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8/10/2019 Josh Vogel Art, The Blog That Started It All Josh Vogel Art

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20.9.2014 Josh Vogel Art, the blog that started it all Josh Vogel Art

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Josh Vogel Art, The Blog That Started It

All

8 Week Hand Balancing Course At

Balance Studios!
http://www.joshvogelart.com/joshvogelart/2014/8/10/8-week-hand-balancing-course-at-balance-studios


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I recently had the good fortune to check out Matt D'Aquino's

Kettlebell instructional, "Kettlebells for Grapplers". Some back ground

first:

While I'm not a high level Kettlebell person by any means, I do have

some experience with the Art in that I've had the pleasure of learning

from Jason C. Brown for a few years and am certified as a Level 1

Kettlebell trainer under his system (if you get the chance to go to one of

his seminars, please do it, very highly recommended!). In my opinion,

kettle bells are an excellent tool for grapplers looking to improve their
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strength and conditioning. One of the things that I notice in some

students who are new to grappling and don't have a background in

another sport, or some sort of labor job, is that they are often lacking in

posterior chain strength, grip strength, and overall postural stability

when grappling, especially in top positions, guard passing and duringthe stand up game. Usually when this is the case, the first thing I suggest

that they do is work on simple swings and maybe some Turkish get ups

with an appropriately sized Kettlebell and an emphasis on good form.

Here's a little info about Matt, if you aren't familiar with him and his

accomplishments in Judo and Strength and Conditioning:

http://beyondgrappling.com/about/

As far as I know Matt, I've been talking to him on Facebook for a little

over a year. He's always come across as a good dude who is honestly

interested in putting out good products to help people get better at

Grappling. From what I've seen of his other products, the quality is

always very good and the pricing is always surprisingly low for what he

offers.

Kettlebells for Grapplers:

Overall, the package is set up as a series of nicely put together Modules

(which contain videos) and Pdf files, both of which complement each other.

The Modules start with a basic introduction to Kettlebell work, how the

warm ups/GPP works and an outline of how his system progresses once

you become competent at each stage of performance. They continue with

a Module on warm ups and GPP (General Physical Preperation) and then

each Module progresses through his Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced
http://beyondgrappling.com/about/


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workouts with the Kettlebell, culminating in a final Module which is about

Kettlebell safety. (I suggest you watch this one first).

Some observations:

-I like Matt's use of dry erase board to explain and write down simple

concepts for each section. It makes things clear and easy to follow and

gives you an easy set of bullet points to pay attention to. The difference in

volume level between the dry erase scenes and the technical instruction

scenes is, at times, a big jump so be ready to turn the volume down quick.

-The information is presented clearly and intelligently by Matt. The

filming is nice, good angles to see what is going on.

-Matt does a good job of explaining the basic mechanics of the Kettlebell

exercises in each Module. He makes it simple and easy to follow.

-It might be a good idea to explain a little more about Kettlebell sizing,

just as a side point. He does a good job explaining what good Kettlebell

weights are to start off with for people new to the art, but the Kettlebell

that he is using looks pretty big (size wise) and it might give beginners the

impression that they should be using something bigger to start off with.

-I like that he offers information about how often to train. This isn't always

included in Kettlebell dvd's and I think can be really helpful for beginners

especially. I also like that he factors in the concept that this is supposed to

be auxiliary training for Grappling, so he mentions how often you should

train considering the fact that you are most likely grappling 3-5 times per

week.


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-I like the safety module a lot. Good explanation of basic safety habits

and how to keep your lower back safe (which is exactly why good

instruction is important. I've injured myself a few times doing Kettlebell

work before I got good instruction on technique).

-The PDF's are a great addition. There is lots of good info in there about

programming, form and some good workouts you can do once you get the

hang of using the Kettlebell.

-The Armbar and Takedown bonus dvd's are worth the price of the course

alone. Some great grappling information in there! Naturally, Matt has a

lot to offer here as he is a former Olympian in the art of Judo and an

experienced Bjj practitioner as well. His technical instruction is very good.

He does not overwhelm with too much detail, but sticks to the important

points of the movements. Just the right amount of information. (another

rare thing in instruction. I find that a lot of people either spend too much

time talking, give too little detail, or simply focus too much on irrelevant

detail.)

The launch price, at $17 is ridiculously low for this product. Like I

mentioned above, one of the things that is awesome about Matt is that he

keeps his products priced really reasonably and give you a chance to get

them early at even better prices. This course will be $37 after the launch

sale, which is still an excellent price, but $20 off of that makes it a really

easy thing to buy.

So, is it worth the price? Absolutely yes. There is a lot of good information

in this product and you will get your moneys worth in just one of the

modules alone. I definitely recommend this to people new to Kettlebell

training, or to people with some experience who are looking for a way to


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June 18, 2014

Necessity Is The Mother Of

Invention...And Berimbolo

apply it to their grappling a little more directly. Like all products, you have

to make sure that you use the information though. Buy it and implement it

and that's how a product pays for itself.

Matt is super easy to get a hold of via email or on Facebook if you haveany questions Matt on Facebook

If you would like to purchase this product, and you like my review, then

please use this promo link to order it:

Kettlebells for Grapplers

I will get a percentage of every product ordered from this link, which I

would really appreciate. If you use this link to order, post a message on this

blog post letting me know and I'll hook you up with 2 free months of my

online magazine (www.theslothreport.com

Thanks!

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"No phenomenon can be understood without carefully considering how it

emerged"

-Nikolai Bernstein

I like this quote and have thought this for a long time about Brazilian

Jiujitsu technique. This is precisely why I think it's important not just to study

the history of the art, but to try and trace the history of the techniques and

positions as accurately as possible.

There's that old saying that necessity is the mother of invention. No

technique in jiujitsu is born without a problem to inspire it's creation. The

Berimbolo solved a certain set of problems that some players of the De la

Riva guard ran into. The De La Riva guard solved certain problems that

certain players of Open guard variations came across. Open guard solved

certain problems that emerged from both ending up on your back in a

fight and problems that some people playing closed guard could not
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June 5, 2014

My Experience At The Henry AkinsSeminar (At Sion BJJ), May 3rd And

4th2014

solve.

I love trying to piece together how techniques evolved over time and what

problems they solved because it helps me understand the current versions

more thoroughly. It is also useful to go back and see if modern informationcan provide better answers to older problems. Can the lessons gleaned

from 50/50, Berimbolo, worm guard or any other modern guard solve the

problems of another generation? Can an older way of doing things solve

certain problems that people playing the x guard come across?

