# Episode 13 : Sharpening the Sword - The Conception of Fight Club International with Arnel David

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/think-fight-learn-repeat-7782308/episode-13-sharpening-the-sword-the-conception-of-fight-club-international-with-arnel-david
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/think-fight-learn-repeat-7782308/episode-13-sharpening-the-sword-the-conception-of-fight-club-international-with-arnel-david.md
Podcast: [Think.Fight.Learn.Repeat.](https://stenobird.com/podcast/think-fight-learn-repeat-7782308)
Published: 2026-07-18T22:28:45+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lex8899/episodes/Episode-13--Sharpening-the-Sword---The-Conception-of-Fight-Club-International-with-Arnel-David-e3m8iqa
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/10fffbd64/podcast/play/123013386/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-6-18%2F37a1c1cd-1659-34e6-14f8-198128207127.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/think-fight-learn-repeat-7782308/episodes/episode-13-sharpening-the-sword-the-conception-of-fight-club-international-with-arnel-david
Duration seconds: 2008

## Resource

What does it take to build a grassroots movement inside rigid institutions like Western Armed Forces? In this episode of Think.Fight.Learn.Repeat., we sit down with Colonel Arnel David, US Army Special Operations veteran, NATO strategist, and co-founder of Fight Club International (FCI), to trace his journey from Infantry Officer to Co-Founder. Arnel opens up about the frustration that sparked Fight Club and a hunch that commercial-off-the-shelf games and simulations could do more. From there, we discuss what makes Fight Club fundamentally different from traditional wargaming organizations, how a rankless, volunteer-run community became a testing ground for AI, LLMs, and unconventional strategy, and why he believes the confidence to be disruptive is in short supply in the military and beyond. We also talk about growing pains, like what happens when a grassroots idea scales faster than expected and how founders learn to lean on each other's strengths to keep the momentum going.

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