Way of Warrior
The practice of traditional martial arts is an authentic path to spiritual realization. TMY's Way of Warrior offers a long forgotten, but highly effective method of spiritual development for the practitioner looking for a comprehensive daily practice that emphasizes integration training.
The great strength of Warrior Training as your Path is that it gives you immediate feedback on your level of awareness and capacity — there's no fooling yourself. Attainment in the practice is obvious to you and others in the group, whereas practitioners in the meditation based systems struggle to know whether their attainment is mere wishful thinking or authentically established.
If you would enjoy a dynamic way of practicing spirituality utilizing body, energy and mind that never becomes dull or boring — try the Way of Warrior.
Way of the Warrior is offered via two types of In-Person Retreats:
- Foundations of Warriorship Retreats
- Specific Warrior-Tradition Retreats
Foundations of Warriorship
This retreat introduces the practitioner to the basic View and Practice of Warriorship. Mastery is not the goal in the Foundations Retreat. Here you learn the basic components that create a comprehensive system of warrior training, developing the body, mind and energy.
You will train in:
◉ STAV
The traditional martial art of the Norse. A system of breathing, stance and movement practice integrating a wide range of short and long, bladed and concussive weapons. It teaches a set of 5 strategies or classes that relate to your unique mental-emotional-spiritual dispositions and ways of being in battle and in the world. STAV is much more comprehensive than a martial art alone, and students will train in its healing and oracle methods as part of the well-rounded approach of the spiritual warrior.
◉ Combat Catch Wrestling
European system of combat grappling. Emphasis is on the standing grappling — hand-fighting and standing submission holds. In combat, it is not wise to choose to fight on the ground when you can finish an opponent standing. Combat Catch trains the closest range of combat.
◉ Chinese Boxing
Predominantly the Hakka styles of Gong Fu — Dragon's Magical Hands, White Eyebrow, and Southern Mantis. Extremely practical with zero "fluff." These arts will be used in training to strike with the hands, elbows, feet, knees, shoulders, hips and head.
◉ Warrior's Non-Conceptual Meditation
Meditation without any form. It trains you to be in a condition of pure alert openness, without expectation or thinking, in order to respond to life in general and high-energy situations in an appropriate way that lacks contrivance or conditioned tension.
◉ Warrior's View Teachings
A set of teachings and principles that guide the practitioner's development of enlightened mind and conduct. We will use the Dao De jing, the Elder Edda and other texts.
◉ Traditional Body Conditioning
Strengthening and hardening the thorax, and tendons and bones of the fingers, hands, and forearms using a variety of solo and partner exercises and apparatus. You will also learn to prepare and apply topical herbal medicines before and after practice to prevent injury.
◉ Martial & Spiritual Health Exercises
Specific exercise sets that warriors use to cultivate health and spirituality. You will learn the basics of some of these in the Foundations of Warriorship Retreat.
Live Online Course
The Warrior's Path
Retreat
Way of Warrior
Specific Warrior-Tradition Retreats
These retreats focus on one aspect of warriorship. It could be a focus on one martial art in particular — a deep dive into Dragon's Magical Hands system of Gong Fu, or a focus on the breath, health and healing practices, or meditation practices of warrior tradition. The Way of Warrior student-body may also request topics for these Tradition-Focused Retreats based on group interest.
Live Online Course
Principles and Practice of Ancient Nordic Warriorship
Starting Jan 24, 2026
View CourseWay of Warrior Practitioner Cohort
After completing a Way of Warrior Retreat you gain access to the online cohort. This will be a time for refining questions about the practices, techniques, and application. It will also serve as a way for Dharma Bodhi to teach material that could not be covered during the in-person retreats due to time constraints. (Meets 1x/month)
The Apprenticeship Program
Dharma Bodhi is looking for TMY martial artists, novice to advanced, that would like to master the arts taught in Way of Warrior and preserve them for the benefit of future generations of warriors. In the Way of Warrior Retreats it is not possible to transmit entire systems of martial arts. Therefore, Dharma is opening a special branch of Way of Warrior to anyone wishing to master any of the systems listed below:
◉ Dragon's Magical Hands System of Gong Fu
Dharma first learned a hybrid of this system with Pak Mei Gong Fu from his Chinatown New York City masters. His main master was Sifu Yip, Wing Hong who learned from Sifu Cho Sam, who learned from Lam Yew Guai — the head of Dragon style and Cheung Lai Chun in Guandong, China.
In your training you will learn the forms, combat applications, body conditioning, power generation, qi gong exercises for spiritual development and power & speed generation, some weapons, etc.
Training will be through:
- Dragon style specific Way of Warrior Retreats
- One-to-one training at Dharma's house
- In-person retreats with other warriors training to become teachers of Dragon style
- An online cohort only available to the Dragon style teachers-in-training
◉ Märtens STAV — Ancient Norse Martial Art
Dharma trained with Ivar Hafskjold of Drummen, Norway for 5 years, culminating in an adoption ceremony. He was authorized by Ivar as the Jarl Class representative for Hafskjold STAV, which Dharma then re-named as Märtens STAV.
STAV is much more than a martial art — it is better described as the principles and practices of an indigenous culture that came out of the ancient Norse philosophy/religion.
As an apprentice you will learn:
- The martial tradition of STAV with special emphasis on short staff and walking stick
- The 5 breathing practices
- The 6 healing methods
- Oracle methods
Training will be through:
- STAV specific Way of Warrior Retreats
- One-to-one training at Dharma's house
- In-person retreats with other warriors training to become teachers of STAV
- An online cohort only available to the STAV teachers-in-training
◉ Shaolin Ba Gua
Dharma requested to be instructed by a famous Shaolin Master — Woo, Chai Meng — living in Brooklyn, New York since the early 1950's. After 10 years of requesting and 9 years of rejection, he was accepted and taught a very secret martial art consisting of 8 sequences of movements combined with special breathing that promised to turn his body into "liquid stone" for use in "serious combat."
Dharma has taken a vow with Master Woo to teach 12 students the entire system of Shaolin Bagua so that this precious treasure does not get lost.
Training will be through:
- Shaolin Ba Gua specific Way of Warrior Retreats
- One-to-one training at Dharma's house
- In-person retreats with other warriors training to become teachers of Shaolin Ba Gua
- An online cohort only available to the Shaolin Ba Gua teachers-in-training
Dharma Bodhi is currently taking applications for these apprenticeships. Please write to trikapath@gmail.com to apply.
