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Warrior's Way Podcast

Warrior's Way Podcast

By James Eke

James Eke is an author and martial artist with over 40 years experience. Black belts in a number of systems and a certified instructor under legendary martial art Guro Dan Inosanto and a Jiu-Jitsu student under Steve Maxwell, Eke runs a successful school in Victoria, BC, Canada, The Eke Academy of Martial Arts. A former journalist and a combat arms Army Captain, Eke brings real-life lessons to his training and teaching. Eke is the author of Warrior's Way: A Guide To Lifelong Learning In The Martial Arts and A Wolf In The Woods: Combat Essentials For The Martial Artist.
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Episode 121 — Understanding What Selflessness Means, And How Important It Is

Warrior's Way PodcastJul 31, 2021

00:00
27:26
Episode 150 — ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons Episode 150 — ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons Of Iceland; Experience!

Episode 150 — ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons Episode 150 — ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons Of Iceland; Experience!

It is too easy to do the easiest thing and to just follow the crowd. It is too easy to do things superficially. Life, travel and training are meant to be fully lived and experienced.
Nov 29, 202316:49
Episode 149 - ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons Of Iceland; Reconciliation And Finding Your Own Path

Episode 149 - ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons Of Iceland; Reconciliation And Finding Your Own Path

Reconciliation is all about making peace between the relationships that once were and still remain. The same goes for our relationship with our own selves. We all have a story within us that is epic. Learning about ourselves changes everything.
Nov 22, 202317:24
Episode 148 - ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons Of Iceland; Learning to be Comfortable in the Uncomfortable

Episode 148 - ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons Of Iceland; Learning to be Comfortable in the Uncomfortable

Whether it is travel off the beaten path, climbing a mountain or volcano or maybe starting a meditation or workout program, doing the things on the border or outside of what makes us comfortable can change everything. Our lives shouldn’t be about living for the couch but all about living a life that matters.
Nov 15, 202316:45
Episode 147 - ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons Of Iceland; Learning To Be An Ambassador Of Your Ancestors

Episode 147 - ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons Of Iceland; Learning To Be An Ambassador Of Your Ancestors

When we stop and think about the past and all those people who have lived lives to pass on the life you have right now it makes us wonder what happened, what they endured and experienced. Becoming and ambassador of your ancestors means looking into the stories, the myths, legends, religions and culture that was so important to them for eons. When you embrace this you start to see your world and your place in it much differently. This is what training is about; digging deeper and learning from it all.
Nov 08, 202318:50
Episode 146 — ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons Of Iceland; Embracing The Cold Plunge

Episode 146 — ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons Of Iceland; Embracing The Cold Plunge

After a dip in a frigid Icelandic lake I have gone from being someone who hates the cold to taking a cold plunge every morning. What is even better is that I have seen a huge difference in how I feel as a result. Experts are saying dipping in water that is less than 15 C can have profound positive impacts on our health.
Nov 01, 202319:21
Episode 145 — ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons of Iceland and the Human Condition

Episode 145 — ‘Walk With Me’: Lessons of Iceland and the Human Condition

Iceland was once a heavily forested place but it was victim of deforestation when it was first settled. There is a lot of valuable lessons to be learned about life and how or why we train in that. Nobody intentionally made Iceland virtually void of trees and everything that results from that and in the same way most of us don’t really realize the mistakes we make when we are living our lives. What we need to do though is understand that we are all humans and all make mistakes, judge ourselves and others and live in duality. Now is the time for our planet to start to see things differently and learn.
Oct 25, 202317:17
Episode 144 — ‘Walk With Me’: Þetta Reddast & Learning To Be Less Fragile

Episode 144 — ‘Walk With Me’: Þetta Reddast & Learning To Be Less Fragile

In Iceland you historically had to be strong to survive and this is still evident today when you spend time in the place. What can we learn from the Norse/Icelandic concept of þetta reddast? How can you train to be less fragile and to embrace all aspects of life?
Oct 18, 202317:20
Episode 143 — ‘Walk With Me’: Cultivate Beginners Mind

Episode 143 — ‘Walk With Me’: Cultivate Beginners Mind

Let’s take a look at cultivation of a state of mind that sees everything fresh, new and magical. Beginners Mind can change not just our training but the way we live our lives.
Sep 20, 202314:13
Episode 142 — ‘Walk With Me’: The Improbable Miracle Of YOU

Episode 142 — ‘Walk With Me’: The Improbable Miracle Of YOU

This could be the most important episode yet. Let’s look at how rare, how special and how nearly impossible the chances are that you managed to be born — but not just that, that everyone and everything has a life. What does that mean to you? How does that change your life? How does that change how you treat others and yourself? How do we use that to focus our training and our energy?
Sep 13, 202316:54
Episode 141 — ‘Walk With Me’: Using Suffering To Change Your Life

