there's always the subconscious feeling of trying to do better and trying to self improve but I'm not a person that has the constant like I'm trying to self improve.
[02:20:55] I think it's just a natural thing like yeah I'm trying to get better of course but that's not I don't think about it. I guess that's my point out. I don't think about it. I'm not focused on it. I'm just doing it. I'm just doing it and living it.
[02:21:06] Yeah well I think in your case and I have well we have some mutual friends. I mean from the seals but also for Shreakon and a number of friends who have been engaged at very high levels in elite ranks within the military.
[02:21:24] And I think that in my experience thus far most of them have whether it's by virtue of the filtering that their careers impose on them right.
[02:21:38] I mean if 1000 people start at step one how many make it to step 100 that they self select and are selected to have a high degree of what I would consider or what you could consider mindfulness which is usually a simple way to do
[02:21:53] and that's what usually associated with like hippies and San Francisco with Didri do's and burning men and so on. So it's a buzz word there but I think the ability to detach in that way comes naturally to you and too many people I know who also have made it to step 100.
[02:22:13] They just seem in a military context if you don't have that you and certainly you can get killed or get washed out for many different reasons but I think if for one of them seems to be if you have no self awareness.
[02:22:26] You just you get broken or you get disqualified at some point. Yeah or or you get as good as the machine can make you and I think that's that's the real difference you get as good as the machine them she's going to make you good right but.
[02:22:41] You the only person that can take you past what the machine can make is you right and so if you're not self aware if you can't if you can't figure that out if you can't look in the mirror and see see like things that you can correct.
[02:22:51] Then you're you're just going to be with the machine made you which is a high quality item I mean you know the military's filled with some high quality guys. Great guys fabulous guys that perform outstanding.
[02:23:04] But then there's like this one more level of guys that are you look at when you go man that guys really good what why is that that's because that guy the machine got him to hear and he's looking at himself going what can I do better he's got that detachment and that's definitely.
[02:23:19] Important I got to introduce somebody in this book now.
[02:23:26] That there's his name is Sasaki Kujiro gunrue.
[02:23:32] Let's see the last part yeah you got the first. Yeah and are why you got new yeah.
[02:23:36] Yeah, you guys be hard to say yeah. Yeah. Come on. I got something to go with what I'm going to.
[02:23:40] Yeah. So this guy and he dances in and out throughout the book but this is Musashi's arch rifle the other swordsman that's got this incredible reputation only he's been a little bit more he stays on the scene more
[02:23:54] He's going and trying to farm and do another things and this guy's kind of on the scene and there's there's one part where these elderly gentleman are talking about who is truly the best swordsman slash samurai in Japan and here we go to the book as he compared the two he had to admit that the most
[02:24:13] Dimeo and I said that right time you dimeo dimeo would prefer Kuduro he came from a good family and he had started the art of war thoroughly despite his youth he developed a formable style of his own and he gained considerable fame as a fighter.
[02:24:29] The story of his brilliant defeat of men from the obata academy on the banks of the Sumida River and again at the diek on the condo river was already well known nothing had been heard from Musashi for some time.
[02:24:43] His victory at Ichi Jogi had made his reputation but that had been years ago and soon after word had spread this story that the story was exaggerated that Musashi was a secret of after fame who had trumped up the fight made a flashy attack and then fled to Mount He.
[02:25:07] Every time Musashi did something praise worthy a spate of rumors followed denigrating his character in ability.
[02:25:15] He did reach the point where even the mention of his name usually met with critical remarks or or else people ignored him entirely as the son of a nameless warrior in the mountains of Mima Saka his lineage was insignificant.
[02:25:32] He was a young man and he did not come from the ranks of people that were counseling and keep in line.
[02:25:46] He had some stuff like have battles against whole castles attack people he was kind of crazy and so his reputation and then of course you know this is like I guess ancient social media right there is rumors and they would post signs about people and they would do these things to denigrate people's reputation and such and they had done that considerably to Musashi.
[02:26:06] I was just thinking about how labor intensive it would be you're telling us spreading posters like to hand create piles of posters that you then go post to denigrate someone like the equivalent of a tweet was sitting down for a week and hand making posters put around town and they do it in this book they don't know it's full time as they go on both sides people right side Musashi does it the other people do it it's.
[02:26:35] Yeah it's it's crazy we're getting to getting closer closer.
[02:26:42] Musashi's wandering in the mountains and.
[02:26:47] Here we go back to the book.
[02:26:51] At times he was so tortured with his sword.
[02:26:55] It seemed like a weapon that turned against him among the possibilities he considered was choosing the easy way.
[02:27:01] If he could bring himself to live in a comfortable ordinary way with oats who life would be simple almost any five would be willing to pay him enough to live on perhaps 500 2000 bushels.
[02:27:13] But when he put it.
[02:27:15] But when he put it to himself in the form of a question the answer was always no.
[02:27:20] An easy existence imposed restrictions he could not submit to them.
[02:27:28] So he's got the idea you know I could just marry oats who get a good job make a hundred k a year what all it good.
[02:27:38] He doesn't like that.
[02:27:39] The easy path has restrictions it is the discipline that provides freedom apparently for Musashi.
[02:27:47] Well, just as a contemporary example one of my I would consider him a teacher certainly become a friend but.
[02:27:59] A political originally at least when he came to the US Polish political refugee named Jersey Gregoric is now in his 60s lives in woodside California and he's a.
[02:28:06] World champion and world record holder in Olympic weightlifting.
[02:28:11] And he's a good boy cast by the way.
[02:28:18] Yeah, he's he's awesome. He's so salty and to give people a little bit of back on the first time I met him.
[02:28:22] I was just at the time suffering from a malaise in a general fatigue with the.
[02:28:30] My first sense of the ability of the Bay Area. And I walked in to meet him for the first time to get an assessment and we sat down and we drank.
[02:28:39] Mark O'Pollo black tea, it's the only tea that he drinks and we're hanging.
[02:28:42] I have a seat so I sit down or talking he's asking about my goals.
[02:28:46] But my athletic background past injuries and he's sitting across me is eating great ship is in his 60s he can still do.
[02:28:54] As an example, I've seen him on an indoor board. You know, those are his balance boards like a wobble board on top of a cylinder with a loaded barbell.
[02:29:05] He's holding a loaded barbell in a position like a hand clean on an indoor board.
[02:29:10] He's in his 60s throw it up, you know, like a 150 to 100 pounds and land in a full Astahiels snatch on an indoor bar.
[02:29:19] He's a legit and so he reached across sipping tea and then he stopped mid mid thought and reached across and sort of pinched my right to it and just said, you are too fat.
[02:29:32] So I just love this guy. Like after that I was like, yes, we are going to work together.
[02:29:36] But his one of his mantras that he uses for everything is easy choices, hard life, hard choices, easy life.
[02:29:47] This one equals freedom. For sure. That's awesome. That is awesome.
[02:29:52] Did you like get on the program with him? I did for quite a period of time.
[02:29:56] Yeah. And were you traveling down? How did you do? Do you fall in a structure?
[02:30:00] I was actually coaching you. I traveled down regularly and made excellent progress.
[02:30:07] It's very to do Olympic weightlifting the way that jersey would want you to do it.
[02:30:14] And which is the way I would want to do it. You really need hands on instruction.
[02:30:19] It's highly highly highly technical and also you need a logical progression because most people who just want to do a weekend course and figure out the snatch.
[02:30:28] They do not have any of the ankle or shoulder mobility, thoracic spine mobility to even perform the right movement.
[02:30:35] But regardless of who the instructor is, they could have a 500-time world champion teaching them and doing video recording.
[02:30:43] But if they had don't have the mobility, they're just going to hurt themselves.
[02:30:46] So I went down regularly and then when I was traveling with send him video and he would reply with video commentary.
[02:30:53] Great experience. I still think the jersey style relatively narrow stance as to the grass overhead squat.
[02:31:03] I want to the best movements.
[02:31:05] What? How wide does this grip when he does that?
[02:31:08] It's a snatch grip. So there'd be a wide grip.
[02:31:10] Wide grip.
[02:31:11] But he can. There are videos of jersey. People can look about JER, ZY, Gregorek, G, RIG, ORAK.
[02:31:20] There are videos that he is one of the most flexible mobile humans I've ever seen. He's strong as an ox.
[02:31:25] But he can with his feet together holding a 35-pound plate overhead with his hands flat underneath it.
[02:31:36] He's holding a dinner platter.
[02:31:39] Go down into a perfect squat with his chest up.
[02:31:43] Asked to his heels holding that overhead with his fingers basically touching.
[02:31:49] Yeah. Which people might say, oh, I can do that. Trust me you can.
[02:31:56] That's awesome.
[02:31:58] So we're getting towards the end here.
[02:32:02] This again, this rivalry is brewing.
[02:32:07] And finally, there is a speaking of social media.
[02:32:10] There is a command issued by the castle.
[02:32:13] There's what it says on the 13th day of this month at 8 o'clock in the morning on FUNA SHIMA
[02:32:19] in the Nagato streets of BUSIN. SASAKI KIGERO GANRU, a samurai of this fight,
[02:32:28] will add his lordship's bidding fight about with Miyamoto Masashi, Masana,
[02:32:34] a roan in from the province of NIMASAKA.
[02:32:38] It is strictly forbidden for supporters of either swordsmen to go to his aid or set forth on the water
[02:32:45] between the mainland and FUSHINAMA and FUNA SHIMA. Sorry.
[02:32:50] Until 10 o'clock on the morning of the 13th, no sightseeing vessels, passengerships,
[02:32:56] and fishing boats will be permitted to enter the streets.
[02:33:00] 1612, that document right there. So there you go.
[02:33:05] It's on. They're going to fight.
[02:33:08] And for people wondering what roan is that is a masterless warrior that is a samurai without a lord.
[02:33:17] A floating person, a ninnous person.
[02:33:23] And you could think of them in some cases.
[02:33:27] I mean, they would either be freelance, self-directed learners,
[02:33:31] an auto-diadact, like Musashi or they would be mercenaries.
[02:33:35] So roan and were also swords for higher.
[02:33:39] Negative connotation to it.
[02:33:41] Negative connotation. I would say. For sure.
[02:33:44] Negative connotation simply because the lineage and association in Japanese culture is so important
[02:33:53] that if you don't have a master or a particular thief that you're associated with,
[02:34:01] particularly if you come from your born of unknown origins or from a no name warrior,
[02:34:09] it is very much an important class distinction.
[02:34:13] And Sasaki also, as I understand it, this may come up later,
[02:34:19] but used a slightly different sword.
[02:34:23] And we can get to that moment.
[02:34:27] No, no, it's cool. He uses a sword called the drying pole.
[02:34:33] And for years, until I was actually prepping for this podcast,
[02:34:39] I thought that that was a badass name for a sword, of course.
[02:34:43] But what I thought, I always thought to myself, that means it drives you of your blood.
[02:34:47] That's what I thought it meant.
[02:34:49] It drives you of your blood.
[02:34:51] And then as I was researching for this podcast,
[02:34:53] it's actually, and correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I found,
[02:34:57] there's a method of drying your clothes on a stick, a long stick.
[02:35:03] And his sword was longer than most swords.
[02:35:06] And so the full name of it was the closed drying sword.
[02:35:10] Did I get all that right?
[02:35:12] That part, I'm not sure if it makes sense to me.
[02:35:15] And I remember when I was in Japan a number of years ago,
[02:35:19] I go back as often as I possibly can.
[02:35:21] And I'm still in close contact with my host family.
[02:35:23] I've been to my brothers' weddings and so on.
[02:35:25] It's just been fantastic.
