My annual jiu-jitsu anniversary post about what I’ve learned and lost in another year of physical, emotional, and spiritual commitment to a very strange sport. Before I start this year’s edition of the post, I should note that I struggled with the title. While I am now a purple belt…

A first crack at an epilogue at the end of the great American (Brazilian jiu-jitsu) road trip — As I write this, I’m on a rented couch in a terrace-level apartment in Marietta, Georgia. The apartment breaks out into the view of a tranquil pond, where you’ll find flocks of geese, Muscovy ducks, and — if you’re lucky — a mythically-sized pelican in the early break of dawn…

The last four years of my life in a New England MMA gym are the ones that will shape my next forty, I think. The names of the individuals most closely involved are inked in Sharpie on a dirty dollar bill on the right side corner of a dive bar…

It has become an annual tradition for me for me to write a blog post about jiu-jitsu on the anniversary of my first-ever class in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Today marks four years since I first walked into the basement of 36 W. …

There are some days that will stick with you, that you remember exactly where you were and who you were when it all happened. A few particular days come to mind for me, approaching the one year anniversary since America began its pandemic shutdowns. When 9/11 happened, I was in…

It’s hard for me to believe, but it’s been just about three months since I was in Mexico City. When I look back, I do so fondly at the trip and at the person I was in Mexico: loving the opportunity to travel, to train with other people after being…

My take on love, loss, and what I wore. Inspired by a letter to a friend about the loss of a parent. On this day, two years ago, I signed my offer with my current employer, a shoe company, and began planning my exit from my previous employer. With my…

Finals. Just over a minute on the clock. The score is 0–0. The triangle choke I almost finished in the first minute gives me a 1–0 advantage that would call the match in my favor were the time to run out with the score as is. …

It’s easy to write about the wins. It’s hard to write about the losses. It almost becomes harder to write about the losses when the pain from them has dulled — any visceral, tear-jerking, fist-throwing, red-faced emotion loses its edge over the course of a day, a week, a month…