Episode 141 — ‘Walk With Me’: Using Suffering To Change Your Life

People are never the enemy, ignorance is. Once we learn this simple truth we can start to make real changes in our lives. The first step is to see suffering for what it is both in our lives and in the lives of all those around us. When we live in this way we live in and perceive a reality that is far different—and one that we need to do something about.
Sep 06, 202318:03
Episode 140 — ‘Walk With Me’: Transform Yourself, Transform Your World

Episode 140 — ‘Walk With Me’: Transform Yourself, Transform Your World

What are you? Why train? Why improve your life? These are foundational questions that you should be asking yourself. The next is, what is suffering and what can I do about it both in my life personally and in the world around me. Training can be a superpower that helps heal, transform and change everything.
Aug 30, 202316:40
Episode 139 — ‘Walk With Me’: Engaged Training To Change Your Life And The World

Episode 139 — ‘Walk With Me’: Engaged Training To Change Your Life And The World

The world around you needs help. We all know this. Sometimes this can seem an un-winnable situation but if we train ourselves to turn our anger and frustration towards something else something that blossoms into compassion and kindness we can make a bad situation better — ultimately it can change the world. Engaged and functional training means training for something more than for your own wants and desires it means helping others however you can.
Aug 23, 202318:21
Episode 138 — ‘Walk With Me’: The Darkside of Mindfulness & How It Can Help Save Us All

Episode 138 — ‘Walk With Me’: The Darkside of Mindfulness & How It Can Help Save Us All

We are in the midst of a ‘mindfulness revolution’ in which everyone seems to be singing the virtues of it to the point that it is becoming a commodity. In this episode we talk about the darkside of mindfulness and what we can do to use it to the true potential of it — and how we can use this radical shift to help not just save our lives but also to save our planet.
Aug 16, 202319:10
Episode 137 — ‘Walk With Me’: Dealing With Stress And Anxiety As Part Of Your Training

Episode 137 — ‘Walk With Me’: Dealing With Stress And Anxiety As Part Of Your Training

In our modern world stress and anxiety are a big part of our lives but if we learn methods of dealing with it, at least some (if not all) anxiety can magically disappear. In this episode we discuss my own experiences and the method I’ve come up with that I use called the DETAILS method, or the ‘lotus grows in muddy water’ approach. By no means is this way of dealing with the ups and downs of life perfectly but it works for me and I use it both as a method of training as well as truly examining this life.
Aug 09, 202317:05
Episode 136 — ‘Walk With Me’: Creativity & Visualization Will Turbocharge Your Life

Episode 136 — ‘Walk With Me’: Creativity & Visualization Will Turbocharge Your Life

How can visualization change your training? How does the creative spark of human experience drive us on to amazing things? What can we learn from NBA superstars and Tibetan Buddhism to get more from our own lives and training?
Aug 02, 202317:17
Episode 135 — ‘Walk With Me’: Embracing the suck of life’s change and challenges

Episode 135 — ‘Walk With Me’: Embracing the suck of life’s change and challenges

Life is change. Life is struggle. Life is suffering. All this is true but we can take this struggle and use it to become stronger, healthier, more resilient and anti-fragile. Learning that the struggle of life can be one of your greatest teachers can build empathy and compassion as well as strength.
Jul 26, 202316:08
Episode 134 — ‘Walk With Me’: What are you? Who are you? And the Way

Episode 134 — ‘Walk With Me’: What are you? Who are you? And the Way

This episode we talk about the collective, tribalism and why you need to ask hard questions about the place of both in your life, your path and what it means to follow the Way. The collective can lead to disaster if we are not careful and any path of self-development needs to understand this because in the end, what we truly are always matters more than who we believe we are what what we believe defines us.
Jul 19, 202316:35
Episode 133 — ‘Walk With Me’: Dealing With The Darkness

Episode 133 — ‘Walk With Me’: Dealing With The Darkness

What should we do with anger? Sadness? Frustration? Should we channel it into our training? Should we use it as the fuel to get things done? Should we avoid it and bury it completely? In this episode we examine what to do with reactive emotions without letting them drag us down a path of destruction and suffering.
Jul 14, 202318:49
Episode 132 — ‘Walk With Me’: Growth Mindset & Learning How To Push Past Your Limitations

Episode 132 — ‘Walk With Me’: Growth Mindset & Learning How To Push Past Your Limitations

In this episode we look at Growth Mindset and how learning to develop and open mind can not just improve your training but in very real ways can improve your life, your mental health, how relationships and your views about life. What do you know? What don’t you know? What do you not know you don’t know? What is completely outside of your knowledge? How does all of this lead to peace, understanding, compassion and maybe even more?
Jul 04, 202314:32
Episode 131 — ‘Walk With Me’: What is Training?