[02:35:27] And I went back and I went to a Japanese sword museum,
[02:35:33] which was incredibly hard to find.
[02:35:35] And it was empty.
[02:35:37] And the, I'm decent at, still decent at reading Japanese,
[02:35:42] but it's been a long time.
[02:35:44] I mean, it's been almost 20 years, more than 20 years since I formally studied it.
[02:35:48] So given there are thousands of characters, one gets a little rusty.
[02:35:52] And I went into this Japanese sword museum and the displays and everything.
[02:35:57] You can imagine.
[02:35:58] I mean, Japan.
[02:35:59] Things are clean, meticulous.
[02:36:00] And I went in and it was just walls and walls of displays
[02:36:04] with different swords from different eras.
[02:36:06] So I mean, swords we're talking about.
[02:36:08] Swords from these eras are there preserved,
[02:36:12] look brand new.
[02:36:14] And I was walking around and there was a gentleman who is cleaning.
[02:36:18] And I asked him a question at one point about how to pronounce a character.
[02:36:22] And he proceeded to pause his cleaning and walk me through the entire museum explaining how each of them was used.
[02:36:28] And one of them, or one type I should say,
[02:36:32] which I believe is what Sasaki used.
[02:36:34] It is long.
[02:36:35] And it's called a dachi.
[02:36:37] I think it's dachi.
[02:36:38] And the difference, the most remarkable difference is,
[02:36:41] hey, yes, it's very long.
[02:36:43] And it is curved.
[02:36:45] And it would be used very often by horsemen.
[02:36:49] And it was curved so that they could strike down their opponents
[02:36:56] without getting the blades stuck in their bodies.
[02:37:00] Because if you have a straight blade, or relatively straight blade, like Katana,
[02:37:05] it's almost like having a straight blade-ed hatchet that you swing into a tree.
[02:37:10] It's like fuck.
[02:37:11] And it gets stuck.
[02:37:12] Well, if you're on horseback, that's a big problem.
[02:37:14] You lose your sword.
[02:37:16] You're in a very bad position.
[02:37:18] And so it would be more of a slicing motion, as opposed to a chopping motion.
[02:37:23] And the dachi was very effective for that reason.
[02:37:26] Also, another reason that it tended to be longer.
[02:37:28] Yeah, because you're fighting from on top of the horse, so you got to reach down.
[02:37:31] Yeah, apparently they were saying that this sword was about nine to 12 inches longer than the normal sword.
[02:37:39] And they gave it this name the drawing pool, which again, I always thought was about.
[02:37:43] That's the way my mind works, echo, trials don't be laughing.
[02:37:47] Turn it out.
[02:37:48] It's just trying everything's there where outside of the broom handle.
[02:37:51] Everything's cooler in my brain.
[02:37:59] Oh, too.
[02:38:00] By the way, this whole time that she's been in and out, she's, they've never actually like gotten together
[02:38:06] as whatever mates or as permanent partners, right?
[02:38:11] It's always just been this kind of thing.
[02:38:14] Very Japanese.
[02:38:15] Yeah.
[02:38:16] Oh, is that very Japanese?
[02:38:18] Yeah, yeah, I would say so, just this very, what we would consider sort of awkward.
[02:38:24] Dension that never has resolution.
[02:38:27] Right.
[02:38:28] Well, then that's exactly what this is.
[02:38:30] And that's exactly where they've been for,
[02:38:32] 962 pages of a look, right? Awkward tension for 962 pages.
[02:38:37] And God bless her.
[02:38:39] She's still like saying, hey, I'm here for you.
[02:38:41] Even though he told her, I love my sword and not you.
[02:38:45] Well, not to be fair. He said, I love my sword more than I love you.
[02:38:49] No, he said, I don't dislike you.
[02:38:51] Yeah.
[02:38:52] Which in massage he speak is like, I will love you until my dying day.
[02:38:57] True. True.
[02:38:58] So she is going to say goodbye to her because there's, you know, this is a, this is a, this is a match where someone is going to die.
[02:39:07] And it's, I guess I'm looking at it's a little bit the older guy that is been out of practice against the young stud that's in the game fully.
[02:39:17] So it seems like people are thinking, there's a good chance he's going to die.
[02:39:23] So he's having that final conversation with her. Oh, two, please forgive me.
[02:39:28] I may seem harmless, but I'm not, not where you're concerned.
[02:39:32] I, I know that. Do you? Truly?
[02:39:36] Yes, but I beg you, say one word for me.
[02:39:39] Just one word.
[02:39:41] Tell me that I'm your wife.
[02:39:43] It would spoil it if I told you what you know already.
[02:39:48] But, but she was sobbing with her whole body, but with a burst of strength she seized his hand and cried, say it,
[02:39:56] Sam your wife throughout this life.
[02:39:59] He nodded slowly, silently.
[02:40:03] Then one by one he pulled her delicate fingers from his arm and stood erect.
[02:40:08] A samurai's wife must not weep and go to pieces when he goes off to war.
[02:40:13] Lath from the Oatsu, send me away with a smile.
[02:40:18] This may be your husband's last departure.
[02:40:22] Both knew the time had come.
[02:40:26] For a brief moment he looked at her and smiled.
[02:40:29] Then he said, until then.
[02:40:33] Yes, until then. She wanted to return to smile, but only managed to hold back the tears.
[02:40:40] Farewell. He turned and walked with firm strides towards the water's edge.
[02:40:46] A parting word rose to her throat, but refused to be hugged.
[02:40:50] The tears welled up irrepressibly.
[02:40:54] She could no longer see him.
[02:40:57] The strong, salty wind ruffled Musashi's side burns, his kimono flapped briskly.
[02:41:03] Sasuki, bring the boat a little closer.
[02:41:07] Though he had been waiting for over two hours and Numu-sashi was on the beach,
[02:41:12] Sasuki had carefully kept his eyes inverted.
[02:41:15] Now he looked at Musashi and said, right away, sir,
[02:41:19] where the few strong rapid movements he pulled the boat in.
[02:41:23] When it touched the shore, Musashi jumped lightly into the prow and they moved out to sea.
[02:41:29] Oatsu stopped.
[02:41:32] The shout was to Taro's, another guy that's there on the scene.
[02:41:36] Oatsu was running straight toward the water. He raised after her, startled.
[02:41:40] Gona Suki and Oatsu keep joined the chase. Oatsu stopped. What are you doing?
[02:41:44] Don't be foolish.
[02:41:46] Reaching her simultaneously, they threw her arms around her and held her back.
[02:41:51] No, no, she protested shaking her head slowly. You don't understand.
[02:41:56] What are you trying to do?
[02:41:58] Let me sit down by myself.
[02:42:01] Her voice was calm.
[02:42:03] When they released her and she walked with dignity to a spot a few yards away,
[02:42:07] where she knelt on the sand, seemingly exhausted.
[02:42:11] But she had found her strength. She straightened her collar, smoothed her hair,
[02:42:16] and bowed her head towards Musashi's little craft.
[02:42:21] Go without regrets, she said.
[02:42:25] That's how you do it right there.
[02:42:31] So again, it was mentioned, or if I didn't explain that well enough,
[02:42:37] this battle is going to take place on an island in the middle of a stream.
[02:42:41] And, or straight?
[02:42:43] Yeah, or is it straight? What's the difference between those two?
[02:42:47] Well, actually, that's a great question.
[02:42:49] The way I sit this out, this is fun.
[02:42:52] I mean, a novel like this is created in your own head.
[02:42:55] It's an active experience of creating.
[02:42:57] So in my head, and maybe I don't know what a straight is.
[02:43:01] But the way I envisioned a straight was almost like a small or extended,
[02:43:08] so long but narrow sand bank in the middle of, say, a river.
[02:43:16] Okay, or a but a wide river, like Mississippi.
[02:43:19] Yeah, that's kind of what I pictured to your.
[02:43:21] I pictured a wide, wide river that has a little un inhabited sort of,
[02:43:26] sort of strip of land in the middle.
[02:43:28] Yeah, exactly.
[02:43:29] That's what I pictured.
[02:43:30] And that's what you picture too.
[02:43:31] So we created the same thing.
[02:43:34] So he's in this boat, and he's headed, obviously he's running late.
[02:43:40] And as per usual, as per usual.
[02:43:43] And here we go to the book, Sussouki.
[02:43:47] May I have this? What is it?
[02:43:50] This broken or in the bottom of the boat?
[02:43:53] I don't need it. Why do you want it?
[02:43:56] It's about the right size.
[02:43:58] Mousashi said cryptically.
[02:44:01] He held the slightly waterlogged or out with one hand and squinted down it to see if it was straight.
[02:44:07] One edge of the blade was split off.
[02:44:10] He placed the oron as knee, and totally absorbed, began carving with his short sword.
[02:44:16] Sussouki cast backward glances toward Shimo Sekhi several times, but Mousashi seemed oblivious of the people he left behind.
[02:44:27] Was this the way a samurai approached a life and death battle to a town's been like Sussouki.
[02:44:35] It was cold and hardless.
[02:44:38] So it's important.
[02:44:41] He picked up this old waterlogged or from the bottom of the boat.
[02:44:44] Says, can I have this? The guy says, yeah, sure.
[02:44:46] And now he starts carving it.
[02:44:49] Sussouki was growing more and more nervous with each stroke of the skull.
[02:44:54] He had broken out in a cold sweat. His heart was palpitating.
[02:44:58] How could a man going into battle be so calm?
[02:45:01] It would be a fight to the death.
[02:45:03] No question about that.
[02:45:05] Would he be taking a passenger back to the mainland later?
[02:45:08] Or a cruelly maimed corpse?
[02:45:11] There was no way of knowing. Mousashi thought Sussouki was like a white cloud floating across the sky.
[02:45:18] This was not opposed on Mousashi's part.
[02:45:21] For in fact, he was thinking of nothing at all.
[02:45:25] He was, if anything, a little bored.
[02:45:29] He looked over the side of the boat at the swirling blue water.
[02:45:33] It was deep here, infinitely deep, and alive with what seemed to be eternal life.
[02:45:38] But water had no fixed determined form.
[02:45:42] Was it not because man had a fixed determined form that he cannot possess eternal life?
[02:45:48] Does not true life begin only when tangible form has been lost?
[02:45:54] Tumashashi's eyes, life and death seemed like so much froth.
[02:46:00] He felt goose pimples on his skin, not from the cold water,
[02:46:05] because his body felt the premonition.
[02:46:08] Through his mind had risen above life and death, body and mind were not in a cord.
[02:46:16] When every poor of his body, as well as his mind, forgot there would remain nothing inside,
[02:46:23] but being inside his being, but the water and the clouds.
[02:46:29] So he's going into a full-on like...
[02:46:32] ...a little bit here.
[02:46:35] They arrived at the island.
[02:46:38] Ghosts straight in, Musashi flew off the quilted coat.
[02:46:41] The bow advanced at a very restrained pace,
[02:46:44] so Zyukik could not bring himself to stroke with vigor.
[02:46:47] His arms moved only slightly, exerting little force.
[02:46:50] The sound of bulbous was in the air.
[02:46:53] Sassuki, yes sir.
[02:46:55] It shall not be the same as the sun.
[02:46:58] Sassuki, yes sir.
[02:47:02] It shall not be here.
[02:47:04] There's no need to get close.
[02:47:06] You don't want to damage your boat.
[02:47:08] Besides, it's about time for the tide to turn.
[02:47:11] Silent Lisa Zyukik fixed his eyes on a tall thin pine tree standing alone.
[02:47:17] Underneath it, the wind was playing with a brilliant red cloak.
[02:47:22] Sassuki started to point, but realized that Musashi had already seen his opponent.
