Intro:

This bonus episode is gently sponsored by our listener Sean Faust. Sean is a talented musician who would like to make fellow Drunken Taoist listeners aware of his work. Please check out and support his music on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, and wherever digital music is sold. Half of the proceeds will be donated to EqualityNow.org

Website: http://seanfaustmusic.com

Here are some direct links to his single "Signal":

• CD Baby
• Amazon

Episode:

• Rumina Sato, god of grappling
• Daniele's shady quasi-legal deals in the Japanese enclave on Sawtelle
• Had texting existed back then, Joel's life would have turned out different
• "I was trying to convince myself that I could win, and I knew that I was bullshitting myself"
• Joel's university professor father "My son is a bruiser"
• "Anybody can learn how to give a beating, it's learning how to take a beating that is the tricky part"
• The appeal of combat sports
• Being honest with oneself is the antidote to ending up like Ted Haggard
• Dogma and ideologies
• The fear of facing the universe without certainties
• Ideology is a disease
• Lessening the hold of fear
• Inspiration as fuel for heroism
• The quest for self-perfection is something that any human being who is not an ass should be on
• Sakuraba epic 2000 Grand Prix
• MMA work ethic
• Carlos Newton
• The joys of the internet