Self-mastery is the key to your soul

There are very few people in this world who are true Renaissance Men, people who are full of wisdom, and whose thoughts continue to inspire years after they have passed.

Rarer still, are those people who truly embody the ancient adage that a person should have a good mind in a healthy body.

Bruce Lee was one of them.

His legend continues to shine bright. When people think of kung fu, when they think of martial arts, it is often the image of Bruce Lee that comes up.

Here was a man who trained hard, yet was not satisfied with only getting knowledge, but who strove to perfect it.

His jeet-kune-do was one of the earliest attempts to create a mixed martial art, combining the best techniques from both East and West.

Yet, this martial arts star was also a philosopher with deep thoughts on the nature of existence and a wide perspective on living a good life.

In her foreword to one of the biographies of Bruce Lee, his widow talks about the purpose that he had found and that drove him during his life.

In many ways, his vision was influenced by many philosophies, chiefly Taoism, but one of his core principles was very Stoic. It’s not the things that happen that make a difference between people, but instead, it’s the way a person chooses to react to their circumstances.

Bruce was a man who throughout his entire life was on a journey of self-discovery.

What made him larger than life, was that as he was undergoing this process, he was able to communicate his insights and teach others how they could embark on the same process.

In the foreword, his widow compares Bruce Lee to Michelangelo. Just as Michelangelo chipped away at blocks of marble to reveal a masterpiece, Bruce worked hard on revealing all the different layers of his soul.

Linda Emery, Lee’s widow, ends her homage to her deceased husband by revealing that he had found the meaning of life. For him, it was peace of mind.

“The ultimate destination of Bruce’s journey was peace of mind — the true meaning of life.”

Bruce Lee was a man who throughout his life surpassed all the different levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and arrived at self-actualization, not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well.

His thoughts are nuggets of wisdom, which can help you to arrive there yourself. Being a lover of philosophy and martial arts, they have inspired me greatly.

The Tao

“The two forces (Yin-Yang), although they appear in conflict, in reality are mutually interdependent. Instead of opposition, there is cooperation and alternation.” — Bruce Lee

Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophical and religious tradition which has as its aim living a life of harmony.

Bruce Lee wrote that the Law of Harmony teaches that you should always be in harmony with the strength and forces of your opposition. This applies in kung fu and life.

The idea is if you do unfortunately have an opponent, you don’t beat him with force, but instead yield to him, and thereby have him beat himself with his own force.

Bruce Lee illustrated this principle by using the simple metaphor of reeds. While the branches of the fir tree snap if pressure is applied to them, reeds bend and overcome this pressure without breaking.

How to apply this lesson:

While for many people this lesson might seem a bit metaphysical, it has very real, practical applications. It is fundamentally about your deep core, your mindset, and how you conduct yourself.

Don’t get angry, don’t let outside circumstances bring you down. This is quite hard, and I fail all the time in this endeavor, but you only become better by practice and carrying on.

Kung Fu, Learning, and Improvement

“Kung Fu is a special kind of skill, a fine art rather than just a physical exercise. It is the subtle art of matching the essence of the mind to that of the techniques in which it has to work.” — Bruce Lee

Bruce states that there are three stages of learning kung fu. In many ways, these are similar to learning any new skill.

You start off in the primitive stage, in which you don’t know anything. At this stage, you just do whatever comes naturally, but not in a scientific way.

Then comes the so-called stage of “the art”. This occurs after you start learning a skill and this learning is usually jumpy. Often, you stop and think about things too much, and end up intellectually bound.

However, after many years of training, you reach the stage of artlessness. Here things start coming naturally. Instead of trying to impose your mind on the world, you start flowing with the blows. You become formless, just like water.

For Lee, whenever you start learning a new subject, you have to approach it with a beginner’s mindset. If your cup is full, then you have no room for learning. In order to absorb new things, first, you have to empty your cup.

How to apply this lesson:

Whenever you are learning something, don’t let your ego get in the way. I remember many times when I was learning a new subject and thought I knew better. I regret these things, even years later after they happened.

In order to avoid this problem, always adopt a beginner’s mindset.

Separating Facts from Opinions

“Objective is factual. Subjective is a matter of opinion. There is a big difference between why you THINK something is wrong and to justify, explain, prove that something is wrong.” — Bruce Lee

Thinking something, and being to support it with evidence and justifying it, are two different things. Many people have opinions on various things, yet they never examine why they believe what they do.

They equate their subjective opinions with objective facts when in reality there is a huge difference between the two.

How to apply this lesson:

You need to learn about separating facts from opinions. Engage in meta-cognition, keep an open mind, and always be ready to change your mind if new facts come to light that contradicts your position.

On Knowledge

“All types of knowledge, ultimately mean self-knowledge.” — Bruce Lee

As the ancient sages used to say, the first towards living a better life is knowing yourself. This involves learning about your inner nature, but also the outside world.

For we function in terms of the environment around us. Learning about how the world works at the end feeds into learning about ourselves.

How to apply this lesson:

Learn, learn, and learn some more. Learn by experience. Challenge yourself to do hard things, like playing sports, fitness, or climbing mountains. It is amazing how much you can learn about yourself, your mindset and your willpower, in the process.

Learn by reading. Read books about a variety of subjects. Be curious, and never say that something is not interesting or boring. Nothing is boring, only your own mindset.

The Difference between Self-Actualization and Self-Image Actualization

“Many people dedicate their lives to actualizing a concept of what they should be like, rather than actualizing themselves. This difference between self-actualizing and self-image actualizing is very important. Most people live only for their image.” — Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee saw that most people instead of working on improving themselves, prefer to live for their image. Most people have a huge void in the place where their authentic self should be.

Social media has made this belief even more present. People spend more time trying to take the perfect picture for Instagram, spending countless hours applying all kinds of filters, instead of using that time to actually work on themselves.

They believe that by projecting a false image on social media, they will somehow become a better, more successful person. However, as Bruce Lee observed, life should not be about optimizing an image of yourself, life should be about optimizing yourself as a human being.

How to apply this lesson:

Stop with the selfies, stop with instant gratification. Pick something challenging and do it. Work on improving yourself, and not your image.

Personal Growth and Willpower

“A self-willed man has no other aim than his own growth.” — Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee’s philosophy of personal development was driven by one mantra:

Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own.

You always need to look for ways to expand your horizons, to keep on growing. This was how Bruce lived his life, always finding new challenges to tackle, always learning about himself, always discovering how the world works.

How to apply this lesson:

A self-willed person goes against the herd, not paying attention to what the masses are doing. If the rest of the population is doing stupid things, there is no reason you should follow in their footsteps.

Limits

“There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” — Bruce Lee

For Bruce, a goal was not always something meant to be reached, but it served as something to aim at. If you reached it, awesome, but if you didn’t, at least you made the effort to get there.

Failure is not something to be bothered about. It just means you are learning. It is better to aim high and fail, rather than just sit on the bench.

Failure is also an important feedback mechanism. It tells you that what you are doing right now is not working, and you need to adjust your process.

In the world of Bruce Lee, there were no limits. He only saw plateaus that with the right amount of effort could be overcome.

How to apply this lesson:

If you train hard, there are very few things that can block you. Things that seem out of reach at the beginning, will become quite doable after you make an effort to reach them.

The effort you put in will be greatly reflected in the output. Impossible will become quite possible.

The Nature of Mankind and Happiness

“The better the man, the more happiness. Happiness is the synonym of well-being.” — Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee was a student of philosophy, and not only the Eastern variety but also Western. In his writings, he often mentions philosophers like Plato or Aristotle.

In many ways, he agreed with their virtue ethics. You should always do the right things for the right reasons. This is the basis of happiness.

How to apply this lesson:

Always do the right things for the right reasons. Don’t be tempted by the Dark Side.

Bruce Lee’s Legacy

Bruce Lee has been quite an inspirational figure for me. Ever since I saw my first kung fu movie with him in the starring role, I knew I wanted to be like him.

At first, I thought he was only a tough martial artist, but as I grew up, I also discovered his deeper, philosophical side.
Bruce Lee is a man who has left a legacy of wisdom, which when applied can change a person’s life.

When you realize that while the two opposing forces, yin and yang, of the Tao are interdependent, you start seeing the world in a different way.

You realize that your opponents can defeat themselves, the only thing you need to do is keep a calm mind.

Kung fu is not an art of attack, but one of self-defense, and a way of life. The way you learn a martial art is the same way you learn anything. The key is to have a beginner’s mind, to empty your cup.

Bruce Lee teaches us to realize what is important in life. This then should be manifested in your acts.

It is not about the image that you project, but what type of person you are inside.