The photo of me and my friend Wil training is courtesy of Cauliflower, a

collective of jiujitsu people, Vogels, artists and friends. Check out their site

for cool photos http://cauliphlowercollective.tumblr.com

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I just got home from Day 2 of the seminar that Henry Akins taught outside

of Philadelphia, PA this weekend. If you don't know who Henry is, look him

up on the web. There are some good interviews that he's done for various

podcasts and websites. In short, he is a Black belt under Rickson Gracie

who spent 15 years learning from the legendary fighter. Former head

instructor of Rickson's academy in California, Henry now has his own

academy with high level Coaches Antony Hardonk and Vladmir

Matyushenko called Dynamix MMA in Santa Monica, CA.

By reputation, Henry is known as one of Jiujitsu's great minds. Having

heard about him for years on the internet and from people I respect in

Jiujitsu, I sought out some instruction when I was in California for Mundials

in 2012. I was completely blown away with the group class and the private

lesson that I took. I won't go into detail about the lessons at this point, only

that it got me excited to learn more from Henry. (as a side note, if you are

in the area, do yourself a favor and stop by his school. His instruction is top

notch, the facilities are nice and the students are really friendly and

talented people. I felt like I was at home instantly)
http://www.blitzmag.net/images/editorial/henry-akins.jpg


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Fast forward almost exactly two years. I hear that Henry is doing a few

workshops in the Philly area, which is where I live. Sign me up, no questions

asked. The two day workshop ended up costing $150, I would have paid

double that for what was shared.

Day one. My friends and I arrived and promptly began a discussion

about the X men movies with Henry. Satisfied with his thorough knowledge

of Mutant powers, ninjas and Wolverine, we proceeded to get ready for

class.

Henry began with a word about base and stability and then launched

into an explanation of his way of performing the over/under clinch. A day

one move in Gracie Jiujitsu. In fact, most of what Henry showed was stuff

that you will learn in your first 6 months of Jiujitsu. However, there is

something important to mention here: It's all basic stuff, but it's all done

with a level of detail and explanation that is truly rare. Henry showed small

adjustments in body alignment, limb placement, engaging certain body

parts, or a simple philosophical adjustment that changed the way we

usually learn these movements completely. He provided logical

explanations for why he does things a certain way and why one variation is

more efficient and effective than another variation.

We went over clinching, mount maintenance and some attacks from the

gift wrap position. All excellent material. The techniques were fantastic and

simple, which I like. The explanation was my favorite kind of explanation:

Simple, logical and stands strong against questioning. I find that my

favorite instructors, authors or speakers are ones that can make the

complex seem so simple that you feel almost stupid for not having thought

of it yourself. Henry is one of those guys.


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Day two began with us arriving almost an hour early. We planned on

drilling some of the techniques that we learned the previous day but then I

spotted Henry rolling with another Black belt. My plans were immediately

forgotten. I was actually a little rude to my friend who wanted to drill and I

hope he forgives me, but I really wanted to watch Henry roll. With creepyintensity, I grabbed my notebook and stared like a stalker at the two

rolling, trying to soak up whatever little tidbits of information I could. It was

cool watching the roll. It would be rude to talk in detail about the training

session, but one thing I noticed was that Henry was exceptionally efficient

in his movements. No wasted effort, lots of off balancing from closed

guard, lots of distance and structure from open guard and he looked heavy

as hell on top. It was cool to watch. I'm always mesmerized by people who

can train like that. It reminded me a lot of how Phil Migliarese (one of my

teachers) moves. Heavy, efficient, effortless. Inspiring.

When the instructional portion began, we started with a self defense wrist

lock which works for sport Bjj as well. Very similar to the famous wrist lock

that Jacare caught this poor guy in:

After that, we worked on posture inside of the closed guard (which was

some of what we worked on in the private lesson two years ago) and I


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gleaned some important insights. We worked on bottom of closed guard

off balancing, sweeps and a very efficient arm bar. The arm bar was

something that I was very happy to have gone over because I learned a

similar arm bar at one of Rickson Gracie's seminars in 2010 or 11, but when

Henry taught it, I learned some new details that helped a lot.

After the techniques, Henry opened things up to a Q and A which was

something I was looking forward to. I was really curious about how Henry

thinks about Jiujitsu when he's trying to solve a new problem. He mentioned

some of the points that he considers when breaking things down (things like

where his opponent has control, where there leverage is, where their power

comes from, grips, and how he can take these things away from them).

This brings me to an important point:

Going to a Henry Akins seminar, or a Rickson Gracie seminar is cool. The

techniques are great, and they are an important component of the

seminar. I think the real "magic of Jiujitsu" (to quote Henry) is in the small

details they share though. I think it's in the subtle things that you almost

cannot see unless you know what to look for. The small pressure here, the

precise timing of the movement, etcBut what's even more important to

me than the details is understanding the logic and system of thought

behind this stuff. I like the fish that these gentleman are kind enough to

serve, but I also want to be able to catch my own fish. So when I go to one

of these seminars, I really like learning the concepts that guide and inform

their Jiujitsu. The way that they think about Jiujitsu. The things that are

going to help me adjust, simplify and make more efficient the techniques

that I do. The criteria that they use to decide whether a technique is worth

while or not. Those are the gold nuggets that I get from experiences with

teachers like these.


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As an instructor, Henry is a super cool, approachable guy. Friendly and

willing to answer damn near any question we had (he encouraged

questions repeatedly at the seminar. Which is another tidbit that gives

some insight into the thinking. Question everything!), Henry was happy to

demonstrate the moves hands on, letting you feel the technique in action.He would patiently explain the moves, explain why certain counters would

or would not work and he made sure to get around to everyone in the

room. He spoke clearly and didn't "over teach" (which is important, in my

opinion). In speaking after class, he comes across as super humble, but very

confident in the Jiujitsu that he does. He explains why he believes in his

Jiujitsu 100 percent without being arrogant about it.

In short, if you get a chance to learn from Henry, do it. Go take a private

lesson, take a group class, take a seminar. Watch his youtube videos. It is

time and money well spent! You will come away with a different way of

thinking about your Jiujitsu. You will understand that Basics are still relevant

and powerful and the rabbit hole of basics can go really really deep.

Before I forget, don't forget to go sign up for my online Brazilian jiujitsu

magazine: www.theslothreport.com

Here are some youtube videos that Henry has up:

Closed Guard concepts:
http://www.theslothreport.com/


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Categories: "Seminar reviews"

May 6, 2014

Watching Old Videos Of Yourself

Side control escapes:

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Grappling. Some Random Musings...

This first technique is a video of a move that I used to do quite a lot from

2005-2010. It's a fairly simple back take from the De la riva guard. It's

really interesting for me to watch this video of me teaching (with really

horrible audio) this technique in 2008 with my brother, Drew. There are a

few things that I would change about the way I'm doing this technique in

the video. Maybe I'll put up some of the corrections in a new video

sometime soon.

