561 (FREE TO READ) - "Warrior, Wizard, Priest": James Keating redefines awareness and personal power
Comtech Knife Coach's book offers readers methods of looking deeper at the world around us
Copyright © 2025 by Jeth Randolph
All photos © James Albert Keating
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Part one
For those not familiar with his work, James A. Keating, is a renowned martial arts expert whose career spans over five decades. Spurred partly by his mother’s interest in such subjects along with Yoga, he began his journey in martial arts at age 10 in Judo. The influence of his knife-maker father, then sparked a lifelong passion for edged weapons and knife combat of which he is considered a world authority.
Keating’s formal training started with Judo in 1965, evolving through Karate, Kenpo, Fencing, Kali (since 1982), Silat, and Aiki-Jitsu, among others. He began teaching self-defence as an assistant instructor later in the 1960’s and then opened his own studio in 1972, establishing a global reputation for his knife fighting and tactical training programs. Based in Oregon, he has operated as Comtech (Combat Technologies) since 1989, offering seminars on Bowie knife fighting, knife defence, and martial arts.
A knife designer, Keating collaborated with brands like Spyderco (e.g., Chinook, Civilian models) and Black Cloud Knives, creating the Crossada Fighting Knife and Subhilt Fighting Knife.
His Riddle of Steel camps along with Drawpoint and Knifecraft, are highly regarded in knife training circles.
He has also authored several books, on knife training, Kung Fu as well as more esoteric thinking which we will look at here.
I’ve followed Jim’s work for a couple of decades now and he has been an constant influence on my own training development. He is a rare combination of high level ability, intelligence and friendly, open mindedness. I’ve enjoyed occasional email contact with him over those years and was delighted when he agreed to discuss his latest book “Warrior, Wizard, Priest” for readers of this Journal which we conducted over a series of emails together in a discussion format included below. This article is part one with a second part to follow.
I feel the book is about personal transformation and expansion from what we were to what we potentially can be and the positive influence that that can bring to the world around us. It contains many ideas, methods and personal anecdotes to inspire the reader to take steps in this inner direction and as such is very different from what one might expect from a man known predominantly for martial knife training.
Jim describes the title of the book thus in his introduction:
“The warrior is the one who gets things done. The warrior sees to physical well being of the sacred self and the world about him. The wizard works with the unseen forces to maintain the balance between worlds. The wizard is also the scholar. He is the storehouse of intellectual knowledge of all ages. The priest is the divine influence of the three. The priest is the bridge between the spiritual realm and mankind itself. By the cultivation of these three individual character traits one can then establish a profoundly solid foundation to advance themselves and to help others as well.”
Perhaps a good place to start when encountering this book is with a quote from Jim’s website, where he states:
“This is not entertainment nor mere boredom. This is Research, Study, Analysis and Contemplation. You either study or you don’t. It is about connecting the dots (if you will). And yeah, I know.. it is such a "different" (weird) subject / and of course ..Why? Then, Huh? Eventually Hmmm! Never mind all that now.We can get to all of that a bit later perhaps. For now: Grab a cup of coffee (or sumthin) and lets get started!”
Coffee’s always a good idea (even if it is the decaf stuff I’m now reduced to…). Below are parts of my conversation with Jim (whose answers are in italics) with the ideas in the book as starting points for tangential discussion. Jeth
JR: Quote from “Warrior, Wizard, Priest”- “Hello and thank you for being present in this very moment of the eternal NOW!”
This is the very first line of the introduction of “Warrior, Wizard, Priest” and it seemed to me, to link to a section from towards the end of the book, where you say;
WWP QUOTE: "There are negative voids, and there are positive, beneficial voids. Voids can be physical, mental, or spiritual in nature, but the void we are discussing in this specific dialogue is the Great Etheric Void. This is the void where personal power comes from. This void of power is an allusion to the concept taught in spiritual cosmology, something akin to the cosmic ether in its nature. It may also be described as the concept of the multiverse, void, and of zero-point energy fields as well. In this instance, I refer to the universal, life-generating energy field which we all share. It is often called the mysterious void, the Great Emptiness."
JR: I felt that upon repeat readings of the book, that it could be said that if one were to consider that there is no future or past but rather a liquid, amorphous, and ever changing “present”, then all is contained within it and reality starts to look very different from the model that we are shown and encouraged to perceive as a straight line of history (with the benefit of a few years sitting on a sphere that, after all, rotates, it seems to resemble better a repeating circle sometimes as in nature – and why would we or reality be any different from nature?).
Within the “present” then, there may seem to be nothing, but at the same time it is filled with all the things we perceive including ourselves and is therefore not just what has happened (past), is happening (present) but also “pregnant” if you will with the many potentials of what may or could happen (future)!
So my question is; would you view these concepts; “The eternal now”, and the “Void” as one and the same, similar or perhaps having different meanings for you?
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JAK: JR, Thanks and away we go!