In the modern world, many people try to project the perfect face, the perfect life on social media, but in reality, feel empty inside.

For Bruce, it was personal growth that needs to fill that void. Set goals, and strive to achieve them. For you should constantly be trying to reach higher.

This is the way to learn about yourself, and ultimately to reach happiness.

This story was originally published on “Medium” here.

Credit: 1

“Taoism extols the virtue of flexibility. What survives on Earth is what effortlessly adapts to the changing environment and changing circumstances.” — Ernie J. Zelinski

Founded around 500 BC, Taoism is a Chinese philosophy that focuses on living in harmony with the “Tao”, which can be translated as “the way”, “the path”, or “the road”.

In many ways, it is a perfect guide to a person’s journey through life. Taoism is all about floating effortlessly amid the different things happening in the world. It is a mindset that allows you to adapt to your changing environment and your shifting circumstances.

American spiritual teacher Frederick Lenz described Taoism as having no rules:

“It’s a suggestion for perceiving life in its wholeness, without unnecessary categorization, yet enjoying the beauty of categorization.”

Tao is a paradox. It’s about not having categorization but enjoying the beauty of categorization. It’s like Schrodinger’s cat problem of quantum physics, where the cat is both dead and alive inside the box.

For a modern, logic-based mind this is hard to comprehend. However, to physicist Fritjof Capra this paradoxical view is the very essence of nature.

Only now with the advent of quantum physics has science started to analyze the paradoxical nature of the universe.

As Capra states: “Whenever the essential nature of things is analyzed by the intellect, it must seem absurd or paradoxical. This has always been recognized by the mystics, but has become a problem in science only very recently.”

The founding of Taoism is traditionally attributed to Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher, and mystic. He is credited with writing the “Tao Te Ching”, the fundamental text of Taoism.

Lao Tzu is often regarded as an ancient sage, whose wisdom transcended the ages. His sayings have served as a guide for people who wanted to know how to conduct their life.

In many ways, contemplating the teachings of master Lao Tzu will open up your mind, and allow you to gain a new perspective on yourself and the world.

Master Yourself

“Knowing others is intelligence, knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power.” — Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu’s teachings reflect the lessons that many wise sages from around the world have discovered. You are your greatest friend, but also your greatest enemy.

If you want to master others, first you need to master yourself. While knowing others might make you smart, knowing yourself will bring true wisdom.

Self-reflection is what will lead to self-mastery. Engaging in meta-cognition, and being aware of your thoughts and why you think them is a crucial skill to have.

Attaining mastery over yourself is both physical and mental. However, most people make excuses not to do it.

The thing is not to remain complacent. Life isn’t about comfort zones. Don’t tell lies to yourself. Better yourself instead.

“A self-willed man has no other aim than his own growth.” — Bruce Lee

If you go to public parks in China, you will see groups of old people doing exercises. Many of them will be practicing t’ai chi, while others are engaging in some other form of exercise.

They are working on attaining physical and mental mastery over themselves, even in old age. This type of mindset is what gives you true power.

Gain wisdom

“To attain knowledge, add things every day.
To attain wisdom, remove things every day.” — Lao Tzu

Learning about the world happens in paradoxical ways. In order to attain knowledge, you need to add things every day. You have to be constantly reading, writing, and discovering.

However to attain wisdom, you need to remove things every day. At first this might be hard to grasp, but you will get a picture of what this means once you look at some Zen stories.

In one such famous tale, an important man used to being in charge, came to a Zen master wanting to learn what it is all about.

Looking sternly at the master, he said: “I have come today to ask you to teach me about Zen. Open my mind to enlightenment.”

The Zen master just smiled at him and said that they should discuss the matter over a cup of delicious tea.

The master then set a cup in front of the man and started pouring. The tea rose to the rim, but the master kept on pouring.

Soon, the tea was overflowing, spilling all over the table, until it started getting onto the important man’s clothes.

“Stop! Enough! Stop pouring! Can’t you see that the cup is full?” yelled the man.

This instantly brought a smile to the master’s face. He stopped pouring and said: “You are like this tea cup, so full that nothing more can be added. Come back to me when the cup is empty.”

Zen (Chan) Buddhism was greatly influenced by Taoism and reflects many of the key precepts of the Way of the Tao. Several of the things you learn in Zen, also apply for Taoism.

One concept in Zen is the beginner’s mind. You need to let go of your preconceived notions and open up yourself to the world.

Get rid of your anger, biases, and ego.

When you attain wisdom, you will see that you need less, not more. You don’t need to chase after riches or fame. Life is about living simply.

Several more of Lao Tzu’s quotes show what it means to be wise:

* “Wise men don’t need to prove their point. Men who need to prove their point aren’t wise.”
* “The mark of a moderate man is freedom from his own ideas.”
* “The wise man is one who knows, what he does not know.”

Practice without practicing

“Act without act. Work without work.” — Lao Tzu

If you want to go on a journey, you always need to take the first step. As Lao Tzu said: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

It is practice that is the important part of your life journey. The destination itself doesn’t matter that much.

However, in practice you need to separate hard work from smart work. Smashing about mindlessly might be hard work, but it is not smart work.

As the first part of Chapter 64 of the “Tao Te Ching” reminds us, you need to solve problems when they are still small. If you want to succeed you have to do the difficult things when they are still easy.

Act without acting, and work without working.

For Taoism, this means going with the flow. Alan Watts, the British author who popularized Eastern religions and philosophy in the West gave the example of boats in water in order to illustrate what going with the flow means.

If you have a rowboat, you need to struggle and use all your power to go against the water. However, if you have a sail, then you don’t need to strain anymore. You have the wind do all the work for you.

This example shows well the concept of “wu wei” or effortless action. It’s about being spontaneous in a free-flowing way, doing action through non-action.

The point is to just do, not try. This kind of sounds like what Yoda said to Luke in the swamps of Dagobah, but in reality it is an old Taoist precept.

Edward Slingerland who wrote the book “Trying Not to Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity” is of the opinion that trying too much can in fact have the opposite effect from what you want to achieve: “Thinking that you are good can make you bad. Talking about positive behavior can encourage negative behavior. Lao Tzu is clearly on to something when he warns us that consciously trying to be righteous will, in fact, turn us into insufferable hypocrites and that anyone striving to attain virtue is destined to fail.”

Life is often unpredictable and can get in your way even in the best of times. You make plans, and then something unexpected happens.

At times like this, it is when the principle of wu wei really shines. Just roll with the punches. You might have wanted to throw a right hook, but your opponent surprised you with a jab.

Duck away from the punch, and continue with your game plan. If the game plan isn’t effective, change it up for another. It’s no big deal.

Don’t think too much about doing things, just do them. Psychologist Jonathan Schooler believes that Lao Tzu had the right idea: “Particularly when one has developed proficiency in an area, it is often better to simply go with the flow. Paralysis through analysis and overthinking are very real pitfalls that the art of wu wei was designed to avoid.”

Paradoxically getting the ability to look like you are not trying, often requires a lot of effort at the beginning. It takes practice to become a master.

In martial arts, the masters of these disciplines often look like they are not engaging in any effort and dispatching their opponents with ease. However, in order to get to that level, they had to undergo years of training.

In many ways, “wu wei” resembles the state of “flow” described by modern psychologists. This is all about being in the zone, immersed in the activity you are doing, and even forgetting the passage of time.

Keep your cool

“Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.” — Lao Tzu

As you live in a society of people, and most people are not very enlightened, you are bound to encounter uncomfortable situations.

Many people will treat you in an unintelligent manner, shout at you, or put you down. You have to keep your emotions in check in such situations and respond intelligently.

One way to do that is to “be like water” as Bruce Lee says. The concept of water is very important in Taoism.
According to Frederick Lenz, water is the most used metaphor in the philosophy: “Taoism is the way of water. The most frequent element or symbol referred to in Lao Tzu’s writings is the symbol of water.”

While water may seem soft and weak, in fact it is very powerful. It can fit in any space, and over time, it changes all the nature around it.

For Lao Tzu, water shows how the principle of softness can overcome hardness. “Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness.”

The lesson to take from this is to always keep your cool. In practical terms, this can take many forms.

One technique that I like to use is one that I took from improv. It’s called “Yes, and…”

The way it works is easy. If someone insults you, you just confirm the insult, and add another thing to it, seemingly making it even worse. This way you show that you don’t care. In an instant, this disarms your attacker’s power.

This is in fact an ancient technique used by the likes of Stoic master Epictetus.

“If you learn that someone is speaking ill of you, don’t try to defend yourself against the rumors; respond instead with, ‘Yes, and he doesn’t know the half of it, because he could have said more.” — Epictetus

The quote on responding intelligently is from one translation of chapter 63 of the “Tao Te Ching”. In other versions, the part is translated as “respond to resentment using kindness” or “return animosity with virtue.”

