A Tenacious spirit

 Friday Knight News

A tenacious fighting spirit is something that is generally developed through the circumstances of life. It is generally found most abundantly in the people that have undergone hardships and sometimes the more severe the hardship the more tenacious the people. If you look at the world of boxing throughout modern history, you can see how the Irish, Hispanic and black athletes have fared well in their time. When it comes to developing a fighting spirit, I believe the sword saint of Japan had the most direct advice.

“In fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased. An elevated spirit is weak and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit.” Miyamoto Musashi

It seems that when a person has undergone hardship, up to but not beyond the breaking point, the resolute will to win becomes an ingrained part of that individuals psyche. On the other hand, people who have been beaten down, abused, and dominated generally cower; that is until something snaps and they no longer care what happens to them. Then these individuals seem to possess almost supernatural strength and a fierce tenacity born of rage.

The second method of developing tenacity is by undergoing hardship on purpose and achieving at least a measure of detachment. This detachment from your emotions in combat come from a willingness to risk your life to achieve your goal. In Japanese martial arts undergoing shugyo (harsh training), is the primary method for developing tenacity. Depending upon the art that you practice, you may either be punching, kicking, striking with various body parts or doing throws or receiving throws. You most likely will be practicing with various weapons; again this depends upon the art that you study. The thing that all of these arts generally have in common is that there is usually a high number of repetitions involved when performing shugyo. On top of this, practitioners often find themselves training in the heat of summer, or the cold of winter to amplify the strength of will.

In my opinion and speaking from personal experience after having utilized both methods, I recommend the latter method as the better way. It has been my experience that not having any intention to do harm to an aggressor makes one's defenses harder to read. It takes a bit of training and relaxation to be able to achieve this level of comfort in combat situations. Most people have different distances that they feel comfortable with in dealing with situations, but as you become more accustomed to the dangers of combat you can gradually over come your fear of physical and emotional confrontation.



"If you want to strike first, to gain advantage over someone, that is proof your training is insufficient, and it is really yourself who has been defeated. Let your partner attack, and use his aggression against him." Morihei Ueshiba

A great example of the tenacious spirit is a character, Xander Davidson, in my Dream Walker book series. My stories are about martial arts adventures that are intertwined with paranormal or supernatural events. The following links are to the Kindle version books from the "Dream Walker” series. Our adventurers find themselves on a quest where they are confronted with both conspiracy and mystery. Their challenge is to unite their mind and body skills together utilizing what they have learned in the martial arts with the transcendental power of dream mediation. They attempt to do this while they are trying to make a life for themselves and elude those that seek to use and control them.

Conversations with a Sage (Book 1 of the Dream-Walker)

Conversations with a Sage: This explores Xander Davidson's early encounters with the mysterious fog like Dream Walking martial art sages. He ponders if they are real or if they are only remnants of his dreams. He mainly keeps this secret world to himself as he tries to copes with abuse, growing up without support or guidance and the mystery of his family's past. 

Xander and the Assassins Gift (Book 2 of the Dream-Walker)

The Assassins Gift: Xander Davidson struggles with the conspiracy of his family and the group that is actively trying to manipulate him to join them or die. The young Dream Walkers learns an early lesson to be careful about whom they let into their circle.


Warriors of Perception (Book 3 of the Dream-Walker)

Warriors of Perception: Xander Davidson and his band of friends embark on a mission to free themselves from their oppressors. They bravely face the challenge all the while vying for the right moment to turn the tables.

Jace Lee The Shift (Book 4 of the Dream-Walker)

Jace Lee The Shift: We find a new apprentice, Adam, that is fighting for his life. He is struggling to understand the amazing skills of his mentor, Jace Lee; a younger man that has trained under Xander Davidson. All the while his mentor attempts to reconcile the fact that his skills do not match up with the other Dream Walkers.


Jace Lee No Agenda (Dream Walker Book 5)

Jace Lee No Agenda: Jace Lee attempts to find himself on a self-imposed vision quest of sorts. Instead he finds himself being stalked by the same group that had previously sought after his teacher, (Xander Davidson). Instead of mastering his odd Dream Walking skills he finds love and the potential loss of his powers.

Jace Lee and the Tutelage of Ming Wu: Dream Walker 6 

Jace Lee The Tutelage of Ming Wu: Jace Lee rejoins his teacher Xander Davidson as they cope with a possible combined threat (the mysterious), Ming Wu and the Council that has continuously monitored the Dream Walkers.