Colonel “Mad Mike” Hoare: The Legendary Mercenary
Chris Hoare, left, with his father, Mike Hoare, and the biography he wrote on Mike Hoare. Durban, South Africa, June 2018. Photo by Roy Reed / CC BY-SA 4.0. Colonel…
The Power Within: Embracing Self-Reliance and Inner Strength
The swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, armed with two wooden swords, sparring with the old master Tsukahara Bokuden, who defends himself using two wooden pot-lids” by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, c. 1845-46 Cropped. There…
The Pitfall of Single-Minded Strategy: Lessons from Musashi
Portrait of Miyamoto Musashi. Circa before 1645 (Edo Period). Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art. Recently there have been people getting on in the world as strategists, but they are usually…
The Warrior’s Journey: Integrating Intellectual and Physical Disciplines
The famous duel between the sword master Miyamoto Musashi (left) and Sasaki Kojiro (Ganryu) at Ganryu-jima island. Yoshifusa Utagawa, 1843. It is said the warrior’s is the twofold Way of…
The Great Escape: The True Story of WWII’s Most Daring POW Breakout
Stalag Luft III. Imperial War Museum photo. The Great Escape, a 1963 film starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough, is a classic war movie that dramatizes the daring…
From Martial Arts to Mindfulness: The Philosophy of Bruce Lee
Statue by Cao Chong-en of Bruce Lee on the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong. Photo by Johnson Lau / CC BY-SA 2.5. Defeat is a state of mind; No…
From Zen to Bushido: The Spiritual Journey of the Samurai
16th century painting showing samurai raiding the house of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. The Samurai, Japan’s warrior class, were not only renowned for their martial prowess but also for their deep…
The Importance of Critical Thinking for the Modern Warrior
“Le Penseur” (1904) in the Musée Rodin in Paris. Photo by CrisNYCa / CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped. During the classical period of Ancient Greece (5th to 4th century BC), the…
The Drengr Code: Viking Warrior Virtues
Guests from Overseas (1901) by Nicholas Roerich, depicting a Varangian raid. The Drengr Code was a set of principles that guided the behavior of Viking warriors. It emphasized bravery, loyalty,…
John T. Downey: The CIA Officer Who Was America’s Longest Held POW
John T. Downey (left) and Richard Fecteau at CIA headquarters in 2013. November 17, 2024, marks the 10th anniversary of the passing of former CIA officer John Thomas Downey, often…