Way of the Warrior Kid--From Wimpy to Warrior the Navy SEAL Way
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Uncle Jake answered quickly, “You don’t need me for that anymore. As a matter of fact, you never needed me. Sure, I showed you the path, but you could have found it on your own. You know what you need to do to stay on the warrior path. Hard work. Discipline. Study. Eat good food. Keep your room and your gear in order. Set new goals and work hard to meet them. Keep training jiu-jitsu. This is all stuff you know. As a matter of fact, this is all stuff you can actually teach and share with your friends. And you need to do that. You need to become a leader—to help your friends learn to be stronger and smarter and better. Teach them to be the best they can be. You have changed a lot over the summer. The other kids will see that. You will become a leader now. They will follow.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to be a leader,” I told Uncle Jake, thinking about what that would be like.
“People usually don’t feel like they are ready to be leaders. But I am telling you, you are ready.
“You know the path. And you are humble. That is the most important thing about being a leader. Remember that you don’t know everything. Listen and take advice from other people. Always be ready to learn and try to be better. Those are qualities a leader needs, and you have them. Trust me, Marc. You’re going to have a great year at school.”
With that, Uncle Jake went back to packing up all his gear, and the next morning, my mom and I drove him to the airport. When we got there I was feeling sad and wasn’t saying much. We pulled up to the airport and stopped next to the curb to drop off Uncle Jake.
I got out of the car to say good-bye.
My mom got out, too. She hugged Uncle Jake, and then she looked at him and said, “Thank you. For everything,” and after she said everything she looked right at me. Even my mom noticed how much Uncle Jake had helped me.
He gave me a hug, then reached into his bag and pulled out a little box and gave it to me. “This is for you, Warrior Kid.” He held out his hand for a shake. I gripped it and gave it a good squeeze. “Better,” he said. “But you still have work to do on that grip.” Then, just like that, he turned and walked away.
I felt sad, but I actually didn’t feel as sad as I thought I would. I opened the box. In it was a watch, just like Uncle Jake had, and on the watchband was a little compass that pointed north. There was a little note inside the box from Uncle Jake. It said The watch will help you stay disciplined by making you remember to get better every second of the day. I already set the alarm for early morning every day. The compass will remind you to stay on the warrior path. Discipline Equals Freedom. Uncle Jake.
I put the watch on, and I don’t think I will ever take it off.
CHAPTER 24: FIRST DAYS BACK TO SCHOOL
Well, the first day of sixth grade was A LOT different from my last day of fifth grade. It was AWESOME! Where do I begin?
It all started in my math class. We had to take a timed test on the multiplication tables. We had fifteen minutes to do it. I was done in six minutes. And when I got done I went back and checked every answer. I knew them all 100 percent!
Right before recess, we had a “fitness baseline test” where we had to do two minutes’ worth of push-ups, two minutes of sit-ups, and, of course, one set of as many pull-ups as we could do. I did eighty-two push-ups, ninety-one sit-ups, and FOURTEEN PULL-UPS! Only one kid in my class did more than me, Taylor, who is super strong and did sixteen. But it was awesome. There were a couple of kids that remembered last year when I couldn’t do any. They were watching like hawks when I walked over to the bar, and I know they were waiting to make fun of me.
Instead, when I got done (beating both of them, by the way!), they asked how I did so many. I answered them in one word: “Practice.”
Soon after, the recess bell rang, and all the kids flooded the playground. I made my way over to the jungle gym. Of course, Kenny Williamson was there. The first day of school and he was already bullying people and not letting them on the jungle gym. It was just him and a few of his so-called friends hanging out there. A couple other kids were hanging around the border of the jungle gym, scared to go on it.
I wasn’t scared. I walked right over to it and up the stairs to the platform that leads to the monkey bars. I swung across the monkey bars, and when I got to the other side and dropped down, Kenny was standing and looking at me.
“What do you think you are doing, Marc?” he growled at me.
I acted really innocent. “Me? I’m going on the monkey bars,” I told him.
“You can’t go on the monkey bars. Those are my monkey bars. In fact, you can’t go on the jungle gym at all—THIS IS MY JUNGLE GYM,” Kenny said sternly as he stepped a little closer to me.
