Wildcatdojo Conversations

I want to start by mentioning that Master Hess has books for you to buy. An easy search brought them up in both Amazon and Thriftbooks under Joseph C. Hess. In Master Kelljchian's 365 Days of the Warrior book, he has a quote from Master Hess and today we discuss it.  Speaking of Master Hess, we did an entire episode on Master Hess. Here's the link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episo...

We' were so lucky to be joined by Shelby today to discuss this great Zen concept. We had a blast and hopefully you will too. Shelby has been on a few times. I think her first appearance may have been when we were celebrating our 25th episode! Here's the link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/3383908 Thanks Shelby. Zen philosophy is behind the viewpoint we're tackling today...

Last week we started this discussion on Self-Defense books. This week we add a third book to the mix. It's called The Gift of Fear. Sensei Tracey joins us again as we get deeper into the subject.  We have discussed self-defense before on the program. Check out last weeks episode notes for more. This week I decided to tag an episode on Female warriors. Sensei Tracey was in that one also, and S...

Sensei Tracey joins us today to discuss 3 different Self-defense books. Mine, Master Kelljchian's and a man named Gavin de Becker who wrote a book called The Gift of Fear. Sensei Tracey has been on so many times. One that I love was back in 2021 when we talked about the Tanto (the knife).  https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/8061673 Also, we have done so many episodes on reality defens...

Well we've run into both medical and technical difficulties this last few weeks. Don't worry, no one is on the verge of death. Everyone is ok. When life interrupted the flow of our work, we dug in and decided to listen to this old episode. It made us smile and we hope it makes you smile too.  Stay tuned till the end for a bonus giggles (or groans). Laughter always helps.  Since this epis...

Yay! It's time to revisit our great guests, stories and plenty of mistakes from the past 6 months. I'll tag as many episodes as I can below.  Did you hear our 2 episodes with the voice of the podcast (Sensei Jay)? Here's the one we did on Camouflage: https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/17972128 And here is the one where we talked about WW1 planes. Boy did we laugh: https://ww...

Welcome to December 2025 and an episode from 2021. This episode is packed with stories about breaking (tamishawara). Remember that back in 2021, when this was recorded Sensei Landyn was a kid. In the years between then and now Sensei Landyn has done many breaks including the required one with the nunchaku mention in this episode.  We also mention quite a few episodes, including one on Kimi (focus)...

Sensei Lydia and Sensei Randy joined us to have a fantastic afternoon of movie watching and the riotous discussion that followed. We hope you enjoy it. A big thank you to Sifu Michael Ng for the recommendation.  We've done lots of movies, but I feel good about tagging this one because we do mention it in the episode. Jic you missed it: https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/17516251 And w...

A few episodes back we actually aired our 312th episode (6 years). Wow! Thanks for coming along for the ride. Sensei Jackie and Sensei Landyn (remember - he was 12 when we started!) were talking about it and decided to push record while we talked. This is the result. We talked about so many things, our great guests (thanks guys), new friends (we're so lucky), and keeping in touch with old fri...

Today Sensei Jackie and I are lucky to meet Sifu Rod Dalby from England. We mention that our introduction to Rod was through our friendship with Sifu Rob. Here's our first (of many) conversations with Sifu Rob Jones: https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/8931796 And somehow we manage to talk about the old tv show Kung Fu Of course, we did an episode on it. Here's that one: https://w...

With Sensei Landyn we tackle more words, ideas, and a weapon! The weapon discussion takes us to Master Kelljchian and his creativity. We have talked about this twice before. Once on YouTube. Here's the episode: https://studio.youtube.com/video/jXw5SU_rEl8/edit And of course, here on the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/10817110 While discussing empty hand we remember the au...

First off, I should mention that this episode - #312 - marks our 6th year anniversary. Congrats to us! Soon we'll spend a few minutes looking back and laughing. But back to today. We are SO lucky to have Rich, from Senbukai Goju, on again today. If you check out our Socials you'll see the art that his Sensei in Japan gifted to him that relates to this subject.  This episode did lead to m...