Here's a video of me doing the technique in competition in 2007. The

technique is at 4:53
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Overall, I'm left with an interesting sense of how much things have

changed and how much things are essentially the same. When I watch

videos of my old matches, I always assume that the game that I play now

is completely different than the game that I played back then, but it's reallynot so different. I feel more confident now, the nuts and bolts are tighter

and the small details of technique are more precise, I think. There is a

difference sometimes in the sequence of when I do things now, like maybe I

go for certain grips in a different order than I used to; things like that.

Sometimes, the technical details and sequencing are exactly the same, but

the pressure that I'm able to generate is better, or the squeeze tighter.

That's what years of doing the same thing over and over and over again

add to a technique. The musculature used to perform the technique

adapts, grows stronger, more stable. Similarly, if you lift a 35 lb kettle bell

the same way over and over and over again, your body will adapt, it will

become easier and easier and easier to perform the action and your

musculature will change to reflect this.

You become more physically sensitive to the changes and variations that

happen. When you go for this back take at first, you feel the gross

movements that you need to perform and you have a sense of what your

opponent is trying to do to try and stop you. As you progress and gain

experience with the technique, you start to feel more of what's going on

from beginning to end. You feel the way that your opponent is going to

counter as he/she is beginning to counter you, or sometimes before. You

have answers to their counter drilled in that you can switch to pretty

quickly. Instead of just seeing the whole forest, you are starting to see the

threes and eventually you start to see the bark and branches on each tree.

It's the same process I see in all grappling arts. When I see someone with


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March 27, 2014

Part 3 Of 3, The Grand Finale Of TheInterview With Hand Balancer

an excellent double leg get shut down, there is no confusion, there is no

awkward stunned paralyzation, they quickly move on to the next variation.

Mentally, you grow confidence in a technique. You know how it works.

You know what's going to happen and you know what to do if things endup not working out with it. You don't hesitate to try it because of the "what

if's". You don't have to think about the "what if's", you've been there before

and just know what to do. There's a palpable sense of confidence that

comes from this and sometimes I think that the confidence to perform a

technique is just as important as the technical precision of the technique.

Confidence becomes an aspect of the technique in the same way that a

hip shift or a bicep squeeze are parts of the technique. People who are

confident with a technique give off this sense of inevitability. Like it's just a

matter of time before you fall into their web.

Anyway, I'm rambling. If you feel like sharing in the comments, I'd like to

hear about some of the things that you feel have changed about your

game over the years. It's surprising sometimes to vocalize the changes, you

might notice something interesting that you didn't even realize improved.

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AndPerformance Artist Andrey Moraru!

Life, Art And The Mental Aspect

Ofperformance.

Part 3 of 3 of this interview with Andrey Moraru. at the end of this

post you will find two videos, kindly provided by Andrey. One is of

him performing and the other is him training on hand balancing

canes. Take some time to watch the videos, they are simply

amazing! And now on to the conclusion of the interview :)

Josh:That's interesting. It sounds a lot like what people talk about

when they describe "peak" performance states. When you describe

these things, it sounds to me like you spend a lot of time thinking about

your performance experience and that you are still very much in love

with what you do. Do you deal often with injury? If so, does this effect

your mental state at all? I know that when I get hurt, I try to use it as a

chance to learn about my body and more about technique, but there is

also tremendous frustration from not being able to perform the way I

usually do.

Andrey: My love affair with what I do is like dealing with moody lady.

I've had my ons and offs. There were times I wanted to drop what i do
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completely, so as periods of time when I couldn't live without it. It went

up and down quite a lot in recent years. It has a lot to do with being

'awake' or 'asleep'. Main thing is to stay in your body. Become friends

with it, best friends. Balance in life is more difficult than hand balance. If

you know not how to balance yourself through ups and downs of life, youhave no business being any other kind of balancer:) Now, injuries.

Sometimes a slightest thing can throw me off while at other times it

LITERALLY takes years for me to acknowledge that I do have an injury.

Just recently I realized that my right shoulder have been seriously

hurting and bothering me for more than 3 years now. It took me that

long to start paying attention to it and accept that for once i've been

injured. The thing is, I teach myself to stand through severe pain a lot.

Why? Part of it is to prove to myself that I'm strong enough to hold on

where others fall away or give in. Do not try this at home though! Don't

be masochistic toward your own body, it doesn't always serve it's best

interests:) One time on tour we had a very long string of one-nighters

and at this point I was super tired both physically and mentally, doing

everything automatically being almost asleep. So, during the show I fell

from a stack of 5 chairs while going into a handstand and landed on the

stage. I don't think it hurt, maybe it did but I still remember the moment

when I was laying on my back staring at the ceiling and bunch of lights

hanging from it, having not a single thought in my head other than

sensation of being completely at peace and finally taking a short stop. It

didn't last for more than a few seconds because after i got up and saw

my fellow performer friends surrounding me with their eyes almost in

shape of a square from being shocked at what they just saw. I noticed

bruises on my body and right away all kinds of painful sensations

followed. But I was happy to be ok and having had this real experience. I

turned to the audience, bowed and left the stage to the sound of their

cheerful ovations. Did I stay off the stage for the rest of the show? No


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way! I was back in right during the next act and continued to do all my

cues and dances until the end. Next day with much hesitation of course, I

still made myself go onstage and overcome post shock to do the same

act. I like the fact that I can beat odds even when all of them are

seemingly against me. Not everyone can do it, not every one should do it,not everyone wants to do it. I was not one of those. I suggest doing

extensive Tai-Chi sessions to deal with injuries if you should have one.

Tai-Chi is like making love to your mind which in turn envelops your

body with caring attention and provides healing means to fix what needs

to be fixed and healed.

Josh:Nice! I did Tai chi for about 5 years in the early 2000's and it

helped me with a lot of shoulder and neck tension that I had. I think it

also influences the way that I grapple a lot too. How long have you

been doing Tai chi? Did that training effect your movement in hand

balancing and dance at all? There is a lot of grace and control in the

way you move, but is that from Tai chi or is that a natural

characteristic of the way you move?

Andrey: It's great to hear that you've had your Tai Chi practice worked

for you. It takes great deal of patience and determination to cultivate

results. I've been doing Tai Chi for about 3 years now. A good friend of

mine Alex Edgerter gave me a book "The Healing Promise Of Chi"

which triggered awakening phase in my life for which I am grateful.

