Jiří Procházka

Sometimes you choose the easiest path. You accept it and you use everything that is offered to you because you feel like you can. It doesn’t occur to you that it might have been the wrong path until you look back and realize that it was more of an obstacle, that it took much more than it gave and that it kept your life off balance. 

Luckily, it cuts both ways. The more you cleanse your problems, the more good comes your way. You live, you have faith, you follow your dream and you make your own path. Whatever happens, it’s right.

It’s karma. What goes around comes around. I’ve seen it happen many times.

Not so long ago, I was a maniac, a goon, a gym meathead, a beloved talent of Czech MMA. Recently, my friend showed me a video where I was driving home from the gym, windows rolled down, a pre-workout stimulant still in my blood, shouting swears at anyone around.

I used to be this pumped-up young dude with testosterone levels crazy high and I lived in this mode every day. I was impulsive and reckless from the time I was a kid. I used to do all kinds of stupid shit at elementary and high school. I took nothing seriously. I walked by a half-empty bottle in the corridor and kicked it right away. I didn’t think I’d hit my classmate and knock her tooth out. We used to throw chairs or balloons at each other, but it was always me who took it too far and hurt someone or at least broke a window.

I did not see my way of life clearly. The only thing I cared about was where I could burn my energy. I come from Hostěradice, near Znojmo, and I stuck with a party approach that included nothing but working out and pissing everyone off. 

That’s how I got into Muay Thai with Martin Karaivanov. It was with him that I found discipline and moved to complex MMA, but before? I used to get in fights wherever I could. At every club. I used to wait until someone was passing me then I “accidentally” shoved into him with my shoulder and that was it. Somebody always swallowed the bait and outside we’d go. I took off my shirt and ran at him.

I was unchained. Somewhere inside I knew my actions were not right. At the same time, I liked showing off because there was no role model in my life. My mom is a decent lady, but my father died when I was 6. He worked at the police task force and died of a stroke at the age of 27, just two years younger than I am now. He had no life really, and I had no dad to point me in the right direction.

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if he were here. I have a hunch that I would be a totally different person. I’d be friends with different people, my way would lead somewhere else. Every evening, I remember my relatives who are gone, yet affected my life. I spend moments with them in my thoughts, hoping they’re all right.

Then I keep walking alone on my path, which took a right turn in May 2014.

Bushido is based on selfless being. It is just you and action, then you alone become action. It is a harmony with existence.

I remember the exact moment. I was getting a massage with Petr Beránek, my friend from Jetsaam Gym in Brno. Coach Jaromír Hovězák came to see us and gave us The Book of Five Rings, the life’s work of famous samurai Miyamoto Musashi. I was pulled into the mind of a man who got so far in the art of battle that he was able to defeat anyone with just a wooden sword.

All this had happened during a time in which everyone had been patting me on the back because I managed to win the Czech title in a battle against veteran Martin Šolc. I KO’ed him with a flying knee and everyone went nuts. I enjoyed my fame. Then I began a diet before my 11th professional match against Viktor Bogutzki from Germany. I had 105 kilograms of muscle weight and was trying to push it down to 93 kilograms. I cut sugar and ate only vegetables and meat. Combined with training, I was often shaking and felt great fatigue, however, my perception was cleansed, and I could focus much more on my senses. What I say. What I do.

Suddenly, I started to see the lines of text in a different light. Up until that point, they made little sense to me, but then I felt the depth of them, reading about the way of a warrior, about the code of samurai called Bushido, which is based on selfless being. It is just you and action, then you alone become action. It is a harmony with existence.

This thing transcended my previous experience and possibilities had entered my life. I saw it possible to devote myself to something which until that point was only seen in superhero movies. I began studying every word, accepting the thoughts as my own.

The match lasted two minutes. I strangled my opponent in the end, although this time I did not express my joy as usual. I was not unchained; I did not scream. Instead, I bowed and moved on.

Maybe you think now that it was just a pose, that I got hit in the head and started talking nonsense. But if you want, I’ll tell you why The Book of Five Rings gave my life sense and order, so I can consciously live through every moment.