Episode 131 — ‘Walk With Me’: What is Training?

We are launching Season Four of Warrior’s Way Podcast with something new. This season we are going spontaneous and organic. Episodes will be in a way like we are going for a walk together, unscripted and getting to the heart of things. In this episode we talk about what training is, how we can bring it into our lives and make the magic of training transform everything.
Jun 28, 202316:17
Episode 130 — Marcus Aurelius’ book Meditations is the only self-help book you need

Episode 130 — Marcus Aurelius’ book Meditations is the only self-help book you need

We take a look at Stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and how his message has lasted two millennia and what it has meant to some of us and how we live our lives helping us through good and bad times. We talking about how learning a musical instrument can change your life and become a hugely important part of our training.
Oct 16, 202134:15
Episode 129 — Talking To The Enlightened Master Inside Us

Episode 129 — Talking To The Enlightened Master Inside Us

This episode we talking about how we can take Carl Jung’s active imagination process to ramp up our training to new levels. We also talk about how we can find more to add to our training even when we might think we don’t have many options.
Oct 02, 202138:36
Episode 128: Shantideva The Flying Bullied Bodhisattva Who Taught Us To Be Kind

Episode 128: Shantideva The Flying Bullied Bodhisattva Who Taught Us To Be Kind

We take a look at one of the most important icons in Buddhism, Shantideva who not just levitated and vanished but taught some of the most important lessons on compassion and loving-kindness and how we truly need to live our lives and train. We answer a listener question about the most important outlook to cultivate in our training and much more!
Sep 18, 202122:52
Episode 127 — Wake Up! A field guide to enlightenment

Episode 127 — Wake Up! A field guide to enlightenment

In this episode we talk about enlightenment, what it means and ask the question, where are all the enlightened people these days? We answer a listener question about how to integrate philosophy with action and live better lives.
Sep 11, 202133:15
Episode 126 — Trieu Thi Trinh: Vietnam’s Joan of Arc

Episode 126 — Trieu Thi Trinh: Vietnam’s Joan of Arc

This episode we examine the life of Vietnam’s Joan of Arc, Ba Trieu who rode a war elephant in rebellion against Chinese invasion. We talk about what a story like Ba Trieu’s can mean to our lives and our training. We answer a listener question about how to make the most from life in troubling times.
Sep 04, 202126:46
Episode 125 — Anger: Recognize it, work with it and find wisdom in it

Episode 125 — Anger: Recognize it, work with it and find wisdom in it

What is anger? How much do you carry around? Where does it come from? This episode we look at different exercises to learn to deal with anger in a positive way to increase our compassion and understanding. We also answer a question about getting more from our training.
Aug 28, 202145:52
Episode 124 — Yasuke: The African Samurai

Episode 124 — Yasuke: The African Samurai

This week we take a look at the incredible story of Yasuke the first African Samurai — a true story that will blow your mind. We talk about the reality of life that we are all connected. We talk about how inclusion and diversity are so vital in the times we find ourselves. We answer a listener question about books anyone who wants to train should add to their bookshelf.
Aug 21, 202126:38
Episode 123 — Alan Watts: Everything Human Is Natural

Episode 123 — Alan Watts: Everything Human Is Natural

We look at an excerpt from a book by Zen trailblazer, Alan Watts on what it truly means to be human. We discuss that feeling in our lives that something is missing and what we need to do to find it. We answer a listener question about finding time to train and what matters the most.
Aug 14, 202139:23
Episode 122 — The Last Crow War Chief: The Hero’s Journey Of Transformation

Episode 122 — The Last Crow War Chief: The Hero’s Journey Of Transformation

We look at the incredible story of the man who became Last Crow War Chief in WW2 and examine the power of the transformative process of the Hero’s Journey. We look at what we need to do in our lives to achieve greatness and talk about our own power to become someone truly inspiring.
Aug 07, 202133:51
Episode 121 — Understanding What Selflessness Means, And How Important It Is

Episode 121 — Understanding What Selflessness Means, And How Important It Is

We take a look at the concept of selflessness and why it is so important to our training and how we live our lives. We answer a listener question about ‘what the big deal is with meditation’ and ways to get the most of it in our lives.
Jul 31, 202127:26
Episode 120 — Maintaining Discipline To Transform Your Life
Jul 24, 202138:30
Episode 119 — Stephen Batchelor: Responding To Life, Instead Of Reacting To It
Jul 17, 202132:06
Episode 118 — Sharon Salzberg: The Practice Of Freedom & The Meaning Of Cause And Effect

Episode 118 — Sharon Salzberg: The Practice Of Freedom & The Meaning Of Cause And Effect

