Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Business Review (January–February, 1993).

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[24]
 Unless that is really your calling and what you choose to do. It’s admirable in a
way, but not something I would choose.
[25]
 Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) were brought into military use during the 1980s to
replace heavy, bulky food supplies, making them easier for soldiers to use in the
field on deployment. MREs are self-contained and usually include a heating
device. They have a durable packaging that can withstand high drops a shelf-life of
about 5 years.
[26]
 Apparently I handled it well since they offered me the job.
[27]
 If you haven’t ever listened to George Carlin’s bit on “stuff,” you should go find
it on YouTube. Not only is it funny, it’s an accurate reflection on our society’s
obsession with collecting more possessions.
[28]
Founded by physicist Edwin Land (1909 – 1991), Polaroid was an early
innovator, creating 3-D motion picture cameras and polarized filters for military use
during WWII. Their first commercial cameras went on sale in 1948. In the 1970s, a
time when cameras used black-and-white film that required harsh chemicals and
lengthy post-processing, they introduced a line of automatic, single-lens reflex
cameras that produced self-developing color photographs. After Land retired in
1980, the company suffered a steady decline leading to a bankruptcy filing on
June 11, 2001, in large part due to their failure to embrace digital technology until
well after their competitors. They remained in bankruptcy until 2006, ceased
making cameras altogether in 2007, and stopped producing instant film in 2009.
[29]
 Dr. Spencer Silver at 3M was attempting to develop a super-strong adhesive
when he accidentally created a low-tack, reusable, pressure-sensitive glue in
1968. He had no use for it until 1974 when a colleague, Art Fry, came up with the
idea of using the adhesive to bookmark his hymnal and suddenly the Post-It Note
was born. This “fortuitous accident” sells over 50 billion units a year today.
[30]
 Fail fast, fail often means that through a process of rapid prototyping we can
discover things that won’t work with minimal expenditure of resources, set them
aside, and move on to the next iteration or idea. It’s a way to bring products or
services to market faster, cheaper, and with more assurance that they will meet
our customer’s expectations.
[31]
 Discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874 triggered an influx of prospectors
into sacred Native American territory which in turn led to retaliatory attacks on the
interlopers. In the spring of 1876, the U.S. Army moved against the Lakota and
their allies the Cheyenne, who were led by Chiefs Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and
Gall. On June 25, Custer’s scouts spotted an Indian encampment in a valley near
the Little Big Horn River. Underestimating the size of the opposing force, the

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general chose to attack before support could arrive. He and all 225 soldiers under
his direct command were slaughtered by the Indians in what has been dubbed
“Custer’s Last Stand.”
[32]
 The Nicene Creed is a statement of faith used by many Christian churches. It
was written in the year 325 at the First Council of Nicaea, in what is modern day
Turkey, and is recited daily by worshippers across the world in numerous church
services.
[33]
It is because of her being a bad ass with that sword that she’s my favorite
character on the show.
[34]
Sometimes spelled gwan dao or kwan dao, the guan dao is a Chinese pole
weapon that is somewhat comparable to a medieval glaive. It has a heavy blade
with a spike or notch at the back designed to catch or control an adversary’s
weapon mounted atop a stout pole.
[35]
 Unless you happen to be my friend Craig, who after a woodworking accident
couldn’t continue with his career as a heart surgeon and went to law school. But
even he didn’t do both at the same time…
[36]
 This quote comes from the book Vested: How P&G, McDonald’s, and Microsoft
are Redefining Winning in Business Relationships by Kate Vitasek, Karl Manrodt,
and Jeanne Kling, which describes their business model and contracting
philosophy in detail.
[37]
The article, “1 Million Workers. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. Who’s to
Blame?” was published in Wired Magazine in February, 2011, with the story
subsequently being covered in other publications such as The New York Times as
well.
[38]
 Lt. Col. David Grossman popularized the theory that there are three kinds of
people in the world: (1) sheep, (2) wolves, and (3) sheepdogs, a concept that was
used to great effect in the movie American Sniper. Sheep are regular, productive,
law abiding citizens with little or no capacity for violence. Wolves are, of course,
the dregs of society who prey upon the ignorant sheep. Sheepdogs protect the
other sheep as well as themselves from the wolves, and are often drawn to
careers in military or law enforcement.
[39]
 This list counts western wrestling and boxing (pugilism) as martial arts.
[40]
The Society for Creative Anachronism is an international organization
dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century
Europe. Their “Known World” consists of 20 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members
worldwide who dress in clothing reminiscent of the Middle Ages or Renaissance
and attend events which feature tournaments, royal courts, feasts, medieval

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dancing, classes and workshops. Speaking forsoothly is a nod toward the
Elizabethan English terminology used at events by most of these historical re-
enactors.

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