We recently had the chance to connect with Bill Witthar and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Bill, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I remind myself to focus on the present moment, take three deep breath’s then an inventory giving attention first to my body. “Where do I need to focus some energy on…? Tight muscles, knee, feet joints etc.
Shrug and stretch my shoulders and neck a few times…immediately hit the floor for 2-3 min of quick stretches then onto coffee!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m the the creator of Shodan Solutions & Katana Athletic Performance — elite skill sets that fuse my 35 years of Aikido, wellness principles, neuroscience, sports psychology and high-performance strategies into a movement & cognitive based training system. My programs teach executives, professional athletes, and elite teams how to access calm under high-stakes pressure, sharpen focus, and master identity. Each session blends precision movement, breathwork, and mindset recalibration to forge peak performance, resilience, and clarity — empowering individuals to cut through chaos, embody mastery, and perform from a state of flow.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
It wasn’t necessarily one single moment that defined & shaped my perceptions — it was a series of events, some brief and others stretched over years, that stripped away every illusion and excuse. Resistance and Obstacles were key components! Each challenge, loss, and confrontation with my own limits revealed the truth about disciplined mastery — that it’s not about talent, luck, or even motivation, but about the unwavering choice to refine yourself day after day, no matter what stands in front of you. Over time, those experiences forged an unshakable clarity: mastery isn’t something you reach, it’s something you become. Becoming greater than the environment around us is what I now strive for daily.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
I’m not sure I would have chosen difficulties (ha) but suffering, challenge, and obstacles have been the forge of my development — not the punishment, but the purification! Each major setback stripped away ego, comfort, and illusion, forcing me to confront who I really wanted to become. Through pain, I learned more precision. Through the struggles, I discovered patience. Wayne Dyer said, “Infinite patience brings immediate results”. It’s taken years to understand more clearly how true that saying is! In the end, it wasn’t the victories that shaped me, but the discipline born from enduring the grind, transforming suffering into mastery, and turning every hardship into strength & resilience.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
Smart people today are getting it wrong by mistaking information for transformation and skills for cognitive “state”. They consume endlessly, analyze everything, and chase optimization — yet remain disconnected from embodiment, discipline, and presence. They live in their heads, addicted to stimulation and data, but out of alignment with their nervous system, intuition, and inner rhythm. My training program addresses that gap — the distance between knowing and being — and bridges it through training that unites neuroscience, philosophy, and movement. True mastery isn’t intellectual; it’s integrated. I think the smartest minds are burning out not because they lack knowledge, but because they’ve forgotten how to feel, breathe, connect and move with precision, intention, and stillness under pressure.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
There’s nothing more precious than time! It is really the “hidden enemy” of happiness, peace & achievement.
There’s a couple great concepts in Aikido & martial arts that are probably way more encompassing that most students and even teachers recognize:
A) MA-AI (mah-eye): The spacing and/or distance between things and more importantly…
B) DE-AI (day-eye): Timing or the ‘encounter’ between two things.
Mastering elements of timing is the hallmark of many successful endeavors. (Executives, athletes, coaches, musicians, comedians, politicians, martial artists etc.)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.katanaathleticperformance.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katanaathleticskc/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bwitthar/
- Twitter: https://x.com/bill_witthar
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.witthar.2025/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@shodansolutions461