[02:47:27] Keeping his eyes on Ganru, Musashi took a russet, hand towel from his OB, folded it in four lengthwise,
[02:47:36] and tied it around his wind blown hair.
[02:47:40] Then he shifted his short sword to the front of his OB.
[02:47:44] Taking off his long sword, he laid it in the bottom of the boat,
[02:47:48] and covered it with a red mat.
[02:47:51] In his right hand, he held the wooden sword he had made from the broken ore.
[02:47:56] This is far enough.
[02:47:58] He said this is Yuki.
[02:48:03] So, he's going to fight the best swordsman in the world.
[02:48:08] He curves up, wooden sword out of an ore on the way, leaves his long sword in the boat.
[02:48:18] And this is a novel, but there's also some historic precedent for this.
[02:48:26] So he would routinely use wooden swords when dealing with opponents who were using live blades.
[02:48:39] Back to the book, at that moment, Musashi, his Hakama, which is pants.
[02:48:45] Yeah, it's kind of like a Japanese kilt.
[02:48:49] Let's say very, very long, usually comes down to the angles.
[02:48:53] His Hakama hitched high on both sides, jumped lightly into the sea, landing so lightly.
[02:48:59] Barely made a splash.
[02:49:00] He strode rapidly toward the waterline, his wooden sword cutting through the spray.
[02:49:05] Five steps, ten steps.
[02:49:08] Susuki, abandoning his skull, watched in wonderment unconscious of where he was, what he was doing.
[02:49:16] As Ganru, street-dway from the pine, like a red streamer, his polished scabbard caught the glint of the sun.
[02:49:24] Musashi!
[02:49:26] Ganru planted his feet resolutely in the sand unwilling to give up an inch.
[02:49:32] Musashi stopped and stood still, exposed to the water in the wind.
[02:49:37] A hint of a gran appeared on his face.
[02:49:41] Coduro, he said quietly, there was an unearthly fierceness in his eyes, a force pulling so irresistibly.
[02:49:49] It threatened to draw Coduro inexorably into the peril and destruction.
[02:49:55] The waves washed his wooden sword, Ganru's were the eyes that shot fire.
[02:50:02] The blood thirsty flame burned in his pupils like the rainbows of fierce intensity, seeking to terrify and debilitate.
[02:50:13] Musashi!
[02:50:15] No answer.
[02:50:17] Musashi!
[02:50:19] The sea rumbled ominously in the distance, the tide lapped and murmured at the two men's feet.
[02:50:26] Your lady again aren't you, is at your strategy? As far as I'm concerned, it's a cowardly play.
[02:50:32] It's two hours past the appointed time. I was here at eight, just as promised, I've been waiting.
[02:50:38] Musashi did not reply.
[02:50:41] You did this at each e. Joji, and before that at the Ren Gion.
[02:50:48] Your method seems to be to throw your pointed off by deliberately making him wait.
[02:50:52] That trick will get you nowhere with Ganru. Now prepare your spirit and come forward bravely, so future generations won't laugh at you.
[02:51:01] Come ahead and fight Musashi.
[02:51:05] The end of his scabbard rose high behind him as he drew the great drying pole.
[02:51:11] With his left hand, he slid off the scabbard and threw it into the water.
[02:51:17] Waiting just long enough for a wave to strike the reef and retreat. Musashi suddenly said in a quiet voice,
[02:51:24] you've lost co-gero.
[02:51:27] What? Ganru is kicking to the core. The fight's been fought.
[02:51:32] I say you've been defeated. What are you talking about?
[02:51:36] If you're going to win, you wouldn't throw your scabbard away.
[02:51:40] You've cast away your future, your life.
[02:51:43] Words!
[02:51:45] For nonsense! Too bad cajaro.
[02:51:48] Ready to fall? Do you want to get it over with fast?
[02:51:52] Come! Come forward! You bastard!
[02:51:57] Oh!
[02:51:59] Musashi's cry in the sound of the water rose to a crescendo together.
[02:52:04] Stepping into the water, the drying pole positioned high above his head, Ganru faced Musashi squarely.
[02:52:11] A line of light foam streped across the surface as Musashi ran up on shore to Ganru's left.
[02:52:18] Ganru pursued.
[02:52:20] Musashi's feet left the water and touched the sand at almost the same instant that Ganru's sword.
[02:52:26] His whole body hurdled at him like a fine fish.
[02:52:30] When Musashi sensed that the drying pole was coming toward him,
[02:52:33] his body was still at the end of the motion that had taken him out of the water leaning slightly forward.
[02:52:39] He held the wooden sword with both hands, extended out to the right behind him and partially hid.
[02:52:47] Satisfied with his position, he half grunted and almost noiseless sound that wafted before Ganru's face.
[02:52:55] The drying pole had appeared to be on the verge of a downward slice, but it wavered slightly, then stopped.
[02:53:02] Nine feet away from Musashi, Ganru changed directions by leaping nimbly to the right.
[02:53:09] The two men stared at each other.
[02:53:12] Musashi, two or three paces from the water, had the sea to his back.
[02:53:17] Ganru was facing him, his sword held high with both hands.
[02:53:22] Their lives were totally absorbed and deadly combat, and both were free from conscious thought.
[02:53:30] The scene of battle was a perfect vacuum, but in the waiting stations and beyond the sound of the waves countless people held their breaths.
[02:53:41] Above Ganru hovered the prayers and the hopes of those who believed in him and wanted him to live.
[02:53:48] Above Musashi, the prayers and hopes of others.
[02:53:54] Of Sadou and Ioriyon the island, of Otzu and Otsu-gai, Otsu-gi, and Gono-suki on the beach of Akami and Madahachi on their hill.
[02:54:07] All their prayers were directed to heaven.
[02:54:11] Here, hopes, prayers and the gods were of no assistance.
[02:54:16] Nor was chance.
[02:54:19] There was only a vacuum, in personal and perfectly impartial.
[02:54:26] Is this vacuum so difficult of achievement by one who has life the perfect expression of the mind that is risen above thought and transcended ideas?
[02:54:38] The two men spoke without speaking.
[02:54:41] Then to each came the unconscious realization of the other. The pores of their bodies stood out like needles directed at the adversary.
[02:54:53] Mussels, flesh, nail, hair, even eyebrows, all bodily elements that partake of life were united into a single force against the enemy,
[02:55:04] defending the living organism of which they were part.
[02:55:09] The mind alone was one with the universe clear and untrubbled, like the reflection of the moon in upon the midst of the ragings of a typhoon.
[02:55:20] To reach this so blind immobility is the supreme achievement.
[02:55:27] It seemed like Eons, but the interval was in fact short. The time required for the waves to come in and recede a half a dozen times.
[02:55:38] Then a great shout, more than vocal, coming from the depths of being shattered the instant.
[02:55:45] It came from Ghanru and was followed immediately by Musashi's shout.
[02:55:51] The two cries like angry waves lashing a rocky shore sent their spirit skyward.
[02:55:58] The challenger soared raised so high that it seemed to threaten the sun, straight through the air like a rainbow.
[02:56:07] Musashi threw his shoulder, his left shoulder forward, drew his right foot back and shifted his upper body into a position half facing his opponent.
[02:56:17] His wooden sword held in both hands swept through the air at the same moment that the tip of the drying pole came down directly before his nose.
[02:56:27] The breathing of the two combatants grew louder than the sound of the waves.
[02:56:32] Now the wooden sword was extended at eye level. The drying pole high above its bearers head.
[02:56:39] Ghanru had bounded about ten pieces away where he had the seed on side.
[02:56:45] Though he had not succeeded in injuring Musashi in his first attack, he had put himself in a much better position.
[02:56:52] Had he remained where he was, the sun reflecting from the water into his eyes, his vision would soon have faltered than his spirit, and he would have been at Musashi's mercy.
[02:57:04] With renewed confidence, Ghanru began inching forward, keeping a sharp eye out for a chinkin Musashi's defense and stealing his own spirit for a decisive move.
[02:57:16] Musashi did the unexpected. Instead of proceeding slowly and cautiously, he strode boldly toward Ghanru, his sword projecting before him, ready to thrust into Ghanru's eyes.
[02:57:31] The artlessness of this approach brought Ghanru to a halt. He almost lost sight of Musashi.
[02:57:39] The wooden sword rose straight in the air, with one great kick, Musashi leapt high and folding his legs reduced his six foot frame to four feet or less.
[02:57:51] Ghanru's sword screamed through the space above him. The stroke missed, but the tip of the drying pole cut through Musashi's headband, which went flying through the air.
[02:58:05] Ghanru missed a hit for his opponent's head and a smile flitted briefly across his face.
[02:58:14] The next instant, his skull broke like gravel under the blow of Musashi's sword.
[02:58:24] Ghanru lay with a sand met the grass, his face betrayed no consciousness of defeat. Blood streamed from his mouth, but his lips formed a smile of triumph.
[02:58:41] Oh no, Ghanru forgetting himself, Yuama Kabuki jumped up and with him, all his retnue, their faces distorted with shock.
[02:58:57] Then they saw Nagoda, Sado, and Eori sitting calmly and sedately on their benches.
[02:59:04] Shamed, they somehow managed to keep from running forward. They tried to regain a degree of composure, but there was no concealing their grief and delusion.
[02:59:15] Some swallowed hard refusing to believe what they had seen, and their minds went blank.
[02:59:22] In instant, the island was quiet and still as it had ever been. Only the rustle of the pines and the swaying grasses mocked the frailty and the impermanence of mankind.
[02:59:36] Musashi was watching a small cloud in the sky.
[02:59:40] As he did, his soul returned to his body, and it became possible for him to distinguish between the cloud and himself, between his body and the universe.
[02:59:56] Sasaki, Kajiro, Ghanru did not return to the world of the living. Lying face down, he still had a grip on his sword. His tenacity was still visible.
[03:00:10] There was no sign of anguish on his face. Nothing but satisfaction at having fought a good fight, not the faintest shadow of regretting.
[03:00:22] The sight of his own headband lying on the ground sent shivers up and down Musashi's spine.
[03:00:29] Never in this life he thought, would he meet another opponent like this?
[03:00:36] A wave of admiration and respect flowed over him. He was grateful to Kajiro for what the man had given him.
[03:00:46] In strength, in the will to fight he ranked higher than Musashi. And it was because of this that Musashi had been forced to excel himself.
[03:00:59] What was it that an enabled Musashi to defeat Kajiro?
[03:01:05] Skill, the help of the gods, while knowing it was neither of these, Musashi was never able to express a reason in words.
[03:01:16] Certainly, it was something more important than either strength or godly providence.
[03:01:22] Kajiro had put his confidence in the sword of strength and skill.
[03:01:29] Musashi trusted in the sword of spirit. That was the only difference between them.
[03:01:37] Silently, Musashi walked the ten paces to Kajiro and knelt beside him.
[03:01:43] He put his left hand near the maustrels of Kajiro and found there was no trace of breath.
[03:01:51] With the right treatment he may recover, Musashi told himself, and he wanted to believe this.
[03:01:59] Wanted to believe that this most of valiant of all adversaries would be spared.
[03:02:07] But the battle was over. It was time to go.
[03:02:12] Farewell, he said to Kajiro, then to the officials on their beat benches.
[03:02:19] Having bowed once to the ground, he ran to the reef and jumped into the boat.
[03:02:25] There was not a drop of blood on his wooden sword.
[03:02:28] The tiny craft moved out to see.
[03:02:32] Who is to say where? There is no record as to whether Ghanru's supporters on Hiko Jima attempted to take revenge.
[03:02:43] People do not give up their loves and hates as long as life lasts.
[03:02:49] Waves of feeling come and go with the passage of time.
