Anybody who has seen my library will know I buy a lot of books. If like me you can't pass a bookshop you will have the same problem I have. Yes, that right. I'm always at least ten books behind! Now, for me I always seem to find books that hold meaning to me just at the right time in my life or in this case books seem to find me at the right time. One of my backlog books was called Way of the Peaceful Warrior. I must have bought it over eight years ago and then it got lost in a deep pile of to read books. Then a year or so ago one of my students told me of a book called The Journeys of Socrates, he said it was a must read book! I looked at the book and thought Dan Millman... I know that name. I looked at the other books he had written and there was it The Way of the Peaceful Warrior. So, I got home found the book and said to myself I better read this one first. Before I got started I got a call from my friend in LA who I was going to catch up with on my trips to see my teachers for training. They said when you guys come out there's a new film that we must all go and see, it's called Peaceful Warrior! Now, something was telling me "the time is now." I spent the next two weeks reading just about all of Dan Millman's books. I've always seen martial arts training as a path of learning not just physical development, but also the development of the mind. The right of passage that many young people seem to miss in today's world is still part of the martial path in many ways. To be able to share and tell a story of life and its joys and hardships in a way that makes the reader want to try harder and be better in life, is a gift. A gift that Dan Millman has and some!

I hope this interview will help you on your own path.

Dan Milliam is a former world champion athlete, coach, college professor and author of twelve books, including Way of the Peaceful Warrior , Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior , and the Journeys of Socrates. His writings have inspired millions of readers in 29 languages. Dan lectures worldwide to men and women from all walks of life, including leaders in the fields of health, psychology, education, business, polities, entertainment, sports, and the arts.

Alan Orr: Firstly Dan is great honour to have a chance to introduce your work to others.

Dan Millman: Thank you, Alan. Writing a book is as close to the process of giving birth as I, a male, am likely to experience--from conception, through gestation, to labour pains.   And finally I introduce my "baby" to the world. But I can only do so much introducing! My books are kept alive, in fact, by good people like you introducing this work to friends and loved ones.

A: It's been 27 years since you first wrote the Way of the Peaceful Warrior, what started that process for you?

D: I can now answer that question with the benefit of hindsight--seeing my life and evolution in perspective. While still a young college athlete, I was called to teach, to share certain insights and ideas--first with my gymnastics teammates and friends, and later at Stanford University and Oberlin College where I had formal coaching and teaching positions. One day I realized that no matter how much I improved myself, only one person would benefit. But if I could influence others in a positive way, that made my life more meaningful.

A: What is the Peaceful Warrior to you?

D: There is really no "the" peaceful warrior, but rather, "a" peaceful warrior--millions, in fact.   I believe that every human (or soul, if you will), is a peaceful warrior in training, striving to live with a more peaceful heart and a warrior spirit. All of us seeking meaning, purpose, connection. I believe that only the most courageous souls come down to this particular planet to learn and evolve. It takes courage to live in this world, and to love; because the bittersweet truth is that we eventually lose all that we love.

When we think of well-known figures, both real and fictional, who embody this image of a "peaceful warrior," Mahatma Gandhi comes to mind, and Lancelot, and Kwai Chang Caine, that character in the "Kung Fu" television series.   History is rife with examples of those who have their heads in the clouds, but feet on the ground.

But the way that I teach is not just about historical or mythological figures; it is about all of us. It is not my way; it is meant to describe our shared quest.

A: How did you go from being a college athlete and coach to then write books about personal development and spiritual growth?

D: When I was a young athlete and coach, my ideas were contained within the walls of the gymnasium. I inquired into the meaning of physical talent, and how it could be developed. Later, my interests expanded beyond talent for sports into larger questions about talent for living. So I moved, literally, beyond challenges in the sports arena to the challenges of daily life--human challenges we all meet in relationships, health, physical well being, work and career, and so forth.

I travelled in America and around the world studying with various mentors--the subject of my next book--and studied and practiced various psycho-spiritual disciplines. Only later did it occur to me to share what I had learned in the form of a book.

I had to learn something about writing and speaking in order to pursue my calling. All my books, beginning with Way of the Peaceful Warrior, and my lectures and trainings worldwide, flowed from this initial impulse to share.

A: Your books are based on real events in your life. But like all good teaches, you seem not be so worried whether your story is factual, only that serves your reader with its substance. Maybe you could tell us how you find that balance when writing?

D: Pablo Picasso once suggested, "Art is a lie that helps us see the truth."   I can't express it more aptly or succinctly than that.   Way of the Peaceful Warrior blends autobiographical fact with elements from my imagination--fictional devices to provide a more visceral experience of my growth and discoveries. But it is fine with me if readers treat all my stories--Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior, and The Journeys of Socrates--as novels. The back of these books state, "Personal Growth/Fiction."

I enjoy writing with a sense of reality, of verisimilitude, so readers wonder what is fact and what isn't--but I've never made any false claims.

A: The character of Socrates is, in fact, based upon a real old man you met. How much was he a mentor to you at the time?

