Adapted from the Basic Goodness blog.

1. Be fearless

Being fearless does not mean being without fear, being fearless means admitting your fears and going beyond them. A courageous person is not in denial of his or her fears, holding up a mask of invulnerability but is willing to face their fears and work on them. They have the courage to do things that frighten them when the situation calls for it. They know that the path towards fearlessness is endless.

2. Be resilient

A person should be flexible and reliable at the same time. If necessary they can start all over again at any given moment. Whatever happens; their house was burnt down, their crop failed, they lost their job: even if they have mourning to do they start all over again. Accept fate but don’t become a victim of it.

3. Live, speak and listen from the heart

Do not hide feelings and intentions. Do not be afraid to be gentle nor afraid to be sad. Be in touch with your emotions and be able to express them. Have the courage to live your dream and the space to listen compassionately.

4. Own your anger

Transform your anger into compassion. You can be angry, strong, decisive and courageous. Your anger serves your presence and the presence of others. It is not a humiliating or destructive type of anger. The latter happens when a person is a slave to their anger, that’s the anger of the coward trying to overcompensate their feelings of inferiority. This is just as sad as a person completely disconnected from their anger. Mature anger, on the other hand, is a big turn on.

5. Make meaning

Try not to become a person of success, try to become a person of value. Einstein said that. I think that’s true and important. If you fill your days with doing something that pays the bills but is essentially meaningless you are wasting your precious life. Yes, even if it pays the bills so handsomely that you can spend 2 months per year on adventurous holidays and eat in fancy restaurants, you are still wasting your life.  A person with values has the balls to travel outside their comfort zone to make a sincere attempt to contribute to mankind. He or she works for the greater good instead of for the sake of protection of their self image and clinging to the illusion of safety.

6. Own your edge

This life is a journey and we all are somewhere on our path. Be honest about where you are at in your development. Don’t pretend to be wiser or more evolved than you actually are. Don’t shrink so that others won’t feel insecure around you. Know your strengths and your weaknesses and do not be ashamed of either. That there is always work to do should be a given. Know where you have your work to do and be willing to listen and learn from those who have done that work.

7. Be vulnerable

A coward is always trying to hide their weak spots, a real person works on them. They are willing and able to reveal themselves even in the midst of pain. They are vulnerable because they want to be vulnerable. By opening up in every moment they are continuously practicing their courage. It’s a way of defeating cowardice.

8. Practice a martial art

When push comes to shove every person should be able to defend themselves, the people they loves, and their honor. Just like we teach our children to swim to prevent them from drowning, a person should know at least enough basic fighting skills so they can throw a punch in case of an emergency. They have spent enough time in a ring or dojo to ensure a deescalating presence. They do not panic, are not easily provoked and have some strength and skills.

9. Have a sense of humor (don’t take yourself so seriously!)

A real person can hold both the utter importance and the utter unimportance of life at the same time. They can see their own failures and flaws and joke about that. Since they know their self-image is just an image they feel no need to defend that image. They can uplift a tense situation with a joke, but they aren’t the immature joker that abuses humor as a tool for escaping intimacy or sabotaging intensity. They have the capacity to light up the room and embrace life.

10. Develop body, mind and spirit

Be devoted to the development of body, mind and spirit. Not to stay ahead of other people, not out of fear of being defeated, but because you have more to offer when you are healthy and present. Taking care of your body makes you fit and strong. Taking care of your mind makes you clever and sharp. Taking care of your spirit makes you wise, warm and compassionate. Know that your body and mind are mortal but that the love you spread during your life remains.

11. Be real

In the end, know that you are just a person. A real person does all these things because that’s what they are: a human being. They have basic human needs and inclinations just like everyone else.  But someone trying to be real is just doing their best to make the most of life and have some fun while doing that. Their sweat is honest. Their heart is open. Their back is straight.

Great advice from Martin Rooney, featuring our own Shihan Dunn. Originally distributed by Training for Warriors. 