[03:02:54] Throughout Musashi's lifetime there were those who resented his victory
[03:02:59] and criticized his conduct on that day.
[03:03:03] He rushed away, it was said because he feared reprisal. He was confused.
[03:03:10] He even neglected to administer the Kudagra.
[03:03:16] The world is always full of the sound of waves.
[03:03:22] The little fishes abandoning themselves to the waves, dance and sing and play.
[03:03:32] But who knows the heart of the sea, a hundred feet down?
[03:03:37] Who knows its depth?
[03:03:49] The end?
[03:03:54] That is how the book finishes up.
[03:04:03] Who knows the heart of the sea?
[03:04:10] Who knows its depth?
[03:04:19] And as I read that, I wonder to myself,
[03:04:27] are we just the little fishes?
[03:04:33] Abandoning ourselves to the waves to sing and dance and play?
[03:04:43] Is that what we're doing?
[03:04:47] And I'm not saying don't have fun.
[03:04:50] I'm not saying don't sing and dance and play.
[03:04:53] Enjoy life, of course, and relish the joy of life.
[03:05:00] But I think you have to make sure you don't dance your life away.
[03:05:07] Don't be one of the little fishes.
[03:05:14] And in Dukoto, that final writing of Musashi before he died,
[03:05:21] the last thing he wrote was never stray from the way.
[03:05:31] And I think that that's what this is about.
[03:05:39] All the fun and the singing and the dancing and all the play, it's okay.
[03:05:46] It's good.
[03:05:50] But all those things can be distractions.
[03:05:59] Because there is a path, there is a way.
[03:06:06] And you know what that way is, you know what you should be doing.
[03:06:16] And it's hard to stay on that path because it is the path of discipline.
[03:06:24] And discomfort, but it is the right path.
[03:06:29] And you know that.
[03:06:34] And it is that path that will ultimately lead you to where you really want to be.
[03:06:45] So that you can live.
[03:06:52] And you can die without regrets.
[03:07:04] I think a lot of times, people are trying to find the path.
[03:07:10] And they're looking all around different places and different people and different influences.
[03:07:17] But man, I think so often that path, you know what the path is and people know what they're supposed to be doing.
[03:07:23] But they just don't get on the path and stay on the path.
[03:07:28] Yeah, I agree.
[03:07:29] Or something they felt when they were eight or twelve.
[03:07:33] And they travel the world or travel through life's experiences trying to find the answer that was in front of them the entire time.
[03:07:42] And so they come back to see what they knew with different eyes and to recognize that they knew the path all along.
[03:07:51] Which is something that I so enjoyed about this book and the character, both real and certainly presented by the author.
[03:08:02] The author of Musashi, who is using his experiences in this domain of the sword as a means of thematic interconnectedness.
[03:08:15] And so unlike Cogito at the end, he is not just a technician with the sword.
[03:08:23] Although he is a brilliant technician, he's telling the soil he's constructing buildings, which later he did quite a lot of in terms of architecture and overseeing the building instead of destruction of things.
[03:08:38] And finding at the highest levels of performance with the sword in filling opponents the principles, the first principles that he can apply everywhere.
[03:08:52] And that's part of what fascinates me so much about Musashi or anyone who's the best of what they do is that it could be anything.
[03:09:00] It could be pottery, it could be sniping, it could be calligraphy, but like the best.
[03:09:06] They see the depth.
[03:09:10] They see the interwoven web that can expand from that one fine focus into everything that they do.
[03:09:19] And I think that for me at least is the path and maybe it's just coming off of a silent retreat that I want to talk this way.
[03:09:28] But it doesn't strike me as something that is cleanly expressed in an Instagram post or a quote necessarily.
[03:09:37] It's more of a feeling like you know if you're sober and take a moment to sit in the stillness.
[03:09:46] And by stillness, I don't mean sitting on a mountain top.
[03:09:49] It could just be five minutes of silence when you first get up in the morning and observe your own mind and how you feel like you know if you're on the path or not.
[03:10:00] Or at least you know when you're not on it.
[03:10:02] Totally agree.
[03:10:04] You know, you know when you're not on it.
[03:10:06] And I think that the feeling of being on it when you're on the path, it has that beauty of.
[03:10:15] Mindlessness or no mind, as what they would say, and say Zen, the state of no mind.
[03:10:24] And it sounds like unconscious, but it's different. It's not unconscious.
[03:10:27] It's not subconscious. It's something else where you feel that you're exactly where you should be doing exactly what you should be doing.
[03:10:36] And you're not planning you're just putting one foot front of the other on this path that you didn't have to find because in a way.
[03:10:44] The path was seeking you the whole time.
[03:10:47] And it's just a feeling. It's a really, it's a feeling I think that everyone can have, but they get so caught up.
[03:10:56] We all get caught up. I want to speak for YouTube, find Jansel, speak for myself.
[03:11:01] It's easy to get caught up in the noise and the shiny objects.
[03:11:05] And just like the little fish you were talking about earlier.
[03:11:10] It's like when you see that lure to recognize it as a lure is sort of the first step.
[03:11:18] And then to realize that when you look past the lure, there's a lure, 16 inches in front of you,
[03:11:24] and then you're in an ocean that has endless fathoms of death.
[03:11:31] What a journey.
[03:11:33] Yeah, the same, the line that says the world is always filled with the sound of waves.
[03:11:40] It's like, yeah, those sounds are going on in the waves or out there.
[03:11:44] And there's little fishy swimming around in the waves.
[03:11:48] Yeah.
[03:11:49] Well, you, and I think you've experienced this type of, that type of clarity in many different contexts.
[03:11:58] I haven't served much, but I have done a bit, certainly not as regularly as you have.
[03:12:03] But the feeling of when I've been out in surf that suddenly exceeded my capacities,
[03:12:12] which is also not necessarily something I recommend, but I've had this harrowing experience,
[03:12:18] particularly as someone who didn't learn to swim until I was in my 30s, which is a whole separate thing that I think we covered in episode 50.
[03:12:26] I have fear related to the ocean, which I think is healthy on a lot of levels, but when you're out there and suddenly sets come in that are 70% 100% bigger than what you went in with.
[03:12:40] The feeling of, or just sitting calmly on your board waiting for a set and looking out over the water,
[03:12:47] the sense of insignificance that you feel is not a, at least that I feel, it's not a negative thing.
[03:12:55] It's a very, has to use the word, but I can't find the better one.
[03:13:02] Spiritual experience, really. Oh yeah, that email.
[03:13:07] That comment on social media, that commitment I made to go to an event that I read out really six months later, don't want to go to.
[03:13:16] Who gives a fuck? It's like a robuncha monkeys on a spinning rock.
[03:13:20] Yeah, in the middle of this whole thing, whatever this whole thing is. And all that thing is singing and dancing and playing, and it's like compared to the depths of the ocean, it means nothing.
[03:13:30] Yeah, nothing.
[03:13:32] Yeah, it's, it's, it's, I just, I love the purity of, despite his stupidity, let's be honest, right?
[03:13:46] We already talked about it like he made us, a lot of stupid decisions, storming the jail.
[03:13:51] I mean, what do you, what do you think's going to have? And so on and so forth, but despite all that coming back to what he knew, one of the few things that he felt,
[03:14:02] I shouldn't say no, felt to be true to him, which was this commitment to the way of the sword.
[03:14:07] And it doesn't have to be a commitment to the way of the sword, but I've always had a certain envy for people, including yourself,
[03:14:14] who from a very, very early age, just felt, a beacon for a direction that called the really lucky, I feel like I was really lucky in that aspect.
[03:14:28] Well, you made people, I've met, for instance, Laird Hamilton, I mentioned it earlier, it's like he still serves every day, wakes up at four, stoked to go out and train.
[03:14:40] And he's on the path, he's on the path. And I mean, this is a guy who he was with, I mean, he's out there with large tiger sharks, which are routinely out, where he serves in Hawaii, where he spends a good portion of the year.
[03:14:58] And I've heard stories and these are real, these are not several hundred years later in Bellish stories.
[03:15:03] The story, just a real story, as someone was bitten by a tiger shark, bleeding out, he went back to a jet ski that they had, oh, it took off at some piece of clothing he had, put in,
[03:15:16] make shift turnic it on this guy, who's bleeding in the water with tiger sharks, keep mine's already been, the key has been lost to the jet ski, hot wires the jet ski, and brings the guy back and saves it.
[03:15:29] And I'd say every few months he saves someone's life in the water, and he's in his 50s, you're sitting in a steam room at one point.
[03:15:39] And I, in retrospect, realized not a good idea to try to outlast Laird and a steam room.
[03:15:46] But he was saying, roughly, along these lines, like 20, once it's 20 feet, you can start to have fun, start to play around.
[03:15:54] Because 20 to 30, yeah, you're really jamming, 30 to 40, you can definitely get into the zone, he's like above 50, you're not allowed to fall.
[03:16:06] And that's his day, and he has kids, but as far as I can tell, Gabby, who's just incredible, incredible on so many levels in her own, right?
[03:16:16] She understands, like, this is his path, he's still chasing giants, and he's not going to stop, how could he, like, that's part of who he is.
[03:16:26] What do you think draws people, like, in the wrong direction in their life?
[03:16:32] I think it's just a little distraction, so as you talk about echo, it's a little distraction, there's little things that just pull you off.
[03:16:40] And I think maybe people don't want to accept the fact, like, they know what the path is, but they want to deny it for whatever reason.
[03:16:48] I think that's, I think that can be part of it, the distraction of the path.
[03:16:58] I mean, I will say, for this people out there, like, well, forgot to say, like, I don't know what my path is, I can't define it.
[03:17:05] I don't know if I could say to someone with absolute conviction, my path is ex, but I can tell when I've strayed, if that makes sense.
[03:17:17] There's a certain agitation, there's a certain scattered feeling that I have, and as to reasons people get off the path, and I think people may have multiple paths, but you're going to say,
[03:17:32] that was going to say, because I've been, I'm trying to formulate what we're talking about, because I know exactly what you mean.
[03:17:40] Like, like, the path is, it might not be like, I want to do this thing, like, there's something else.
[03:17:46] And I think it, I think the something else is, the path is how you are going to live.
[03:17:54] Yeah, that's not necessarily a destination, that you could, you could follow the same path and get to a bunch of different destinations, but the path itself of how you're going to live, how you're going to go through life, how you're going to do things.
[03:18:08] That's, that's what I'm talking about, and even the path that I'm on could have led to other things in my life, and even though, you know, I was in the military for 20 years, I'm not in the military anymore.
[03:18:20] I'm still on the same path, like the path is the same of the way I'm trying to live my life. That's the same.
[03:18:27] And if I'm in, I'm in business, the way I run my business, I'm trying, I'm on the same path.
[03:18:33] It's, so the path, it's like the way you're living your life more than anything else, and it doesn't matter if you're in college, if you're starting a business, if you're working for someone,
[03:18:43] are you on the path that you're supposed to be on? Are you living the way that you feel you're supposed to live, that you know you're supposed to live?
[03:18:51] I think people get off that, they get off that, and they're not living the way that they know they should live.
[03:18:56] Regardless of circumstances, you've been in horrible circumstances before. We all go, situations where things just went sideways,
[03:19:04] and you can either stray off the path and turn into something that you're not or something that you know you shouldn't be, or you can stay on the path.
[03:19:13] You can continue to do the things that you're supposed to do and live the way that you want to live.
[03:19:19] And really, lately I've been talking about, because I've been trying to explain this, you know what the right thing to do is.
[03:19:27] You know what you're supposed to do as a person, as you, you know what you're supposed to do. Do it. Do that thing.