However, no matter the translation, the lesson stays the same. Turn the other cheek, and show that you are the better person through your actions.

Stay humble

“Accomplish but do not boast, accomplish without show, accomplish without arrogance, accomplish without grabbing, accomplish without forcing.” — Lao Tzu

If there is one thing to remark about many of the greatest ancient sages is how humble they were. Humility is an important trait that you need to have if you are to live a happy life.

Humility is a key ingredient for wisdom. Lao Tzu, just like Socrates, knew that despite all the learning and thinking that he did, in reality he knew nothing.

In the “Tao Te Ching”, Lao Tzu described how much power staying humble actually gives you. He talks about how all the streams flow to the sea, because it is below them. This is the secret to its power: humility.

A wise ruler doesn’t boast or tries to place himself on top of others. In fact, he follows.

In a striking passage, Lao Tzu reveals the secret of a good ruler. “If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. If you want to lead the people, you must learn to follow them.”

You should stay humble, just for the sake of staying humble. However, the paradox is that by doing that, you will accomplish a lot more than by boasting.

Your Take-away

Taoism is full of paradoxes, but paradoxes are the basis of existence. By keeping this in mind, you will have learned one of Lao Tzu’s greatest lessons.

Master yourself
Gain wisdom
Work without working
Keep your cool
Stay humble

Remember to put these insights into practice. For as you know, practice is the key that unlocks life’s treasures. Just do it.

This story was originally published on “Medium” here.

Credit: 1

As I took my first step out of the plane and onto the boarding stairs, the hot, humid air instantly smacked me across the face. It felt as if I had been chucked into a sauna, turned up to the maximum.

Immediately, my sweat glands went into overdrive, little drops of salty liquid starting to ooze out of every pore in my body. Yet, I could smell that something else was flying in the air. Freedom!

Not the Braveheart kind of “freeedooooooom!!!”, but a deep, personal sense of relief and opportunity. All my worries, frustrations and stresses were a continent away. I had been unshackled from all the loads that had been weighing on my back.

In an instant I forgot about my job, social life (or rather the lack of) and the “real world”. I was embarking on a new, month-long adventure where all these things had no meaning and did not matter. For the first time in a long-time, I felt free, unburdened… and happy.

Well, at least that’s how I imagined it would be when I hit the “send” button booking my trip.

All those days sitting in the office, staring at the computer screen, I yearned for my liberation. The burning desire to get away was there, constantly pushing at me. My thoughts would often drift to another world.

In my mind, I visualized finally being able to escape from the utter meaninglessness of a desk jockey life and embarking on a grand adventure.

My imagination went wild and I had dreams of setting out and conquering straight away.

The eternal words of Gaius Julius Caesar rang in my head:

“Veni, Vidi, Vici – I came, I saw, I conquered.“

That’s how I pictured my month-long training jaunt in Thailand. I would come, see, and conquer. There would be no stopping me, like Terminator I would move towards my target in a mechanical fashion.

This would of course sometimes be interspersed with scenes of hardcore training set to motivating, pump-up music. Just like in the movies.

In reality, upon landing in Phuket, my feelings were a bit different from the way I thought I would feel and from the emotions I thought I would sense. Daydreaming in the office is one thing, but reality is often a whole different ball game.

The scene unfolded in a lot less dramatic way. I didn’t step onto the tarmac and feel the hot, humid air. Instead, one of those traditional ramps was pulled up against the door of the airplane. So my first steps led me to the air-conditioned insides of the terminal.

All those daydreams forgot one little aspect of experiencing something new. New, is not only an opportunity, but also a danger. That’s why the first sensations you have are a mix of the positive and the negative.

The initial feelings were of expectation, but also of apprehension about what was to come next. A bunch of fears suddenly flooded my brain: Will the taxi I booked be waiting for me? Will there be anybody in the camp to give me the keys to my housing? Do I really know what I am doing?

I picked up my luggage and ventured outside. Luckily, there was a guy waiting, holding a little sign with my name on it. I hopped into his car and off I went, riding to my date with destiny.

As I sat in the taxi, I watched the hustle and bustle of Thailand. Thousands of cars, and mopeds swerving dangerously in overcrowded lanes, rundown buildings interspersed with new modern buildings, all this in a tropical setting.

During the 45 minute ride from the airport, the day turned to night. Outside, it was pitch dark, yet thousands of lights produced by houses and cars coming from all directions, illuminated the way.

I was wondering how much longer I would have to sit in the taxi, when we suddenly took a left turn into a dark sideroad and finally arrived at my destination, the Tiger Muay Thai camp.

I was finally there! To sit on my throne as the Prince of Bel-Air!

Oh wait, that is from something else.

I was in Thailand and finally got to camp. This was going to be my home for the next month, the very bane of my existence for four weeks.

I was there to learn to fight, and through this improve my health, and find inner peace.

One thing that I kept thinking about was why? Why did I want to do this? What was this inner drive that was pushing me to train?

Parallel to the physical act of training, I set out to find the answers to these questions.

I wasn’t the only one who embarked on this path. Just in Thailand, at that very moment, there were thousands of Western guys doing the same thing: taking an active vacation or even quitting their jobs in order to train.

Each of them has his own story, but the themes oftentimes are very similar.

READ MORE:
This is the first part of a series I plan to write on learning to fight and living in the state of nature as the key to happiness. It does sound like a mix of hardcoreness and sappinness, but in reality it addresses some of the most fundamental questions that have been posed by ancient philosophers from time immemorial.

Before I post all the other parts of this series, read this article on how to achieve things you thought impossible:
Go beyond your limits: how to do the impossible.

I have been writing this series ever since I announced that I was going to Thailand to train Muay Thai in 2016. Since then, I have been to Thailand 3 times to do just that. I have several parts of this series in various stages of writing, but unfortunately my old laptop died and I have lost most of my notes, so it will take some time.

Unfortunately I grew up and no part of that dream came true. No karate tournaments, no wild motorbike chases, no awesome death touch. Well, now I will make at least a small part of that dream a reality.

Yes, at times I did train and tae kwon do and did get some colored belts, but at no time was I serious. Now I will change that.

I booked a flight to Thailand for a month and will do intensive training at one of the muay thai camps in the country. I am a complete beginner in the fighting art, but hopefully after a month of intense effort, I will learn at least the basics.

I was planning to do this for a long time now, but kept postponing it. I am not getting younger though and so finally I said “fuck it” and booked the trip.

How do I get the money and time off to do this?

Well, as I wrote previously, due to my hard work and some creative skills (which can be replicated by you), I managed to get a job where I am the decision maker and make decent money.

I also work in Europe and so have plenty of vacation time to do this, plus time I carried over from previous years.

What will I do?

Well the plan is to train muay thai, but the camp also offers classes in BJJ and some related martial arts, so I might try those as well. I will also try to improve my fitness, strength and stamina.

Since I will be in the country for 31 days and can get a visa-free entry for only 30 days, at some point I will also need to make a visa run to Malaysia to get my entry visa extended. So some travelling will be a part of the experience.

I will keep you updated on the blog once I go (latter part of August and beginning of September).

Read More:
This will add a new chapter to my life:
Your own hero’s journey: how to grow as a person

—
Credit: 1

The Ancient Roman gladiators were some lean, mean killing machines. Fighting was their way of life, the very essence of their being. This gave them an unwavering strength and a tremendous drive and determination. Their courage was legendary. If a gladiator wanted to be the champion, he could not let his focus waver. A single mistake, a slip up, a short lapse in his attention or a bit weaker stamina could end it all for him. His very life depended on being in peak physical condition and the master of his weapons.

Gladiators needed to be driven, not only to become the best they could be, but also to always be better than their opponent. For them, being second best could often mean only one thing: death.

Unfortunately only very few fragments describing their training survive, so it is very hard to reconstruct their training regimen. There was also never just one specific way of training gladiators. Gladiator training varied across time and geographic location. The type of training they received, as well as their diets, also often depended on how rich the owners of their schools were.

The richest and most prestigious schools could employ the very best trainers and physicians and also provide the highest quality food, while the poorer schools, especially in the outlying provinces often suffered from a lack of resources.

This article will focus on the ancient gladiator training techniques and what we can determine about them from the ancient sources. If you are looking for a modern “gladiator” inspired workout, then click here.

Sport specific training
The most important training for any gladiator was the training done with the specific weapons that he would use in the arena. If he wanted to win in a fight, he needed to be extremely proficient in their use.

