Not All Warriors Carry Swords: Why the Most Badass Fighters You’ve Never Heard of Used Pencils Instead

You don’t need a mat, a ring, or a battlefield to be a warrior. Sometimes all you need is a pencil and the refusal to quit.

A few weeks ago, I watched Hidden Figures again.

I love this movie.

Not because it’s a feel-good story—though it is.

Not because it’s well-made—though it is.

But because it’s about warriors.

Not the kind most people think of when they hear that word. Not soldiers with rifles. Not fighters with gloves. Not samurai with swords.

Three women. With pencils. And minds sharp enough to cut through steel.

• ​Katherine Goble Johnson​
• ​Dorothy Vaughan​
• ​Mary Jackson​

Three Black women working at NASA in the 1950s and 60s. In the American South. During segregation.

In an era when the bathroom they were allowed to use was half a mile from their desk.

And they didn’t just survive that environment. They didn’t just endure it.

They changed the course of human history.

They helped put Americans in space. They helped get us to the moon.

With math. With intelligence. With resolve. With a refusal to accept that the world’s limitations applied to them.

That’s warrior energy.

And it’s more badass than anything I’ve ever seen on the mat.

What the Movie Shows Us

Now, as most Hollywood movies go, they took certain liberties for storytelling and creating tension for the screen. After all, it was a movie, not a documentary.

Al Harrison was a composite character of three NASA officials. The final numbers verification for John Glenn’s launch took three days, not a few dramatic minutes.

But the core truth remains:

These women had to fight battles that most of us can’t even imagine.

​Katherine Johnson had to walk half a mile to use a “colored” bathroom while her white colleagues had one down the hall.

​Dorothy Vaughan saw the future—IBM computers replacing human calculators—and taught herself and her team Fortran programming before anyone asked her to. Before anyone thought she could.

[This part had a special connection for me because my mom worked as a data-entry worker for the Hawaii Electric company in downtown Honolulu, I still remember going to her office in the 70s and seeing the punch-cards that was part of her job and the computers they programmed.]

​Mary Jackson had to petition a court just for the right to attend classes at a whites-only school so she could become an engineer.

Every single day was a fight.

Not with fists. Not with weapons.

With dignity. With intelligence. With the quiet, relentless refusal to be diminished.

Why These Are the Warriors We Need to Study

I’ve been training martial arts since 1985. I’ve been in construction since 1986.

I know what physical toughness looks like.

I’ve been on the mat with guys who could break me in half. I’ve been on jobsites where one wrong move could kill you.

But the toughness I saw in those three women?

That’s a different level.

Because physical toughness has a clear opponent. You can see the threat. You can measure the danger. You can train for the fight.

But the kind of toughness these women demonstrated? The opponent is invisible.

It’s systemic. It’s cultural. It’s woven into the fabric of every institution, every interaction, every day.

You can’t punch racism. You can’t submit misogyny. You can’t armbar ignorance.

You have to outthink it. Outwork it. Outlast it.

And you have to do it while smiling, because showing anger gives them an excuse to dismiss you.

That’s warrior-level discipline. And most people couldn’t handle it for a day, let alone a career.

The Warrior Mindset Without the Weapons

Here’s what I’ve learned from studying people like Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson:

You don’t have to get on the mat to be a warrior.

Sure, the mat helps. It’s a testing ground. A place to put yourself under physical, mental, and emotional stress in a controlled environment.

But there’s more than enough stress in life if you just commit yourself to a course of action—especially under unfair odds.

And that’s the key: commitment under unfair odds.

Because life isn’t fair. It never has been. And for some people, it’s far more unfair than for others.

But the warriors—the real warriors—don’t wait for fair.

They don’t wait for permission. They don’t wait for the system to change. They don’t wait for someone to open the door.

They find a way through. Or around. Or they build their own door.

What Katherine Johnson Teaches Us About Courage

Katherine Johnson didn’t protest the segregated bathrooms by marching or shouting.

She just stopped going.

She used the bathroom closest to her desk. The “white” bathroom. And when someone finally confronted her about it, she simply explained that she didn’t have time to walk half a mile every time she needed to use the restroom.

She had rockets to calculate.

That’s courage. Not the loud, dramatic kind. The quiet, practical kind.

The kind that says:

She didn’t ask for permission. She didn’t wait for the system to change.

She just did her job so well that the system had to change around her.

What Dorothy Vaughan Teaches Us About Adaptability

Dorothy Vaughan saw the IBM computers being installed at NASA and understood something that most of her colleagues—white and Black—didn’t:

The future was coming. And it wasn’t going to wait for anyone.

The human computers—the women who did calculations by hand—were going to be replaced by machines.

Most people would have panicked. Or denied it. Or waited for someone to tell them what to do.

Dorothy wasn't a Luddite afraid of the future so she taught herself Fortran.

The programming language for the IBM machines.

Then she taught her entire team.

So when the transition happened, her team wasn’t replaced. They were promoted. Because they were the only ones who knew how to operate the new machines.

That’s adaptability. That’s strategic thinking. That’s warrior-level foresight.

She didn’t fight the future. She prepared for it. And she brought her people with her.

What Mary Jackson Teaches Us About Persistence

Mary Jackson wanted to be an engineer. She had the talent. She had the intelligence. She had the drive.

