Third Monkey Productions LLC

Author: burke.gt59

  • Mentorship in Leadership

    The Sensei – Sempai Dynamic In traditional martial arts, the relationship between sensei (teacher), sempai (senior practitioner), and beginners establishes a structured system for learning, accountability, and development. This hierarchy is not about status, it is about responsibility, knowledge transfer, and performance improvement. When applied to business and leadership, this model offers a practical framework…

  • The Power of Your Word: Building a Life of Integrity and Trust

    by Gene Burke In today’s world where promises are made lightly, commitments are often conditional, and loyalty can be fleeting, the value of a person who keeps their word has never been greater. Words have power. They shape our character, define our relationships, and determine the level of trust others place in us. To be…

  • The Power of Gratitude by Gene Burke

    Gratitude is a transformative force that enriches our lives, fostering deeper connections and a profound sense of fulfillment. One powerful method to cultivate gratitude is through the Japanese practice of Naikan, which offers structured self-reflection to enhance our understanding of ourselves and our relationships. Naikan, meaning “inside looking” or “introspection,” is a structured method of…

  • The Value of Invisibility

    The Value of Invisibility: How Being Overlooked Can Develop Resilient Humility & Strength By Gene Burke You put everything into a project, time, energy, long nights, and careful planning. You adjust strategy, track metrics, refine your approach, and keep iterating. You do everything by the book. And still, nothing changes. No visible results. Silence. You…

  • The sound of survival: why your voice tone matters in a self‑defense moment

    From Third Monkey Productions LLC When people talk about self‑defense they often focus on strikes, escapes, and awareness. Those things matter, but so does something far simpler and immediate: the sound you make. In a sudden, high‑stress encounter your voice is one of the fastest tools you have to influence what happens next. Tiny differences,…

  • Recognizing the Precursors of an Attack – An Excerpt from Eyes Wide Open

    The Second Pillar: Recognizing the Precursors of an Attack Once personal awareness, the ability to be mentally and emotionally present is firmly in place, the next essential layer in a progressive self-defense mindset is the ability to recognize the precursors of an attack. If awareness is your radar, then recognizing pre-attack indicators is your early…

  • An excerpt from Eyes Wide Open – Because Your Life is Worth Defending

    Understanding the “Other” Self-Defense Skills When most people hear the phrase “self-defense,” their minds immediately picture combat: punches, kicks, blocks, and takedowns. The physical side of protection is dramatic, visible, and when done well empowering. But there is another, far more critical layer to self-defense. It happens before the first punch is ever thrown. It…

  • Frustration as a Power for Positive Change

    We’ve all been there, expecting someone to show up for us, only to be left disappointed. Maybe a friend promised to call and didn’t, a colleague brushed off a request, or you reached out for help and were met with silence. In those moments, it’s easy to feel invisible, unappreciated, or even betrayed. But here’s…

  • You Are the Sky, Not the Clouds

    There’s a quiet, powerful shift that happens when you begin to understand this simple truth:You are the sky. Your thoughts are just the clouds. Not the storm. Not the turbulence. Not the shifting winds.Just the sky, wide, steady, timeless. Within each of us is a vast inner space, an open sky that is our mind.…

  • BUDO Teaching Philosophy

    Originally Published: October 25, 2024 by Shihan Tom Shihan Tom is a 6th-dan in Kyokushin and has been a teacher for many around the world. He’s always seeking to learn more and teach more. To be a good teacher, one has to be of the mindset of a student. The teacher needs to recall viscerally what…