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Saving a life makes for a good day

Hi all,

I’ve decided to start this blog with snippets of good moments in my life. This isn’t to brag, but to share the power of the mind and spirit . Of course, I’ve had my share of defeats and setbacks. We’ll save those for another time.

Back in 1982, my wife and I were riding the train in Tokyo. We were on our way home after a nice night in the city. It was the last train and it was during the New Year holiday season.  Except for a middle aged man snoring across from us, our car was empty.

 The Japanese love to party.  Much of December and January are spent celebrating the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year.  They even have special names for each type of party. Common to every party is  lots of alcohol. Our snoring businessman was undoubtedly on his way home from a round of parties.

Announcements blared our arrival at  the last station and to exit the train and not forget anything etc. Fortunately our train home  would arrive on the other side of our platform.

Our snoring neighbor slept through the announcements.  I was just about to wake him, when he suddenly stood and staggered out of the car. We watched as he weaved back and forth across the platform. Then  he stopped about 10 feet from the edge of the platform and stood there swaying. We figured he was okay. 

 The ubiquitous female announcer’s voice, present at all Japanese stations (one day I’ll find who she is), intoned that our train was approaching and to be careful. Our businessman suddenly lurched toward the edge of the platform and then he was gone. He toppled off the platform onto the tracks. No one else was around.

Being from LA, I was still  unused to trains and subways. Intellectually I knew it was stupid to jump down there, but I did anyway. He was sprawled over the tracks and unconscious. What to do? While I am not an overly big man; a tad over 6 feet and  220 lbs at the time, I was an athlete and in good condition, but lifting the dead weight of a grown  man and getting him onto a platform 6 feet high is extremely tough. None of this occurred to me at time though. Had I time to think, I have no doubt that man would have died on those tracks.

During the previous 6 months I had been training in martial arts and using hypnosis as part of the training . I knew from years of using self hypnosis for school and sports that it was effective.  Why not try it in Karate training. I needed to catch up to other students and used the hypnosis to improve strength, focus and confidence.

Back to the drunk. I am no hero or circus strongman, but there he was out cold and sprawled over the tracks and a train was coming. Before my wife could object I jumped down and tried to wake him.  He was  unresponsive.  I didn’t know where the oncoming train was, but my wife was screaming at me to get  back on the platform. Without  thinking, I grabbed him heaved him onto the platform.  I don’t recall how or where I grabbed him, but I tossed him at least 8 feet.  He was a hefty guy weighing around 180 lbs. In that moment, I hardly felt any weight.

I climbed back up just as the train was entering the station.  The train passed our spot no more 5 seconds after I got out. While that wasn’t  a Hollywood movie close call, it was close enough to scare me.  I was shaking and clammy.  A station employee  came over to assist.  He asked what happened and took our name and address then escorted our drunk away. I presume to sober up.  The man looked at me and seemed aware that I wasn’t Japanese and that something had happened to him, but who knows. It was obvious he was extremely drunk. He just mumbled something and then they were gone. 

My wife hugged me and told me I was a hero. Wow!

 What amazed me about the incident was the abnormal strength I possessed at that precise moment.  The story about the tiny mother who lifts a car off her child always seemed a urban legend to me. Now I know otherwise. The mind and body can work together in moments of extreme danger and circumstances to do seemingly miraculous feats. Of course I had witnessed my sensei do things that seemed impossible as well, but still in the back of my mind I was still sceptical.  No longer. I am living proof that we can go beyond what is logical or beyond the limits of science.  I am sure many will think it was nothing more than a rush of adrenaline and that certainly helped. But I know the limits of an adrenaline rush and this was something much more than that.

The daily meditation and self hypnosis techniques I had been employing, while not aimed improving my skill at throwing drunk men into the air, were focused on strength, self belief and acting instinctively.  I have no doubt that my training and use of self hypnosis to improve my strength and abilities in the martial arts were instrumental in saving that man’s life.

Imagine what a little hypnosis can do for you.

How hypnosis got me that dream job

I arrived for the most important interview in my life soaking wet with sweat. I left 4 hours later with a 3 year contract worth more than $500,000-and the job. The power of hypnosis had just worked for me once again.