“This isn’t your jungle gym, Kenny. This is everyone’s jungle gym,” I responded in a calm voice.
I could tell this surprised Kenny. No one had ever questioned him before. He didn’t like it and told me, “NO, IT ISN’ T. This jungle gym is MINE. I am the king of the jungle gym.” A few other kids started to gather around to watch.
“No, Kenny. You are not the king of the jungle gym. Not anymore,” I told him. The other kids looked shocked at what I had said.
“You will see who the king is after I smash your little face,” Kenny said to me as he brought his hand up and closed his fingers into a fist. There were even more kids watching now, and you could hear a pin drop as everyone expected me to get crushed.
Then I got really serious. Super serious. The most serious I have ever been in my whole life. I had never felt this way before. I wasn’t angry, and I wasn’t even mad. But I was ready. All the training, all the jiu-jitsu, all the wrestling and sparring and pull-ups and working out. I knew 100 percent I was going to beat him. I stepped even closer to Kenny and said, “Go ahead and try, and I promise that you will never forget what I do to you.”
I was even a little surprised those words came out of my mouth. And it certainly surprised Kenny, too. I saw something change in his eyes. With all the training and sparring I had done, I now knew for sure that I could beat him in a fight—and now it seemed like he knew that, too. And I realized that in all those years of being bigger and stronger and meaner than all the other kids, no one had ever stood up to him—and he had never actually been in a fight. All of a sudden, he was scared. He put his hand down. He stepped back. He looked down at the ground and walked away. The crowd of kids let out a sigh. I turned around and jumped back on the monkey bars and made it back to the platform. I climbed to the next level. The other kids were all just standing there, looking at me. I waved my hands and told them to come on up. One kid did. And then another, and then another. Before long, kids were all over the jungle gym, playing, running, swinging. It was great.
Except Kenny. He was sitting by himself with his head hung low. Even the kids that usually followed him around were gone. Then I remembered one of the things I learned in jiu-jitsu and one of the things Uncle Jake taught me: Treat other people with respect. So I walked over to Kenny and said, “Hey, Kenny.”
He looked up at me and said, “Yeah?”
“The jungle gym is for everyone. ‘Everyone’ includes you. Come on.” I motioned with my head toward the jungle gym and turned and walked back toward it. After a few steps, I looked over my shoulder. Kenny was still sitting down, looking at me. I waved him over again. He didn’t move. So I smiled and waved him over again. He cracked a little smile, stood up, and started walking toward me. When he got close enough, I said, “I’ll race you to the monkey bars.”
He stood with a surprised look on his face until I said, “GO!” and we both started running.
He barely beat me there, and when I got to the top, he held up his hand for a high five.
Just like that, Kenny wasn’t the king anymore. And he also wasn’t a bully. Soon he was laughing and playing with the rest of the kids—he was now one of the kids.
It was only the first day of school, but I could tell this year was going to be the best year ever.
CHAPTER 25: LETTER TO UNCLE JAKE
Uncl
e Jake has been gone for about two weeks now. I miss having him around, but I am still staying on the warrior path even without him here. I wrote him this letter to thank him for everything he did for me.
Uncle Jake,
I hope you are having a good time at college. I can tell you I am having THE BEST time at school EVER. I have aced all my math tests. I did FOURTEEN pull-ups during the first test in gym class. The trip to Mount Tom was AMAZING. I can’t believe I couldn’t swim before! And finally, I stood up to Kenny Williamson—and when I did, he backed down. He no longer controls the jungle gym. ALL OF THIS is because of YOU. Thank you for showing me the Way of the Warrior Kid. I don’t know how I can ever thank you for everything you did for me. So I guess for now, I will just say thank you.
Also, you told me I should have my own Warrior Kid Code. Here it is:
1. The Warrior Kid wakes up early in the morning.
2. The Warrior Kid studies to learn and gain knowledge and asks questions if he doesn’t understand.
3. The Warrior Kid trains hard, exercises, and eats right to be strong and fast and healthy.
4. The Warrior Kid trains to know how to fight so he can stand up to bullies to protect the weak.
5. The Warrior Kid treats people with respect and helps out other people whenever possible.
6. The Warrior Kid keeps things neat and is always prepared and ready for action.
7. The Warrior Kid stays humble.
8. The Warrior Kid works hard and always does his best.
9. I am the Warrior Kid.
And that is it, Uncle Jake. That is my Warrior Kid Code. Let me know if there is anything I should add or take away. Or anything else I should do.
