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MARTIAL ARTIST EXERCISE: TRAINING THE MIND

In Rocky, there is a moment where he redefines victory—not by winning, but by going the distance.

“If that bell rings and I’m still standing, I’ll know for the first time in my life that I wasn’t just another bum from the neighborhood.”

That is the shift. The fight is not about beating Creed—it’s about becoming the man who can endure the battle. Your opponent is your own mind.

And this is the exercise that will train you to master it.

THE EXERCISE: BREAKING EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT

Nothing in this, or any other book, will help you if you can’t do this one exercise. Do this, and all else will follow. Fail to do this, and you will remain a slave to your emotions.

It takes only a few seconds, but it will strengthen your free will, your self-awareness, and your ability to detach from emotions and take control.

How It Works:

• Have two radio stations programmed:

  1. One that triggers an emotional high—your favorite music station, a song that makes you feel alive.
  2. One that triggers a self-talk reaction—a news station with a political slant that either confirms or challenges your beliefs.

• Scenario One: The Music Shift

  • You’re driving, your favorite song comes on.
  • Your emotions rise, you’re caught in the moment.
  • Now, switch immediately to the news station.

• Scenario Two: The Political Shift

  • You’re listening to a news report that reinforces your worldview.
  • You feel righteous, justified, fueled.
  • Now, switch immediately to the music station.

Why This Works:

• It shocks the mind out of emotional indulgence.
• It forces you to assert will over reaction.
• It reveals how easily you are emotionally manipulated by external forces.
• It trains discipline in real time.

At first, it will feel uncomfortable.

That is the point.

This discomfort is the test.

Will you remain a puppet to your emotions—or will you train yourself to step outside them?

WHAT THIS REVEALS: THE TRUE NATURE OF “MIND”

In Musashi’s teachings, the word kokoro is used for Mind. But kokoro is not just thought—it is heart-mind, emotion-intellect, will in motion.

This exercise forces you to experience kokoro directly. There is no cost, no risk, no external danger. There is only Will, Intent, and Kokoro.

This is your fight. It is not against the external world—it is against your own conditioning.

APPLYING THIS TO LIFE

• Are you slow to get out of bed? Override the comfort impulse.
• Do you waste time on distractions? Override the addiction.
• Do you let emotions dictate your actions? Override the reaction.

These are small moments, but they are discipline .

If you conquer them, you gain back hours, days, a lifetime.

FINAL CHALLENGE: WHO ARE YOU NOW?

If you can master this—if you can switch at will, override your emotions, and train free will in real-time—then you have taken the first step toward true mastery of self.

You are no longer a spectator in your own mind.

You are becoming different. And of that we will have much to say. But for now as we move forward, you will continue to train, refine, and evolve.

“Better a life of discipline than one of regret.”

So now I ask you, who will you be after you are a martial artist who is this new man in the arena?  

“If that bell rings and I’m still standing, I’ll know for the first time in my life that I wasn’t just another bum from the neighborhood.”