What impresses me most about Rodney King is his approach to martial arts—not just as a set of highly effective techniques for self-defense, but as a path to personal mastery.
 
I am also deeply impressed by this man’s passion and commitment to using his extensive experience as a fighter and coach to train others in the code of the warrior. He knows, from personal experience, the essential difference between effectiveness and excellence. For sure, learning how to defend and/or attack is a valuable skill. However, effective technique alone is not enough for mastering many real-life challenges—whether on the street, at home, or in the boardroom. Beyond technique, excellence is also about character. As Rodney knows—and tirelessly teaches—the best way to improve effective technique is to commit to a path of excellence, integrity, and virtue. Developing the “mental game” (mastering thoughts, emotions, and attitudes) is crucial for fluid mastery of one’s physical success.
 

Rodney know this first hand. And he walks his talk in ways that inspire all those around him. He is a living example of what he teaches—grounding positive psychology and philosophy in embodied practice. Under his guidance, his trainers and clients at Crazy Monkey Defense train not only to win against external opponents but also, and more importantly, to learn to master their “inner opponents”—their own self-limitations, often held in place by fear, anger, or arrogance.
 
I have now worked with Rodney in various capacities—as a mentor, a collaborator, and as a student on the mat, and the more I have the privilege of knowing and being with him, the more I realize how exceptional he is in what he does. He has a natural leadership ability to inspire others to tap into their own capacities and to stretch beyond self-imposed limits. Truly, working with Rodney King you step into what he calls “full contact living.”
 
I am deeply impressed by Rodney’s passion for martial arts as a path of initiation and transformation for young men (and women). He blends intelligence and scholarship, exceptional ability and humility, with a rare passion for no-nonsense physical engagement. I am struck by his well-informed and insightful evolutionary perspective—recognizing that the males of our species evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to be protectors of their families, clans, and tribes.
 
Most men enter one of Rodney’s “Crazy Monkey Defense” programs with a desire to learn good fighting skills. They are motivated at a deep level to survive. However, from personal experience, Rodney knows what most of his new clients don’t yet know: learning techniques for survival is just the start. In time, after long hours of practice, young men gain the confidence they wanted. They learn to “kick ass.” They can take care of themselves. But survival is just the first in a four-stage process of transformation that Rodney identifies as “survival,” “success,” “personal mastery,” and “transcendence.”
 
For the past few months, Rodney and I have been working to integrate his “Four-Fold Path of the Warrior” with “The Four Ways of Knowing” developed in my work as a philosopher and consciousness coach. Together, Warrior and Philosopher, we are collaborating to offer a unique blend of martial arts and philosophy for individuals and teams who want to get the most out of life and work—whether as martial artists, corporate leaders, law-enforcement personnel, military special forces, or people who simply want to experience the self-confidence and personal power of mastering full-contact living.
 
I wholeheartedly endorse the important and inspiring work of coach Rodney King.
Dr. Christian de Quincey, 
Professor of Philosophy and Consciousness Studies at John F. Kennedy University and award-winning author of books on consciousness and the mind-body connection.