The Tao is like a well: used but never used up. It is like the eternal void: filled with infinite possibilities. It is hidden but always present. From The Tao Te Ching (The way and the power)
There really is no other time or moment other than the present. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not yet here. Only now, which changes micro-second by the minute. Bringing us the expected along with the unexpected. Tomorrow never comes, yesterday can never be reclaimed. So we live "in the moment". If you miss even one breath, its serious and dangerous, choking on food, panic hits quick. Our breath, the sacred breath of all existence demonstrates this "in the moment" in which all things dwell. We take it for granted, learn to ignore it. But the wise men know that our entire existence is balanced upon the end of a needle. Precarious indeed, thus the sacredness of life is found and never forgotten.
"At every moment of our lives, we all have one foot in a fairy tale and the other in the abyss"... Quote from Paolo Coelho. The abyss is the void. In life you only get one chance - this moment as does each fleeting moment holds eternity, believe it or not.
In Taoism it is said that the concept of the Void is represented by Wuji (無極), which denotes a state of undifferentiated emptiness or non-being. Wuji is the source of all existence, preceding the dualistic manifestation of Taiji (太極), the Supreme Ultimate, which gives rise to the interplay of yin and yang.
Within the void lies nothing. Within the void all things are contained. The void can drain your power, or it can add to your power.
We co-create our path(s), man always has choices. How we approach these things depends upon whether you are a man of power or not. We have a say in this, the void is fluid, flowing together harmony can be found.
The marriage of the line and circle makes their offspring the SPIRAL. The mysterious "circular line", much is based around the spiral.
The ancients knew this. The spiral is seen in carvings, rock drawings, sacred art and in nature. Therein is the secret. The spiral is a gateway symbol. The eternal now and the void walk together in this looping time sphere. The void is not the "moment". The void is eternal, always waiting, the abyss, the yawning cosmic pit which calls to your spirit.
The "eternal moment" is a fragile fleeting neutrino of life - a speck of cosmic dust which we call our life - here and gone. The void and the moment reside together but are separate, the void is the breath of the cosmos, the moment is the breath of our existence.
"The border between the Real and the Unreal is not fixed, but just marks the last place where rival gangs of shamans (or scientists) fought each other to a standstill". Quote from: Robert Anton Wilson . (I added the scientists part)
Lastly this came out today which certainly relates to our quest: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a63979764/time-reflections-real/
JR: It’s interesting that you mention Robert Anton Wilson as his writing opened my mind up to the idea of the rational and irrational actually needing each other for balance, very much like the quote you shared from him.
I’ve known and encountered many people that were completely out of balance in terms of this – for example, the ultra-rationalist type who sees only the material nature of things and seeks to negate any kind of mystical thinking, can seem just as incomplete and “lopsided” as their extreme opposite; the “out there” types who appear to lack a grasp of objective reality. I believe we need a healthy dose of both, the visionary and the man of action, the artist and the scientist, light-heartedness and seriousness, both hemispheres of the brain to complete ourselves, and as such, we return to your earlier mention of Yin and Yang. We really do have the choice to make this “eternal moment” a heaven or hell for ourselves and others depending on our choices.
Readers may refer to chapter six of the book for exercises to start working with the ideas of void, personal power of intent and more.
From your answer I can see that I’d interpreted the “Eternal Moment” as a type of void – which I guess is where my question or curiosity had stemmed from – the possibilities of an empty moment that is still filled with the potential for choices in terms of personal action and so on – the “one in one” moment.
It is interesting now to reconsider this from your answer and see them as separate.
My experience with void and moment in terms of conflict strategy are mostly from Japanese styles that I studied but I have come to see it in others too as I’ve come across them and seen how others teach similar ideas.
Could you share some examples of the concept of a spiral(s) that readers could apply to the managing of conflict and/or life in general?
JAK: SPIRALS: The line and circle create a spiral.
Spirals create vortexs, spirals create portals with little effort. They are found through out the ancient world. They can be walked, watched, vertical or horizontal. Many labyrinths are spiral based. These mazes were common in days long past. The "corkscreww" effect is in nature, it is spiral. When a spirit appears it is often accompanied by the whirlwind or spiral winds signifying the spirit energy taking shape.
Spirals are what makes the bullet fly true - by what is called "Rifling". Spiral grooves in the barrel. Notice Elon Musk’s rockets make spiral clouds. The Blue spiral over Norway a few years ago was a rocket, it appeared as a portal.
The old hypnosis used the black and white spiral to put the subject into a trance. Many trance states are induced by dances done in spiral manners. The horn of the unicorn magical properties etc.. this horn is spiral. When a spiral must be flattened out it is then known as serpentine movement. Conch shells, nautica based stuff are often spiral. When rope is made it is braided in a spiral interlocked way. Aye, spirals are everywhere. / They go unnoticed somehow.
Some of what I know about spirals is so intricate it is hard to put into words. You may even doubt my sanity. Modified spirals do secondary things, energetically speaking. A spiral bisected by a line is sort of what I mean.
Time- existence is a spiral, yes the pathways of times repeat as they are spiral - coming back around to almost, ALMOST the same place, so different times will mimic each other / 1870 was very much like 1970, but different. Similar things due to time and cycles of time work in spirals.
The Comtech business card is a spiral and line, looking much like a target, a reticle, a shield.. this is no accident.