The main weapons used by the gladiators included different types of swords, knives, shields and special weapons such as the trident for the retiarius, or a spear for some other types of gladiators.

In practice, the gladiators utilized wooden replicas of these weapons. Much of the training was spent sparring with these wooden weapons against other gladiators. Part of the time, wooden weapons that were heavier than the ones the gladiators wielded in actual combat were used. The idea of training with heavier weapons was that once they got used to fighting with these, it was much easier to fight with normal weapons.

During sparring, gladiators were taught the proper way of using the sword. They were taught not to slash at the opponent, but instead to stab him. This was considered the most efficient way of killing the opponent or causing him the most harm.

One of the most important exercises was called the “post” exercise. This was done using wooden weapons of normal or larger size against a large pole stuck in the ground. The exercise was described by Vegetius, a writer from the period of the Late Antiquity, in his book called “De Re Military“:

“They gave their recruits round bucklers woven with willows, twice as heavy as those used on real service, and wooden swords double the weight of the common ones. They exercised them with these at the post both morning and afternoon.“

The gladiators also spent considerable time practicing fighting without weapons. Things like wrestling were a very important part of training for any gladiator. Not only did they need to be skilled in the use of the sword, but they also needed to be good at hand to hand fighting.

Some descriptions of ancient hand-to-hand fighting survive. For example boxing, wrestling and an ancient version of MMA called pankration were official sports in the Ancient Olympics.

We do not know how the actual gladiator training without weapons proceeded, but it probably involved a lot of drilling of different moves and resembled the instructions for wrestling moves found in one 2nd century AD Greek papyrus or the even more ancient scenes from Ancient Egyptian wall paintings.

General training for physical condition

The historical record for what type of physical training the gladiators did is very patchy. There undoubtedly were a lot of manuals produced during Roman times, however very few survived to the present. So unfortunately we cannot produce a full “real” gladiator workout, but we can only surmise at the types of exercises they did from some of the writings that do survive.

The trainers of Roman gladiators did realize that fight specific training is not enough in order to build the ultimate fighting and killing machine. They knew that in order to develop strength, speed and stamina, the gladiators would need to do a variety of generic exercises in order to do that. Many of these were based on what was developed by the Ancient Greeks.

Different ludi (gladiator schools) organized their training regimens differently, however at the time of the Roman Empire, the most popular organization of training was based on the “tetrad” system developed by the Ancient Greeks. This divided training into 4-day cycles:

• Day 1 – day of preparation, which consisted of toning and short, high intensity workouts

• Day 2 – day of high intensity, which consisted of long, strenuous exercise

• Day 3 – day of rest (short, very light workouts were also done, but it was mostly about resting)

• Day 4 – day of medium intensity

In his work “Concerning Gymnastics” (one of the earliest surviving works on sports science), Philostratus, a Greek philosopher who lived during the time of the Roman Empire, described the tetrad system like this:

“By the tetrad system we mean a cycle of four days, each one of which is devoted to a different activity. The first day prepares the athlete; the second is an all-out trial; the third is relaxation; and the fourth is a medium-hard workout. Regarding exercise of the first day, it is made up of short, intense movements which stir up the athlete and prepare him for the hard workout to follow on the next day. This strenuous day is an all-out test of his potential. The third day employs his energy in a moderate way, while on the day of the medium workout or last day, the athlete himself practices breaking holds and preventing his opponent from breaking away.“

Once this cycle was over after Day 4, a new cycle of the tetrad would begin.

The Ancient Greeks and Romans used different types of exercise equipment, some of which is very similar to what we use today. For training, they used halteraes, an ancient version of the dumbbells. There were different types of halteraes and they were used for different purposes. One purpose of the halteraes was to help a jumper jump farther. For example in their version of the long-jump, Greek jumpers carried these weights in their hands in order to help them with their liftoff.

Halteraes were also used in different types of resistance training, just like we use dumbbells today. Basically all the moves that we do today with dumbbells could be performed in the ancient world using halteraes.

Other equipment that was used in the ancient times were all kinds of types of more natural equipment, such as big stones, logs or sandbags. There were different types of stones that were utilized by the fighters for their training. These stones could weight 100 kg or more. Some of the stones had grips for hands cut into them, while others were just round and natural. A variety of exercises could be performed with them, for example picking them off the ground, hoisting them above your head, throwing them, or for the heaviest just rolling them around.

The equipment that many of the ancient doctors recommended as the best equipment for exercise, were balls. For example Galen, a Greek doctor in the Roman Empire, wrote an entire book on exercises with small balls. There were different ball games played with them, but they could also be used by themselves to perform different exercises. Galen is a very good source of information on gladiators, since he started the practical part of his professional career as a doctor in a gladiatorial school in Pergamon, where he worked for 4 years, treating all kinds of injuries.

For practicing punching and kicking, the gladiators used a variety of different types of punching bags. A very significant part of the training day was spent practicing their technique and strengthening their punching power on them.

Another type of equipment that we have records of, was the pommel horse. Today, the pommel horse is used in gymnastics and a version of it existed in the ancient times as well. There are different descriptions of it by various authors and it was used by the Roman army to train their soldiers, so it is possible that the gladiators used it for their training as well. Other types of equipment that we know from modern gymnastics were also known in Ancient Greece and Rome and it is very possible that they were used by the gladiators to train.

Many of the principles that we use in our training were also used in the ancient world.

There is a story that was often told of Milo of Croton. This was an Ancient Greek athlete from the Greek city-state of Croton located in what is now southern Italy. He lived in the 6th century BC and was training for the Olympics.

One of the ways that he was training was by taking a newly born bull, hoisting it up on his shoulders and carrying it for some distance. He would do it every day. As time passed, the bull would grow larger and so Milo kept on hoisting more and more weight. This culminated with him walking into the Olympic stadium with a full grown bull on his shoulders.

So over time he was increasing the weight he was lifting. This is basically the birth of progressive overload. The ancients knew that if you want your muscles to grow and get stronger, you need to lift heavier and heavier weights.

Another principle from the ancient world is that of periodization. Many gladiator schools probably used periodization training, which is an organization of training that splits training into blocks of time, each one focusing on different skills. They would be training all day and split their training into units of time during which they would focus on just one skill.

The ancient gladiators also knew about the intensity of training and that you should not go into training full speed at the beginning, but need to warm up first, otherwise you risk injury. Galen wrote that intensity should be increased gradually: “Intensity should be gradually increased, peaking at the end. This should be of special concern in order to avoid injury to competitors.”

The cool-down process was also important. Hippocrates (an Ancient Greek doctor) said that “those who walk after exercising will then have a stronger and more rested body.” This means that there should be a period of cool down after intense training and people should not fall down and lie on the ground immediately, but instead the person should cool down by walking around. Also on rest days, according to Hippocrates, the athlete should not do completely nothing, but instead do something of low intensity.

The ancients were very aware of the dangers of over-training and many of the doctors preached against it. They knew that the body needs rest in order to recover from intense training and also that your body achieves the best results if rest is a part of your routine.

Throughout their training, the gladiators would use different types of equipment and do all kinds of varied exercises.

Galen divided exercises into three types:

Vigorous exercises: These were exercises performed with strength, but without speed. Examples of these include: digging, picking up any kind of heavy load and either standing still with it or walking (especially up a hill), climbing a rope, hanging from rope or beam for as long as possible, holding arms up (with or without weights) while partner tried pushing them in a downwards direction…etc. These exercises show that the Ancient Greeks and Romans had an understanding of overload (including progressive overload) and its positive effects on building strength and muscles.

Speed exercises: Here the primary objective was speed, apart from strength and force. Examples of these include: running, shadow boxing, hitting the punching bag, running around with balls, arm and leg exercises like drill stuff…etc.

A particular example of this type of exercise that was performed has the Greek name “pitylysma”. The exercise goes like this: start by standing on tip toes, stretch your arms upwards, move one arm quickly forward, while moving the other one backwards, roll quickly on the ground, quickly come up, stand erect and start jumping up and down, sometimes with a backward kick, sometimes bringing each leg forward in an alternating fashion.

Violent exercises: These combined speed and strength. Exercises classified as vigorous became violent if you increased their speed – jumping continuously without rest, or any speed exercises performed with weight became violent – moving around quickly in heavy armor.

The word “violent” in this context could be better understood if you use it as a synonym for the word “power”. A recommendation of Galen for these types of exercises was to rest between the different individual exercises.

Most of the training that the gladiators did could be classified as functional training. Their training program was designed to build functional strength and besides strength training also consisted of a variety of different types of movements such as jumping and running. When done in long intervals, these also functioned to build stamina.

