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Apr
30
The word spirit makes me think of Native Americans and ghosts and high school cheerleaders and the group Nirvana and wine, a little bit. It’s not my favorite word. “WE’VE GOT SPIRIT, YES WE DO! WE’VE GOT SPIRIT, HOW ‘BOUT YOU?!” Lamest cheer ever created. I’ve always hated that cheer; it never pumped me up [...]
Apr
29
Driving back from teaching a class tonight, I realized that sometimes we make our opponents tap by threatening their lives, by taking their breath, by robbing their brains of both oxygen and blood, and all I could think of was how cool that is. Jiu-jitsu is a lethal martial art, it truly is lethal, and [...]
Apr
28
What’s the essence of jiu-jitsu? Shit, man, I don’t know. “What is the essence of jiu-jitsu?” is like asking, What is the essence of a chicken or Mount Everest? I have no damn idea. I’m all for breaking things down to the most minute detail, but sometimes we can delve too deeply. We can break [...]
Apr
27
. . . I have this recurring dream about competing in a jiu-jitsu tournament. The tournament is outside (I don’t know why) and I’m fighting some monster of a man all muscled and ready. He’s waiting for me on the mat, calm and confident, hopping from one foot to the other, waiting, building his rhythm. [...]
Apr
26
Rice (The challenge of the chopstick: Day 68)
Filed Under Jiu-Jitsu and the Universe | Leave a Comment
You wouldn’t know it to look at me, but I love sushi (the catepillar and the California roll are my favorites). I use chopsticks when we get sushi and I can get the feeding done with those little shaved and sanded sticks, pretty well. My son on the other hand just stabs shit–mutilating the beautifully [...]
Apr
25
. . . I don’t know too much about farming, so my knowledge about those kinds of fields is limited. The fields around my house growing up were usually vacant lots and they were all eventually bull dozed and built on. I don’t know too much about battle fields either (thank God); I do know [...]
Apr
24
Every drop of water we add to a bucket, the fuller the bucket becomes. Every time we go to class, every time we train, every time we learn or refine a new move, every time we enter a tournament, every time we do something to improve our skills, it’s like adding a drop of water [...]
Apr
23
Moon (A bare ass is a competitive ass: Day 65)
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I’ve seen plenty of moons on the mat, usually white, and usually hairy (I’m pretty lucky I can’t see my own, big, black ass; it would definitely do damage to one’s retinas). I actually think mat moons are a sign of two things 1) gi strings suck, and 2) true competitors don’t stop to pull [...]
Apr
22
Sun (If Sun Tzu did jiu-jitsu: Day 64)
Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment
I’m just now reading Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. I’m actually reading it, not skimming sections and jumping all around; I’m actually reading it and most importantly understanding most of it. The Art of War is like the bible, everyone says they’ve read it, but very few actually have. I think it’s safe to [...]
Apr
21
This is a repost, but it really works for Earth. The more you train, the more you will start to appreciate the mat, the ground. Jiu-jitsu people love the ground like surfers love the sea. Surfers’s relationship with the ocean is symbiotic–they, for a moment in time, become one with the salt and the water. [...]
