Murray Carter (@CarterCutlery) is a Canadian craftsman like no other. At eighteen, he fell into an apprenticeship with a sixteenth generation Yoshimoto bladesmith that lasted six years -- and was asked to take the position of number seventeen in the Sakemoto family tradition (perhaps the only Caucasian ever to have had the honor and privilege of this position). Murray continued forging blades in Japan for twelve more years and in June 2001, he was awarded the rating of Mastersmith by the American Bladesmith Society, thus proving the highest degree of competency by Western standards. In 2005, he moved to the United States (as an Alien of Extraordinary Ability, no less) to start Carter Cutlery; he has continued forging blades in Oregon since. This is a fascinating episode on many levels, so please enjoy! This podcast is brought to you by Headspace, the world’s most popular meditation app (with more than four million users). It’s used in more than 150 countries, and many of my closest friends swear by it. Try Headspace’s free Take10 program — 10 minutes of guided meditation a day for 10 days. It’s like a warm bath for your mind. Meditation doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive, and it’s had a huge impact on my life. Try Headspace for free for a few days and see what I mean. This podcast is also brought to you by Four Sigmatic. I reached out to these Finnish entrepreneurs after a very talented acrobat introduced me to one of their products, which blew my mind (in the best way possible). It is mushroom coffee featuring chaga. It tastes like coffee, but there are only 40 milligrams of caffeine, so it has less than half of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It put me on fire for an entire day, and I only had half of the packet. People are always asking me what I use for cognitive enhancement right now -- this is the answer. You can try it right now by going to foursigmatic.com/tim and using the code Tim to get 20 percent off your first order. If you are in the experimental mindset, I do not think you'll be disappointed.***If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Visit tim.blog/sponsor and fill out the form.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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The podcast discusses a unique airline ticket that allowed travelers to continuously fly in one direction around the globe until they reached their starting point again. The conversation then transitions to the narrator's experience learning karate in Japan and the differences in stance between Chito-ryu and other traditional forms of the martial art.
Learning the Japanese language and making friends outside of the karate circle opened up many opportunities for the speaker, who defends Japanese people against accusations of xenophobia and difficulty connecting with non-Japanese individuals.
The speaker describes his experience at a karate dojo in Japan where he saw a variety of knives for different uses, including sushi knives and paring knives. The speaker also praises the interviewer's understanding of Japanese culture and language.
The speaker discusses the joy and benefits of learning a language one word at a time, without any preconceived notion of how much one should be able to achieve. They also mention the irony of being raised in Canada on French language, yet being able to communicate more effectively in Japanese.
Developing proficiency in a skill can give young people the confidence to step out into life, and be a great stepping stone from which they can launch the rest of their life. Setting proficiency-driven goals is an effective way to learn a new language or skill quickly and achieve long-term success.
The 17th generation Yoshimoto bladesmith talks about his relationship with his sensei, who was a very gracious coach and never cruel or strict or punitive, even when he probably should have been.
The three-layer blade construction, known as san mai, is the most common in Japanese cutlery. The philosophy behind Japanese bladesmithing is different from Western culture, emphasizing sharpness, precision, and balance over durability and toughness.
Forging Japanese kitchen knives involves heating and hammering steel into different shapes, resulting in a higher performing blade. By refining the grain in the steel, the complexity of the boundary between grains increases, increasing the strength of the steel.
The best solution for auditioning job candidates is to get them in the working environment and work with them closely, testing their skills and encouraging them. CEO of Automatic, Matt Mullenweg, has a fascinating process for auditioning people for all positions in his company.
The knife's secondary edge is the one that separates the cut material more easily, while the primary one determines how blunt or sharp the knife is. Additionally, it is recommended to take a moment, breathe, and make good decisions when in a hurry while handling knives.
The podcast episode features a speaker who talks about becoming bereft due to unexpected setbacks and the story of knights and heroism. He also mentions giving knives as a protection for housewives.
Carter Cutlery has successfully encouraged and mentored tens of thousands of people to learn the attainable skill of sharpening knives. You can find them on Facebook and Instagram, and have mastery and satisfaction over your cutlery.
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