Jumping was a very important component of any gladiatorial training. This included different types of plyometrics training like jumping on high objects, sometimes with weights in hand, or doing an obstacle course where you had to jump over different obstacles, in different ways: from place, with running start, high jump, long jump…etc. One example of an exercise that was a favorite among trainers was the scissors jump, which is an exercise that is still in use today.

Running also featured prominently in the workouts of gladiators, either short distance for speed, or long distance for stamina. In his work “Anarchasis“, Lucian (an Assyrian commentator who wrote in Greek and lived during the time of the Roman Empire) wrote about the place of running in a training routine and especially recommended running on sand:

“We train young men to run, getting them to endure long distances as well as speeding them up for swiftness in the sprints. This running is not done on a firm springy surface but in deep sand, where it is not easy to place one’s foot forcefully and not to push off from it, since the foot slips against the yielding sand. We train them to jump over ditches … or any other obstacles and we train them to do this even when they carry lead weights as large as they can hold.“

Stamina was practiced throughout the entire course of the training. The gladiators would go on long-runs or just practice different drills for a long time, until the fighters got tired. Another very important part of training stamina was playing different types of ball games.

One example was a game called harpastum. No one is exactly sure about the rules of this game, but from descriptions it seems to be similar to modern rugby, but played with a small ball. This game usually lasted for many hours and was a favorite among gladiators.

Resistance training was already mentioned as being a very important part of any athletics training, and was also included in gladiatorial training. Gladiators would use halteraes made of stone or metal, or use other objects such as stones, wooden logs or sandbags.

They would do things that we do today like lateral raises, bicep curls, or walking lunges. There was a special gladiatorial twist that they added to their version of the walking lunges. They did them with arms outstretched in front of them when holding the halteraes.

Another exercise that is mentioned by Galen is one where two halteraes are placed 6 feet apart, the person stands in the middle between them, reaches out on one side and raises up the halterae on that one side, then goes to the other side and raises the one on the other side.

Sandbag training was probably also used. This type of training was already practiced by the Ancient Egyptians. It is good for stabilizers and a lot of things can be done with sandbags. One example of an exercise with a sandbag is rotation. This would be done by putting sandbags on your shoulders and then rotating your trunk from side to side. Another exercise with sandbags is putting them on your shoulders and doing squats. There are a variety of other types of exercises that can be done with sandbags and that were done in the ancient world for training and getting stronger.

Besides the different types of training mentioned above that was done with a variety of equipment, the gladiators relied on body-weight exercises in order to build a big and strong body. Calisthenics or body weight exercises were a huge part of gladiator training. Common calisthenics exercises that were also performed by gladiators include: push ups, sit-ups, lunges, jumping jacks, crunches, pull ups, squats, dips, planks…etc.

In order to add more resistance these can be performed in a variety of ways. The gladiators would perform different types of push ups on their knucles, on their fingers, with one arm, one leg, chest push ups and in a lot of other ways. They would similarly perform other types of calisthenic exercises in different ways.

Galen, in his writings also mentioned the benefits of rope climbing. The gladiators spent a significant portion of their time climbing ropes. These ropes hung from the ceiling, but oftentimes they were secured to the ground as well. Another favorite activity of the trainers was to have the gladiators hang off ledges or beams for as long as they could. These types of exercises served to build a strong grip, as well as other muscles, especially the stabilizers.

For becoming the best, the gladiators knew that they needed to train other things besides just speed (and quickness), strength and stamina. They also needed to train their balance and agility. For agility, they used different types of machines or swinging bags, where they had to run through a gauntlet of these different things and not fall. Also hand-eye coordination was important, and in order to improve this, Galen recommended a variety of exercises with small balls.

To help with recovery, many of the gladiatorial schools included bath complexes, which the gladiators used after training. For example the gladiatorial school that was recently discovered in Austria (the site used to be called Carnuntum in Roman times), included a large bath complex, among other things. Baths were a common way of relaxation and recovery in Ancient Rome and many sections of Roman society used baths regularly.

Visiting baths frequently was actually one of the main recommendations to promote good health by Celsus in his work on medicine titled “De Medicina”. These baths often resembled what we know as spas in the modern world, and included tanks of cold, warm and hot water and apart from relaxation could also be used for swimming.

Nutrition
The importance of eating in order to perform was recognized in the ancient world and great attention was paid to diet. There was no one gladiatorial diet, but the diet of gladiators differed based on place, time, money, availabity and the philosophical approaches of the trainers and doctors of that particular ludus.

Just like the nutrition debates of today, the ancient Greek and Roman world was full of bro science. The different commentators were always arguing over what type of diet is the best and diets for training ranged from an all-meat diet (this was used by a few Greek athletes) to something which was almost an all-carbohydrate vegetarian diet.

Another problem is that literary evidence is sparse. There has been some archeological evidence found from digging at a gladiator cemetery in what is now Turkey, but that has also sparked different interpretations. Recently another gladiatorial school in good condition was found in what is now Austria and once archeological digs are more advanced we can get better ideas.

Most of what we do know about the different gladiatorial diets is from the writings of Ancient Roman commentators. From the writings it seems that one of the staples of the gladiator diet was barley. This could come in different forms, such as soup, porridge or pancakes. They ate so much barley in fact, that Pliny the Elder called them “barley-men”.

Galen also commented on how when he became a gladiatorial physician, the most frequent meals of the gladiators in his ludus, were bean soup and barley. He complained that this diet did not toughen the flesh, but instead made it flabby.

Other commentators mention that dried figs, moist cheese, and wheat for breakfast were the standard for many athletes. It also seems that beans and cheese were quite popular among them. Different types of fiber were also considered important.

The Ancient Greeks discovered that meat helps athletes grow strong. It became a staple in the diets of many athletes. Diogenes Laertius in his “Lives of the Philosophers” mentions how this came about:

“Pythagoras is said to have been the first to train athletes on a meat diet. The first athlete he did this with was Eurymenes. Formerly, athletes had trained on dried figs, moist cheese, and wheat.”

It should be mentioned that the Pythagoras he talks about here is not the famous philosopher, but instead an athletic trainer of the same name.

Mythology also talks about the diet of the famous Milo of Croton. Supposedly he ate 20 pounds of meat and 20 pounds of bread daily!

There was also much discussion on what types of meat is best for athletes. Galen said that it was pork. Some other commentators agreed. The discussion on pork can illustrate the type of bro science that the Ancient Greeks and Romans got up to. They were actually discussing from what types of pigs you should eat pork. It was said that the best pork comes from pigs fed on berries and that you should not eat the meat of pigs raised near rivers!

While some gladiatorial schools had diets which were to a large extent close to vegetarian and full of carbohydrates, some gladiatorial schools instead focused on a diet full of meat. Since meat was expensive to obtain, a large part of the meat that was eaten in the ludi often came from the venationes or animal hunts that occured in the arenas together with gladiatorial fights. So the gladiators would often end up feasting on elephant or ostrich meat.

The ancients also realized the importance of calcium to have strong bones and they had different sources of it. One of the ways that the gladiators used to replenish calcium was through drinking an old-school “sports drink” made out of the charred ashes of plants. Move over Gatorade, we got some Charredashade.

Other related training
The gladiators didn’t only train their bodies, but they had to train other things as well. They also received training as actors. Having the crowd on your side could often be the difference between life and death. So every gladiator needed to be a bit of a showman. It was a lot like the modern WWE, except the blows were real and the loser would not always make it out of the arena alive.

That’s why they were also taught how to die. Every gladiator had to be indifferent to death and had to die in a stoic fashion. A gladiator should die with honor. They had to die like it was nothing and be at peace with it. Even in their ultimate moments of life, it was necessary to show contempt for death.

Except for the superstars, most gladiators led a simple life. They only had few possessions and slept in very meager conditions. Seneca, in his “Allegiance to Virtue” even compared the stoic life to the life of a gladiator:

“You have promised to be a good man; you have enlisted under oath; that is the strongest chain which will hold you to a sound understanding. Any man will be but mocking you, if he declares that this is an effeminate and easy kind of soldiering. I will not have you deceived. The word of this most honorable compact are the same as the words of that most disgraceful one, to wit: “Through burning, imprisonment, or death by the sword.”

From the men who hire out their strength for the arena, who eat and drink what they must pay for with their blood, security is taken that they will endure such trials even though they be unwilling; from you, that you will endure them willingly and with alacrity. The gladiator may lower his weapon and test the pity of the people; but you will neither lower your weapon nor beg for life. You must die erect and unyielding.

Moreover, what profit is it to gain a few days or a few years? There is no discharge for us from the moment we are born. “Then how can I free myself?” you ask. You cannot escape necessities, but you can overcome them. By force a way is made.”

They were supposed to represent the ultimate virtues to the ordinary Romans.

