The State of Datsusara, or How to Manage 3 Children and a Life.

Hello fellow Datsusara,

This one is a little long winded so we'll break it up into two parts, one philosophical and then more practical company related news.


1. Philosophical stuff you don't need to hear but might find value in:

It's been a very long time since I managed to sit down and write a blog post, the last was what I felt was my piece de resistance, entitled "Hooray for Douchebags" in 2013. I could say I've been simply too busy, which in part is true, but also I just haven't felt like writing but I do apologize for the lack of communication. I also tend to write these more for selfish and possibly pretentious philosophical reasons, and I only do so when the mood strikes me or when the flood gates can hold no more. I find even this energy is now often diverted by the entrance of my daughter Kira into my life, who has now already interrupted me 2 times in the last 20 minutes. Kira is just one of my 3 children, the other is my dog Buddha and then we have the company, Datsusara. 



Running a company and being a stay home dad is a little more mentally draining than I had anticipated. On top of this I have a neglected wife plus the rest of my life that is in constant threat of becoming nothing more than a daily routine of chores if not managed very carefully. I'm damn lucky that my biggest problem is how to manage all of these awesome things, but even then it's disheartening how once wonderful things can turn into problems if you lose focus on what matters. It's so easy to make yourself busy with nonsense making unnecessary work for yourself that can interfere with your enjoyment of life and your relationships with others. But there are many ways to avoid the pitfalls if you at least are aware of them.

My personal solution is simple. Give less or no attention to things that do not matter. Then spend time identifying the things that really do matter so you don't lose your love of life, which I assure you, can and will happen without you even noticing. Cut out the BS and get to the core or what matters to you and WHY. I'm always working on this myself, it's a life long pursuit of personal improvement or perhaps just discovery.



At this point I am tempted to tell you more practical details about how I'm working to manage my life but wiser folk than I, such as Tim Ferriss, have already covered this ground in detail. Plus another thing I'm working on is keeping my mouth shut when I don't have anything useful to add, this one is really hard for me, I simply talk to damn much and don't spend enough time to stop, observe, and enjoy life. That being said one thing I do hope to start this year is a Datsusara themed podcast where we'll interview people who I know that live the Datsusara lifestyle. I'll do my best to get good information from them that will be useful or at least entertaining for all. I just have to find a way to work the time in and be sure to do it right versus just getting out there half assed.


2. Company news:

Speaking of half assing things.... it's time to get to what's been going on with Datsusara from the little stuff like new gear to the larger picture of the course we will be sailing. First let me thank all you you again for your incredible level of support. Y'all are so excellent that I feel extremely guilty when I don't give my best. I so much appreciate how much slack everyone has cut me in managing the show here. I know the site could use some updating for instance, as could some of the gear. But I haven't been totally absent, I'm just doing too much with too little time and my talent for being efficient and effective can only go so far.

I've mostly been spending time making sure the products we do have keep flowing and we have been making invisible improvements to upgrade the quality of those products. On the Battlepacks where we have come up with new stitching methods to make them much more durable, our Hemp Combat Gi and Hemp Fight Shorts are the best versions yet with improved materials and stitching, but I simply haven't made the time to promote these enough so I'm glad you guys are paying attention.

You might note that we have also introduced more universal products (not just for the gym) like the Hemp Compression Boxers, Hemp Recon Hoody, all of which I am very proud of and I personally use everyday. When we started we were focussed on being just gear for MMA since that was, and still is, one of my main loves and something I used to practice more often. We will always be a fight gear company at the core but my greater vision since the start was to have a company that would modernize the use of Hemp and get it to the masses in hopes of making the world a better place. With that in mind we will continue to shape the brand and product line in new ways while also remaining an innovator in the fight gear category. I have a growing list of requested products from sport soap and protein bars to cargo pants and diaper bags.

These things will come to pass either slowly and organicly as we have been doing, or we may finally take an offer from outside investors, but if we can find the right group of people that share our vision and align with our values that you have supported. To do less would be a betrayal of the trust you have placed in Datsusara with your support and I won't let that happen. I will work to find the right people and then get to all of the things you have been waiting for and some extra surprises that I hope you'll enjoy.

One final related issue that I'd like to address is our public persona. Despite our growing organic success we are still a small company that has been built only on the 3k I invested back in 2007. We are not a huge corporation nor are we working out of a garage, so please don't assume we see you as a number in the masses or that you can just send in used returns with hand written notes. We do like our organization here as none of us want to be stuck at a desk any longer than need be, lets not forget that Datsusara essentially means to escape the office drudgery.

Know that we are still paying attention to every email and we continue to take the utmost care to provide you only the best. I hope you'll continue with us on this journey, all of you are like an extended family to me and I'd truly miss you if you missed out on our continuing adventure.

Thank you for your time. I leave you with this thought by one of my favorite authors...



"Never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die". -Frank Herbert