Monthly Archives: September 2012

MMA as Guilty Pleasure.

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When the bald-headed monk wrapped in a saffron colored robe walked into the Bangkok restaurant, I took notice.  It wasn’t just his intense stare,  it was the tattoos of Buddhist imagery and scriptures that covered his entire body.  I immediately thought to myself, “This monk is gangster!”

He asked what I was doing in Thailand.  His English was not great but I wanted to be clear, “I am here to train Muay Thai.”  (Translation: I am not here for the women.)  Turns out he was a former Muay Thai Champion who retired at age 20 – I was impressed.  “This monk is REALLY gangster,” I thought.

He ended our short conversation by saying: “The greatest lesson I learned from hitting someone, is that it is wrong to hit someone.”

His words struck me – and left me with no choice but to contemplate them.  As I arrived back in the states, I picked up a stray newspaper at the airport.  It was already open to an article in the Sports section – brain autopsies of many NFL players had shown chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), an Alzheimer’s-like brain disease associated with repetitive head trauma.

Ignorance is Bliss.

In the late 80’s I loved boxing.  I was mesmerized by Iron Mike Tyson.  He combined raw brutality with precision technique to finish strong men quickly and violently.  It was awesome.  His fights created a contagious, primal excitement.   I thought little of the negative consequences his opponents might suffer.

Then, in the early 90’s, MMA came along – it was WAY better than boxing.  More realistic, more interesting – and to those of us in the know, it was safer…no standing 8 count…fewer head strikes…submission victories…etc.

But now in 2012, it is hard to ignore the ever-increasing scientific data – repeated blows to the head can create lasting damage to our brains.  Although probably safer than boxing and the NFL, can we still believe that MMA fighters are somehow exempt from the scientifically proven consequences of repeated blows to the head?

Fighting is undoubtedly part of our DNA.  Sex and violence are two of the most potent drives of living beings – they also make for great entertainment.  I still love MMA, and I still watch the NFL sometimes – but the love is not as pure as it once was.

These days the thrill and excitement are offset by the guilt of watching other people damage themselves for my viewing pleasure.  With increasing frequency, it can feel weird to watch humans willingly damage each other for entertainment purposes.

The Good News. 

Luckily there is Jiu Jitsu, which has all of the physicality of a real fight, with none of the negative repercussions of strikes to the head.  Not only will BJJ not diminish our mental capacities, it has the potential to improve them. 

In boxing the objective is to hit your opponent in the head and body until they can no longer stand up.  With Jiu Jitsu the objective is to control and then submit your opponent.  Jiu Jitsu gives us the option of stopping a technique short of permanent injury.

This is not an argument against the striking arts.  All martial arts have value – and many people much greater than me have derived much benefit from their training in the striking arts.

Yet I am grateful for the life-promoting properties of Jiu Jitsu…

And I must admit, I am looking forward to watching the Metamoris Pro Jiu Jitsu Invitational much more than watching UFC 152.

Rickson Gracie and John Danaher Agree…

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…Brazilian Jiu Jitsu increases our problem-solving ability.

From Master Rickson Gracie:

“Jiu-jitsu puts you completely in the moment where you must have complete focus on finding a solution to the problem. This trains the mind to build that focus, to increase your awareness, your capacity to solve problems.”

From Master John Danaher:

“The deepest benefits of Jiu Jitsu come off the mat.  It encourages a world-view based upon the idea of rational problem solving.  Jiu Jitsu is all about solving problems that are rapidly changing under stress, and that gives you an ability to identify the crux of the problem in front of you, even in a stressful situation and adapt your body and tactics to overcome that problem and to continue overcoming it as the problem itself changes.  It encourages you to use a very rational trial and error method, basically the same method that science uses to overcome these problems.  So it gives you this sort of problem solving mindset, which I think applies throughout life itself.” (From Open Mat Radio interview)

Modern psychologists say that improved problem solving skills demonstrates an increase in our “Fluid” Intelligence.  Fluid intelligence refers to our ability to learn, to reason, to recognize patterns, and get to the bottom of things.

The implication of Master’s Rickson Gracie and John Danaher’s statements then is that Jiu Jitsu literally raises our intelligence.

What do you think? Can Jiu Jitsu make us smarter?

Twelve Lessons Jiu Jitsu Teaches.

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  1. If it were always easy, it wouldn’t be worth it.
  2. Challenges make us stronger.
  3. Adopting a positive mindset will make the journey easier.
  4. There is always more to learn.
  5. Problems can have more than one solution, and questions can have more than one answer.
  6. The simplest solution is the best.
  7. It feels good when you know what you are doing.
  8. You are your greatest opponent.  Conquer fears, laziness, excuses and negativity.
  9. Keep a calm, clear mind.  Even when things are falling apart around you.
  10. Our bodies and minds can stretch beyond what we thought possible.
  11. We can improve by helping others.
  12. The more you practice, the better you get.

Why Marcelo Garcia Wins.

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The legendary grappler says it has to do with love.

“Why do I beat a lot of people? Because I love it so much, that’s why.  Everything about Jiu Jitsu, I love it – the school, the mat, the ring.  I always believe that.  Maybe I am not better than my opponent, but I know for sure I love my training more.” –Marcelo Garcia

Love has a warming effect that heightens our senses, and increases our aliveness.  It enables us to act and move with greater strength. With it we can increase our chances of winning, be more creative, and most importantly, we can help others.

When we love something we find it pleasing; it imparts a sense of joy and produces happiness from within.  This not only gets to the core of our Jiu Jitsu training, but to the real essence of our being.

When an activity has some sort of outside payoff – in Jiu Jitsu it is usually belts, medals, cash, etc — it’s known as an “extrinsic reward.” When there’s no payoff except for the joy or the love of it, it’s known as an “intrinsic reward.”

Experts are now seeing intrinsic reward as the silver bullet of motivation and a principal key to high performance.

This is because humans are motivated by happiness – and the love and joy that originates from inside us (intrinsic) will always bring greater happiness than the rewards that come from the outside (extrinsic).

It is normal to feel most effective when we are simply doing what we love.  Of course we can’t just be a seeker of joy. We need to work hard to perfect our craft, and we definitely need to be challenged.

However, in order to get the best from ourselves, we should feel that our craft is never actually work.

If we naturally feel this love of Jiu Jitsu, we are lucky. Like the communist-era Sambo players hand wringing their gi jackets – we need to wring as much joy out of our BJJ practice as possible.

Even if you feel the love is not in you, you might need to delude yourself that it is – because it is the people who love their craft the most that also work the hardest.

“I wasn’t a good student, and even now I never say that I am better than anybody, but I know I love Jiu Jitsu more than anybody.  I love the energy and that it gets deeper the more you study.” – Marcelo Garcia