Yet they also had to be motivated. It was a tough life and an unpredictable fate and their trainers also had to be masters of sports psychology. The gladiators were encouraged and motivated to overcome their fears and become the best.

What lessons you can apply to your own training
So if you want to train like a gladiator, how can you do it? Follow the basic principles of progressive overload, periodization and varied intensity and train for strenght, speed and stamina. You won’t be able to reproduce their entire workout since they trained all day, but you can certainly put elements of their training into your workouts.

A big part of gladiator training were bodyweight exercises. Try to incorporate them in your routine and periodically do more and more challenging moves.

Also start training a bit more like a strongman competitor. The gladiators had to lug around heavy things in order to get stronger and so can you.

The farmer walk is a good exercise for that:

Gladiators also had to lift heavy stones:

Incorporate some jumping exercises into your routine:

You can also incorporate different wrestling exercises in your routine and train like modern Greco-Roman Wrestlers do:

You can also do static holds until failure. A lot of exercises that the gladiators did involved this. For example they would outstretch their hands to the sides and hold them for as long as they could. For added resistance, they would hold halteraes in their hands, so you can hold dumbbells.

In order to increase your stamina, you can also go running around in a weighted vest. Many gladiators used to go on long runs in full armor and you can simulate that by wearing a weighted vest.

Last of all remember to have fun while you train. You have the luck of not being born in an era where stepping out in the arena was a life or death situation. You will survive. You only have to concentrate on getting better, without all that nasty stuff. Embrace the challenge…

Read more:
Who were the Roman gladiators?

————
image 1; image 2

It’s a hot day. Two men are waiting at the gates of the arena dressed in battle gear, ready for their fight to start. Sweat is flowing down their cheeks and their breathing is becoming heavy. This might be their last day alive.

Yet these men are professionals. Training has prepared them for this day and they know what needs to be done. They stand proud and determined, wiping all doubts from their mind and instead refocusing their thoughts on the task ahead.

Each one has the same thought flowing through his mind. No, this will not be his last day. He will go on to score a huge victory and be celebrated by the crowds, going on to become a real sports superstar. Each one of them knows that they are the best, yet there can be only one winner. One of these will leave the arena a victor, while the other one will be the defeated…

Each one of them will do everything in his power in order to remain the one standing up, to be the victor. There is no other way. They are Roman gladiators and that is their way of life.

Gladiatorial fights were all the rage in Ancient Rome. They were the equivalent of today’s Super Bowl in magnitude and popularity, with one huge exception: some of the contestants would probably not make it through the day alive.

Ancient Rome was a martial culture and any type of sport where the contestants aren’t risking their lives was a pussy sport. That’s why athletics, which were very popular in the Ancient Greek city states, never became very popular in Rome. The Ancient Romans thought athletics were not something real men should compete in, because there was no risk in them. They might use similar methods of training originally developed for athletics to train, but athletics were for the pussies, real men wanted to see sweat and blood and feel death knocking at the door.

Many gladiators started off as lowly slaves, purchased on the market or captured in war, but went on to rise to become veritable superstars with fans cheering their name and women throwing themselves at them. They went on to enjoy lavish lifestyles just like the sports superstars of today.

However for the majority of gladiators this was not the case. Many of them died during their fight in the arena or suffered crippling injuries and lived out the rest of their lives as cripples. Gladiatorial fights were high risk, high reward contests.

Reflections on the role and popularity of gladiatorial fights in Roman society

Gladiatorial fights were the epitomy of Ancient Roman society. They demonstrated the ideal values that were held dear: valor, strength, bravery, cunning, discipline and above all risk. These were the individual traits valued in what was a very martial society. Rome was built by war and martial values were what was supposed to define Roman society.

The gladiatorial games exploded in popularity, when Rome had grown very far beyond its original borders. The very dominance of Rome in the ancient world at that time was the instigator for the growth in popularity of gladiators. Originally Rome was a small city-state and all male citizens were required to protect it. So in times of need basically all males had to go on military duty. During these times, most male Roman citizens experienced combat first hand.

However as Rome grew and conquered lands far and wide, less and less of its inhabitants directly participated in war. The empire of Rome also brought in more and more new subjects and these needed to be exposed to Roman culture and in that way “romanized”.

It is at exactly this time, when we see the importance and popularity of gladiatorial games grow and expand into all parts of the lands that Rome brought under its control. The games were sports, spectator sports, but they served not only as entertainment, very bloody entertainment, but as a way to remind the masses of their martial spirit and the original values of Rome.

Most Romans were no longer directly affected by war and most males no longer had to go through long stints in the army, so this served as a substitute for that. Instead of participating in war, they would watch it. The act of watching satisfied their lust for action and violence and also kept their minds occupied and their hormones busy with other things, away from thoughts of rebellion.

Many people led miserable lives and a gladiatorial spectacle afforded them a reprieve from their daily misery. They could for one see the ultimate values of their society on display and for once feel powerful. They could scream, shout, cheer on their favorites or call for their deaths. They could let themselves go and feel that they too were part of the power of Rome.

The Romans won their empire by the sword and their most popular sport came to reflect that. The very name of the games comes from their word for sword, gladius. Their legionnaires had to wield the sword in order to create the Roman world, first to protect Rome from its enemies and then to go on the offensive and conquer an empire. The Roman world was a world created by violence and its main virtues were martial ones. That is what gave its society strength.

Death was ever-present in gladiatorial games. For the Romans this was natural. Their world was a world of war. Their empire was built on the courage and sacrifice of men, many of whom ended up dying. For them a sport where death is not a potential outcome and a danger, did not reflect reality. In their world, risk was ingrained in the very fabric of society and it led to either glory or death.

History of gladiators

There is debate on where the gladiatorial fights started. Some people say that they are of Etruscan origin, while others point to an origin in Campania. Most people agree that they started as a part of funerary blood rites and were part of a celebration of the dead.

The first recorded gladiatorial game in Rome took place in 264BC. This date coincides with the start of the first Punic Wars, where Rome fought a deadly war against Carthage. The games were organized by Decimus Iunius Brutus Scaeva in order to honor his dead father.

It is during the Punic Wars, that the most frequent type of gladiator used during the Republican times developed. This type is the Samnite type. The Samnites were a tribe in Italy that supported Hannibal during his attack on Rome. When Hannibal and his allies were defeated, many prisoners of war were converted into gladiators and made to fight in gladiatorial games. In order to punish them for their support of Rome’s enemy, the Samnites and their battle armor became a protype for gladiators.

The games exploded in popularity and developed from being part of funerary rites into a public spectacle on their own. People who wanted to hold political office started using them as a way to gain favor with the citizens and so started organizing these games in public.

From then on, different schools to train gladiators developed. One of the earliest ones was the school for gladiators in Capua. This is where one of the most famous gladiators of all time, Spartacus, did his training.

Spartacus was a Thracian slave turned gladiator who became famous by breaking out of the gladiator school and leading a slave revolt against Rome. His slave army was led by gladiators and was quite successful at keeping the Romans at bay for years. They were finally defeated, but their revolt has left a lasting mark on history.

When Augustus turned the Republic into an Empire, he also assumed a state patronship over the games. It now became a duty of the state to provide for gladiatorial games. It was part of the “bread and games” policy of the state, probably designed to try to have the populace satisfied by drawing their attention away from their misery and instead towards entertainment.

During Imperial times, the games were very popular and captured the public’s imagination. Gladiators became superstars, adored by the public and lusted after by women. Grafitti from Pompeii attests to this. In Pompeii there is even a grafitti by Jesus! This Jesus insulted a gladiator by comparing him to a small fish instead of a victor.

So you see Jesus rose from the dead in Judea in order to become a gladiatorial fan in Pompeii. Just kidding. This was another Jesus and most likely a member of Pompeii’s small Jewish community.

The gladiatorial games continued on during the entire course of the Empire until they were officially banned in the 5th century AD, when Christianity had a strong grip on Rome. Gladiatorial fights probably ceased at that time, but “venationes” or fights against animals continued on until at least the 6th century (and might have been ancestor of bull fights in the Iberian peninsula).

Social status of gladiators

There were several main sources of gladiators: some came as slaves, either captured in war or bought on the market, some were people who were condemned to the arena for some offenses, however there was a very large number of free people who chose to fight as gladiators. These free men who chose to fight as gladiators were called the “auctorati”.

In Imperial times, the free men who chose to fight as gladiators, comprised around half of all gladiators. The social standing of gladiators was a bit complicated, some were slaves and some were free, however in Roman society anyone who fought in the arena was considered an “infame”, a lower class of individuals who could not exercise all their rights.