[03:19:35] What is that thing that you're supposed to live a certain way? And when you don't live that way, like you said, there's friction and there's tension and there's disruption,
[03:19:45] and it doesn't feel right. And when you live the right way, it's often hargur, it often is less immediate gratification.
[03:19:52] But the internal gratification that you get from living the way you're supposed to live is very satisfying.
[03:20:00] And another thing I need to absolutely point out is, I am by no means sitting here trying to say that I've always maintained the worst human ever. I'm horrible.
[03:20:14] And you know, I was on with a guy named Charlie Plum came on the podcast and a guy named Jim Kim Conkel. Charlie Plum was a Vietnam fighter pilot shot down, spent six years in the Hanoy Hilton.
[03:20:26] And another guy named Jim Conkel who was a fighter pilot in World War II. And we got in this conversation like about, you know, doing good and these guys are just levels infinite levels above me as far as being good people.
[03:20:42] And I kind of went along with the conversation. Almost as if I was one of their, like had that level of goodness, which I don't, you know, I mean, I'm trying, but you know, when I was a young seal, I was a maniac, you know, I made Mousashi look like a brilliant saint with his youth.
[03:21:00] And I'm crazy, maniac kid filled with just mayhem in my brain. And all my friends, we were all the same and we got after it. And so believe me, I'm not trying to say that, but I will say that as I've grown up, I've, I've think I've got myself closer to living the way that I know I'm supposed to live or I, the what I believe to be the right way and the right path to be on.
[03:21:23] And, you know, so I just wanted to make that quick caveat that anybody that's listening that's like, oh, how joccal is really just a saintly person wrong. I'm not even remotely making that claim.
[03:21:36] But I am trying, I'll give myself at least that much credit.
[03:21:40] I think that everyone is a work in progress and that the path, so to speak, is illustrated for me in this book, and I'll get into a couple of specifics. It might be helpful for people to think about or at least have been helpful to me as I think through.
[03:22:02] I think which is the relative lack of friction and the scatteredness and agitation versus states without those things.
[03:22:14] Because being on the path is not necessarily for me, a feeling of overwhelming joy and happiness per se. It's, it's a lack of
[03:22:29] success, agitation and destructiveness. And I think that what, what I've found for myself is that as I get older and feel more at peace with what I'm doing and how I'm behaving.
[03:22:44] Like you said, it's having certain first principles in mind that transcend any given project, any given conversation, anyone relationship and early on. It's
[03:22:58] that you're hoping to define yourself or find yourself or build yourself. You are very often succumb because how could you not to pursuing shiny object after shiny object. And in the beginning, I think that's fine and even for a very long period of time, you throw a lot against the wall to see what sticks and to discover what you're good at, what you're terrible at, what your weaknesses are, what your strengths are.
[03:23:20] But over time, whether you're looking at some of the most successful investors in the world like Ray Dalia of Bridgewater Associates, they manage 160 billion dollars at last count.
[03:23:30] And or athletes like Marcel La Garcia who will not train a technique that he cannot use on a 300 pound muscular opponent. He just will not train.
[03:23:42] He does not, he does not drill techniques that he cannot apply to someone twice his size. And these are principles, right, whether it's safe.
[03:23:52] And you can take principles from one domain and transplant them, which is why I think this book is such an excellent illustration of the value of becoming exceptionally exceptionally good at something in a very very narrow band.
[03:24:08] And because when you do that, the constitution and the frameworks and the principles that you develop for yourself can then be applied everywhere.
[03:24:18] So in Judges who, let's just say, and I'm talking about my ass a little bit, since certainly don't feel qualified to speak too much on Judges who is stable, but if you take something like position before submission, right, let's just say for whatever reason you adopt that and that's worked very well for you.
[03:24:36] You can apply that to a lot, right, you can apply that to a lot of things. And when you start to really think about precepts and principles and the dock godo that last short book or treat us of misaches is it's in a fact, a bolded list of precepts.
[03:24:59] And pretty tough to follow all of them all at the same time, by the way, if you read them. But if you just have a few and they can be very plain, very much plain speech, let's just say it's say what you mean me what you say.
[03:25:19] Do what you say you're going to do all on time. I mean very simple, right, and then you have a recipe book you have an algorithm which is really just a step, a set of steps that produce a given no and predetermined outcome usually.
[03:25:35] If you follow those, you can start to mold and define this path, your way of moving through the world interacting with the world. But if you're stuck in say
[03:25:49] the weather patterns of the world instead of looking at sort of the tectonic plate level and you're focused on these things it change very very quickly like the news cycle like what your friends are saying on social media at all times. The fear of missing out in social expectations that are set that make you want to posture because all of your friends are putting highlights of their lives on the internet, which makes you feel like a failure because it's not all glamour shots.
[03:26:16] Those are all just shifting weather patterns, they mean nothing and you just you should let those pass as they say in this book it comes up a lot as much as froth.
[03:26:30] That comes up a lot in misogy and flies, right, froth and flies and insects. He's passing phenomena versus thinking about in his case he uses the mountains and so on, but the lower levels that tend to be less.
[03:26:51] They're less sexy they don't move as quickly, but if you understand those slower moving and spike extensions, timeless principles and you can use those to carve and form and find rediscovered your own path.
[03:27:09] Then I think it just gives you much greater level of peace in part because it gives you much greater level of agency you feel like you can craft your experience of life as opposed to being tossed back and forth by the vagaries of fast changing factors you have no control over.
[03:27:34] Well, I suppose we could talk about this indefinitely, but we're using up too much bandwidth already.
[03:27:45] Echo speaking of the path. Do you have any recommendations of maybe how people could stay on the path and you know, maybe even support sure.
[03:27:57] Real quick though, it's far as pronunciation goes when there's like a double consonant you kind of say them both like like this Dakota you say, don't code.
[03:28:08] Yeah, there's a little stutter in it. Yeah, yeah, because it's almost like you got to finish the first K and then start the second K. Yeah, it's it's it's it's kind of a I think it would be considered with a call like a lot of all stops.
[03:28:20] Like Hokkaido and Japan is actually Hokkaido, right, right, but if there was only one K, be Hokkaido. That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're school took me a long time just get which was really embarrassing in the beginning working on my pronunciation.
[03:28:36] I had to say the word school a lot. I was going to school walking to school. When are you going to school and it's got goal, which has that little stutter and man did I mess that up.
[03:28:49] Cast a broader apology to all of my my Japanese friends especially go crazy. I'm sorry. It's interesting that you care because in in the Hawaiian language, they put it. It's actually considered another letter. It's called the Okina. It's basically an apostrophe.
[03:29:07] Yeah, and that you in Hawaii, there's a lot of vowels go together. Right. So when you want when you want to do that little function to separate them, you put the Okina there like like the word Hawaii, Hawaii, there's two eyes of Dan. So you say Hawaii, remember you're asking me, oh, I say, how do you say, quiet, how do you say quiet, it quiet, I think technically it's quiet.
[03:29:25] People typically don't say, go out anymore. That's a whole lot of very very similar. But similar deal, right? Similar deal. If this was with consonant straight out, I don't want to take us too far field, but there are some really weird similarities between Japanese and other languages where there may have been trade routes established for the dawn of man in weird places.
[03:29:51] So there are some commonalities in pollination languages. And then you also find incredible commonalities with Turkish all languages. Yeah, nearly identical, grammar.
[03:30:04] I don't know, I was taking linguistic classes and they would point out these weird weird commonalities that you say, well, that's, you know, like things that like the number one things like the sun things that, you know, everyone kind of has to have created a word for it.
[03:30:20] Some point, yeah, there's definitely some strings and I forget what they are. I didn't study hard enough. I wasn't on the path.
[03:30:28] But a lot of these languages like the, you know, even the pronunciation of like, A is A. You know, Japanese Hawaiian. Yeah, you know, all the very soft vowels typically. Yeah, A E O O. Yeah. And then the eyes like E. Yeah, Japanese people can handle Spanish is probably the closest that I've seen language that they can handle any language that ends on consonants a lot is going to be so.
[03:30:56] Remember, they've such tough time. They add the you at the end. Yeah, the team. Yeah, if they say like B or yeah, be it or not, but be it or make Donald's is Machudo, not at them.
[03:31:06] Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then they have a tough time, but the, and for those people wondering the reason they can't or have so much trouble distinguishing between ours and else, which many other Asian people do not.
[03:31:20] But in the case of Japanese is because they have a blended phoneme of blended sound. It's a combination of R, L, and D. So naughty, dude. It's how they say it. So that do that like sound is not clearly distinguished into multiple consonants in Japanese, which is why they've so much trouble with ours and else, but you can teach them to fix that in a few minutes if you explain how the tongue is positioned.
[03:31:46] And I remember at one point, give credit to my first Japanese teacher, Mr. Shimano, who was fantastic because we would hit a sticking point in class.
[03:31:59] We'd be going over some concept. There was really difficult for a native English speakers brain to wrap itself around like they have subject markers and the difference between why and God.
[03:32:09] And if it's known to the speakers, if it's not known to the speakers, that and you're like, what does that mean? And he could sense because I transferred from a very weak school, very bad school along I learned to very highly competitive school in New Hampshire that had classes six days a week.
[03:32:29] Mandatory seated meal like dead poets, a society mandatory sports classes from 8 a.m. or so to about 6 p.m. and the Japanese class was very often the class after sports people wiped out hadn't had dinner.
[03:32:44] And we'd be struggling and getting agitated with some aspect of Japanese and you could tell that we were losing it.
[03:32:52] We still had 45 minutes to go. So it's all right. Had a really strong Japanese accent and you'd be like, we're going to stop for a minute.
[03:33:00] And I'm going to attempt to say this word for you and you would write squirrel on the blackboard.
[03:33:06] If you want to talk about a word, there would be designed to be crypto-night for Japanese person.
[03:33:12] And so you would take like five minutes for just comedic effect to just go squirrel squirrel squirrel. I mean, do that for like two minutes and we crack up and loosen up and realize, okay, everyone who's learning a new language has some type of sticking point like this and then he'd be like, okay enough fun and games now back to the hard stuff.
[03:33:32] Is an excellent excellent teacher.
[03:33:35] It's legit speaking of hard stuff. Speak quick, my brother please for the love of God.
[03:33:43] Oh, good. I was going to talk more about your retreat, but we can talk about that later.
[03:33:47] In the meantime, when take care of our joints or gin main.com is a good spot to get these joint supplements, jocosupplements.
[03:33:57] Super krill oil. Not just regular krill oil. Super krill oil.
[03:34:01] Yeah, krill oil upstairs actually. Boom. There you go. Also another one called jocco joint warfare. It's a blend of joint degeneration warfare weapons.
[03:34:14] Jack technically. Also for some legit fitness gear if you're into kettle eunuch kettle bells.
[03:34:20] Yeah, I have some in my garage here. It's the only fitness tools I have right now are two kettle bells.
[03:34:25] Boom. There you go. Boom. I got my arm on it.
[03:34:29] Yeah, squat. I go to a gym for that right now, but yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[03:34:33] Okay. But kettle bells are dope. Yeah. Especially the ones from on it by the way, where Wolf gorilla.
[03:34:39] Big foot, chimp. I'm just listing the ones I thought.
[03:34:43] I thought you were a person that you're telling me, call me names. So I thought you're trying out new names for me.
[03:34:47] No, no. Those are kettle bells I have, you know that artistic ones.
[03:34:50] Oh, yeah, the dope ones. Did you say artistic or autistic artists?
[03:34:53] I'm just kidding. It's just messing with you. I don't think they're autistic at all.
[03:34:59] But they are dope though. Yeah. You're the regular ones. I have the eye. So we're sitting here in Austin, Texas.
