Links
May
31
The image of jiu-jitsu for me is that iconic picture of Grand Master Helio standing in front of the Federacao De Jiu Jitsu Da Guanabara flag, you know, the one with the lightning bolt. That image hangs in many Gracie jiu-jitsu schools and academies, mine included. Of course it doesn’t hang in all of them [...]
May
30
Dictionary (Important jiu-jitsu resources: Day 102)
Filed Under Jiu-Jitsu and the Universe | Leave a Comment
My friend Miles Vigil (who died in 2010) was like a dictionary. He was like an encyclopedia of jiu-jitsu. On Sundays when I used to open up the school for open mat, many times it would just be Miles and me, and I’d pick his brain about techniques and positioning and he’d do the same, [...]
May
29
Our heartbeat is the rhythm of mankind; it sounds are existence. It plays the tune we all dance to–somtimes fast and sometimes slow. Life has a rhythm and it’s beat is that of our hearts–a drum that meters our lives. Jiu-jitsu has a rhythm too–like all moving things. The drum keeps the beat and dictates [...]
May
28
. . . A stylus is a writing utensil, or now-a-days it’s a plastic thingamabob that comes with your ipad. Whatever we think of when we think of a stylus, the bottom line is it’s a tool. A tool that can be used to create a myriad of wonderful and terrible things. The needle on [...]
May
27
Writing is thinking. For jiu-jitsu, or anything you’re learning, it’s important to process. You have all this new information and now you have to absorb it, writing will help you do that. I have kept notes on jiu-jitsu since the day I started in 1998, and even though most of those notes are gone, the [...]
May
26
Knowing (I know brainwashing when I hear it: Day 98)
Filed Under Jiu-Jitsu and the Universe | 3 Comments
This is really about brainwashing. It’s about jiu-jitsu and brainwashing and knowing. I was listening to NPR (National Public Radio) the other day and they had an author on promoting his book, and he said something that made me think of Walt Bayless Jiu-jitsu. He said, about brainwashers, “The first thing they do is they [...]
May
25
Sometimes people say things better than you can, so instead of trying to best them, we should give them credit. John Wooden, the immortal championship coach of UCLA’s men’s basketball team, sums up learning for me in two quotes. They are my favorite quotes from Wooden and I’d like to use them to define learning–especially [...]
May
24
Listening is not hearing. Hearing is physiological; it’s involuntary, we dont have to think about it. Listening on the other hand involves focus. If you have kids, or taught them, or even remember being one, you will know there is a difference. Hearing has to do with a stretched membrane (your ear drum) and the [...]
May
23
. . . If we think of jiu-jitsu in terms of learning a language, it would be pretty cool to be fluent. I guess that’s the whole point of doing what we do. When we first begin, we are just learning the vocabulary, the rudimentary parts of a language. The same holds true for jiu-jitsu, [...]
May
22
Classic cars and classical music and classic examples from history, all have to do with old things; things that are old, but still respected, still appreciated, and relevant. Classic jiu-jitsu has to do with the tried and true, the arm bar, the guiilotine, mata leao–that’s classic jiu-jitsu. There are newer things like De la Riva, [...]
