HHCF Updates for 2020

Photo by: Dream Ear Productions Copyright 2020

Peace to the planet Earth! I have missed you! Sorry for such a long delay in posting. A lot of stuff changed for HHCF, but for the good. The truth is, I fell ill in 2020 with a bacterial infection in my stomach.. It was bad. I had to get two blood transfusions and was literally a day away from dying when I was called to the hospital. Had I gone to work that day, or put off going in I would not be writing you now.

I contracted a separate infection of the potentially fatal MRSA staph  a few months later. I had to go to the hospital again because it was on my face and with it came a horrible case of impetigo- but I recovered. The process was strange because the infection took a lot of my energy. Nevertheless I beat it.

In the meantime, I was posting on our instagram @realhiphopchess and teaching at the UFC Gym in San Bruno plus teaching at Zaytuna College as head instructor of jiu-jitsu and chess. I began working on a book called A Dead Man's Diary. It's about how my near death experience impacted my personal philosophy about life. I went through some dark days.

In truth, I had gotten a bit depressed, and unclear on who I was initially. But after that I became supremely focused and motivated. I had to use all of the tools from HHCF (which worked thankfully), plus my jiu-jitsu, plus my closest friends and family members, plus therapy and taking a class on stoic philosophy to make sense of what I had endured. Plus a lot of reading new things..

In the course of it all I lost my personal love for chess. Everything about the game seemed lifeless to me. I was playing and losing. But the losses were not resonating. I didn't care. I was not seeing dynamic forces engaging on the board. My chessvision had been altered. I traveled a bit. While in UK I played a game and for the first time the entire board felt wholly dead. For the first time the board was not radiating with life. It was just glass and stones. The positions were irrelevant.

I realized at that point that the game had not changed. I had changed. Keep in mind the entire time this is happening- I'm STILL TEACHING. I'm at juvenile halls, high schools and colleges. I realized chess was not the issue. I was. So, I've went on a deeper journey inside my mind. I understand now why the game became dead to me. Within weeks my love for the game had returned. The board and pieces were breathing again and full of life. As I unlearned to relearn new opportunities arose in the space of education and mentoring. Everything I went through started to make sense.

In the meantime I focused on the Bishop Chronicles Podcast at www.bishopchronicles.com . It now has more than 100 episodes!  (thanks to Mike Relm and the good people over at www.PharcydeTV.com! Visit the site right now to heard incredible interviews and conversations about the fusion of Hip-Hop news, chess, martial arts and health and fitness trends. I'm talking about valuable stuff to keep your body in good shape and your mind sharp. In every episode there is a section showing you how to use chess, jiu-jitsu and Hip-Hop to improve yourself. But mostly, it's just be being silly with my friends. This is like NPR meets VICE. That is the vibe.

1. How Niccolo Machiavelli impacted the strategies of Tupac Shakur.
2. I have in depth conversations with entrepreneurial rappers like Mista FAB.
3. I even talked to MMA legend Ralph Gracie about the current state of the UFC.
4. There was a super deep talk with Stanford Philosophy Professor Greg Watkins,
5. Simon Purkis, CEO of  Purling London (maker of cool designer chessboards selling for 10K!).
6. Tribute show remembering the life of rapper Juice Wrld and a look at why our kids are depressed.

You can subscribe to iTunes, Spotify, Mixcloud and Libsyn to get the full rundown of the shows. It is always funny and informative (appropriate for teens and up).

In 2020 the goal is not to merely feel better. We intend to help you actually be better. New folks on the team, new events and new knowledge from the #hiphopchess army will be coming at you soon.

The HHCF Official Page is down right now. It is being revamped. Look for its relaunch and big announcements coming soon. Super soon.

Long story short: I missed you, but I'm back- let's go be great. 

For more on HHCF please follow us on Instagram @realhiphopchess (the impostors are out- begun the clone wars have) LOL.

To learn more about Bishop Chronicles follow us on Instagram @bishopchronicles !

If you would like to contact me directly about HHCF inquiries or speaking engagements email me at abanjoko@gmail.com! (serious inquiries only)....