The class of “infames” included dancers, actors, gladiators and other similar professions. However even though legally they were considered a lower class with less rights, many of them rose to be quite wealthy and fraternized with the highest classes of Roman society.

Even though some gladiators attained fame and fortune, most gladiators did not and lived their lives in misery, often dying young due to the wounds they suffered in the arena.

Types of gladiators

The first types of gladiators were the so-called “ethnic” types based on the battle gear worn and used by the nations that were enemies of Rome, the Samnites (samnis type gladiator), the Gauls (gallus type), and the Thracians (thraex type). The samnis was the most typical type of gladiator during the era of the Roman Republic, but together with the gallus disappeared during the Imperial era. These were replaced by other types of gladiator, for example the murmillo.

• Samnis – Samnite type (Republic era)

• Gallus – Gallic type (Republic era)

• Thraex – Thracian type

• Secutor – the secutor was developed to fight specially the retiarius. They wore heavy armor, a short sword, and a large helmet with only two small eye holes.

• Hoplomachus – the hoplomachus was armed similarly to a Greek warrior, with a helmet adorned with feathers, a short sword, small round shield and also a spear.

• Murmillo – the murmillo wore a helmet with an ornate grill visor, a rectangular shield and a large sword. The murmillo was suited more to large, muscular men, as the shield and the sword were quite heavy.

• Crupellarius – the crupellarius was an extremelly heavily armed gladiator.

• Retiarius – the retiarius carried a trident, a dagger and a net, but without a helmet.

• Provocator – the provocator was originally dressed similar to a legionnaire, but throughout the ages, their dress changed several times.

• Dimachaerus – the dimachaerus fought with 2 swords, with one sword in each hand and had minimal armor.

• Scissor – there are very few descriptions of this type of gladiator, but he could have used a special weapon, which consisted of a steel tube which encompassed his entire arm and had a semi-circular blade attached at the end of it.

There were also other types of gladiators, but these were the most common ones. Also man to man fighting was not the only form of sports combat that was practiced. As mentioned before there were also fights against animals, and even mock battles on land and sea between large groups of fighters, often trying to “recreate” old battles that were fought between different armies.

Combat

Combat occurred in arenas around the entire empire and usually pitted two gladiators of different types against each other. The fact that the gladiators had different weapons and styles of fighting always added an element of unpredictability and excitement for the fans.

The biggest arena and the one where the elite gladiators fought was the Colosseum in Rome.

Myths about the gladiators

There are several common myths about the gladiators that prevail in the modern world. One of them is that before every combat the gladiators would salute the Emperor and say: “Hail Emperor, those who are about to die salute you.” This is a myth. This was said once by a group of condemned prisoners who were about to take part in a mock naval battle on a lake, but there is no evidence that the gladiators themselves used to say it. The thumbs down and thumbs up gestures meaning “death” and “life” are also largelly a myth.

Lessons from the gladiators

The same values that were epitomized by the gladiators are still applicable today. Valor, courage, strength, fearlessness are all virtues or values that all men want to possess. The inner workings of men have not changed, even if society today is much different from the one of Ancient Rome. We still want to dominate, to be powerful, to be the best. The competitive spirit has not vaned in us.

Risks were ever-present in Roman society, foremost the risk of death. They took a world of dangers as normal and knew that only through taking a risk can you conquer. In today’s world, the risk of death has significantly diminished for us all, however so has risk taking. People have become comfortable in their little bubbles. Bubbles that are safe and comfortable. Many people are content with having a mediocre, but safe life.

That is another thing that we can learn from the gladiators. They risked their lives for glory. Many of them were slaves, but many free men chose to undergo this ordeal as well. They had to learn how to conquer their fears and be able to step into the arena knowing that they were taking the ultimate risk.

We no longer have to risk our lives, yet we are more afraid of taking risks than the men of old. Taking a risk today is way less risky than taking a risk anytime in the past. We should embrace that good fortune and start taking risks (not wild risks, but calculated ones). Only through taking a risk can you become a champion and conquer all.

We can also learn the value of hard work from the ancient gladiators. They had to undergo many hardships in order to be the best, in fact just to survive. They lived under the constant fear that if they weren’t the best, then they would most likely be dead. This pushed them to train hard and to value every second of life that they were living in this world.

Only through hard work would they be able to rise to that level, where they could defeat their opponent, live to see another day and in time maybe rise to become a true champion, a veritable superstar of the ancient world.

You too need to embrace the value of hard work if you want to achieve the things that you want to accomplish. You need to work even harder if you want to become the best that you can be. Embrace the spirit of the ancient gladiators. Let their example lead you to glory.

image 1; image 2; image 3; image 4;
———-
Note: In no way is this post meant to glorify the negative aspects of gladiatorial combat. What happened in the arena was often very cruel. However the post was written in a style reflecting the times of Ancient Rome. In fact it is meant to contrast the harsh realities of life in the ancient world, with the luck that we have today. On the other hand, it is also meant to be inspirational and highlight the values of strength, courage and hard work, values that are often missing in the individuals of today’s society.

Seriously, who hasn’t thought about becoming a ninja? That is something that every kid dreams about! As kids we have a very vivid and wild imagination and there are a lot of things that fascinate us. I remember that as a kid, I loved to listen to my grandfather’s stories of times long gone and especially his war stories. I also watched many movies and when I learned to read, I also read a lot of things. Somehow I learned about ninjas. Whether it was through my fascination with the movie “Karate Kid”, or through watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or just trading stories as kids, the subject of ninjas grabbed my attention very early on.

These ancient Japanese warriors could use their hands and other parts of their bodies to defeat much larger and stronger opponents and use their tricks to do all kinds of cool things. They could climb walls, throw shurikens (metal stars), create different potions and disappear in clouds of smoke. I was not the only kid that had this fascination and the ninja sparked the imagination of many a kid. We all wanted to be ninjas, playing games where we pretended to be powerful ninja warriors or spies on a mission. Whether the image of the ninja that we have is accurate or not, it is a powerful image and one that still fascinates me to this day.

The theme of ninjas was reflected in many different things during the 1990s. There were movies, cartoons, books, video games and martial arts classes. For example, characters based on ninjas played main roles in such popular cultural phenomenon as Mortal Kombat (mostly video games, but also movies), the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (where the word ninja was even in the name), even G.I. Joe (cartoons, action figures), where several of the characters strongly resemble ninjas.

These characters then sparked our wonder in the real ninjas that they were based on. With ninjas, it is hard to separate fact from fiction. Much of what we hear about ninjas is based on legends passed down from generation to generation. Some of the images of the ninja are, on the other hand, based on modern myths invented only recently. Even the term “ninja” is of more recent origin, as older texts usually refer to shinobi. However all these myths and legends are based on real events and real people.

History of Ninjas
There are various versions of how the ninjas got started. Some place the beginning of the ninjas into the 7th and 8th centuries AD when groups of ascetics lived in the mountains around Nara and Kyoto. They were influenced by the Chinese and practiced a blend of esoteric Buddhism and Shintoism. These ascetic mountain warrior monks were called the Yamabushi and they were known for having mystical powers. They fought on different sides of the different wars in Japan, until their order was put to an end during the latter part of the 16th century. It is possible that they heavily influenced the ninjas.

Groups of ninjas (known as shinobi) started springing up around the 12th century and it was the 15th and 16th centuries that could be regarded as the ninja golden era. The ninjas trained in the martial arts and covert techniques of espionage. They would often be hired by rival daimyos to serve as spies, warriors, or assassins. They were divided into two large clans, the Iga and the Koga.

The Iga clan lived in the province of Iga, while the Koga clan lived in the Koka (Koga) region, just north of Iga. These areas were remote and very hard to access, as they were surrounded by mountains. This seclusion was what allowed the ninjas to live in relative isolation and train.

The Iga ninjas had relative independence until the Iga Wars between 1578 and 1581. These wars pitted the ninjas against forces many times larger than their own. However the ninjas succeeded in repulsing these forces several times. These wars however finally ended in a ninja defeat when Oda Nobunaga, the most powerful warlord of that time (and widely considered the unifier of Japan), invaded Iga with an army of 60 thousand men. He managed to conquer the province, slaughtering most of the ninjas in the process. Only a few ninjas managed to escape. After this, Iga ninjas scattered to various areas, but still continued to play a role in the wars and affairs of Japan, although a diminished one. Tokugawa Ieyasu employed several of them as his bodyguards. His grandson, Tokugawa Iemitsu, used them in his war against Japanese Christian rebels. They ended up raiding Hara Castle, the final defensive point of the rebels, several times. Ninjas could have also been some of the people hired in the Tokugawa intelligence agency and secret service started by Tokugawa Yoshimune.