But she couldn’t attend the classes required for the engineering certification because they were held at a whites-only school.

Most people would have accepted that. Would have said, “The system won’t let me.” Would have found a different path.

Mary petitioned the court.

She went before a judge and argued for her right to attend classes at a segregated school.

And she won.

Not because the system was fair. Not because the judge was enlightened.

But because she refused to accept that the system’s limitations were her limitations.

She became NASA’s first Black female engineer.

That’s persistence. That’s the refusal to quit. That’s warrior energy.

The Warriors You’ve Never Heard Of

Here’s the thing:

History is filled with people like these three women.

People who fought battles without weapons. Who overcame impossible odds without armies. Who changed the world without anyone noticing until decades later.

Scientists who were denied credit for their discoveries because of their gender or race.

Teachers who educated children in secret because the law said those children didn’t deserve education.

Entrepreneurs who built businesses in communities that were designed to keep them poor.

Artists who created beauty in environments designed to crush their spirits.

These are warriors.

Every single one of them.

And most of them, you’ve never heard of.

Because our culture celebrates the warriors with swords and guns. The loud ones. The dramatic ones.

But the quiet warriors—the ones with pencils and persistence and an unbreakable refusal to be diminished—they’re the ones who actually change the world.

Why You Need to Find These Stories

Here’s why this matters for you:

You need these stories.

Not as entertainment. Not as inspiration porn.

As scripts.

Remember what we talked about—how people need stories to guide them through change? How we don’t want an exit if we don’t know where it’s going to take us?

These warriors’ stories are your scripts.

When you’re facing unfair odds. When the system is stacked against you. When you want to quit because it’s too hard, too unfair, too overwhelming.

You need the story of someone who faced worse and didn’t quit.

Not someone who had it easy. Not someone who was born with advantages.

Someone who had every reason to quit and didn’t.

That’s the story that gives you courage. That’s the script that guides you through the darkness.

Your Framework: How to Be a Warrior Without Weapons

Here’s how you apply this to your life:

Step 1: Define your battle.

What’s the fight you’re in right now? What’s the challenge you’re facing?

Maybe it’s building a business. Maybe it’s changing careers. Maybe it’s overcoming a personal limitation. Maybe it’s fighting a system that wasn’t designed for you.

Name it. Own it. Accept that you’re in a fight.

Step 2: Commit to the fight.​

Not halfway. Not “I’ll try.” Not “I’ll see how it goes.”

Full commitment.

• Like Katherine Johnson walking past the “colored” bathroom sign.
• Like Dorothy Vaughan teaching herself a programming language nobody asked her to learn.
• Like Mary Jackson petitioning a court for the right to attend class.

Full commitment. Regardless of the odds.

Step 3: Use your mind as your weapon.

You don’t need physical strength to be a warrior. You need mental strength.

Think strategically. Plan carefully. Execute precisely.

​Outthink the obstacle. Outwork the opposition. Outlast the resistance.

Your mind is the most powerful weapon you have. Use it.

Step 4: Refuse to be diminished.

The world will try to make you smaller. People will try to put you in a box. Systems will try to limit you.

Refuse.

Not with anger. Not with aggression.

With excellence.

​Be so good that they can’t ignore you. Be so competent that they can’t dismiss you. Be so persistent that they can’t outlast you.

Step 5: Bring others with you.

Dorothy Vaughan didn’t just save herself. She taught her entire team Fortran.

Real warriors don’t just fight for themselves. They fight for others.

Who can you bring with you? Who can you teach? Who can you lift up?

Because a warrior who fights alone is brave. A warrior who fights for others is legendary.

Step 6: Seek out the stories of quiet warriors.

History is filled with them. Find them. Study them. Learn from them.

Let them be a guiding light for you on your journey into the darkness.

Read about the women of Hidden Figures. Read about the Tuskegee Airmen. Read about the scientists, teachers, artists, and entrepreneurs who changed the world without anyone noticing.

Their stories are your scripts. Their courage is your fuel.

Your Challenge to Put It On the Mat

Here’s what I want you to do this week:

Find one story of a quiet warrior.

Someone who fought without weapons. Someone who overcame unfair odds. Someone who changed the world with their mind, their persistence, their refusal to quit.

Read their story. Study it. Let it sink in.

Then ask yourself:

And the next time you’re facing unfair odds—the next time you want to quit because it’s too hard, too unfair, too overwhelming—remember their story.

Remember that they faced worse. And they didn’t quit.

Before You Go TL;DR

Not all warriors carry swords.

Some carry pencils. Some carry textbooks. Some carry nothing but their minds and an unbreakable will.

And those are often the most badass warriors of all.

Because anyone can fight when they have weapons and armor and an army behind them.

But to fight with nothing but your intelligence, your resolve, and your refusal to be diminished?

Against a system designed to keep you down?

That’s the real warrior spirit.

Katherine Johnson. Dorothy Vaughan. Mary Jackson.

They didn’t need a mat, a ring, or a battlefield.

They just needed a pencil and the refusal to quit.

And they reached the stars.

History is filled with warriors like them. Seek them out. Find them. Learn from them.

And maybe you too will reach the stars.

Who’s the quiet warrior whose story you need to hear right now?