[03:35:05] Not too far from on at HQ and I actually bought two of the standard issue.
[03:35:10] I know. You like me. Yeah. Just cut. Not much. Cut.
[03:35:15] Yeah. The decorations and just go.
[03:35:18] They got some new start words. Yeah. Yeah. The Darth Vader one. The Darth Vader one school. Yeah. I've seen it.
[03:35:25] You got to kind of admit it after a while. You're like, okay. I mean me. I don't care. I'm like, hey, come to my house.
[03:35:30] See my kettle bells. Yeah. They're dope. But some people, jocca. They're like, no, you know.
[03:35:33] Yeah. Once they say hard core, but you got to admit it. I'm more of Boba Fekka myself.
[03:35:37] But yeah. I do like Darth Vader. Yeah. Check those out. Anyway.
[03:35:41] On it. I'm not going to call them. They got other stuff on there too.
[03:35:44] Pretty much for any kind of workout other than what? Like your typical gym workout.
[03:35:52] Like they have maces and whatnot. So anyway, go there on it. Yeah.
[03:35:56] Just as a side note for people listening.
[03:36:00] Don't let the head. All right. I've had enough caffeine. I've been off the caffeine for 10 days.
[03:36:05] So we've got a lot of personality right now. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good when it comes to working out or home gyms or anything like that.
[03:36:13] Don't say I can't start because I don't have these seven pieces of equipment for two years.
[03:36:19] When I had very little money and was training in jiu-jitsu when I just moved to the Bay Area, which is stupidly expensive.
[03:36:27] I had roommates and no space whatsoever. I had one 53 pound kettlebell.
[03:36:32] And I did everything with that kettlebell. I did. And I got into that combined with jiu-jitsu.
[03:36:38] That's all I had space for with one kettlebell. I got into some of the best shape of my entire life.
[03:36:43] Yeah. You know, like kettlebell 53 pounds. That's nothing. It's like okay.
[03:36:46] Do 20 pistols. Yeah.
[03:36:48] With 15 you pounder. Yeah. As you're done. Yeah. Let's see if you can do one review through your pounder.
[03:36:53] Yeah. Yeah.
[03:36:53] Because a lot of people can't even do one pistol with a 53 pounder.
[03:36:56] Yeah. That's like the goal. Yeah.
[03:36:59] Yeah.
[03:36:59] And I was, I don't want to say I was against kettlebells before, but you know when they first kind of came on the scene here.
[03:37:05] Yeah. And then people were like, yeah kettlebells. And look how cool we are.
[03:37:09] You know how like when people do that, you kind of build this kind of natural relationship.
[03:37:12] Not resentment, but just some resistance.
[03:37:15] Yeah.
[03:37:15] Like I'm not going to jump on your little band like I see what you're doing.
[03:37:18] You know, I'm going to stick to this.
[03:37:19] Yeah.
[03:37:20] And then finally I got on the boat and kind of shit I got on that earlier.
[03:37:24] Yeah.
[03:37:24] kettlebells. And you don't need to be, I will say, not a doctor don't play one on the internet.
[03:37:30] But just to, uh, to keep joggers liability insurance premiums low.
[03:37:35] Uh, kettlebells don't get too fancy kids with the kettlebells.
[03:37:40] Don't pick up a kettlebell for the first time and try to do snatches.
[03:37:44] Yeah.
[03:37:44] It's a good way to get reconstructive shoulder surgery.
[03:37:47] Yeah.
[03:37:48] You don't need to do a whole lot.
[03:37:49] If you just do two handed kettlebell swings properly, which I would not in my book would not be above the shoulder.
[03:37:56] And you do, let's just say, some Turkish get ups, even partial Turkish get ups.
[03:38:02] And a handful of other exercises, I'm particular to windmills and cosyxquads and so on.
[03:38:08] You really don't need much.
[03:38:10] And you don't have to do potentially dangerous ballistic movements to get a lot out of kettlebells.
[03:38:15] Yeah.
[03:38:16] And I personally would even go further and say, don't do much.
[03:38:20] Especially like the, like Turkish get the snatch to, like these ones where snatch of you take it.
[03:38:25] Yeah.
[03:38:26] If you're trying to like, you see your motor like you can get it.
[03:38:28] And let me get that big one.
[03:38:29] Because it's cool you look at them.
[03:38:30] And this one's like obviously bigger than the other one.
[03:38:33] I can't talk in a very, because I can last them here at my house.
[03:38:35] I was over there, dude.
[03:38:36] Every exercise with the biggest kettlebells.
[03:38:38] Yeah.
[03:38:39] Yeah.
[03:38:39] Yeah.
[03:38:39] So I dig it man.
[03:38:40] But man, if you start doing these snatches or the man, I had to have this big foot one.
[03:38:45] It's 90 pounds.
[03:38:46] Yeah.
[03:38:47] So I can, I mean, now I can boom clean and press one hand.
[03:38:52] I'll go, like, I'll go to this side and to this side and to this, you know, I'll do that.
[03:38:56] And it wasn't, I don't know if I wasn't warm or I just hated it at the wrong angle.
[03:39:01] I got it up to here.
[03:39:03] And then when I pressed it up, I think it was too far back.
[03:39:06] Yeah.
[03:39:06] So it went like when I pressed, it was weird.
[03:39:08] You know how kettlebells, right?
[03:39:09] They dig tang back there.
[03:39:11] Yeah.
[03:39:11] So when I pressed it up, it's almost like it went backwards.
[03:39:14] That's the my shoulder a little bit.
[03:39:16] Yeah.
[03:39:17] Yeah.
[03:39:18] You will be able to press as well as you can clean.
[03:39:20] If you cannot clean a weight extremely smoothly to your side, do not try to press it.
[03:39:29] Yeah.
[03:39:30] And it didn't just be careful there.
[03:39:32] Start the light.
[03:39:33] That's the point, right?
[03:39:34] Yeah.
[03:39:34] Unless you're jacquo.
[03:39:35] You're a, I'm not saying anything over here because of liability.
[03:39:40] Yeah.
[03:39:40] I know.
[03:39:41] I give the worst advice on this kind of stuff.
[03:39:43] Sometimes.
[03:39:44] Yes.
[03:39:45] For sure.
[03:39:46] Also, if you don't have a copy of Musausha.
[03:39:49] Yeah.
[03:39:50] I'm going to list it on the website.
[03:39:53] Go to jacquopodcast.com.
[03:39:55] Go to the books section right there on the top menu.
[03:39:58] Boom click on there.
[03:39:59] It'll be actually it's been on there.
[03:40:01] It's been on there since you mentioned it.
[03:40:03] It's been on there for a year.
[03:40:04] Yeah.
[03:40:05] We saw she's got a bit of a run.
[03:40:07] I'll put it right at the top.
[03:40:08] Don't even have to scroll down.
[03:40:10] Boom click on it.
[03:40:11] Great.
[03:40:12] It's good.
[03:40:13] I had another book to the.
[03:40:14] Right.
[03:40:15] You can book it.
[03:40:16] Yeah.
[03:40:17] That's a lot of percent.
[03:40:19] I'm on it.
[03:40:21] So I have a brand of book that is out which jacquo is part of.
[03:40:29] As a continuation of our our lifelong partnership.
[03:40:33] Jacquo has a reappearance in tribe of mentors, which is I think the easiest to read book that I have yet put together.
[03:40:41] It is brand spanking new has 130 people all asked the same 11 questions.
[03:40:46] That were most burning for me.
[03:40:49] And is that a thousand page book?
[03:40:52] Because it's this.
[03:40:53] It's thick.
[03:40:54] It's shorter than mousashi, which isn't saying much.
[03:40:56] It is about 650 pages.
[03:40:59] Each profile is ranges between two in ten pages.
[03:41:05] And a number of the people who came up in our conversation like Dan Gable, who want a gold medal in the Olympics for wrestling without having a single point.
[03:41:15] It's like winning when bolted and having a point scored up.
[03:41:19] Yeah.
[03:41:20] It doesn't happen people.
[03:41:22] And many, many, many others.
[03:41:24] So covers every possible facet of human performance, whether it's physical training.
[03:41:31] Expert meditators, world class investors, the founders of Facebook, Twitter, sales force, linked in.
[03:41:38] You name it.
[03:41:39] If you want super, super tactical nuggets of advice, including some from our good friend, Jacquo.
[03:41:44] That charba mentors is easy to digest.
[03:41:48] Choose your own adventure.
[03:41:50] Booker that would be a nice nonfiction compliment to our friend, Mousashi.
[03:41:55] Yeah.
[03:41:56] I'm putting it up there.
[03:41:57] Right next to it.
[03:41:58] Boom.
[03:41:59] And so what that does is you click on it, takes you to Amazon.
[03:42:02] Boom.
[03:42:02] And what was the website again for your book page?
[03:42:05] Jacquopodcast.com.
[03:42:07] I think it might be slash books, maybe.
[03:42:09] But easy.
[03:42:10] So you know the top menu.
[03:42:11] The website, but it just looks from the, from episodes, whatever.
[03:42:15] Yeah.
[03:42:16] Click on there.
[03:42:17] Boom.
[03:42:18] Click through there.
[03:42:19] And if you're doing any other Amazon shopping, you know.
[03:42:21] Hey, carry on.
[03:42:22] I'm just going to stop you there.
[03:42:24] Also, subscribe to the podcast.
[03:42:26] I was just going to say they may have already removed this little glitch in the system.
[03:42:32] But I used to be able to buy trap bars and so on on Amazon prime with no shipping.
[03:42:38] Trap bars.
[03:42:42] It's like a 60 pounds to 100 pounds of metal.
[03:42:46] So while you're picking up your brain food, you can pick up your body tools.
[03:42:51] Boom.
[03:42:52] Yeah.
[03:42:53] Dig it.
[03:42:54] You can get your shipping Amazon.
[03:42:56] Yeah.
[03:42:57] I'm so pretty good with their shipping situation.
[03:42:59] I'm going to tell you.
[03:43:00] Like, even if you want it like whatever the next day, you know.
[03:43:03] They're like, pay additional shipping.
[03:43:04] It's like four bucks or something.
[03:43:06] Oh, it's amazing.
[03:43:07] Yeah.
[03:43:08] They got something right on there.
[03:43:09] On there.
[03:43:10] You know, I also subscribed to the podcast if you haven't already.
[03:43:13] On iTunes and Stitcher and Google Play and Spotify, I think.
[03:43:18] I think real confident.
[03:43:20] Yeah.
[03:43:21] You know, whatever you're listening to the podcast on, boom, subscribe.
[03:43:24] Also on YouTube, if you haven't already.
[03:43:27] There's more than just the podcast on YouTube.
[03:43:30] It's excerpts on YouTube.
[03:43:32] Well, are you going to put some.
[03:43:34] Takeaways or what do they call out takes from this one because there are some pretty fine
[03:43:38] ones in the getting there.
[03:43:39] Yeah.
[03:43:40] Yeah.
[03:43:41] I don't forget if you get that they worry, but we were all laughing.
[03:43:43] Yeah.
[03:43:44] Yeah.
[03:43:44] I think so.
[03:43:45] In fact, yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do.
[03:43:47] Which is one of the many reasons to subscribe to the YouTube channel.
[03:43:50] In my opinion, what is the YouTube channel?
[03:43:53] Jockel podcast.
[03:43:55] To your pro.
[03:43:56] That you big with us.
[03:43:57] This is great.
[03:43:58] Pro.
[03:43:59] Yeah.
[03:44:00] I'm so bad at this.
[03:44:01] I'm just the hand waving.
[03:44:03] The D-barter guy.
[03:44:04] Yeah, I guess technically were when we say subscribe to the podcast.
