Philosophical Fight Log: Day 6 – BJJ, Philosophy, and the Analytic Mind
There is an interesting overlap that I’ve discovered more and more in recent years, between analytic philosophers and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This was not always the case, however. In fact, for many years, when I was in graduate school for philosophy, I largely kept quiet about my fandom and interest in BJJ and MMA, believing that my intellectual peers would find my passion for such sports to be both uncommon and uninteresting and perhaps even a bit uncouth. I’m sure many of them probably did.
More recently though, I’ve found, to my pleasant surprise, an increasing intertwinement between academic philosophers and BJJ practitioners.
For instance, Peter Boghossian, former epistemologist at Portland State University, founder of the new University of Austin, and academic dissident (like myself), is an avid BJJ practitioner and has noted the extreme importance and value of BJJ in the cultivation of epistemic virtues.
When I was a visiting scholar at Australia National University, I had the pleasure of crossing paths with normative ethicist, Christian Barry. Several years later, I discovered that he was awarded his BJJ blackbelt from none other than BJJ legend, John Danaher, who himself, used to be an epistemology PhD student at Columbia University. In fact, according to Barry, it was he who found Renzo Gracie’s studio first and who convinced Danaher to come train with him. Danaher was apparently so bit by the BJJ bug that he ended up parting ways with the academic career-path entirely and put his philosophical and analytical mind to mastering, innovating, and expanding the frontiers of BJJ and MMA instead. (I think that was a good decision on his part.) Meanwhile, just north of Danaher, in Montreal, one will find legendary TriStar Gym MMA coach, Firas Zahabi, himself a Philosophy major from Concordia University.
Elsewhere in my academic travels, I’ve crossed paths with Rob Lawlor, also a normative ethicist at the University of Leeds, who, at the time, back in 2015, was either a BJJ purple belt or brown belt if my memory serves me correctly.
In this same general space of abstract, analytical thinking, we also find close cousins to philosophy in the areas of computer programming and chess. Here you can find M.I.T. artificial intelligence professor, Youtuber, and BJJ blackbelt, Lex Fridman. Similarly, Joe Lauzon, longtime UFC veteran and Massachusetts MMA legend also has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Wentworth Tech and has been described by some as ‘UFC’s Mark Zuckerburg.’ And Josh Waitzkin, world-renowned chess prodigy and real-world basis for the book and movie ‘Searching for Bobby Fischer,’ also holds a BJJ black belt under 9-time World Champion, Marcelo Garcia.
This is all to say that there is something deeply appealing about BJJ in particular for the more analytic, abstract, and dare I say ‘nerd’ mind. The fact that BJJ provides a set of problems that can be solved with strategy, skill, and innovative thinking and not just brute, caveman strength, as well as networks and systems of moves and counter-moves that can be chained and sequenced together into an even greater strategic system in a never-ending evolution of attack and defense, is deeply satisfying and edifying to the analytic mind on many, many levels. Indeed, it provides a forum and a context for a lifetime of learning, evolution, and growth. I’ve sometimes heard BJJ referred to as a game of ‘physical chess.’ And even based on the very little exposure I’ve had to the art, I think that description is actually very accurate.
So for any nerds, academics, bookworms, INTJs, or ‘analytic’ types of folks out there who might not have found their particular sport, hobby, or athletic passion just yet, I’d highly suggest giving an intro BJJ class a try today.
Trust me, you won’t regret it.