WATCH: PBS News and KPIX TV Cover RESPECT: Hip-Hop Style & Wisdom (Exhibit Closes Aug 12th)

                                                   Turntable set by Grandmaster Flash

We wanted to thank all the cool people who supported the RESPECT: Hip-Hop Style & Wisdom exhibit. It has been such a fantastic experience. Above you should see a cool interview from local KPIX station. Additionally, there was another story done by  PBS Newshour. The PBS Newshour story is VERY cool. However, I was deeply disappointed to see that they did not acknowledge me as the creator and Guest Curator of the exhibit. Sadly, that has been a consistent issue for me as far as press has gone. I don't even think Susan Barrett and I are credited on the OMCA site for our work. You see our names in super fine print upon entering the exhibit. But on the site, and in the news our credit has been largely swept under the rug. The Sr. Curator, Rene deGuzman has been amazing in staying PERSONALLY consistent in crediting us. This appears to be more of a quiet institutional move inside the PR/Marketing/Social Media space.  I guess I am too new to the curatorial space to understand how this happened through the duration of RESPECT: Style & Wisdom exhibit.

Finally, the most fun I had was in being on San Jose's Dad Bod Rap Pod. Give it a solid listen. I think you will find it both super fun and super informative.

Also, super shout out to Dr. Cari Borja for having  Rene deGuzman, Eric Arnold, Mike Relm and I to the Apple Store in Union Square in SF to talk about our creative approach to the museum. It was super fun and gave us exposure to an older Hip-Hop curious crowd I did not know existed.

Much love to all our supporters. To our harsh critics, thank you for sharing your insights. I am very thankful to so much of the OMCA staff as well as all the contributors and artists who shared their art, knowledge and time to the exhibit. I am currently working on NEW projects that I hope to share with you soon.

WAIT!!! August 12th at Hello Stranger in Oakland 1724 Broadway, Oakland, CA we will be doing a closing party for the end of RESPECT. Please come through as we have DJ Platurn and some special guests coming to hit the set. Doors open at 9. We will also be debuting the RESPECT Mixtape made by DJ Platurn and epic Oakland scribe Eric Arnold. 

Kanye West Started a Fight in my Class

Kanye West Started a Fight in my Class

By: Adisa, The Bishop

For the past week or so America has been debating the idea put forth by Kanye West that “Slavery
was a choice”.

To protect the identity of the boys we call them Marlon and Mike. As I am resetting the chessboard as
the previous class leaves, Marlon comes in and says “ Mr. Bishop, I gotta tell you some things about
Mike. First off, this nigga is a coon!” he says with a devilish grin. It is important to note that Marlon
has a sharp tongue and loves to roast people. He and Mike have a chess rivalry and go hard on one
another verbally and mentally.

Marlon continues “Yeah man, he said slavery was a choice. He’s over here siding with that Kanye
West bullshit.”

I looked at Mike and said “ You think slavery was a choice?”

Without missing a beat he said “Yeah.”

Marlon cut in “Tell him how stupid he is Mr. Bishop” he said with a nod.

“Hold on, hold on” I said trying to lower the energy in the room. The whole class was watching intently.

“Do you believe that for real?” I asked again. “Because if you do I’d have to suggest that you read
books. Don’t you know how many countless slave rebellions they had back in the day? You had Nat
Turner, Denmark Vesey and then you have White men like John Brown at Harper's Ferry- but there
were many. There were more than I can try to list. We have people fighting our oppression right now!
It's not even over.”

Defiantly Mike shook he head “I would never let anyone enslave me. I ain’t no bitch.”

Marlon jumped right back in. “You’re really dumb. Slavery was complicated. They didn’t have guns.
Where were they gonna get weapons?”

“Wait, wait!” I said. “Mike, you are a descendant of those that were enslaved. If you think they were
bitches, then, in some way you must think you are born of bitches. You are not. You come from
warriors. Warriors who fight the system till this day. You have to know that.”

Marlon is now in a chair setting a chessboard up so he and I can play a game . “This guy is a coon
Mr. Bishop.”

Marlon immediately clenches his fist and says “Let’s box. I’m not afraid of you” and punches his hand
twice. "That will be your face!”

Unmoved by the display of force, he casually says “Mike you know we can’t box because we don’t
have headgear. I would box you if I could.”

Marlon was sitting in his chair with his back to Mike and something in Mike snapped. He grabbed
Marlon from behind and fell to the floor. I just remember the screaming.
Something like “Let’s goooo. Let’s do this!”