Now, Tai Chi practice definitely helped me with my dancing and

handbalancing. I'll explain. I don't have any technique in my dancing, I

just follow the feeling and when it comes from a real place and is

genuine the dance moves reflect it accordingly. It helped me slow down

more than anything. The way it affected my handbalancing is compared

to this: In sports you have short and long distance runners. Short


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distance runners run 100 meters at great rate of speed but can't really

run for long. Long distance runners can withstand very long distances by

means of carefully managing how much energy they spend at any given

moment. At first i was a 'long distance runner' but then I became 'short

distance runner' for number of years. After discovering Tai Chi I beganremembering that something was lost in the way I operate within my

body. Now, I'm gradually becoming 'long distance runner' again which

means that I can stay on my hands longer and my breathing helps me re-

adjust my balance much better and in general helps develop endurance

and enjoy the process. The way I normally move is quite weird

compared to some other people. I realised that when looking at my

videos. My arms are really long but it does prove to be beneficial when

you need to grab something or someone. I considerTai Chi to be truly

amazing tool to getting more in touch with yourself and remembering

what you are. It's like ballet, which is a foundation for all dance styles.

Josh:

Haha, true, in my art it's always tough to deal with people who have

Popeye forearms because you can never get their grips off of you

If you don't mind my asking, how old are you and do you have a

planned age that you want to retire from performance? Or are you

going to go as long as you can and play it by ear? I'm always

fascinated to hear about how people from different disciplines know

when it's time to hang the gloves up, so to speak.

Andrey: Hmm..I wish I knew my true age myself:) I can tell you this: I

feel like i've been around much, much longer than I actually have and

plan on keeping my mindset from being affected by numbers of any kind.

It is numbers that we allow to determine how we feel or what we do at

any particular point in our lives. They program us to be certain way, so
http://www.theslothreport.com/http://www.theslothreport.com/


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what I'm trying to do is to deprogram myself from numbers'

psychological influence. My friend Victor Gathing is a role model for me

in that sense. If I remember correctly, he is over 40 now but during those

8 or so years that i've known him he hasn't changed much in appearance

simply because he doesn't allow numbers get to him. Nowadays i look atage much differently and i'm having great time enjoying every moment.

Look at what happened to Keanu Reeves when he turned 40. He plunged

into deep depression over the fact that he didn't feel immortal anymore

because after 40 the body begins to change and those changes are

noticeable. I think however that solution lies in acceptance of natural

process of time flow. It's completely normal, it's completely natural. Let

go, don't hang onto artificial ideas or wishful thinking about aging. It's

all good. You can choose sage-ing over the other one:) I felt it was time

to 'hang the gloves' number of times already simply because of what I

was going through during those moments in my life. But at the moment I

have no such plans whatsoever. When the time comes I'll know, right

now i really don't. As long as I'm enjoying what I'm doing I'll keep doing

it. When I'll start to enjoy doing something else I'll switch to something

else. I am greatly inspired by the life story of Michalangelo Buanorotti,

an artist who created Sistine Chapel, statue of David and many more

incredible works of art. He lived past 80 and he never stopped painting

or carving statues until his last breath. I hope to create Art until I'm that

old, whatever it is as long as I'm enjoying it. Inspiration is the ultimate

gift you can give to other people. Inspiration is the engine of progress.

The end. What a perfect place to end an

interview :)

Here are those videos I mentioned at the

beginning of this post:

JOSH VOGEL ART

Brazilian Jiujitsu instruction About Josh Vogel

Josh Vogel Art, the blog that started it all

The Sloth Report A word about my services

Contact Josh Vogel Shop 30 day challenge!

New issue of The Sloth Report is out! Number 9; The mental mount
http://www.theslothreport.com/http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCt2duEPG4XbIcHMr_ZNYTwhttps://twitter.com/Movnatphillyhttps://twitter.com/JoshRVogelhttp://www.facebook.com/100004327022549http://www.joshvogelart.com/30-day-challenge/http://www.joshvogelart.com/shop/http://www.joshvogelart.com/contact/http://www.joshvogelart.com/read-me/http://www.theslothreport.com/http://www.joshvogelart.com/joshvogelart/http://www.joshvogelart.com/josh-vogel-is-the-bestj/http://www.joshvogelart.com/http://www.joshvogelart.com/


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Categories: "Interviews"

January 26, 2014

Part 2 Of 3 Part Interview With Hand

Balancer And Performance Artist Andrey

Here is a link to the second video because wordpress wouldn't let me

embed that one for some reason.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QhDCRi0fhs

Thank you again, Andrey and thanks to all my readers for tuning in!I'm going to try to include more interviews in the future with fascinating

guests from various fields outside of grappling.

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Moraru! Life, Art, Training And

Philosophy!

.Continued from the previous installment..

Josh: That's a lot of food for thought. I like what you say about

structure. I kind of feel the same way, almost like you have to have a

frame work set in place so learning "accidents" can happen. The "idea

fishing" concept is really well put too.

What are some books that you find inspiration in or really stand out

in your mind as having taught you something?

Andrey: The books that I personally found inspirational are among

many: "The Alchemist", "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", "The Little

Prince", "Journey to lxtlan" and in Russian Literature, "Andromeda

Constellation" by Ivan Efremov. The other authors are known without

need to mention their names.

Basically what attracts me in these kinds of books is the call to push

boundaries and presence of something grand all around us in our dailylives but unseen even when it's right in front of our noses. There's an

idea that unites all of these stories and it can e summarized in just a few
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words: Strength, Intelligence of a different kind, Art, Beaty, Life lessons

and wisdom. Those are practical guides on your quest to finding your

own personal treasure, presented in a form and shape that makes you

dig deeper in order to uncover something you already knew deep down

but was rarely ever aware of it consciously.

Yeah, I like those kinds of books :) For young people it can be really

difficult to find identity that suits them best, which is simply them! But

since we as people are constantly bombarded with suggestions as to how

we SHOULD be, we never take time to actually BE. So those kinds of

stories unfolding in your imagination as you read them clearly show you

how you CAN be. You can be strong, smart, capable and happy to do

what you're doing. Anybody can. It all starts with belief. So, reading

serves as digging out the bits and pieces of inspiration which eventually

form structure that changes the choices you make and the person you

chose to be prior to finding out about other possibilities that can be

within your reach if you allow yourself to believe and enjoy what it is

that interests you.

Yeah, there are many god books out there :)

Josh: Those are some great picks. "The Little Prince" is one of my

favorites and I enjoyed "The Alchemist" as well! Something sort of

related that I've been wondering about is if you have a pre-

performance ritual? Do you read to calm yourself or get into a certain

mental state the day of a performance? In Grappling tournaments, and

other athletic endeavors, I know that some athletes do all kinds of

things ranging from reading to listening to music to meditating to

napping. I always listened to some music and did a brief warm

up before getting on the mat.


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Andrey: I don't have a performance ritual. Well, yes and no. When I was

in Circus school I used to imagine the performance I was going to have

but in reality, things are moving much faster and with more noise. It

depends on any individual situation. When you have your own dressingroom you can set up a sound system and blast your favorite music, be it

something fast to energize like some people do, or be it some Ken Musk

to allow you to dive into that mood. That I haven't seen before but I have

done that during my warm ups where I would listen to Moby in my

headphones. I would just zone out and be very far away even though I

was still in the room with everyone but if you looked at my face you knew

I was home somewhere, haha.