D: Between the time I met the man I called Socrates (in 1966), and the time I wrote the first book (1980), fourteen years had passed; during which time I met other mentors and masters whose teachings became a part of my life and a part of the book. Socrates, although based upon a real, flesh-and-blood elder I met in that old petrol station, became the archetypal teacher to me, and to my readers. (And Nick Nolte does a wonderful job of portraying him in the Peaceful Warrior movie, opening nation-wide in the U.S. on March 30 th , 2007.)

A: Socrates (whose real name as revealed in The Journeys of Socrates, is Sergei Ivanov) is a powerful figure in your books. He has learned live in the moment, but at the same time we learn he has had a very hard journey to get to that point Do you think that's what the martial arts offers us, some sort of controllable hardship through learning to become more disciplined in life?

D: In a sense, martial arts training (and sports training) are like life, but more so--a form of voluntary adversity. As with any adversity, such training provides hidden gifts--like appreciating the reality that we benefit only from effort over time. Such training becomes a metaphor or map of how to evolve and live well and progress in any field. But most athletes are so wrapped up in points and scores and winning that they miss the deeper lessons of training--they don't realize how much they have learned at the cellular level, through engaging the challenge.  

There is an old proverb, "I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand."   This is especially true in the martial arts, because for the most part, the martial arts lineage is not about winning or losing points; it is about life and death, and is approached with a certain appreciation for training the mind and emotions as well as the body. But today, in higher-level sports training, this depth from the martial arts is also entering the athletic arena.

A: The Journeys of Socrates is a real roller coaster ride of emotions, what was it like to write?

D: Each of my books has its own its reason for being. The Journeys of Socrates came to be from two separate but related motives:  

For more than two decades I was asked by hundreds, maybe thousands of people, to share more about that old man who had become my mentor. He never revealed much about his history to me during my time with him, so he remained a mystery. So at one point I decided to tell his story, as it was (or might have been). I travelled to Moscow and St. Petersburg and other locales in Russia, and did martial arts training and other training the Russian Special Forces--the spetsnaz, for short--and visited the island monastery I write about in the story.

A second motive that urged me on was that I wanted to face the challenge of being one of the first "personal development" authors to write a respectable, bona fide novel--with characters of sufficient depth, and a compelling plot, so that it might be recognized as a work of literature, not to mention an engrossing read.   It was released with little fanfare, and like my first book, is gradually developing an enthusiastic readership by word of mouth.

A: You have talked at many seminars and events, is this in part what has lead to your new book The Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior?

D: I never actually set out to "be a writer" or "become a speaker." From the beginning, I was called to teach, to share.   In order to do that, I had to learn something of the primary crafts of communication--writing and speaking. Over the years, I produced a number of books, including Way of the Peaceful Warrior. As my books found a wider audience, I was asked to speak at more venues in the U.S. and overseas.

Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior was born from a clear need to respond to the many questions I've been asked over the years and decades since my first book was written. Socrates made veiled references and sometimes outrageous or enigmatic statements, and many readers misunderstood his deeper meanings. So finally, I felt compelled to write Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior to make sense of the first book to shed new light and depth, and reflect my quarter century of evolution since I wrote the first book. I'm surprised, really, that I waited this long--but now seemed the right time. Now is, in fact, my favourite time.  

A: Teaching others you often relearn your original lessons. What has teaching others been like for you?

D: I appreciate your question and statement. I first discovered the truth of it when I was a gymnast, then a coach. In analysing the physical skills in order to teach them, I learned them anew, and far better. This phenomenon applies equally to writing or speaking.   It was expressed beautifully by writer C. Day. Lewis (the father of actor Daniel Day Lewis), who said, "I write not in order to be understood; I write in order to understand."

I wrote for both motives--but have found that the challenge of writing and speaking has demanded and developed further clarity of thought and understanding. It is also said that "we teach what we most need to learn."   Given the number of books I've written and seminars presented, I must need to learn a great deal!

In any event, I've found my calling, and take fresh delight with each new reader who discovers my work.  

A: Thank You Dan for sharing your insights into your work. I am sure the new film will bring many new readers to your work.   I understand that one can access information about the Peaceful Warrior movie, including a trailer for the film, through your website: www.peacefulwarrior.com - and clicking on "The Movie" link.

D: Although I'm not a producer of the film, merely the author of the source book, I support this creative and entertaining adaptation of my first book, because the movie offers positive reminders to new generations, about living with a peaceful heart and a warrior spirit.

Upcoming UK Peaceful Warrior Events:

Dan Millman will be speaking in London in May at The Mind Body Spirit Festival Thursday 24th May and Friday 25th May -Evening Seminars 4.00-8.00pm

Contact Tel 020 7371 9191 info@ mindbodyspirit.co.uk

He will also be offering an experiential, two-day Workshop on 26th and 27th May in Wiltshire - enrollment is limited -  

Contact 0044 (0) 1380 859106 OR info@thebodypartnership.co.uk

 

Alan Orr is a disciple of Robert Chu Sifu and the European representative of the Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun system.

He is also the UK representative for Guro Mark Wiley in the Filipino martial arts and Sensei Eddy Millis of Shark Tank in NHB/Grappling.

Web: www.alanorr.com

For further information Tel: 07958 908 196 or email: info@alanorr.co.uk