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Saturday, July 11, 2026
Basketball - The Way of the Sword and "The Book of Five Rings"
Learn across domains and cultures.
What can we learn from from a "how-to-book" from the greatest Samurai warrior? Process. Education, training, application.
Miyamoto Musashi literally wrote the book (The Book of Five Rings) about the Way of the Sword, about four hundred years ago.
Key lessons resonate.
Self-control
Emotion can fuel victory or out-of-control defeats. Musashi fought sixty times with a 'final' outcome of victory. He believed most warriors lack strategy, lack self-discipline. Attitude matters. Respect all opponents, fear none. Compete relentlessly, focused without distraction.
Anticipation
He believed that he could 'see what happens before it happens'. Charles Barkley showed clips of former player Zach Randolph who always went left. Randolph deserved credit for using his strength, but Barkley felt "dummies" didn't know that it was coming.
Breathing
Controlled breathing reduces stress. It allows suppressive signals to flow from the frontal cortex to the stress centers (amygdala).
He advocated for a four second inhalation, a short pause, six second exhalation, and short pause.
Breathing as part of mindfulness is known to reduce circulating stress hormones (cortisol).
Purpose (some say passion)
Sports facilitate competition and the ability to demonstrate where we lie on the "mastery" scale.
I counseled players not to play for the coach, the community, or your school, but the girls next to you - the teammates with shared mission, shared vision, and shared sacrifice.
The training needed to become an exceptional player is rigorous and exhausting, especially in summer heat. Special players find the intrinsic motivation to do what it takes.
Lagniappe. Many players return. Others are on the competitive cusp. There aren't "minutes" for all players, so "Stay Ready Players" have to work hard and long (temperature and time) without any guarantees of regular minutes.
I have boatloads of respect for the player who shows up and competes hard every day. During her freshman year at American, Cecilia had a teammate who had been an All-State player and played little. But the player told her that she would show up every day and 'bring it' because she earned her scholarship and she owed the team her best. That's professionalism.
Lagniappe 2. Ultimately, you become "your own coach" as a player, a spouse, parent, entrepreneur, etc. You own your role.
20 years as a head coach will teach you things no clinic ever will.
Maybe one sticks.
28 Lessons Learned.
1. Coaching is all about relationships. Work to build relationships with your players.
2. Play the long game with culture. There are no shortcuts to success.