This is when you have enough time for warming up before the show.

The moments of high intensity are those right before you step on stage or

even a couple minutes before that. It's quite a psychological shake up

because you're in quite a neutral state as you know you are about to bare

your soul. If you are semi-nervous, or excited and can't wait to perform.

Those are the best. In times like that, when I get on the stage I see only

static in front of my eyes and a sensation of the highest intensity

combined with bliss overtakes me. It's something to live for for sure. It

allows you to feel alive.

There are other times when there are many people around and they are

all loud. They are also present in the area where you go onstage, they

can be loud there as well. So often it's not fancy at all but when you do

go onstage, you set your own rues. you can slow down time, whatever it

is, that's why we are performers. We show an example of how one can

"own himself". All it is is a display of the ability to concentrate on

certain techniques that allow the body to follow the mind as far as it can.


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January 22, 2014

Part 1 Of 3 Part Interview With HandBalancer And Performance Artist Andrey

Moraru! We Talk Life, Art, Skill And

Teaching!

When we meet barriers, we train until we are past them and so it goes

on. It is a journey into yourself really, to conquer your own blockages

and show the audience an example of harmony, feeling, strength,

emotion, skill. Sometimes I simply like to close my eyes before going

onstage and feel my entire body. Calming techniques can work if youown them but you won't really need them when you're actually enjoying

the process.

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Note: I'd like to start off by saying thanks to Andrey. I approached him on

Facebook out of the blue about doing this 10 question interview and over

the course of a couple of weeks, he was gracious enough to take time out of

his busy schedule to answer. Thanks man!

Andrey is a Hand balancer and performance artist. While I won't try to

label what he does, his work appeals to a broad spectrum of groups. The

Hand balancing enthusiast, the body weight exercise enthusiast, the

Crossfitter, the gymnastics strength practitioner, the circus arts enthusiasts,

people of the dance world, and people like me who just love graceful

movement of all sorts). The purpose of this interview is to expose my

readers, people who know of Andrey's work and people who should know

of Andrey's work to some insight into his philosophy of training. Enjoy!

Josh: If you don't mind sharing, who were the

instructors who made the most impact on your art and

what made them so important in your development?

Andrey: Ok, to be true, all my lessons I've learned from

observations. Everything I felt could help me in my development

I observed with utmost concentration. I've had two hand

balancing teachers and a lot of inspirational figures I've learned

from, not in words so much but from what they did and how it

affected me. It's their actions that spoke the language that I

understood and could interpret for my use for applying or

discarding different ways. My teachers' names are Alexander

Craciun in the Circus studio and Vitold Kuvshinov in the Kiev

Circus school. Alexander was more strict and dry. I've learned

about discipline and persistence from him and Vitold was more

soft and open. He never forced me to do anything. He was


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Josh: I like that insight and find the same thing is true

in grappling. I'm curious, at your current level, what do

you do to challenge yourself and push your art to a new

level? Is it a matter of training and seeing what nuggets

of gold come from practice, or do you have specificgoals in place that drive your practice?

Andrey: Ok, to push my art to a new level I need to be very open

to changes. It is when you're open that opportunities come. They

come in shape of bits of inspiration. Sometimes small events or a

single image can trigger the creative process that grows like a

mushroom and you begin to see more and more ways to apply

movement and ideas.

As far as goals, I have one goal; to keep going! I have more

specific goals as well, little things that need to be fixed or learned.

It's good to challenge yourself, I wish I could do it more often!!

Josh: Nice, I agree. I find a lot of inspiration to improve

in my art by looking outside of my art. It's funny but I

get a lot out of watching performances like the ones you

have up on youtube. It's amazing how watching

something so different than what I do can motivate and

give me ideas for how to move in grappling. I found the

same thing when I briefly explored rock climbing. Is

there anything that you do outside of your art that you

do to cross train, or look for new ideas, or simply get

away from your main activities? Like maybe playing

guitar, or rock climbing, or video games or something?

Or are you purely devoted to your art?


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Andrey: I'll start with inspiration from different sources that

affect the way you do things (it can be anything) after observing

certain works of art (it can also be anything) . In my opinion the

reason you can turn to other sources of inspiration and drawideas from them even when they seemingly have no direct

connection to the kind of art you've chosen to work with, work

on, or create is because ALL real, I will say it again REAL

creations of art come from the same place! The same source.

Whenever we see someone or something that feels complete,

harmonious, intercorrelated even in it's chaotic formation as it

sometimes may be, we are immediately drawn to it. We observe

and take notes on the kinds of connections and ways used in this

particular piece and it begins to make total sense. We understand

it's simplicity and all of the sudden we begin to think of what we

couldn't figure out or struggled to create differently. It doesn't

always happen but when it does we begin to "travel" to similar

places inside that are our own and bring what we find there back

with us. We find it in it's complete form and it fits perfectly

within the structure that we were building. When we try to

artificially create something out of thin air, we struggle because

pieces don't fit and we don't know why. I think the "why" is

because of the fact that all things have structure and when we're

not aware of it's structure yet and create parts that are random

in it's shape, that are without particular direction, purpose or

reason; that's when we ask "why does it not fit". Having not yet

understood that either more pieces are missing and we have to

find them, or the structure we are trying to create will not work

because there is no 'real' source that we tapped into to receive the

correct information about the right parts and because of that the


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creation of our rational mind does not always work! I'd say, very

often it does not work when it comes to creating works of art.

Because if I want to write a book because I am attracted to the

idea of having attention and money, here's what will happen; I

will take my time to pick the right place to write it, like the office,which is the first thing that comes to a mind trained in "rational"

ways. I will then spend some more time choosing the right table,

the color of the walls, the view from the window and most

importantlythe right chair! I'll make sure that it's super

comfortable and that it's shape and color reflect my personality.

(very important LOL). Then when I have all of that, I'll sit down

before a clean sheet of paper andwill have NO idea how to get

past the first sentence, if I even get that far. Now, on the other

hand, if I feel the urge to express myself through whatever it may

be and I pick writing, I will carry a notepad with me everywhere

I go and write down ideas and thoughts that will keep flowing to

me constantly all because I did not think about the "how" of the

writing process but that I simply enjoy playing the game of

"intellectual fishing" of the "idea-fish" in the "mind-lake" of my

being. Of my "inner". I'll stop now because I might start

attempting to give rational explanation to these seemingly non

sensical concepts and then, I can guarantee you, for sure they

will not make any sense anymore. It's quite simple, joy is the

impulse that contains all kinds of ideas within it and we are to

decipher it and express what translation of that impulse looks

like. I believe that's what artists do.

