Searching for the Lost Balance What distinguishes a leader from a manager, and what is the difference between leadership and management? Today, many managers think of themselves as great leaders, when in fact they are nothing more than gray bureaucrats, more committed to saving their seats than helping and prospering the companies they work for, …
A Dance Between Light and Shadow In a quiet dojo, where the air vibrates with concentration and the wooden floor echoes under the bare feet of practitioners, a silent and deadly dance unfolds. It’s not just a dance between swords, but also between souls, where the ego confronts and clashes with the discipline of iaido. …
When James Clavell wrote “Shogun” in 1975, he might not have imagined that his historical epic on 16th-century Japan would leave an indelible mark not only on literature but also on pop culture and the Western perception of Bushido, the ancient code of the samurai. The original series from 1980 served as a cultural bridge …
No Magical Formula Included What does it mean to improve? When do we meliorate, or to put it better, when do we get good? In our world, it seems simple enough to answer this question. After all, we have exams and belts of different grades and colors that certify our degree of learning. But is …
There is an elephant in the room… There is an elephant in the martial arts room (maybe more than one) and this pachyderm is called money. Good or bad is an accepted truth that we can’t live without money. There may be differences of opinion in this regard, such as who identifies money as the …
Nobody’s Perfect (Nor You or I) Since the time of Socrates, it has been passed down to us that questions are more important than answers. The Socratic Method has been and continues to be one of the cornerstones of Western philosophy. Our constant questioning forces us to find solutions and answers to both practical and, …
Let’s start with the beginning The almost mandatory custom of nomikai (飲み会) is always present in Japan (although to a lesser extent than in the past), being together after work with colleagues and the boss, eating, and especially drinking. On these occasions, the rules current in the workplace are loosened and, thanks to alcohol, the tongues too. …
For everything there’s a season “Think of this. A sword is like a bird. If you clutch it too tightly, you choke it – too lightly and it flies away.”1 Doutreval of Dijon – Scaramouche Scaramouche is one of my favorite swashbuckler films and the 8-minute-long final duel scene remains, in my opinion, one of …
Does your CEO (or yourself) clean the toilets? The samurai (侍) word means “servant” or, better said, “one who serves the nobility”. Often this meaning is forgotten when referring to the caste of the Japanese warriors, emphasizing all the warlike qualities that have distinguished them, and also ignoring all their excesses. Everyone wants to be modern samurai, a brave and …
An introduction The 1964 Tokyo Olympics showed the world the new face of post-war Japan. Just a little less than twenty years earlier the country had been devastated by two atomic bombs and the city of Tokyo was razed to the ground by American bombings. Two decades later Japan reappeared on the international stage as …