[03:44:08] Technically we are asking them to go on YouTube.
[03:44:11] Search for Jockel podcast.
[03:44:12] Make sure it's the correct one.
[03:44:13] You know sometimes they'll be like.
[03:44:15] Jockel question.
[03:44:16] That's a joke.
[03:44:17] Or something.
[03:44:18] See Tim adding tons of value.
[03:44:21] Yeah, you could just get.
[03:44:23] You could get and since this will not be published for probably a few hours at least.
[03:44:27] You guys could get a URL like jocco subscribed.com
[03:44:31] and then have it point to a page on your website
[03:44:34] where you have all of the links where people can click
[03:44:36] for different services to subscribe.
[03:44:38] Man, I wish I had somebody that worked with me,
[03:44:40] that like did computer type stuff and stuff like that.
[03:44:44] Cause maybe they would have done that.
[03:44:46] I would have done that.
[03:44:47] At the beginning when we first started this stuff,
[03:44:49] like I'll think it of all of these things.
[03:44:51] This is what I'm gonna buy.
[03:44:52] Jockel podcast this and all this and we can have them all in
[03:44:55] while do this stuff and then like your whole attitude,
[03:44:58] you didn't tell me not to do it.
[03:44:59] I'm not blaming the sign you, I'm just saying
[03:45:02] that that's what I was real fired up to do.
[03:45:04] But he's like, no man, that's a jockel store.
[03:45:07] That's it.
[03:45:08] You know like super simple.
[03:45:09] So I'm like, oh yeah, that's cool right there.
[03:45:11] So like all the cool little things.
[03:45:13] I will, I will, I will,
[03:45:15] and Jockel's defense.
[03:45:17] I'm so sorry.
[03:45:18] No, say it.
[03:45:19] I'm just sure, but there's a there.
[03:45:20] You're a there's a there's a I see tears
[03:45:21] welling up in the eyes.
[03:45:23] In Jockel's defense, I will say that a lot of people
[03:45:26] who try to start podcasts or do X get caught with the obsession
[03:45:35] on new tactics.
[03:45:39] And then above tactics, you would have strategy and then
[03:45:41] above strategy, you would have principles.
[03:45:42] And so if if you're constantly focused on optimizing for an
[03:45:46] additional 1% with these tools, you get nowhere.
[03:45:50] On the other hand, if I would say like you guys have done
[03:45:54] with this podcast to focus on exceptionally high quality,
[03:45:59] that fixes a lot of problems.
[03:46:01] And then other people use tactics on your behalf.
[03:46:05] And you don't have to be as concerned with the
[03:46:09] Edden flow and expiration dates of said tools.
[03:46:12] So there's always a good time always a lot of
[03:46:16] you.
[03:46:16] Right, all that's the only uncrowded market is great.
[03:46:20] That's the only uncrowded market.
[03:46:22] Mm, thanks.
[03:46:24] And just to be clear, when you were like that,
[03:46:28] it wasn't that you were like influencing me not to do it.
[03:46:31] You just like the way you were, was cool to me.
[03:46:33] I was like, dang that's cool.
[03:46:34] So I'm gonna just keep it super simple too.
[03:46:37] And you know, those me just trying to be like you.
[03:46:39] But yeah, I thought of that same thing.
[03:46:40] I'm gonna have the thing and it'll have all the links.
[03:46:43] Oh man, it'll be great.
[03:46:44] That's in minors.
[03:46:45] Like let's record the podcast.
[03:46:46] Okay, let's do that, you know.
[03:46:47] And look at that.
[03:46:48] So we let that other stuff go.
[03:46:51] Anyway, YouTube, back to YouTube.
[03:46:54] Jocopodcast.
[03:46:55] The regular logo black white letters.
[03:46:59] Boom, that's it.
[03:47:00] That's the one that you want to subscribe to.
[03:47:03] Also, Joc was a store.
[03:47:04] It's called Joc was store.
[03:47:06] Now see that, no bells, no whistles.
[03:47:08] Joc will store.com.
[03:47:11] T-shirts, travel mugs, bumper stickers, all that stuff.
[03:47:14] So mash guards, new rash guards.
[03:47:17] Who these pickerhoodies?
[03:47:21] I got people who are more picturesque than thermometers.
[03:47:23] And the brass.
[03:47:24] Say worse, man.
[03:47:25] Yeah, I do that.
[03:47:27] Yeah, actually, yeah, someone did that to me too.
[03:47:30] What about your crop tops with the display equals love?
[03:47:33] And then there's out of stock stuff.
[03:47:36] Those are out of stock, bro.
[03:47:38] I don't know.
[03:47:39] Actually, but the women stuff is back in stock as well.
[03:47:46] That was out for a while.
[03:47:47] Blue girls, you know, for the girls, for the ladies.
[03:47:50] Boom, back in the game, big time.
[03:47:53] Some patches in there.
[03:47:54] And again, the rash guards, where you're kid.
[03:47:58] I think that's the one.
[03:48:00] Yeah.
[03:48:01] Actually, this is another one.
[03:48:02] There I used to.
[03:48:03] Or Pete got them running.
[03:48:05] Question about rash guards.
[03:48:07] I always assumed, because I'd never seen rash guards until a few years into the Joc
[03:48:12] YouTube game, I guess, or observing that I assumed that rash guards became part of
[03:48:18] Jocitsu because Brazilians also surf a lot and would then just use them in the gym.
[03:48:24] What is the function of the rash guard?
[03:48:26] I've never quite understood that.
[03:48:28] I know that because let's say versus wearing a tight fitting, like sweat-wicking shirt.
[03:48:33] Yeah.
[03:48:34] Well, I mean, it's not going to be as tight fitting as a rash guard as right?
[03:48:37] A rash guard is as tight fitting as a piece of garment can be.
[03:48:42] And therefore, your fingers won't get caught in it.
[03:48:43] Your toes won't get caught in it.
[03:48:45] It won't get in the way.
[03:48:46] And that's why you can also just go shirtless.
[03:48:49] But when you go shirtless, now you've got ringworm and all whatever other heinous forms of
[03:48:56] diseases that live on the mat.
[03:48:57] And so that's, and it just takes it one separation away from pure nastiness when you're
[03:49:03] wrong with everyone.
[03:49:04] Well, you guys should make maybe of the only one with this issue, but I always find
[03:49:08] I feel constricted at the neck and hot in certain rash guards, not all rash guards.
[03:49:14] But if there were one that gave some space to the neck, that would be.
[03:49:18] Yeah.
[03:49:19] I think some brands will have a wider neck.
[03:49:23] wider neck.
[03:49:24] Some brands will actually, on purpose, have like a higher neck.
[03:49:26] Right.
[03:49:27] Some people want full coverage in the gym.
[03:49:30] They want, they don't want to make human contact with anyone else.
[03:49:33] Yeah.
[03:49:34] Just the spider men outfit.
[03:49:35] Well, they're trying to throw it.
[03:49:36] Yeah.
[03:49:37] There's people that wear little hoods.
[03:49:38] I'm not kidding.
[03:49:39] Yeah.
[03:49:40] So yeah, it's getting crazy.
[03:49:42] There's people with like hair or something like that.
[03:49:44] Like long hair.
[03:49:45] Long hair.
[03:49:46] Yeah.
[03:49:47] Long hair.
[03:49:48] Yeah.
[03:49:49] Long hair.
[03:49:50] Yeah.
[03:49:51] Yeah.
[03:49:52] Long hair.
[03:49:53] Yeah.
[03:49:54] Yeah.
[03:49:55] Yeah.
[03:49:56] Yeah.
[03:49:57] Long hair.
[03:49:58] Yeah.
[03:49:59] Yeah.
[03:50:00] Yeah.
[03:50:01] Long hair.
[03:50:02] Yeah.
[03:50:03] Yeah.
[03:50:03] Yeah.
[03:50:04] Yeah.
[03:50:05] Yeah.
[03:50:06] Yeah.
[03:50:07] There is out.
[03:50:08] Malma.
[03:50:09] I commented on his garment.
[03:50:12] Yeah.
[03:50:13] But yeah.
[03:50:14] Hey, jockels.com.
[03:50:15] That's where you get them.
[03:50:16] They're cool.
[03:50:17] Also, psychological warfare.
[03:50:19] If you didn't know what that is, it's an album with tracks.
[03:50:22] Tim Peres.
[03:50:23] That if you're on the path.
[03:50:25] Yeah.
[03:50:26] Hopefully.
[03:50:27] But you find those days or those moments, whatever that maybe you might want to get
[03:50:33] this door.
[03:50:34] You like you're going to choose to step off the path.
[03:50:37] That's what it's for, really.
[03:50:38] It's not like when you suddenly get distracted.
[03:50:40] It's like, I'm going to wake up at what five.
[03:50:43] And I'm just too tired.
[03:50:45] I'm not going to wake up at five.
[03:50:47] I'm going to sleep in.
[03:50:48] You listen to one of these tracks.
[03:50:49] The specified track though.
[03:50:51] Wake up and get a, what's it called?
[03:50:53] Wake up and get after it.
[03:50:54] Wake up and get after it.
[03:50:56] What it is is you play it and it's jockel telling you why you should wake up and get
[03:51:00] after it.
[03:51:01] Pragmaticly.
[03:51:03] In his own jockel.
[03:51:04] But there's, there's tracks for everything though.
[03:51:07] Waking up, sleeping on the diet, skipping the workout.
[03:51:09] I'll probably ball that stuff.
[03:51:10] Now let me interject to you or actually take over if you don't mind.
[03:51:14] Please.
[03:51:15] Because the psychological warfare trial album on iTunes was the number one spoken word album
[03:51:21] for about, I think, nine months straight.
[03:51:24] And unfortunately, good news and bad news.
[03:51:27] It was just taken down for it.
[03:51:28] We just got beat out as the number one album.
[03:51:31] There's now a new number one album.
[03:51:33] Yeah.
[03:51:34] It's not drafts.
[03:51:35] The new number one album on iTunes spoken word is Discipline equals freedom.
[03:51:40] Field manual.
[03:51:41] Now it is number one.
[03:51:42] Did you see that?
[03:51:43] Yeah.
[03:51:44] I did the report every day.
[03:51:46] So if you've been looking for Discipline equals freedom, field manual in audio format,
[03:51:50] formula, it's not unautable because then you couldn't put it in your alarm.
[03:51:54] You couldn't listen to tracks whenever you wanted to.
[03:51:56] That's why we didn't do it that way.
[03:51:58] We put it as an album with tracks on Amazon, music, Google Play, Spotify, Spotify, everywhere.
[03:52:05] I think you can access Alexa, she'll deliver it.
[03:52:09] Yeah.
[03:52:10] Alexa, like boom, you're there.
[03:52:12] So that's out.
[03:52:13] Also, when Amazon jok-a-white tea, most people think it's the best tea that they've
[03:52:16] ever had.
[03:52:17] And it's guaranteed and scientifically proven to increase your debt lift to a minimum of
[03:52:23] 8,000 pounds.
[03:52:25] We have all backed up data on that.
[03:52:27] Double blind, double blind, quick, quadruple blind.
[03:52:32] Other books to get on Amazon and we Muslims put all these books on our website.
[03:52:37] So first, Tim, Tim, obviously, for our work week, for our chef, for our body, tools of
[03:52:46] Titans.
[03:52:47] Those are all books, awesome books.
[03:52:50] And I was thinking about four hour work week.
[03:52:53] And what I was thinking about four hour work week, that I think when I read it for the first
[03:52:56] time, which was before I knew you, what it did, I didn't follow anything in your book for
[03:53:02] our work week.