I personally draw my inspiration from many things. Books,

films, music and of course real experiences. Drawing and

reading are some of my favorite things to do and I learn a lot


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January 21, 2014

A Couple Of Quick Videos ShowingSimilarities Between A Kettlebell

Movement And Jiujitsu Movements

from those all the time.

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Hey folks,

One of my favorite things is to figure out similarities between different arts

and trying to find ways to learn to improve my Jiujitsu by taking lessons

away from other arts. To that end, I've been studying how to use

Kettlebells with my friend and Coach, Jason C.

Brown www.bjjworkouts.com. I can't count how many times I've messaged

him and he's messaged me with notes comparing how Kettlebells or otherarts work with Brazilian Jiujitsu techniques.

To that end, I recently noticed a couple of interesting points about a very

small and simple part of the turkish get up that relate to certain movements

in Brazilian Jiujitsu. As soon as these thoughts popped into my head, I

grabbed my wife and she graciously put up with my incoherent babbling

long enough to help me film these videos :)

The idea is simple, connect your opponent, or the kettle bell to your body

so you can use your body to move the object and not simply your arms.

There are a few other points in there about body mechanics and

momentum too, but that's the jist of it. Really, it's no different than how you

hold a heavy bag of groceries to your body as you carry it or put it in your

car, rather than carrying them at arms length.
http://www.bjjworkouts.com/


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January 15, 2014

A Piece Of Advice ForGrapplers.Form A Coven

Enjoy!

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I try to make a habit of learning about some of the best athletes that

participate in various sports. I find them inspiring and you never know what

little nugget of gold you might pick up from an interview.

A while back, I read an interview with the Mendes brothers of Brazilian

Jiujitsu fame in which they mentioned that after some of their training

sessions, the Black belts would get together on the mat and discuss

techniques and strategies for dealing with different situations. They would
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put their heads together and figure stuff out.

This sounds like pretty simple advice, but I think it's really important to

improving in grappling at all levels, but especially as you progress through

the more intermediate and advanced stages. It's important to talk to yourpeers and work through the problems that occur. This is something that I've

been doing for years with my brother, Drew (pretty much my whole

grappling career I've had the benefit of trouble shooting things with him

and discussing technique, philosophy, teaching strategy, etc) and

recently I've expanded to formally taking time to work through techniques

and strategies with a couple of my buddies once a week.

What I'm talking about is having a block of time specifically devoted to

trouble shooting and working through things. We all talk a little shop after

rolling; "hey, you choked the shit out of me, how did you do that?" or "nice

sweep, was my weight in the wrong spot?", but I think it's useful to make it

a more regimented thing. A regular part of training, just like class time and

drilling.

I think a powerful benefit of this is being exposed to the way that other

people think about the same positions you are working on. You get a

different view point. Sometimes someone does all the same moves as you,

but they have a different philosophy of a position that makes them more

effective, or maybe they understand something about it that you don't.

There's a lot of room to grow from this.

The other thing I notice, as a teacher, is that it really opens up the idea of

Jiujitsu being a discussion, not a monologue. The point of being part of the

community at a gym is to learn and improve, and I find that it's easy to

start to think that I have all the answers, or that I have things all figured


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January 14, 2014

Interview With Andrew Gummer, Bjj

Black Belt And Blogger Extraordinaire!

Part 1

out. This helps me stay in an open mindset and learn from everyone. I don't

want to be a teacher who acts like he knows all the answers. I don't even

want t o be a student who knows all the answers. As an instructor, I would

like to share what my experience affords me, but be open to the brilliant

stuff that my friends and students share with me too.

Another thing that I like about this is that it keeps me honest. When I have

an answer to a problem that I may be really invested in, discussion really

forces me to be honest about the rationale behind it. Sometimes I have

good reasons and sometimes I just like something because I'm emotionally

invested in my answer. It helps me shed biases.

These little "coven" meetings as I jokingly call them have been really good

for me and my understanding of things. I recommend you folks try this stuff

out!

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Don't be misled by the care free smile and the joie de vivre bursting forth

from this picture, this is a man who can both choke a fool and discuss the

finer points of theater in the same breath. This is the one and only Andrew

Gummer. Bjj black belt under Sylvio Behring and Mike Yackulic who also

spent years working in theater and the arts. Here's a little bit more about

him: http://arashidowhyte.com/about-2/prof-andrew/

I first started talking to Andrew online a few years back. We both have a

lot of the same interests and views about Bjj training as an art, studying

mechanics of movement, handstands and things of that sort and I've had a

blast discussing stuff with him and reading his ideas via forum posts and his

blog which you can check out here: http://digdeepbjj.blogspot.ca We

shoot the shit on Facebook now sometimes and on a recent thread that I

started about my interest in acting and theater, he revealed himself as

someone who knows about this stuff. It occurred to me that he would make

a hell of a good interview, so I'm going to post a bit of our discussion, with

his permission. Here goes:

Hey Andrew,
http://digdeepbjj.blogspot.ca/http://arashidowhyte.com/about-2/prof-andrew/http://arashidowhyte.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/61251_473899285990_682410990_7193836_412246_n-e1329973791105.jpg


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Thanks for your compliance in this interview. I will remember

this when I am intergalactic Emperor of....the world.

1. To start, tell us a little about yourself. Did you come to

Jiujitsu from the world of sports as a kid, or were you

interested in martial arts? Was there some other place that

led you into this dark and violent world?

2. From our Facebook correspondences, I have recently

learned that you have a background in theater. I'm really

interested in hearing some of your insights into how the Bjj

world and the world of theater overlap, if anywhere. Is there

anything that you use directly from theater in your Bjj practice

and/or teaching?

*Andrew, I'll stop here and write more questions based on the

answers you give.

Thanks man!

Josh

intergalactic emperor of the world.

love it.

its' like when a regional mma promotion has a world champion.

ok.

1. i was a karate kid. i started karate with my dad and my brother when i


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was like 9 or 10, and smashed all the local kata competitions for a few

years, which was more an indication of my eventual journey into theatre

and acting than it was an indication of any fighting prowess. I brought

some mad karate drama. then i wrecked my knee skiing and that took me

out of karate around the time i was 12.

i started getting back into the idea of martial arts through theatre, when i

started doing some stage fighting and fight choreography. I actually was

looking for a kung fu school or something that would compliment my fight

choreography for theatre and film. I really wanted to do work like Yuen

Wo Ping. (The Matrix, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Iron Monkey).

The hitch was that I needed afternoon classes because I was doing a

contract at a dinner theatre at the time, so all my evenings were booked.

My wife kept coming back to this one place that she had seen their sign on

the side of the road, so i called, and they had afternoon classes. It was

originally intended to be an MMA class I believe, and the first class we

kicked stuff the whole time which was pretty much what I was looking for.