Just like the Navy SEALs have their Trident symbol and the Rangers have their Ranger Tab and the Marines have their Eagle, Globe, and Anchor symbol, I made up a symbol that means WARRIOR KID. It will always remind me who I am. Here it is.
One more thing that has happened since school started. Some of the other kids, especially ones that remember how pathetic I was last year, have been asking what I did to get stronger and smarter and tougher. I have told them about everything you taught me. I am teaching them how to work out and how to use flash cards and how to study and I have even shown them some basic jiu-jitsu moves. And they are listening to me. It is almost like I am the leader of the group. But don’t worry, I am staying humble. I’ll tell you more about that later.
Anyway. Again, thanks for everything, Uncle Jake. Thanks for making me stronger and faster and smarter and better. Thanks for taking me to jiu-jitsu so I won’t get picked on and so I can stick up for others. Thanks for turning me into a Warrior Kid.
With thanks, respect, and love,
Your nephew,
Marc
And that was it. I was lucky to have Uncle Jake. But not everyone has an Uncle Jake. I know that. I also know that it doesn’t really matter. Uncle Jake showed me the Way of the Warrior Kid, but the Way isn’t magic. There aren’t any tricks. You don’t need someone to lead you down the path. You can walk down the path by yourself: Wake up early. Exercise hard. Eat good food. Study. Train jiu-jitsu. The path to being a Warrior Kid is simple—but it is not easy. Sometimes it is hard to wake up early in the morning. Sometimes you won’t want to work out. Sometimes it is hard to go train jiu-jitsu. Sometimes you want to eat junk food! And in all those situations, that is when you have to use discipline to MAKE YOURSELF STAY ON THE PATH. In the long run, the path of discipline will set you free.…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JOCKO WILLINK served 20 years as a Navy SEAL. He was in combat in Iraq during the Battle of Ramadi, a conflict that resulted in numerous medals for his efforts. After his tours, Willink served as a Navy SEAL instructor before forming Echelon Front with Leif Babin, a leadership training group that uses the lessons and expertise the pair learned as SEALs to train leaders beyond the military. Willink lives in San Diego, California. You can sign up for email updates here.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
JON BOZAK is a decorated retired Navy SEAL officer. He was a Navy SEAL for 20 years, and was the commander of SEAL Team Three, Task Unit Bruiser, the most highly decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War. Now, Jocko teaches leadership, strategy, tactics, fitness, and jiu-jitsu to people all over the world. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1: The Worst Year
Chapter 2: The Worst Day
Chapter 3: The Beginning of Summer
Chapter 4: Roommates
Chapter 5: Warrior Kid
Chapter 6: The Program Begins
Chapter 7: What it Means to Be a Warrior
Chapter 8: A Gift of Strength
Chapter 9: The Eights
Chapter 10: Jiu-Jitsu
Chapter 11: Hydrophobia
Chapter 12: Discipline Equals Freedom
Chapter 13: Pull-Up Number One
Chapter 14: Flash Card Fury
Chapter 15: Tap Out!
Chapter 16: Fueling the Machine
Chapter 17: Fish in the Water
Chapter 18: Chasing Records and Breaking Plateaus
Chapter 19: Presidents, Capitals, and Gettysburg
Chapter 20: Marc Versus Goliath on the Mat
Chapter 21: Super Aquaman
Chapter 22: Ten!
Chapter 23: Stand Alone
Chapter 24: First Days Back to School
Chapter 25: Letter to Uncle Jake
About the Author and Illustrator
Copyright
A FEIWEL AND FRIENDS BOOK
An imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
WAY OF THE WARRIOR KID. Copyright © 2017 by Jocko Willink. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2017931717
ISBN 978-1-250-15107-0 (hardcover) / ISBN 978-1-250-15106-3 (ebook)
Feiwel and Friends logo designed by Filomena Tuosto
First Edition—2017
e-ISBN: 9781250151063
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