Marlon was actually in no active danger. I have been working on teaching him the value of nonviolence.
I got hims singed up at a great martial arts school nearby.The choke attempt from Marlon was not
effective. Marlon looked at me with a face like “This ain’t working and I’m not worried” and raised his
hands like “I’m not responding.” He could have thrown elbows, he could have set it off. He was
present and calm. He knew I would not let either of them harm one another.

I pulled Mike’’s hands away and broke them up., Our security guard came in. Both of the kids
quietly walked to the office.

I could not help but remember what that guy told Kanye as he was leaving TMZ. Kanye’s uninformed
“Slavery was a choice” lie had Black boys fighting one another to reclaim a dignity that they NEVER
technically lost. The struggle never ended.

Shortly after I went to the office to check in on them. The Principal and I had a solid talk with them.
I told them that in my opinion Marlon used supreme restraint and did not fight back when he was
well within his right. I told Mike that both of them needed to have tougher skin when holding onto
polarizing political social opinions.

Mike wasted no time in apologizing to all of us. He admitted that he snapped because in the past
24 hours since taking Kanye’s side kids had been calling him a coon and other names. He was
so upset that he lost it. He said he had been going through "tourture" since siding with Kanye and
he just could not take anymore. I felt bad for him. He was sincere.

Marlon said he accepted Mike’s apology. He understood his frustrations. He said his only thing was
that he felt that because Mike attacked him from behind that he felt it was cowardly. Then he turned
to the Principal and said “I don’t know what you plan to recommend, suspension or expulsion but I
recommend you do nothing to Mike. It was a small incident and it won’t happen again.” They shook
hands. My jaw was to the floor. I have never seen anything like that in all my years of teaching. That
maturity they both showed after the incident was truly unprecedented. The Principal agreed.

I really have to say of all the teens I’ve worked with Marlon has shown the fastest growth overall.
The next time they came to my class they were chill, battling on the boards and talking smack but
maintaining boundaries of respect. I was super proud of both of them. I was happy with the way the
Principal handled it. I gotta say though that Kanye really has become a weapon of division in the
Black community and education circles. I wish he could come to Realm Charter school and talk to
my kids and see the damage he as done. Not just to my classroom, but in many schools and
homes across across the country. Kanye know's too many wise people. He does not need me to
teach him about slavery. But I would if he asked. He needs to use his network and his net worth
more wisely.

As I sat down to play chess with Marlon I looked under the table and saw he had some fresh
“coke white” shoes on.

I said “Those are dope man, what are they?”

Shaking his head with a chuckle he said “Yeezy’s.”

“How ironic” I laughed.

Adisa, The Bishop is the author of Bobby, Bruce & the Bronx: The Secrets of Hip-Hop Chess and Guest Curator of the Oakland Museum of California's current exhibit RESPECT: Hip-Hop Style & Wisdom open until August 12, 2018. 

*The kid playing chess above is NOT a part of the incident.*

Get Better at Chess with this Endgame Lesson!!

Josh Waitzkin always said you start by understanding endgames. I thought this was so weird at first. Over time, I saw its genius. Most people jump into things without really knowing what they want the ending to look like. This can be in chess, or in life.

I think learning endgame concepts is crucial in chess and in life. Enjoy!!

HHCF Juvenile Hall Diary Day 4!!

As I came in on Thursday, I had a lot swimming in my mind. I was thinking about the kid I kicked out. As per my personal rules, if I kick a kid out, he is out the day after. I was contemplating keeping him out for the week.

About 20 years ago, I was studying Confucianism thanks to an old Native American friend (he also introduced me to the beauty of sushi). A scholar from the Ming Dynasty wrote at the time “To go too far, is just as bad is not going far enough.” Was it unjust to keep him out? Was it being weak to let him in given the chances of him coming back with disruption on his mind. He was charismatic. The kids in the hall could follow him.

I checked into the building in a slight haze. As I got in they informed me that today was the last day. I had mistakenly thought it went all week like last years camp. It was not like last year. It rattled me more than I thought. I had plans for them on Friday and now, it was NOT to be.

One of the weirder things about jails and juvenile halls is the sterile nature of the place. The fluorescent lights, peanut butter walls, white walls- they numb you out. Kinda depressing, I can't lie.