Having said all this, in discussing the ninjas, it is hard to distinguish between what is fact and what is fiction. Some historians have challenged the historicity of the ninjas, claiming that much of the “tradition” is late Tokugawa or even modern invention. This is really hard to judge. The purported secrecy of the old ninjas means that there are very few written records about them from earlier times. Much of what is written is full of embellishments and I guess, any real ninja of that period would not want to leave an accurate record of what they were, as they depended on people being murky about what they did and how they did it. After all, if your main goal is inflitration and espionage, you are not going to want to spread information about yourself and are very happy when people think you have more powers than you actually have. Given the fact that we have very limited primary information on the ninjas, it is very likely that the image of the ninja that we have is skewed. Modern ninjutsu, even if it is based on ancient traditions, is a product of evolution and reflects as much the modern world as much as it does the ancient world. Things change and evolve and what we sometimes hold as old traditions, are sometimes in fact modern constructs.

Reading about history should always be done with an open mind. We don’t know everything and what we do “know” might not always be accurate. I also wouldn’t dismiss legends right out of hand. They are usually based on a grain of truth. For example, back in the 19th century, most scholars thought that Troy was a myth invented by Homer. This was the scientific consensus until Heinrich Schliemann started digging and discovered its ancient remains. So we will probably never know where the line lies, what is an ancient tradition and what is actually a modern construct. What we can state is that the ninja traditions are based on something that was there back in history and that evolved into the modern age. No matter what the “truth” is, it is still a source of fascination.

Ninja Skills and Ninja Training
Ninjas trained from childhood and became experts at many skills. They could fight unarmed, but also armed, and had the ability to turn almost anything into a weapon. They were also masters of disguises and good at making all types of bombs. Their abilities were honed through years of training in a variety of discipline. They were well-rounded, physically strong and agile, good actors and skilled chemists.

They could spend hours training their senses. For example their senses were so acute, that they could hear a needle drop in the next room. There were also other skills that the ninjas spent countless hours practicing. Ninjas worked as spies and even assassins and so had to learn ways of how to move around stealthily without being heard or seen. The learning of all these different skills was incorporated in the wider education of a ninja, which started from very early childhood. This education encompassed a wide variety of different skills and knowledge. A grown ninja was not only a good fighter, but also a smart man with the ability to do many awesome things!

The total body of skill of the ninjas is known as ninjutsu. Some people associate ninjutsu just with a certain style of fighting, however unarmed combat was just one of the things that was included in the ancient art of ninjutsu. There are different ninjutsu styles which have evolved over the years to become what is being taught today. One ninja style is called Togakure-ryu. It is named after its founder, Daisuke Nishina, who later changed his name to Togakure. He lived in the 12th century. So according to tradition, this style has been around for more than 800 years. It is from this style that comes the list of 18 skills of a ninja:

– Seishin Teki Kyoyo (Spiritual Refinement)
– Tai Jutsu (Unarmed Combat)
– Ken Jutsu (Sword Techniques)
– Bo-Jutsu (Stick and Staff Fighting)
– Shuriken-Jutsu (Throwing Blades)
– Yari-Jutsu(Spear Fighting)
– Naginata Jutsu (Naginata Fighting)
– Kusari-Gama (Chain and Sickle Weapon)
– Kayaku-Jutsu (Fire and Explosives)
– Henso-Jutsu (Disguise and Impersonation)
– Shinobi-Iri (Stealth and Entering Methods)
– Ba-Jutsu (Horsemanship)
– Sui-Ren (Water Training)
– Bo-Ryaku (Strategy)
– Cho Ho (Espionage)
– Inton-Jutsu (Escape and Concealment)
– Ten-Mon (Meteorology)
– Chi-Mon (Geography)

All these different skills were needed in order for a ninja to carry out his work. In order to be able to undergo many hardships and get in touch with himself, a ninja would practice spiritual refinement. This would give him the mental ability and will to carry out his duties. He would be able to fight his way through any situation, either unarmed, or armed with a different variety of weapons, from swords, knives, spears and different types of throwing weapons. He could also skillfully ride a horse and swim underwater. His ability in espionage was aided by being able to do many things. He could disguise himself in a variety of ways. He was good at being able to judge the weather and knew nature very well. When he needed it, he could enter almost anywhere without being seen or heard.

I bet many would love to have these abilities and be able to stealthily climb walls, defeat bigger opponents in hand to hand combats and when all is said and done, disappear in a cloud of smoke!

Cool Ninja Stuff
This picture says it all. Who hasn’t wanted to throw a shuriken?

Ninja Eating
Eating ninja style isn’t going to help you to gain weight (so it is instead good for people who are trying to maintain or lose weight), however it is healthy and ninjas were strong, so it can help you to get strong. The ninja diet consisted of things like brown rice, tofu, seaweed, quail eggs, sesame and a lot of vegetables. You can see that they ate for example things like brown rice, which is a recommended source of carbohydrates for people trying to bulk up and get strong. They avoided food that could get them smelly, like onions, garlic and also many types of meat.

Ninjas in Modern Culture

As I mentioned before, ninjas are a phenomenon in modern Western culture. They symbolize something powerful and mysterious at the same time. Most kids have wanted to be a ninja at one point in their lives and ninja themes in movies and games have been very popular. Even now, there are many popular ninja-themed shows, for example Ninja Warrior, a show which started in Japan, but was also picked up in North America. In this show, contestants try to pass through an obstacle course and achieve total victory by climbing Mt. Midoriyama (using a rope).

A ninja was not only a powerful warrior and spy, but could perform a variety of tricks. They were sort of ancient MacGyvers. There are actually several schools of ninjutsu around the world, which teach martial arts based on the old ninja tradition (however the tradition has most likely added a lot of modern elements), so if you have one in your area and want to learn some ninja fighting styles, then join. There is also hope for guys who don’t have a ninjutsu school close to them and don’t want to travel to Japan. Ninjas were all around jacks of all trades and very practical in their approach. Just a take a look at the 18 skills of a ninja and pick some that you want to learn. Then practice them. For example pick a Japanese martial art that is taught in your area (preferably based on grappling) and attend classes. Go around the forest and learn things about nature. Study chemistry and other sciences. Or just start improving your swimming and diving abilities. Maybe start doing parkour and free running. Once you get to a high level in some of these skills, then add new ones. In that way, you can become an all around better and smarter person and also come closer to your dream of becoming a ninja.

Everybody wants to be a ninja! Even this guy…

Matsyasana (Fish Pose)

This pose stretches the abdomen and helps in nutrient absorption. It also helps improve circulation in the thyroid and pituitary glands.

Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)

This position strengthens the back and tones the abdominals. It is also beneficial to the abdominal organs, especially the digestive organs. It also tones the kidneys. Another benefit that is very relevant to weight gain, is that it stimulates appetite and relieves flatulence and constipation.

Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)

This position has a positive effect on enzyme producing organs, the liver, pancreas, and also the small intestine and the big intestine.

Chakrasana (Wheel Pose)

This pose stretches the stomach muscles and the back muscles. It also increases the efficiency of the internal organs of the abdomen.

Halasana (Plough Pose)

This pose helps tone and stretch the back muscles, the legs and the abdominal muscles. It improves the function of the thyroid, parathyroid and pituitary glands. All of the other endocrine glands are regulated by these main glands and so the overall function of the endocrine system is improved. This results in the improved functioning of all the systems of the body. This pose also activates digestion and helps with constipation, improves the efficiency of all the abdominal organs such as the spleen, pancreas, liver and kidneys. The breathing movements of the diaphragm help to massage the abdominal organs. This pose also activates the thyroid gland and thymus gland, stimulating metabolism and immunity. So this pose is very beneficial for people who want to gain weight and improve the functioning of their digestive system.

Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand Pose)

This pose improves the function of the thyroid, parathyroid and pituitary glands and also helps with metabolism. All these are crucial in helping with gaining weight and improving the functioning of the digestive system.

Vajrasana (Diamond Pose)

This pose is good for meditation and relaxation. This pose also helps in digestion.

Pavanamuktasana (Wind Relieving Pose)

This pose is good for alleviating assorted gastric problems, including indigestion and constipation. This pose also helps with digestion.

Savasana (Corpse Pose)

This pose helps with relaxation and rejuvenation.

Marjaryasana (Cat Pose)

This pose stretches your abdominal and back muscles and massages your digestive organs.

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

This pose helps with digestions. Among other interesting effects is that it helps improve posture and also flat feet.

A regular practicing of these techniques (as well as other yoga positions) and a healthy lifestyle and a good diet can go a long way in achieving your goals, whether they are gaining weight or losing weight or a general improvement in your health.