“I walked 26000km around Europe for 3 years and only felt lost once I arrived home.”

It was a crazy idea. But I just had to get out there again, and find myself, God, or at least… something. I felt so hollow.

So in late November of 1995, with just a rucksack, spare socks, underwear, a map of Europe and a bible, I caught the ferry from Hull in England to Zeebrugge in Belgium, and started walking.

I basically crossed the West of Europe along the canals to the river Rhine, followed the Rhine down to the Alps, crossed the Alps & back, then through Eastern Europe over the river Danube to Russia.

Problems on the border of Georgia, stopped me travelling further, so I returned to Slovakia to then walk North through Poland and Scandinavia.

Once again in Slovakia, I then covered from a point I left off in Italy (Mestre by Venice in the North) and set off walking down through the Balkans up to the Serbian Border.

Cars would stop beside me in the pouring rain, and ask if I wanted a ride to the next town.

“No thanks, I must walk to Jerusalem” I answered.

This was usually met with a blank stare, and off they drove.

At first I covered 20km each day, then built it up to 30-50km per day, the longest being over 100km when I walked day and night to find suitable shelter in Croatia.

Finally becoming tired of walking daily, I settled in Slovakia.

The Walk Of Life (Added to notion)

Bujinkan is dedicated to the study and promotion of traditional Japanese martial arts as taught by Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi in Noda-shi, Japan.

The Bujinkan martial art comprises nine different but complimentary martial arts traditions that encompass all aspects of personal combat and self-protection skills. The training consists of unarmed and armed personal combat techniques, as taught in Japan. This martial art is truly martial in that it is centred on centuries-old, combat-tested techniques. It’s not a sport martial art, nor are competitions between practitioners arranged.

While this sounds very serious, and indeed it is, Bujinkan is also about self-knowledge, improvement and living without fear.
As Hatsumi-sensei says, “…to become people that can live.”

Training Philosophy

I chose to train in Hatsumi-sensei’s Bujinkan arts in order to learn how to survive in the real world. On the surface, it may seem that we are engaged in those aspects of life that deal with physical dangers, whether they come from a physical assault or other parts of life that may cause physical harm. While this is very true, I also learnt something much more valuable.

“Life is not simply about staying alive, it is about living.”

Through Bujinkan, we learn to overcome fears, doubts, and inhibitions and enjoy life without having the constant nagging fears that keep us from reaching our potential. Many would say that learning to disarm a sword-wielding attacker has little to do with life in this modern age. However, I feel that the confidence and skills needed to face an almost certain painful death are useful in our day-to-day dealings with the world.

“Overcoming our fears is necessary for growth and well being.”

It has been said, is it, not a happy person that does not fear death? Our personal experiences in pursuing the warrior arts, tempered with our own moral and ethical guidelines, as well as intellectual and cultural pursuits, help us to become a person that can live and enjoy life rather than seeing our existence as one obstacle after another. We learn to avoid obstacles, recover easily from falls, and overcome insurmountable odds in
order to continue to live as we wish: happily and without fear.

What is the Bujinkan?

Masaaki Hatsumi of Noda City, Japan, is the Soke (Grandmaster) of at least nine separate Japanese martial traditions (ryu-ha) passed to him by his personal teachers, including the late Toshitsugu Takamatsu. The Bujinkan is the organization created by Hatsumi-Soke to disseminate the teachings of the ryu-ha throughout the world.

The traceable development of these arts spans the last 1,000 years. The preservation of these traditions is a critical difference between Bujinkan arts and recently developed Japanese disciplines taught in the West, such as Karate-do, Aikido, and Judo.

The “do” arts were created largely after World War One and are derived from battlefield traditions. The meanings of “do” techniques are still rarely taught outside of Japan.

However, our Bujinkan education takes into explicit account battlefield and combat scenarios that are considered “bunkai” (possible applications), at best in most modern disciplines.

While recognizing change and modernization, Bujinkan training remains firmly rooted in the past. Rather than attempt to make old techniques into new, we learn from the old and seek the universal and lasting truths which have stood the test of time within the traditions which have been passed down. Alone, it doesn’t make Bujinkan better, only closer to the original warrior traditions.

The nine traditions of the Bujinkan are:

• Togakure-ryu Ninpo
• Gyokko-ryu Koshijutsu
• Koto-ryu Koppojutsu
• Kukishinden-ryu Happo Biken
• Shinden Fudo-ryu Daken Taijutsu
• Takagi Yoshin-ryu Jutaijutsu
• Gyokushin-ryu Ninpo
• Gikan-ryu Koppojutsu
• Kumogakure-ryu Ninpo

The above systems each specialize in a specific set of combat skills. When combined, as they are in the Bujinkan, They provide a comprehensive set of martial skills that enable the practitioner to adapt to any situation and give the practitioner a large body of principles and techniques that, when properly applied, enable the practitioner to survive and succeed where others fail.

