Jurcell grew up in Curaçao, and moved to the Netherlands to study Econometrics at Tilburg University. He lives in Amsterdam with his wife and two children. He started his career in hedge funds, then moved to private equity. 

Cathy and Jurcell have known each other for 20 years. They both worked in finance together. Shortly after Cathy’s first book was published, Jurcell asked if she’d help him write a book loosely based on Martial Arts, specifically how it had helped him in different spheres of his life. 

It got him out of a midlife crisis, it helped him cope with an intensely stressful job, it gave him an insight into how to improve his relationships with family, friends and colleagues, it showed him a way to better guide his children, two mixed race boys, through the minefield of racism as they were living in a predominantly white country. It even made him a better golfer.

If Cathy wasn’t such good friends with Jurcell, she would have told him to find someone else, as Martial Arts is really not her bag. 

She’s so grateful she said yes. 

He introduced her to Hideo Muramatsu, his Japanese sensei, and the book quickly morphed into a much wider project. Being an armchair warrior does not require anything of you other than living your best life.

They delve into the Wim Hof Method, breathing, mindfulness, meditation. They examine epigenetics, and how we can actively influence our own genome. They look into creativity and how to foster it, the origins of religion & spirituality (two are not religious and one is a Buddhist) and they also discuss racism and how to overcome prejudice.

They have had so much fun writing this book and have learned so much.  That joy has reached every page.

This is not a self-help book. Instead, it examines real life situations and illustrates what works. 

It’s a bit like sitting at a bar and having a drink with a highly entertaining samurai.