Josh Waitzkin might be the most INTERESTING person alive.

He doesn't have Twitter. And he barely uses the internet.

I've compiled my favorite 5 MENTAL MODELS of his below.

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WAITZKIN MODEL 1 - DEPTH OVER WIDTH

His life so far:

1. Chess prodigy + National champ

2. 2x world champion in Tai Chi push hands

3. The 1st black belt in Jiu-Jitsu under Marcelo Garcia (GOAT)

4. He's now in an unknown ocean town mastering surfing + advising elite investors
The Waitzkin paradox:

He's achieved more WIDTH across disciplines in 43 years than most could in 100 lives

How?

His obsession with DEPTH over WIDTH.

His life is the testimony to deep work and singular focus.

He spends 5-10 years of his life dedicated to each craft
Even when he approaches a new discipline, he goes for DEPTH within the DEPTH

E.g. Chess

Most just play countless games

Instead, Josh insists on having only 3 pieces on the board - King & Pawn vs King

He drills micro positions until he understands them from first principles
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times” - Bruce Lee

Waitzkin's theory is that once you've understood one thing so deeply in the discipline - you understand the principles

You can then copy & paste them
Waitzkin turns the discipline into a video game

He then identifies what level 1 of that video game is (e.g. Guillotine in BJJ)

He doesn't start level 2 until he understands the principles of level 1 at a fundamental level

He continuously expands his circles of competence

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Rig Ved 1.36.7

To do a Namaskaar or bow before someone means that you are humble or without pride and ego. This means that we politely bow before you since you are better than me. Pranipaat(प्राणीपात) also means the same that we respect you without any vanity.

1/9


Surrendering False pride is Namaskaar. Even in devotion or bhakti we say the same thing. We want to convey to Ishwar that we have nothing to offer but we leave all our pride and offer you ourselves without any pride in our body. You destroy all our evil karma.

2/9

We bow before you so that you assimilate us and make us that capable. Destruction of our evils and surrender is Namaskaar. Therefore we pray same thing before and after any big rituals.

3/9

तं घे॑मि॒त्था न॑म॒स्विन॒ उप॑ स्व॒राज॑मासते ।
होत्रा॑भिर॒ग्निं मनु॑षः॒ समिं॑धते तिति॒र्वांसो॒ अति॒ स्रिधः॑॥

Translation :

नमस्विनः - To bow.

स्वराजम् - Self illuminating.

तम् - His.

घ ईम् - Yours.

इत्था - This way.

उप - Upaasana.

आसते - To do.

स्त्रिधः - For enemies.

4/9

अति तितिर्वांसः - To defeat fast.

मनुषः - Yajman.

होत्राभिः - In seven numbers.

अग्निम् - Agnidev.

समिन्धते - Illuminated on all sides.

Explanation : Yajmans bow(do Namaskaar) before self illuminating Agnidev by making the offerings of Havi.

5/9