We examine an article by meditation teacher, Sharon Salzberg on finding true freedom in life. What is cause and effect? How do the things we do impact our lives and everything around us? How living and training to cultivate compassion and understanding can change our lives and our world. We look at how martial arts training with compassion can be a game changer for everything we do.
Jul 10, 202131:08
Episode 117 — No Beginning, No Ending, No Fear: Transcending Fear Through Living In The Now
Jul 03, 202142:22
Episode 116 — Putting Down The Arrow; Defusing The Worst Evil There Is: Anger
Jun 26, 202133:52
Episode 115 — Alan Watts: The Quest For Freedom Of Spirit
Jun 19, 202131:58
Episode 114 — Dalai Lama: Enduring The Fires Of Anger
Jun 12, 202137:47
Episode 113 — I’m Not Scared To Re-Enter Society, I’m Just Not Sure I Want To
Jun 05, 202135:37
Episode 112 — Josh Korda: The Anxiety Of Ending
May 29, 202135:50
Episode 111 — The Secret To Happiness? Thinking About Death!

Episode 111 — The Secret To Happiness? Thinking About Death!

We examine the Buddhist view of getting more from life, living a more fulfilling life and a more happy one through thinking about the fact we will all die. An existential experience I had recently that helped make my life something far better and real. We examine an excerpt from the book The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self by Michael Easter. We answer a listener question about anxiety about getting back in the dojo and training in martial arts after COVID.
May 22, 202146:01
Episode 110 — The Buddha Was Wrong?!?

Episode 110 — The Buddha Was Wrong?!?

We take a look at happiness and change and what the Buddha said and what we can find for ourselves in our lives and through training. We also look at what is the best martial art to train in.
May 15, 202125:11
Episode 109: What Can We Discover In The Dark Unknown Of Self

Episode 109: What Can We Discover In The Dark Unknown Of Self

How exploration of our fear of darkness can reveal illumination of what comes after and what life really is about. We also examine how bringing Zen concepts of living in the moment changes everything and allows us to find our true potential. We answer a question about how to practice meditation regardless of how distracted our minds can be.
May 08, 202132:42
Episode 108: Give Yourself Some Breathing Space — Thich Nhat Hanh

Episode 108: Give Yourself Some Breathing Space — Thich Nhat Hanh

Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh suggests we carve out some personal space to breathe and train — what does that mean? How do we do it? Is it actually important to do? Finding a space to meditate and practice martial arts in our own homes. We also look at what it means to be a ‘Zen dude’.
May 01, 202127:45
Episode 107 - The Ambiguity Of Being Human: Pema Chodron

Episode 107 - The Ambiguity Of Being Human: Pema Chodron

We take a look at an excerpt from Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron’s book Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change that focuses on the ambiguity of being human, how to deal with change, our own mortality and dealing with a life that is always changing. We discuss what we all should do to stop COVID. We answer a listener question about how to learn to let go.
Apr 24, 202137:55
Episode 106 — Uprooting The Seeds Of Anger

Episode 106 — Uprooting The Seeds Of Anger

We examine the true roots of anger, why we feel it and what we can do about it from a Zen and martial arts perspective. We also look at what we can do to encourage others to train.
Apr 17, 202135:15
Episode 105 — Peace On The Street, blending Zen and Martial Arts in the inner city

Episode 105 — Peace On The Street, blending Zen and Martial Arts in the inner city

We look at an article from Tricycle Magazine about an amazing place in East Harlem called Peace On The Street that combines modern Zen with Martial Arts, talk about how to integrate Zen into our lives, why compassion is so important and some of the lessons COVID has taught. We also look at what we can do when we are feeling overwhelmed.
Apr 03, 202129:38
Episode 104 — Fear Is The Mindkiller
Mar 27, 202125:34
Episode 103 — The Paradox of Invincibility
Mar 20, 202120:55
Episode 102: Dan Inosanto On Absorbing What Is Useful, Creativity & Imagination In Training

Episode 102: Dan Inosanto On Absorbing What Is Useful, Creativity & Imagination In Training

We look at the role of imagination and creativity in training and read up on what Dan Inosanto pointed us to in his book Absorb What Is Useful. We answer a listener question about lessons to learn from living in a time of global pandemic.
Jul 26, 202024:57
Episode 101: The Grounding Quality Of Mindfulness In Unsettling Times

Episode 101: The Grounding Quality Of Mindfulness In Unsettling Times

James Eke brings you a special post-season two special episode in which we look at the discipline it takes to develop mindfulness and a type of training that actually matters in these times we find ourselves in. We also answer a question about if we should be having physical contact with others before we find a way to pro text ourselves from COVID-19.
Jul 08, 202019:27