At a certain point in an athletic career, one has the option to pivot towards coaching. I've reached this level in my Brazilian jiu jitsu journey. I am more interested in coaching and helping others out than competing. This had made me think a lot about what it means to be a good coach. Some things I think are important: -a good eye to analyze body movement -an ability to cascade … [Read more...]

Not much of the traveler am I. Five continents. More countries and states than I can easily recall. Travel by Russian army truck, speedboats, Tuktuks, and airplanes that were so crowded that a passenger had to stand. All these places and experiences. But even so, to travel out of town for three days, and I miss my family before I am even down the walkway. More of the lonely traveler … [Read more...]

Cooperation. Or competition. When we are working together towards something at what point are we no longer working together? Once there was a movement towards something. Maybe I am romanticizing it. Maybe it never existed. But once we fought towards a single thing. Together. Even with our differences. Now the space is crowded and no one wants to share. We want to destroy each other … [Read more...]

You can either lift it or you can't. Doesn't matter how much you talk about it. Doesn't matter if someone doesn't like it. If you can lift it, you own it. Sure, people cheat a bit. Sliding the bar over the thighs or not dropping down low enough. Iron doesn't give a shit about your politics, your age, or your excuses. You can either lift it or you can't. Half of that lifting is … [Read more...]

Is most of life just throwing stones against the waves? Why is it so hard for any of us to give up control? Especially over others? We know better. We have more experience. We're not sure that the other person is doing the right thing of making the right choices. But, in the end, do we really have any more control? Did our interference lead to a vastly different outcome? Where is … [Read more...]

A second, a minute, an hour, a year, a lifetime. Beginning and end. How do we exist within a measure of time? Whether a second or a life. That space between. … [Read more...]