As a therapist, a trainer, a martial artist and a coach, I am always “listening”. This has resulted in many of the profound concepts that have helped to shape my own personal philosophy, the TFW System as well as many of the stories, articles, blogs and newsletters that I have shared over the years with my readers.

One great man, (and martial artist for that matter) that offered me one such lesson is Gene Dunn. A past karate world champion and BJJ black belt under Renzo Gracie, Gene trained with our group for years and is even featured on the original TFW DVD. One day when we were training, Gene gave me two words that I believe can change anyone’s life instantly. He was teaching me a bit of his BJJ philosophy and, as we were rolling, would coach me to “Address It”, every time he began to attempt to gain better position or a submission. He would get me looking at everything happening on the mat and make sure I was “Addressing” the situation before it got out of hand.

You see warriors, by addressing a move on the mat before it goes too far makes sure the move isn’t going to happen. Wait too long before addressing anything in life, and there will be a point of disastrous results.

Simple two words…. Big Concept.

Now warriors, what are some areas of your life that you have failed to “Address It?” I am sure that if you think of the classic personal topics like diet, career, physique, finances, you will find areas that you know you could have more. If this is true for you, then start to “Address” the problem. If you are overweight, “Address It” with getting the junk out of your house and start cleaning up the diet tomorrow. If you don’t have the career or money you want, “Address It” by setting goals, reading the book you need to read or going for that interview. If you have been needing to say something to someone in your life and you have not “Addressed It”, the time is now. What are you waiting for?

My mental warrior challenge this week is to use these two words with everything you do this week. I want you to say them in your head when you are about to hold back or let something slide. When the alarm clock rings, say “Address It” to yourself, get up, and shut it off. When you are about to eat a poor breakfast, say it again and so on through out the day. I have used this for some time and it has always lead to results. Life is a battle my friends, and it is going to constantly throw new “submissions” at you. Address them as they appear and you have a much better chance of shutting them down in their tracks and making great progress.

10 Most Often-Seen Benefits from Training at  Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Brooklyn Vindhya Yoga

Don’t Get Tricked While Trick-or-Treating

Kids look forward to Halloween more than most holidays of the year, and for good reason: it’s fun, they get to dress up, and the night ends with a pillowcase filled with candy. Halloween is also a potentially dangerous holiday with many kids walking around unsupervised and thus vulnerable to sticky situations. To avoid any scary experiences with your young ones (besides haunted houses, of course!), here are some do’s and don’ts to ensure a fun-filled and safe Halloween.

Do:

Your research
Find good neighborhoods to take your children to ahead of time. Not all neighborhoods in NYC are appropriate for trick-or-treating. This is a good list of kid-friendly neighborhoods that are safe and have the best bounty (candy galore!)

Take basic safety precautions
Always make sure your kids are supervised during trick-or-treating. Be sure to carry a flashlight and always be careful crossing the street, etc. Don’t skip out on safety measures you would take on a daily basis just because it’s a holiday. In fact, it’s even more of a reason to be careful!

Examine candy after trick-or-treating
This rule is a classic! We’re not saying you’ll find razor blades in your child’s fun-size Snickers bar, but they definitely should not be eating open or unwrapped Halloween foods. The only reason you want your child feeling sick is because they ate all that sugar!

Don’t:

Trick-or-treat late at night 
Take your child and their friends out before night falls. This gives you the opportunity to show your kids where they’ll be going and any boundaries that need to be set.

Enter a stranger’s home 
This may be common sense to you, but make sure your children are well aware of this fact. A good rule of thumb is to “stick to the stoop.” That’s where all the candy is anyway!

Get caught in the cold 
It’s not quite winter, but late October nights can be chilly! Make sure to check the weather before going out. It might clash with your child’s costume, but the coat will be well worth the extra weight when the temperature dips.

Forget that Halloween should be fun 
Sometimes there’s so much stress about getting your child the perfect costume and making sure they are safe that you completely miss the entire point of the holiday. It’s a day when kids (and adults!) can adopt a completely new identity and enjoy sweets. What fun! If you’re looking for pre or post trick-or-treating festivities (or even want to replace the tradition entirely), be sure to check out this list of free Halloween events for kids in NYC.

