WELCOME TO THE SCHOOL OF CRAZY MONKEY: HOME OF THE MINDFUL WARRIOR
A different kind of modern martial arts experience: balance over bravado, patience over speed, strength with stillness, wisdom over winning = Walking the Path of the Mindful-Warrior!
WHAT IS THE MINDFUL WARRIOR
Our approach to modern martial arts begins where most end: with your inner state. The Mindful-Warrior trains to remain centred when fear rises, to respond rather than react, and to choose battles with care. This isn’t about domination — it’s about self-mastery, compassionate action, and living with intention.
CHANGING THE WAY MODERN MARTIAL ARTS IS VIEWED, COACHED & EXPERIENCED
Most modern martial arts schools sell endless competition as a measure of self-worth, aggression marketed as confidence, and belts as a marker of achievement. We believe the real battle is won when students can meet the martial arts of everyday life and flourish. Your practice should make you calmer, present, focused, and resilient—traits that serve you daily and, when required, make you formidable in keeping yourself safe.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Your inner state dictates your fate, not only in self-preservation, but in all aspects of life. The mat, then, is where we learn to meet ourselves honestly. Every movement, every moment of struggle, and every success—large or small—teaches us something about who we are. It’s a place where we sharpen our minds and our bodies, but more importantly, where we refine our spirit.
WHAT YOU'LL PRACTICE WITH US
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Calm in the storm: master your inner state and situational composure.
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Focused presence: attention that stays with the moment.
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Resilience with flexibility: bending without breaking — adapting without losing centre.
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Effortless action: less force, more flow.
BUT DOES IT WORK?
Choosing the Mindful-Warrior path doesn’t negate functionality; it sharpens it.
By stabilising your inner state first, you keep posture, options, and fine motor control longer.
We test at a realistic pace with constraint-led drills — less ego, more effectiveness.
Inner development isn’t a detour from self-preservation; it’s the shortest path.
EXPERIENCE OUR APPROACH FOR YOURSELF: JOIN OUR VIRTUAL ACADEMY FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD OR TRAIN IN PERSON WITH ONE OF AMAZING TRAINERS
*THE VIRTUAL ACADEMY GIVES YOU UNLIMITED ACCESS TO ALL MY COURSES + ME + MY TEAM
PS. You can read my book The Path of the Mindful Warrior HERE, or get it FREE as part of my Virtual Academy!
Train with Coach King on the Isle of Man
4 days of embodied practice · 5 nights of quiet return
Come train where this work was rebuilt on the rugged coastline and footpaths of the Isle of Man. Mornings on the mat for self-preservation from a life-flourishing perspective. Afternoons walking in nature. Evenings in conversation on lived philosophy and the wisdom found in ordinary moments. You won’t leave with a trophy. You’ll leave with a steadier way to move through the world.
A WORD FROM OUR HEAD COACH:
DR RODNEY KING ('COACH')
I spent most of my adult life on the mat, coaching self-preservation to special forces operators, law enforcement teams, world champions, and everyday people who just wanted to feel safe. I loved the craft. Then slowly, I watched modern martial arts drift into spectacle. More noise, more ego, more hyper-masculinity. Less humanity.
I knew better, but I also knew rent was due. People paid me to learn how to fight, so I kept giving them what they asked for: harder, faster, more. Somewhere in there, I started to lose the very thing that brought me to the mat in the first place.
In 2022, my body called time. Years of wear caught up with me: CTE-like symptoms, a degenerating neck, and chronic fatigue syndrome that no mindset hack could push through. I hit a hard stop. I had to face my limits, my fear, and the part of me that only knew how to exist as “coach” or “fighter.”
Recovery didn’t happen on the mat. It happened one slow walk at a time on the Isle of Man. Breath by breath. I learned to meet pressure without tensing, to move with integrity instead of aggression, to choose the smallest effective action.
In 2025, when I began returning to the mat, I knew I would coach differently.
This is the heart of the School of Crazy Monkey today: the Mindful-Warrior path. Strength with stillness. Presence under pressure. Boundaries with compassion. We train the inner state first so the outer skills hold when it counts. Fighting isn’t romantic here. It is a last resort, done cleanly, and avoided when possible. Effectiveness is measured by what you walk away from and who you stay aligned with while you do.
I still teach people to protect themselves, but not to live in fight mode. We use constraint-led drills, honest resistance, and real inner work: breath, focus, composure. We scale intensity to your body and your season of life. We build confidence you can trust, not adrenaline you’ll regret. Older bodies, injured bodies, beginners, professionals — if you value wisdom over theatrics, you’ll feel at home.
If you want highlight-reel violence, this isn’t your school. If you want calm in chaos, clarity in conflict, and a practice you can carry into every room of your life, welcome. Let’s train the way of the Mindful-Warrior together.
- Dr. Rodney King ('Coach'): Founder of Crazy Monkey & 5th Degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt
PS. You can read my book The Path of the Mindful Warrior HERE, or get it FREE as part of my Virtual Academy!
“Rodney is one of the rare martial artists intentionally applying the science of the cultivation of wisdom and human flourishing to his teaching of the martial arts”
Dr. John Vervaeke - Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Science at the University of Toronto
THE PATH OF THE MINDFUL WARRIOR
A Nonconformist’s Guide to Flourishing in
Martial Arts and Life
More than a book on martial arts, this is a guide to self-mastery, resilience, and living with purpose. With a foreword by the late Richard Norton, The Path of the Mindful-Warrior shows how the lessons of the mat: calmness, humility, focus, and compassion, can transform every part of life.
