From a grinch who’s trying to change. — If you could marry Santa Claus, I’m sure 8-year-old me would have done it. When I was a kid, I used to make cookies for Santa Claus, write a Christmas list that was a mile long for Santa Claus, and of course, I watched every damn Christmas movie that was…

Analyzing “Dokkōdō” with creativity in mind. — Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been fascinated by ninjas, samurais, and traditional martial artists. In particular, I’ve always been deeply curious about one samurai — Miyamoto Musashi. Musashi struck a chord for me because he was a writer and a martial artist — just like me. …

He also holds an MA in philosophy. — If you met John Danaher in real life, you’d think you’d met a character out of a comic book. He walks with a limp (the result of a lifetime of leg and hip problems), he only wears rashguards, and he speaks in only a way that philosophers seem to speak…

How to be calm in scary moments. — Stage fright (in my case, I guess it’s “competition anxiety”), is one of the most commonly experienced yet least talked about problems that people struggle with in competitive sports. What a lot of people fail to realize is that everyone gets nervous when they do things that they know will…

On the commodification of spirituality in the Western world. — “I’m not religious, I’m spiritual,” is what they say. It’s kind of trendy to say that nowadays. “I don’t practice a religion, but I can’t help but feel that there’s something more out there. There’s something deeper to life that I can’t explain.” This is usually what they mean when…

My grappling career is almost a high schooler. — In late October 2009, I tried out for my middle school’s basketball team. I didn’t make the first cut. Basketball was never my sport. A few weeks later, at my mom’s suggestion, I went to my first wrestling practice. …

Most writers forget about this. — On this day 2 years ago, I wrote my first article on the internet. I was in San Diego at the time on a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training trip that I could only afford to be on because a friend let me sleep on a mattress on their floor for free…

Do you deserve to feel good about yourself? — The first time you experience anxiety is strange. It feels like waking up and dying at the same time. It feels like growing up and also being cursed to be a scared child for the rest of your life. It’s like becoming aware of the fragility of your existence but…

“Death is not the worst that can happen to men.” ― Plato — In the spring of 2018, I was dealing with severe anxiety, depression, and a general sense of existential dread. I was 20, almost 21, and life was a big ole letdown. I felt disconnected from the world. After reading Terrence McKenna’s Food of the Gods, I thought that maybe mind-altering…