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Fudoshin is a Japanese term often translated as the "warrior heart" or "indomitable spirit." Cops, nurses, soldiers, etc. are supposed to have it; athletes want it; and one in three children seems to be born with it.

Fudoshin has been defined as:

A spirit of unshakable calm and determination, courage without recklessness, rooted stability in both mental and physical realms. Like a willow tree, powerful roots deep in the ground and a soft, yielding resistance against the winds that blow through it.

The person who has the warrior heart cannot be beaten. While most martial artists spend many hours working on strength, stamina, technique, and speed, few spend time training their thinking processes so they will have a mental edge over their opponents. Yet, it is the will to win that most often separates competitors both on the playing field as well as the battlefield.

Studies of high achievers done at Harvard University by Dr. David McClelland indicated that the best predictor of personal success was how the achievers thought about themselves, not any advantages of home and education they may have had. Recent studies by Dr. Emmy Werner of resilience in the Hawaiian children of sugar cane workers show similar results. Victim theory, where heavy emphasis is placed upon the effect of the environment, would predict that the poverty, alcoholism, anger, and abuse would push these children into crime and unemployment. Yet one-third of the children found opportunities to lead normal lives once out of their houses and away from their parents. They did well in school, began promising careers, and probably most important, they defined themselves as capable and competent adults.

Ann S. Masten studied Khmer-American children in Minnesota. These teenagers grew up in Pol Pot’s killing fields and the unspeakable horrors of torture, death, starvation, and forced labor directed toward their families and friends. They have nightmares, periods when they are jumpy and nervous, or depressed and anxious; yet, they are till they are getting on with their lives. They are absolute proof of the human capacity for survival and resilience.

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