But the second class I was the only one that showed up, and I got a

private with the instructor, (and the guy i eventually got my black belt

under, Mike Yackulic), and we got on the ground. He was a blue belt at

the time, and had just fought Kalib Starnes in Vancouver. and the things

he showed me that day blew my mind. I believe my highly articulate words

to my wife later were, "it's like science...with our bodies!". I had no clue what

BJJ was, but whatever the hell we were doing sang to me.

and so, i was hooked. My interest in Stage fighting almost immediately

waned, replaced by getting my ass kicked on the ground every day. and I

got my ass kicked almost exclusively For a long long time.


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2. I went to theatre school and worked in theatre for about 12 yrs. For a

large chunk of that, my wife (who is now a blue belt, by the way!) and I

were also stringing along a career in music as well. I went into BJJ as an

artist, and certainly didn't leave that part of me behind. It's sort of

occurred to me now that while my obsession with detail (in some thingsanyway....) is a personality trait, years of doing the same plays night after

night, over and over honed that ability quite a lot. I toured with a light

opera company all over our province (Alberta, Canada) for 4 years, and in

the last year i toured with them, we did 226 shows in 6 months. So I had a

pre-existing relationship with repetition going into BJJ.

The way that i always worked in theatre, in any show that I did, (and to be

honest, i find this process rather exhausting and have only recently begun

some real "zone" "in the moment" work, in music, acting and earlier in BJJ)

was that no show was ever the same. No line exactly as it was before.

There was ALWAYS work to be done, and something to be learned and

improved upon. Really I think this got in the way of being a better actor at

some level. Which is to say that I was never truly able to settle in and just

deliver, honestly, in the moment. My mind was always processing. Fixing,

tweaking, adjusting. I was never able to "flow". It wasn't until this summer,

shooting a short film called "This Wind"directed and written by the

Steinbeckian Dylan Howard and co-starring the wonderfully inspiring actor

and singer-songwriter Cayley Thomas (here's the

trailer, http://youtu.be/EnGlR1bXSIc ) that I realized that I likely hadn't

ever been in the zone as an actor. It was a combination of an incredible

script, an able and engaged scene partner and thousands of hours on the

mat that let me make some incredible discoveries about myself as an artist,

and art in general.

It's like you put in hours and hours of memorizing lines, or learning music or
http://youtu.be/EnGlR1bXSIc


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dance choreography, or drilling berimbolos, but at some point, whether it's

a gig, your show opens, a competition or daily rolling, you have to let all

the analysis and tweaking go, and just let your training flow. succeed or

fail, you just have to see what's there. Without trying to protect yourself.

Total vulnerability.

Obviously this seems ridiculous in a combat sport, right?

But it's no less terrifying to get in front of a camera, or an audience, and

really let them see your heartbeat.

I don't think there's any difference at the core of the creative arts (and i definitely

believe BJJ is a creative art, in fact one of the most creative i've ever

encountered). I think that ultimately if you want to make great art, or make a real

impactful contribution to Art, you have to be looking for that honest moment of

discovery, and to create a possibility of finding it, you have to Risk.

You have to train your ass off. Blood, sweat and tears, and all that badass

sounding Any Given Sunday type stuff. You have to dig deep. and then you have

to let it all go, and be honest with yourself about what's there. People always say

that you can't lie on the mats, and to some extent that's true, but I've seen people

play the same ineffective half guard game for four years, and never seek to

improve it. Instead they gather more techniques to deal with their lack of

fundamentals thats causing the techniques they know to not work. I did it for

most of my life as an actor. I was a pretty good faker, but if I'm real honest with

myself, this movie I just shot is the closest thing I've come to creating something

real, and honest in that particular art form.

Having my arm bent back at a nearly 90 degree angle in the wrong direction wheni lost a super fight last year opened my eyes to the fact that I didn't have enough

guys attacking subs from the guard in my training camp. I had this hole in my


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ok, that's maybe all for now. I had a bunch of stuff that i was happy with, and

gmail ate it.

you can consider this my "answers" or we can break it down further from here, or

whatever works for you.

I really appreciate the opportunity to break this stuff down a bit.

Andrew

3. Awesome, I especially like what you wrote about honesty and being in the moment

in acting and Bjj. This might seem like a silly question, but do you ever create

characters for yourself to play in Bjj? Like today I'm going to be the aggressive

guard passer who doesn't care if he gets hurt, but has a heart of gold or today I'm

going to play Roger Gracie and be completely confident, dominant and 'heavy' when I

grapple? I don't know if that makes sense. It's a similar idea to how athletes model

other athletes sometimes

I would say I don't necessarily use characters so much as characteristics. Often to figure

out those characteristics, I have to learn the vocabulary first, and then the style comes later.

Learn the text (or technique), drill it, and internalize it until the playwrights words are the

absolute most natural thing to say at that moment in time, and then allow the character to

come. If i try to impose the character first, often I end up muscling the lines into place,

rather than discovering what it is they're saying all by themselves. I want to know what the

playwright/screenwriter is saying before I start flapping my lips.

Art (whether it be theatre, film, BJJ, music etc) for me is firstly discovery, and then later

trying to remember, re-live and share the gems you've found. In working on scripts and

rehearsing to prepare for theatrical or film work, I usually find the character manifests itself

if you're attentive and willing enough to fight past the urge to settle for the first easiest idea

you come across. My imagination PRE-process can't compare to what my imagination can

create once it's been informed MID-process, so it's best not to set up camp too early.


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It's like deciding what kind of style you're going to play forever when you're only a blue

belt. There's so much yet to learn and explore, how can you possibly know? I played guard

almost exclusively until brown belt when I did a complete 180 and became a passer/top

player. Now I'm playing from guard again, but with a completely different approach than

previously. You have to be careful about deciding what you are, or you might find you're so

convinced by your decision to embrace comfort that you're blind to the next step, which

could take you far beyond.

In acting, once I've found something I want to continue to develop, something that feels

right, I try to find small body language cues, or language cues (accent, cadence, phrasing)

to help me remember the feel of the character. There are usually one or two lines or a

physical posture or gesture that give me the general feeling of a character. So I use those as

a reference sketch when I need/want to get back into that zone.

For a BJJ example, at some point I started connecting with smooth movement. So I leaned

my focus and attention in that direction, and after hours of study, experimentation and

discovery, I now I have a list of cues to help me confirm I'm in the zone, moving smoothly.

It might be a tiny piece of movement, like the moment I engage my hips to drive through a

knee cut pass, or an entire fluid sequence of a technique, like the armbar from mount (the

one Rickson does at the Pride demo when Royler reaches up and pushes Ricksons face). I

watched Mestre Sylvio Behring do that armbar probably 40 times and burned every detail

my eyes were giving me about his body angles, sequence of movement, tension, transfer of

weight and the sound of it (swwwwiiiiiissshhhhhh) into my vocabulary.