I’m here to tell you today that you should not consider yourself a bjj practitioner. I know it’s shocking, but after I’m done and have presented the evidence, I hope you’ll understand why I make this claim and what it has to do with you.

This is not about the art, on a purely technical level. It’s not about moves or a different kind of guard, or the pros and cons of the newest submission from the back.In fact, it’s got only a little bit to do with you when you’re training and a lot bit to do with when you’re not training.

Part of the reason why is because you should be, must be, have to be starting to separate yourself from the ideology that’s developing around the mainstream culture of jiujitsu. It’s a worldview that claims to be against the grain, an alternative lifestyle, when in reality it supports the same compromised morality that’s reared its head in competitive bicycling or major baseball doping.

The culture of jiu-jitsu worldwide still embraces a competitive, you-or-me, zero-sum-game philosophy. It still hasn’t looked at the dangers of unmediated aggression in the classroom. It hasn’t considered the impact of a dominance-based approach to human interactions.

There is no longevity. No sustainably. What we’re left with us a war of attrition – a dangerous prospect for anyone who’s planning a long and healthy life.

So I’m here to tell you not to consider yourself a bjj practitioner. Not to align yourself with a philosophy of no-philosophy. Not to search for lessons in responsibility and community and unity where they don’t exist.

I’m here to tell you not to consider yourself a bjj practitioner, but rather to consider yourself a student of BBJJ. To set yourself apart from the 97% and take a quantum leap forward for yourself and the people you care about. To put your philosophy first.

We ask you to be responsible on the mat, but real responsibility begins off the mat. It begins with the attitude you develop to create the life you wish to lead, and the world you wish to lead it in.  We’re witnessing the results of ultimate communication breakdown in the world right now; the final expression of the competitive, ego-based approach to challenges is “either you or me”. When I spoke to a student with family in the Middle East, he said “it’s not getting better, it has gotten worse: now it’s ‘you or me'”. The macro of the micro is war.

Imagine recreating that in your martial arts day after day and then being surprised when it shows up in the world.

So consider today where you hope you’ll be – where the world will be – and whether your “philosophy in practice” will bring you there. Because it’s been shown throughout history that no one can serve two masters. Consider the options, consider the  philosophy you intend to develop. Consider the student creed and the principles of your martial arts. Consider what you’ve been learning and how you want to use it. Consider yourself a warrior, a creator, a supporter, a participant. Consider your influence, your associations, your affiliations.

Taking a step forward as a martial artist today, recognize that you’re a student of this philosophy – of giving and caring and changing. Of evolution and effort and practice. Of failure and trying and pain and frustration. Of loyalty and passion and friendship. Of sincere effort, clear purpose, of true aim.

This is the BBJJ philosophy. You are a BBJJ student. You have a chance to transform yourself through your practice – and through your philosophy, you have a real chance to impact the world every day.

1. Accept that the injury has occurred and move forward.
2. Examine how the injury happened so it never happens again.
3. Find out all you can about the injury and its rehabilitation.
4. Use every method of rehabilitation you can get your hands on.
5. Be consistent and thorough with your rehabilitation.
6. Find an outlet and determine what training you can do around the injury.
7. Focus on areas that you needed to improve pre-injury.
8. Don’t test injury while healing and re-irritate it.
9. Develop a list of the things that the injury is trying to tell you.
10. Don’t forget what you learned from the injury for the future.

View every setback as an opportunity for a comeback. You can view injury as a problem or a challenge. A problem is something you have, a challenge is something you have to take on.

By Professor James Noto

I can remember it very clearly. It was about 10:30PM on a Thursday night early in October 2005. I came off of the train and as it started to rain, I put my hood on. As a music lover I decided to put my ear plugs in and listen to some tunes on my walk home. What I didn’t realize was that I wasn’t the only one heading in the direction of my house.

For an entire block, a car with four men in it was following me. How did I not notice that right away? The men decided to get my attention by screaming aggressively at me. I glanced at the car and decided to lower my music but pretend I was still listening, but I tuned into what they were saying instead. What they had to say wasn’t very pleasant. I quickly realized that I was in a bad situation as it was late at night, the streets were empty and I was greatly outnumbered.

