Welcome to the Sports Motivation podcast.

This is your host, Nees Chobo.

This is another episode of books and bars where I break down bars, I break down books,

and today will be a book.

A book that I believe, can I call it a classic?

Well, it certainly is a classic text.

I don't know exactly the year this was written.

It's an ancient text. by Yamamoto Sunetomo. And it's called Hagakurei.

And it's written by a samurai.

And it's basically rules for how a samurai must live.

And it's kind of written in the same light as Art of War

by Sun Tzu, short little passages, right to the point. And this particular, I have two translations

of it and I actually like this one better. This is the one that's translated. In case you're

looking to buy this book, it's the one translated by William Scott Wilson.

The other one is good as well. I just like this one better. And let me read to you a passage

that's on page 34 and I want to go into it. All right. So this is what he says. In the words of the

ancients, one should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths. Lord Takanobu said, if discrimination

is long, it will spoil. Lord Niochige said, when matters are done leisurely, seven out of ten

will turn out badly. A warrior is a person who does things quickly. When your mind is going hither and thither,

discrimination will never be brought to a conclusion.

With an intense, fresh and undelaying spirit,

one will make his judgments within the space of seven breaths.

...