A big thanks to Rich for his time and his stories. This episode is packed with way too much information and entertainment to try to explain in these notes. However, we were so busy talking and laughing that we forgot to say the name of the recently published  book by his Sensei. Here's a link to the Amazon page:  https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Karate-Goju-Ryu-Techniques-Methodology/dp/1300398760...

The idea of camo came up during our WW1 research. I didn't think it was going to be as huge, weird and interesting as it became. I hope you have the same result as a listener. Please let us know. And as we say every week, slide down just a little farther and click the link to show us some financial love. Thanks!   Here's the last episode we ran on WW1 - just a few months ago: https://www...

First and very importantly - Thank you Master Kelljchian for leaving such a wealth of information and memories. Everyday we miss you.  As the title states, the impetus for this episode was one of Master Kelljchian's meditations on the Box and the Ball. The conversation led us to So many episodes we have done. There are too many  for us to tag them all. Here are a few. Let's start with ou...

For this episode, you really need to check us out on Twitter or Insta. We've posted a few pictures of this one of a kind weapon. Couple that with how much fun it is to talk with Sifu and we consider ourselves lucky to share today. If you're a fan of weapons and / or a fan of Sifu Jones you'll enjoy this episode from last year: https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/15219883 One...

What fun it is to run into someone you haven't seen in decades. That serendipity led us to this interview where we catch up on old times, look forward, and talk about Martial Arts. It turned out that a kobudo weapon was one of his favorite weapons. We did 3 episodes on Kobudo weapons. Here's the episode where we introduce them: https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/5484121 And here...

Another page from the 365 Days of the Warrior book by Master Kelljchian and Sensei Tracey. (Buy it on Amazon!). This week they reference Lao Tzu. As usual, the conversation goes everywhere. One idea we visit is balance. Here is the episode we did on Master Brown's saying "A karateman's pride is his balance." https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/11015349 Can we have a conv...

We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed earning about it and sharing it with you. With Sensei Derek's help, we cover the making of katana - everything from history to parts to quotes. Of course we mention our episode on the katana. Here it is in case you missed it: https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/4878146 And, like everything in life, somehow we get to the concept...

In this episode from 2020 we laugh more than we should as we tackle the idea that the code of behavior for ancient warriors still applies to karateka today. It turned out to be so much information than we expected. So we had to add a part 2. Click here to hear part 2: https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/3753623 And we refer to the very first episode we made. You can check it out here: https...

One of the great parts of recording this podcast is the amazing people we meet. Hanshi Melendez is a perfect example. She was So much fun to talk with. We met her through Hanshi Seymour. Jic you missed Hanshi Seymour's interview back in January, here it is: https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/16424997 In the beginning of the show, we say that we're going to hear about her time com...

This adage from Master Kelljchian himself, and written in his book 365 Days of the Warrior, spoke to me, Sensei Jackie and Sensei Lydia - so we had to visit it in a little detail. It's jam packed with stories and what each one of us think he meant when he shared it with us.  After you listen, share your thoughts with us. (And your stories from teaching children).  I'm attaching an episod...

How lucky to have both Sensei Jay (the voice of the opening and closing) and Sensei Landyn join myself and Sensei Jackie today. I learned so much. We refer to our episode on Pappy Boyington (from WW 2). In case you missed it, here's a link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/16773944 And at the very start of the show, we mention an episode that was one of my favorites. It's on th...

Last year we aired a couple of episodes on nutrition. Since then, we've been hoping to get a vegan point of view. Boy did we get lucky to be introduced to Ellen Kanner. (Thanks Sensei Tracey) She's funny, knowledgeable and full of great ideas. If you love cooking - you'll be surprised at all the options. Even if you have no interest in becoming a plant based chef, this episode will...

Anytime we get to spend a few minutes with our friend Hanshi TD McKinnon, life is special. In this episode, his words on patience are truly inspiring. If you don’t know Hanshi McKinnon, check out these links. The first one is our introduction to him back in 2021: https://www.buzzsprout.com/477379/episodes/8625686 And this episode features Hanshi discussing Zanshin and other important Budoka Qualit...