Things turned from bad to worse when they started to curse at me and attempted to pull their car in front of me to block me a few times. The only thought I had at that moment was to run, but I knew I didn’t want to run home and let them know where I lived. I knew I didn’t know how to defend myself if things got physical. And I knew there were 4 of them. Things were really bad: it was raining, I was holding my school books, they were in a car, I had no plan. At that moment, I glanced back and saw another car coming up the block. I decided to do the only thing I could think of. I ran back up the block, against traffic, in the hopes that they couldn’t follow without going in reverse. Luckily, the idea worked, but it didn’t stop them from continuing the chase. I watched as they tried to speed around the block to catch up to me. I ran as fast as I could.

As I approached my house – which was only 2 blocks away – I was out of breath. I was tired and my heart was pumping out of my chest. I lay down on the floor in my wet clothes for the next 10 minutes and decided I had to do something about this if I ever wanted to live a happy life. A life where I wasn’t nervous all the time or looking over my shoulder

A few weeks later, still in October of 2005, I earned my white belt at Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and officially started my journey to black belt. Over the next 8 years of training, many people would ask me questions like “does this stuff work for self defense?”, and “Are you any good at it?” My answers, of course, are yes.

What I discovered through the training gave me clarity about that night all those years ago. Jiu-Jitsu creates a plan for you, and all you have to do is follow it and prove it right. What kind of plan did I have that night – listening to loud music and not being aware of my surroundings, having a too-small book bag that was that forced me to have both hands occupied? How unaware was I that I didn’t notice a car of four guys, their windows open in the rain, following me?

The Jiu-Jitsu my Professors taught showed me something I had missed. It raised my awareness and my focus, and provided me with a plan so that in dangerous situations, I’m not an easy target. It educated me about how to be comfortable in any position I might encounter in self-defense, both on the ground and standing up. Within the first few months of training, I had learned at least one escape from every position possible: someone holding me down, keeping me in a headlock, grabbing me in a bearhug. I can’t even imagine what I would have done in the past, other then scream and beg for them to get off me. I found control, of a dangerous situation and of myself, and the confidence that comes with that.

Friends often ask me if I have had to use Jiu-Jitsu in self-defense since that day back in 2005. My answer to them is yes, but not in the way they might expect. Because I train consistently, I’ve found myself very aware of dangerous situations as they develop, not after they’ve begun; outside of the classroom I’ve found that I’m better than average at being able to sense if I’m in actual danger, which has allowed me to leave an unfriendly circumstance quickly. And because I’ve learned to become more assertive inside the training, I’ve been able to out-talk potential attackers in non-aggressive ways to settle any in differences, all while upholding my integrity as a man.

Sometimes these friends have responded with a well-worn, “how do you know you’re good if you never had to actually use it?”. My response is that I have already had plenty of experience being bullied, attacked, and even mugged at various points in my life. These things are all behind me now – since my first class, I’ve never had a single physical confrontation and, almost like magic, the bullies and victimizers have fallen by the wayside. That in itself tells me what I need to know – that the Jiu-Jitsu my Professors have taught me, and which I now have the privilege to teach others, works. I carry with me the knowledge that I am empowered. And if in the future an event like the one in October of 2005 should somehow replay itself, I know I’ll be more than ready to protect myself and my loved ones this time around.

Simple tips for buying groceries, originally from Training for Warriors:

If you’re interested in looking like a warrior then you need to EAT like a warrior. Here are some simple tips for BUYING GROCERIES:

– Go to the supermarket after the gym – you will be more motivated to shop smart.
– Don’t shop on an empty stomach – this makes it easier to avoid the things you should.
– Make a list – stick to the basics.
– Use a basket – you shouldn’t need more than what will fit in it.
– Shop the perimeter… – avoid the snacks and processed foods that are generally kept in the middle.
– Don’t be fooled by labels – Just because it says organic, whole wheat, etc., does not mean it’s good for you.