Bujinkan (Added to notion)

By Mason Currey

In this entertaining, if somewhat repetitive, collection of daily rituals of nearly 200 of some of the greatest minds of the last four hundred years, you’ll hear the daily routines of famous writers, thinkers & artists.
I listened to the book on Audible, usually during short driving trips. Here’s the link if you’d like to buy the Daily Rituals Book for yourself or as a gift.

Obviously, having a reoccurring daily routine such as a morning ritual is a pre-requite to achieving any long-lasting success at a chosen craft or skill, but here is a list of the themes that seemed to appear with each of these 161 inspired and inspiring folk:

• Getting up very early or working very late
• Having a daily scheduled, uninterrupted time for “getting things done”
• Never working “too much” (most of their best work was done in a very short time-span daily, leaving room to think, socialize, read & relax)
• Taking naps
• Taking walks in nature (or other forms of exercise)
• Ingesting chemical stimulants ( coffee, alcohol, smoking, consuming drugs)

Among other things, this book will make you feel better about your own procrastination and odd habits!

The book makes one thing abundantly clear: There’s no such thing as the way to create good work, but all greats have their way. And some of those ways are spectacularly weird.

Daily Rituals Summary (Added to notion)

Let simple be the mantra:

• Make your contracts brief, small, and simple.
• Make your projects short, finite, and clear.
• Make your deliverables obvious, simple, and measurable.
• Make quality a higher priority than quantity (if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it)

I believe that living simply – the art of minimalism – is a basic human need.

Less is really so much more. Every item you own steals time from you. It takes time to own it, time to move it, time to store it. Eliminate it and find a lot more time in life.

Things are like water; too much in, and you’ll get flooded. But also, if you don’t let enough of it out regularly, you’ll be slowly drowned. The answer is to slow down the inflow and let it out regularly. All spaces should, at the most, reach 75% full i.e. 3/4; they are much easier to handle that way. Anytime it gets more than that, it’s time to start “letting out”.

Here are some ideas on how I, as a budding minimalist, simplify things and create space for myself at home:

My desk – clutter free

Flat surfaces should always be clutter-free. Therefore my desk has nothing on it, apart from the computer.

And the computer, I try to keep it clean, efficient and secure in a minimalist way:

• Use a minimum amount of installed software; everything else should be uninstalled to speed things up.
• Have a clear desktop.
• Have a program or reminder set up to clear out your bin, cache & browser history daily or weekly. Use a program like CCleaner to make sure that when you switch off every day, your recycle bin, cache, and browser history is deleted.
• Have an anti-virus program like AVG to ensure that your computer is regularly scanned for harmful viruses and “prey” for locking it and finding it when it goes missing.
• Use a password manager program like Protonpass to store all your passwords in one place. Never store passwords in your browser or computer. This way they are accessible from anywhere with an internet connection, password protected from thieves, and safe if your computer is lost.
• Use a secure online file management system like protondrive to store all your files online. This way, they are accessible from anywhere with an internet connection, password protected from thieves, and safe if your computer is lost.

My office – paperless

* Here are some ideas for sorting out your paperwork. Save the environment and buy a digital scanner and scan everything useful into a program like Notion, or simply into a file on your protondrive that’s called “everything that used to clutter up my office”. (I’d use a personal assistant or a child to assist you in doing this one morning or afternoon). Then divide an area into 4 parts (a table or floor space will do).

1. An area with a big disposable bag or cardboard box in it for throwing the scanned things away.
2. An area for forwarding or passing on. Deliver these things to the people that should have them, and the rest pay an assistant or child to do for you.
3. An area for Important papers – file them.
4. An area for Immediate action – spend the rest of the day sorting this out. Anything that can be done in less than 15 minutes should be in this pile, and get your assistant to help you.

* Rules: Don’t make more piles than 4, and don’t pick up a piece of paper more than once. Get used to making solid decisions, fast.

My media – digitalized

• All DVD’s, CDs, children’s drawings & Photos copied to digital format and stored on the cloud so that they are accessible from any device.
• All my books were donated a few years back and I’m slowly re-reading the best of them as eBooks on my tablet or listening to them as AudioBooks.

My home – Tidy

Here are some ideas on how to get your home in minimalistic shape

• Methodically go through every storage space a day at a time
• Ask: “have I used it in the past year?” “If it was stolen would I replace it?”
• If you have two of the same things, keep the better one and give away the other.
• As above, beware of flat surfaces, everything should be stored, and all surfaces including the floor as clear as possible.
• I have a personal rule that each time I bring something new into the house, 2 things have to go out.
• Everything has it’s own designated place, one place. and if it is moved out of place, then it must be returned to it’s designated place – yes, everything.

The wardrobe – organised

• Ask: “have I worn it in the past year?” “if it was lost, would I replace it?”
• When you’ve washed an item and put it back into the wardrobe, put it to the left hand side. After a year, anything you don’t wear will be at the right hand side. Another idea it to turn all your clothes inside out. All clothes that haven’t been reverted by the end of the year get thrown away.