Likewise, I did a couple seminars with Gui Mendes this year, and he used me as his demo

dummy for both of them, and this was such a great opportunity for me, because I learn so

much from the feeling. He demonstrated everything so softly, so effortlessly, he didn't

need to use force at all to make anything work. Such a good benchmark for me to connect

and re-connect with as I work through the mechanics of new movements. Those seminars

made such a massive impact on my game and my understanding of Jiu Jitsu.

So while I might use specific characters as guideposts to certain goals, ultimately it's their

characteristics that I'm looking to take away.

4. Sweet! My wife is a Blue belt also! So here's a question about that, does she come


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December 27, 2013

Perspective

NOTE: This is part one, this is an ongoing conversation that I will

post as it continues. Keep tuning in as I post new segments :)

Happy Holidays!

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Haha, I love this photo.

I was talking to my instructor the other day about how basically, we spend

our days tousling around on the ground with our friends pretending to
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maim and kill each other. It's pretty fun. It's like a grown up version of how

you rough house as kids (assuming that you were allowed to rough house,

it's amazing that I even have to wonder about that).

Thinking about it, this gives a certain sense of perspective to what we do ingrappling. It can be serious business, and it can feel like super serious

business depending on how you take it. We tap others, we get tapped,

things get heated. We talk about our competition records, the "battles" we

have had, who we beat andgrudginglywho has beaten us. It all gets

very grave. Very serious.

The thing is, it is serious in some ways. If you are practicing to defend

yourself, that's serious stuff. If you are practicing because you value

competition, or you get something out of the "battle" then it's serious stuff.

It needs to be that way for certain mentalities. When I'm getting ready for

a competition, I'm very serious about grappling. I have a hard time having

a light hearted vibe when I need to be serious. Now, being serious can be a

lot of pressure. For me, it's important to make time for perspective in all this

gravity.

It's important to step back and look at what we are really doing. We get

to pretend to fight, like baby animals do. Like kids do. But we get to do this

as grown ups. We get to goof around and beat each other up a little. It

blows off steam from the real world. It gets out aggression, it does chemical

stuff in the body that I'm not smart enough to know much about, but I

know it feels good. It's awesome. I think stepping back for a minute and

realizing that this isn't that important in the grand scheme of things can

help grappling be more fun when you need it to be. It needs to be serious

sometimes, but it can also be fun and light hearted sometimes too.


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This perspective helps me back off when I'm injured and my body/mind

needs time off. As much as the intense Josh wants to get on the mat and

go hard, I also know that a training session isn't worth hurting my knee

more, or screwing up my wrist worse. Or if I do get on the mat, I have to

have a mental mechanism to deflate that pressure I put on myself toperform, to be good so that I can still roll, but roll light and not hurt myself.

I can roll for fun, still get a workout and move around, but not hurt myself

worse.

Part of me wants to wax philosophical and say something cool about

"balance", but that's been done a million times before and goes without

saying. The trick is actually doing it and that takes a mental change. Here's

a blog post I wrote about almost the same thing a while back. I must get

all bloggy when I stress haha:

/joshvogelart/2013/02/a-curious-case-of-fk-its.html

Anyway, everyone is different. Some people need more intensity, some

people need to chill out more. I'm the type that needs to be more intense

generally, on the mat, but that has to be balanced with appropriate doses

of perspective. For every three weeks of hard training, I need a week of

goofing around. This stuff is supposed to be good for me, right? So I need

to know when to back off physically and mentally. That's the only way I

can find that important balance between taking grappling seriously,

without taking myself too seriously.

Damn, timer ran out. I have to go (I've been setting my timer for 30

minutes, twice a day to limit my internet usage. I've been getting too nuts

with it lately).
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December 11, 2013

"When I Was Young."

Go have fun, read some far side comics. They are awesome. Lighten up :)

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In every field, there is a pattern of certain members of the previous

generation lamenting the shortcomings of the current generation. It usually

takes the form of talking about how kids these days have it so easy and "in

my day we had to/didn't have/no such thing as, etc" I've seen this in

almost every field I've come across and it's usually pretty accurate to say

that the generation before that one thought the same stuff about the

current "old school" generation.

That being said, when I was a kid.:) we did most of our math by hand

rather than using calculators. The funny thing is (yes, I just realized that I
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say "the funny thing is" in EVERY blog post) that memory isn't always a

perfect representation of the truth. When I think about it, I actually did use

calculators some of the time, more than I previously thought. I also suck at

math, and always have. (with the notable exception of getting a "B" in

Geometry in 11th grade, just to spite a teacher that didn't think I could do it)

But I digress.

A while back, realizing that I hadn't done any math by hand in years, I

started doing my arithmetic by hand again. Nothing crazy, just addition,

subtraction, multiplication and division. It's harder than I remember, and

more time consuming than using a calculator, and I still suck at it

but.I'm improving. My problem solving skills are growing little by little

and I'm starting to understand the problems better than I did before. I

have to think things through more.

The value of the hard (er) way.

In Jiujitsu, youtube is a lot like a calculator. Well, maybe the internet is a lot

like a calculator. WHen you come across a problem in Jiujitsu you can

either solve the problem yourself or you can find a quick answer on the

internet, accessing the power of the collective. I say do both.

When I do math by hand, I usually check my answers on a calculator

afterwards because I'm not that confident in my skill yet and in the past,

I've seen that when I am overly confident in math and don't double check,

I'm usually wrong. However, as I double check more and more, I'm finding

that I'm actually starting to be right a lot of the time. I'm starting to gain

some confidence and think I will be able to progress to not checking

sometimes.


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In Brazilian Jiujitsu, when I come across a problem, I always try to figure

out an answer on my own first. I try to take the problem apart, simplify it,

work thought it to understand the variables. Roll with it a bit to feel it out

and see what I would do. Then I start asking my instructors, trainingpartners and start my research on the internet. I'll check my answers

against the answers that I get from everyone else, including the best

footage I can find of people who are masters of this problem displaying

their knowledge in competition. If their answers differ from mine, I will try to

understand why. Is it that they have different physical or mental attributes

than me? Or is their answer simply better than mine/ Are there qualities

that I can bring to the equation that might make their answer work better

for me?

In this way I feel like I can understand how to break down a problem

better and in doing so, understand grappling more thoroughly. I think it's

one example of a philosophy that I try to use a lot in my life: that it's

important to do things the hard way sometimes. That's why I prefer to walk

or ride a bike rather than riding in a car or bus (while still using and

appreciating both regularly). It's why I like to read a book about

something, or learn something from another person, while supplementing

with hacking out videos, podcasts and websites on the internet. I like doing

math by hand and checking the answers on a calculator. I like writing by

hand and sometimes typing things out on the computer. I like eating real

food and supplementing when I need something in addition. It

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