[03:53:03] I didn't follow one thing.
[03:53:05] Maybe I don't know.
[03:53:06] Maybe there's two or three things in there.
[03:53:07] What it did though is it made me look at things in a different way.
[03:53:12] Because you were saying, look, here's this.
[03:53:15] And you looked at it from over here.
[03:53:16] And what it showed me was, I can look at things differently.
[03:53:19] And you know, like I said, I probably grabbed a couple of things from there.
[03:53:23] But the most important thing that it gave me was, like, okay, you don't have to look
[03:53:26] at this, the way everyone else is looking at it.
[03:53:28] And that's the best damn drill you can get from somebody or the best advice you can get
[03:53:35] somebody who's like, don't look at things the same way everyone else is.
[03:53:38] There's a whole other angle.
[03:53:39] And once I saw what angle you were looking at it from, I started saying, well, let's
[03:53:43] look at it from my angle.
[03:53:44] What is this going to look like from over here?
[03:53:46] So that's a great book.
[03:53:48] And again, the four hour chef, which is, it's about cooking, but it's really about learning.
[03:53:53] For our body, all kinds of good experiments that you did on yourself, you're similar
[03:54:00] to me.
[03:54:01] And the fact that I'm always chasing some different goal.
[03:54:03] I'm either trying to do max pull-ups.
[03:54:04] I'm trying to do a max deadlift.
[03:54:06] I'm trying to cut down my one mile run time.
[03:54:07] I've always got some random thing that I'm trying to do.
[03:54:10] And I explain this, I actually explain it when I was just on your podcast.
[03:54:15] If I'm not going to get to a 600 pound deadlift because my whole life would have to
[03:54:20] be different and I wouldn't be able to do other things that I like to do.
[03:54:23] So I get to an 80% or an 85% of what I'm actually humanly capable of.
[03:54:28] And then I'm looking for that next goal because I'm not going to change my entire life.
[03:54:32] But what the four hour body is good for is you've got a lot of different things that
[03:54:36] you can bounce from thing to thing and they're all going to improve some aspect.
[03:54:39] So I thought that was awesome.
[03:54:41] Tools of Titans obviously, tons of good information from a lot of different people.
[03:54:48] And now you've got tribe of mentors and it's interesting because when we talk about for
[03:54:55] 20 minutes or however long we were talking about the path for people out there that are
[03:54:59] saying, well, what path?
[03:55:01] And I'm sitting here trying to explain it's hard.
[03:55:03] I don't think I did a good job.
[03:55:04] I took a swing at it.
[03:55:06] But what's cool is you get a book like tribe of mentors and you can kind of get a feel
[03:55:09] for what other people's paths are and how they stay on them and way they live their lives.
[03:55:14] And then you can at least at a minimum get a different perspective from different people,
[03:55:19] which just like for our work week for me is very important to see different people's angles
[03:55:25] on the way they look at things.
[03:55:28] It's like it's an eye opener at a minimum.
[03:55:31] Yeah, the lens.
[03:55:32] I mean, if you have a set of different lenses that you can look through to evaluate the
[03:55:38] world and make decisions, evaluate yourself and make different decisions, it can really
[03:55:44] change your life in the lives of those around you very, very quickly.
[03:55:49] What's been fun about putting together in this case tribe of mentors is that I'm asking
[03:55:54] people the same 11 questions.
[03:55:55] So for instance, I might ask, what do you do or what do you tell yourself when you feel
[03:56:01] overwhelmed or get distracted?
[03:56:03] So we're talking about staying on the path.
[03:56:06] And I asked, I, that was one of the questions that I sent to everyone and people were able
[03:56:10] to pick and choose their questions.
[03:56:11] But when you see that across disciplines and so you have everyone from, say, David Lynch
[03:56:20] were Darren Aronowski were incredible directors to the Dan Gables, the Kelly Slators,
[03:56:28] most decorated surfer of all time, to artists and investors and so on.
[03:56:36] There are commonalities so you can spot patterns.
[03:56:40] And then assemble your own toolkit of these first principles we've been talking about.
[03:56:44] So for instance, one that I've been applying, there are many that I've been applying myself
[03:56:49] from the book, you may have met Kyle Manard before.
[03:56:53] I know he is.
[03:56:54] I have better.
[03:56:55] So Kyle, incredible guy, a congenital quad amputee that means he was born without arms
[03:57:00] or legs, became a wrestler.
[03:57:02] I mean among many other things.
[03:57:04] I mean, became a wrestler lost every match his first season and his dad supported him.
[03:57:10] Throughout it all, they were accused of child abuse.
[03:57:13] He kept competing and then he started winning.
[03:57:16] And the same people who said it was child abuse were like, oh he isn't now he is an unfair
[03:57:19] advantage.
[03:57:20] Because people can grab his arms and legs.
[03:57:22] I was like, really?
[03:57:23] Wow.
[03:57:24] What a world.
[03:57:26] And just a fascinating guy who has done a lot climbed to Kilimanjaro.
[03:57:31] I think he was the first person ever to do so quad amputee without prosthetics.
[03:57:36] I heard the ashes of a fallen member of our military to the top, which was one of their
[03:57:43] dying wishes.
[03:57:44] And he gave a piece of advice that he learned from a business icon, which was you can't
[03:57:52] answer seven.
[03:57:53] And what that refers to is any time you are rating for yourself, say how important something
[03:58:00] is or how much you want to do something on a scale of 0 to 10, you can't use seven.
[03:58:05] You're asking someone for feedback, they can't use seven.
[03:58:08] Why?
[03:58:09] Because all of a sudden they can't choose what I realized after reading it is a safe, comfortable,
[03:58:17] nebulous number.
[03:58:18] And that's always seven.
[03:58:20] Now you have to choose a six, which is barely better than 50 percent, or an eight.
[03:58:26] And you get to accelerate your path to better decisions almost immediately, just by adopting
[03:58:34] that.
[03:58:35] Or the way that say Daniel Negrano, Fator Holzyser, two of the biggest winning poker players
[03:58:41] of all time, one in live in person tournaments, the other online, and to look at their
[03:58:47] decision frameworks, how they decide how much to bet, how they stake other people.
[03:58:53] These are all tools that you can apply everywhere.
[03:58:56] It's really cool stuff.
[03:58:58] So yeah, Triva Mentors have been a very, very fun book to put together.
[03:59:01] It's, I've been on the road, but one of your people sent it to me.
[03:59:06] So I think it's a waiting for me at my house when I get back.
[03:59:08] So I'm stoked on that one.
[03:59:11] And what you show me that flip through, that's kind of why I know it's going to be cool
[03:59:16] for people to get, again, find the path, find various paths and help them guide them towards
[03:59:23] theirs.
[03:59:25] I also wrote a couple other books.
[03:59:27] One of them is called Way of the Warrior Kid.
[03:59:30] That's about a kid who turns into a warrior kid.
[03:59:34] Best book ever.
[03:59:36] Extreme ownership, book about leadership.
[03:59:39] It's combat leadership principles from war and how to apply them in your business and
[03:59:46] life.
[03:59:47] The discipline equals freedom, field manual.
[03:59:51] Once again to everyone that got this book, including Tim.
[03:59:54] Yes, thank you for supporting it.
[03:59:56] Also, the book because of your support, it made the New York Times bestseller list, which
[04:00:02] is pretty awesome.
[04:00:03] Thank you, everyone.
[04:00:04] Thank you, Tim.
[04:00:05] Of course.
[04:00:06] That's awesome.
[04:00:07] And you know, the book, it doesn't follow any formula, really.
[04:00:12] It's not normal.
[04:00:15] It's kind of like this podcast.
[04:00:16] It's not normal.
[04:00:17] It's not, you know, not everyone's going to get it.
[04:00:18] Some people are going to turn on this podcast and go, I don't think I can listen to that.
[04:00:23] That's okay.
[04:00:24] Same thing with the book.
[04:00:26] That's okay, too.
[04:00:27] I'm not here to write things that everyone likes.
[04:00:30] I'm not here to record a podcast.
[04:00:31] Everyone wants to listen to.
[04:00:33] I'm okay with that.
[04:00:36] The other those of you that do get it.
[04:00:37] Thank you for forgetting it.
[04:00:41] For those of you don't get it.
[04:00:43] Why are you still listening?
[04:00:44] It's three and a half hours later.
[04:00:46] Stop punishing yourself.
[04:00:49] They're imposing discipline on themselves.
[04:00:51] I can make it for you guys annoying voice for another 20 minutes.
[04:00:56] I guess the audio version is on MP3 platforms.
[04:00:59] I've been asked that 5,000 times on social media.
[04:01:02] It's everywhere by the way.
[04:01:04] Everywhere.
[04:01:05] So that's good.
[04:01:06] If you need some leadership support for your team or for your business, Ashlan Front,
[04:01:11] that's on leadership consulting company.
[04:01:13] It's me, Lave Babin, JP D'Nel, Dave Burke, info at echelonfront.com.
[04:01:19] If you want to get it.
[04:01:21] Echo, you got to clothing songs.
[04:01:23] That's it.
[04:01:24] Thanks Tim.
[04:01:25] Yeah, thank you, gentlemen.
[04:01:27] Then I use the word gentlemen loosely.
[04:01:29] If you want to keep this conversation going,
[04:01:32] we are actually on the interwebs.
[04:01:35] Fairly heavily on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
[04:01:41] Echo is at echelonfront.
[04:01:43] I am at Jocca-Willink.
[04:01:44] And Tim is at T-Farris 2R's 2S's on Twitter,
[04:01:49] on Instagram at Tim.
[04:01:51] And Ferris 2R's 2S's on Facebook, Tim Ferris.
[04:01:55] You got it.
[04:01:56] Did I miss anything else?
[04:01:58] Alright, Tim, any clothing thoughts from you, sir?
[04:02:00] Any clothing thoughts?
[04:02:04] I'll share one quote if people like quotes that I think relates well to a lot of what
[04:02:11] we talked about and certainly Musashi.
[04:02:13] And this is a quote from Arke Locus.
[04:02:16] So by the sound of the name, you might guess it's very, very old.
[04:02:21] It is we do not rise to the level of our expectations.
[04:02:25] We fall to the level of our training.
[04:02:28] Hope is not a strategy as James Cameron would say.
[04:02:34] Train hard.
[04:02:35] Train hard.
[04:02:38] Tim, as always, thanks for everything.
[04:02:40] I literally would not be sitting here right now if it wasn't for you.
[04:02:47] And what's cool is you've helped me out a lot, but more importantly,
[04:02:50] you've helped out all kinds of people all over the world.
[04:02:53] I think that's awesome.
[04:02:54] The content that you put out, the advice that you give to people.
[04:02:57] And so thank you for what you've done for me and thanks for what you do for all kinds
[04:03:03] of people everywhere.
[04:03:04] Thank you, Jim.
[04:03:05] I'm much appreciated.
[04:03:08] And while I'm thanking people to close this out, I'm going to thank the real warriors
[04:03:14] out there that are in uniform on the front holding the line against evil.
[04:03:20] Thank you for what you do.
[04:03:21] And those of you that are back here in uniform at home, police, law enforcement,
[04:03:26] firefighters, paramedics, all the other first responders, thank you all for keeping our
[04:03:32] homeland safe.
[04:03:34] And to everyone else that's listening.
[04:03:40] Just remember that the world is filled with the sound, the waves and the waves are filled
[04:03:45] with little fishes.
[04:03:49] But them play.
[04:03:53] Let them dance, let them sing.
[04:03:57] You, you get on the path and stay on the path and keep getting after it.
[04:04:08] Until next time, this is Tim Ferriss and Echo and Jocco.
[04:04:16] 1st!