Memorabilia – Gone

That cheap medal you got for completing the half marathon two years ago, the Eiffel Tower shot glass someone brought you from Paris, that copy of your college graduation announcement you’ve saved. You don’t need any of these things. Because guess what? Without them, you’ll still remember what it felt like to train for that half marathon or to have graduated from college. None of those memories are going anywhere. Donate or recycle this stuff — you won’t miss it.

This also includes t-shirts. I’m not talking about those soft, perfectly fitted T-shirts you love and wear all the time. I’m talking about what’s down there in the bottom third of your dresser drawer. Those logo-boasting shirts from events or places were likely all given to you for free. You don’t need a T-shirt in order to prove you went to that conference, worked at that tech company, or volunteered at said event. Donate these or turn them into a craft project. Your dresser drawer is happiest when it contains only the clothes you wear on at least a monthly basis. The rest is clutter (or memorabilia, see above).

Minimalism (Added to notion)

By Derren Brown

Brilliant, hilarious and entirely unlike anything else I have ever listened to before on Audible, Confessions of a Conjuror, read by Derren Brown himself, was a complete and utter joy.

This is not strictly an autobiography but more a combination of a collection of personal stories, comedic observations, and magic tricks.  Derren Brown has a writing style like no other celebrity, or possibly anyone since the days of Dickens and Melville, as the book is told through the intricate process of performing a single magic trick, using the minute observations and feelings experienced throughout performing this trick to Segway into amusing anecdotes, self-help tips, and embarrassing confessions.

Memorable Quotes

Each of us is leading a difficult life, and when we meet people we are seeing only a tiny part of the thinnest veneer of their complex, troubled existences.

To practice anything other than kindness towards them, to treat them in any way save generously, is to quietly deny their humanity.

I have retained a belief that it is the popular sporty kids at school who grow up to have the least interesting lives, and the unhappy young souls who develop into the most extraordinary adults.

Whoever heard of a creative genius being understood as a child and well loved by his class mates? Who like to imagine an artist who emerged into adulthood content with his lot? And, conversely, how satisfying to hear that almost without exception, the untroubled, popular kids at school have ended up blandly as accountants, solicitors or ‘in IT’.

Hold on, misfits, your day will come.

Confessions of a Conjuror (Added to notion)

Refuse, reject, eliminate the lifestyle, the habits and the circumstances that weaken you.

What makes you weak (Added to notion)

Use this handy checklist to be dependable in heavy weather sailing:

• Plot position at first sign of worsening visibility
• Maintain plot e.g. with GPS
• Hoist radar reflector if not permanently rigged
• Put on life-jackets and safety harnesses
• Take seasickness tablets if required
• Secure loose gear on deck and below
• decrease the area of the mainsail using reefs. (I usually take in one more than immediately required or simply drop the mainsail, and use the Genoa to get ahead)
• Prepare simple food in accessible locker (it’s tough getting at the food and a boiling kettle in a storm)
• Pre-plan navigation and escape routes

Heavy Weather Sailing (Added to notion)

We somehow trick ourselves into thinking:

“If having one of something is nice, having more will be even better.”

But multiples often steal time, energy, and focus from the single pursuits that matter most to us. Any highly organized person understands that consolidation, minimalism and simplicity equals more freedom.

Think about the beauty of one for a moment:

• One checking account.
• One password – using lastpass for example.
• One savings account.
• One credit card.
• One email inbox – multiple email addresses are ok, but send them to just one inbox and have them in separate folders; no need to waste time by logging into separate addresses.
• One wife – enough said
• One place where all your tasks are kept.
• One thing at a time – no multitasking.
• Do it once and do it right.
• Everything in it’s own, one place.
• Really appreciate the single one things that you have, experience and do.

The one thing gets used more often, and therefore we take better care of it, and invest in the best “one” that we can have because we know there will only be “one”.

– One life.

It is time we remember its simple beauty… and live more meaningful, purposeful & focused lives because of it.

Any more you’d add here? Let me know in the comments below…

The Beauty Of One (Added to notion)

Because we do not know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. And yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you cannot conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four, or five times more? Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.

– Brandon Lee – (Son of Bruce Lee)

Life Is Short (Added to notion)

Here’s one of the most dangerous email habits:

Checking your email first thing you wake up.

We’ve all done it.

We pick up our phone, tablet, look at the PC and check through our emails for something… for what? To know that you’re important, wanted, needed?

What inevitably happens? That one email destroys any real change of true productivity for the whole day. STOP!

Don’t check your email first thing when you wake up.

Wake up, go through your morning routine and then get one thing done.

Seriously, just one thing. Preferably your most important task. Then check your email.

Then if you go down the dark path of a very unproductive day, at least you’ve done one productive thing you can be proud of.

Ever had those days where you just said, “I’ve done nothing of worth at all!”?

Stop checking email first thing in the morning, and won’t have to say that again.

The most dangerous email habit (Added to notion)