So, I came in and I just wrote something on the board:

KING= Your goal.

Strategy= What tools (pieces) will you need to make it happen?

Checkmate= You win/ Victory!

They read it as they came in ready to go. I shook their hand as they entered. The energy was upbeat.

“This is my last day y’all. I did not plan for it to be like this. I thought I would be here till Friday- but I’m out. So, rather than get caught up with a lot of philosophy, let me just say that I loved being with you guys. I don’t know if any of this will stick but I hope you liked learning from me and I hope you liked the games you played.”

They were all sad. “ Aww man that’s weak.” one of them said.

“ I know, but look. Let me just run through some for attack strategies and lets jump on the boards. The main thing I want you to know is you are all brilliant. Your wisdom is not the issue. You are all brilliant. I just want you to get out, stay out and live well.”

We went over knight for puzzles. I was a stickler for ensuring they answered everything algebraic notation. They did it. Then we jumped into some games. It was fantastic.

One Latino student who I taught some moves to, who beat me after I gave him some pointers had blood in his eyes when he sat at the board. We went hard. I got him 3 games straight. He smiled at the end of class and was like. I’m gonna get you tomorrow” smiling wide as we shook hands.

A kid standing behind me said “He’s not coming back it's over.”

His smile went away and he shook his head. You could tell he was running some internal dialogue.

“These were great games man. Great games” I said.

After my break I went into the next class. I wallked in a little early. My classroom was not open. I stood in the pod looking around. One of the kids rooms was dark (they choose if they want their light on or not). In the blackness of the room and glare of the window I could see two eyes lasered in on my face. It was one of my students. He saw me see him inside the darkness. I smiled and nodded. Gave him two thumbs up. He smiled and nodded back. It started to bother me that he was in a cage. That he was in a cage and could still smile, gave me an odd sense of hope though. I’m still not sure what it was all meaning to me.

As I greeted them, the boy who I had issues with walked in. Head up, super proud. I greeted him and shook his hand. He shook my hand but his eyes were emotionally cold. I could tell though that the sincerity of my smile and energy of my greeting caught him off guard.

I quickly told them this was the last day. I was giving some final motivational words. The SAME kid who I just let back in was talking. I politely asked him to stop once, then twice. The third time I turned to him and approached his desk.  

“Come on man” I asked in a pain inflicted tone. “You just got back. I’m chillin’. You know it’s my last day. Are you really going to do this right now. You’re just gonna come in knowing it’s my last day and cool out in the back of the room talking with you boy? Why would you do that?

Before he could respond the kid who I smiled at through the blackness cut in.

“You gotta forgive him. He does not understand plain words. You gotta look at him in his eyes and be like ‘N*** SHUT THE F*** UP!’ a he will chill out.”

The room chuckled, and the kid continued. “Nah seriously, you know how when kids are born their heads are shaped bad. He’s one of those. You gotta massage his head and form it so he can hear you.” More snickers came out across the room.

I looked at Tats and I said “Is that what I gotta do? Help me understand. Because I feel like you are totally disrespecting me right now- and I don’t get it.”

Tats smiled a sincere smile. He said “Look I don’t mean any disrespect to any teacher. Especially to any OG. I respect you OG. I do. I respect all the teachers here.”

Then in a millisecond his face changed. He looked up at the lights and it seemed like he was no longer talking to me. It was like he was standing in the room looking back at himself “At the same time, I’m a man too OG. I’m a man!” he cried out in passion- not anger. “I do my push-ups in the room. I do my crunches. I do my jumping backs. I’m kinda small but I’m gettin bigger. I’m a man.” The guys in the room fell out laughing. Their laughter took him out of his trance. He smiled and laughed a little too. “I know I sound crazy. But I’m serious though.”

I realized in that moment that his issues were not really with me. His issue was he was torn between the boy who was evaporating and the man who was emerging. He was unsure if I told him to be quiet and he did it- was he being weak in a space where being weak made you a target?

“OK. I respect you as a man” said without hesitation. “But I don’t feel like we need to get all into it just to get through a class. These guys are trying to learn too. When you interrrupt, you are taking away from their time, and your time. That’s all I’m saying” I stated with a slight shrug of the shoulders and my palms turned up to the ceiling.

“I got you OG. I’m chillin’” he said sitting back and nodding.

The class went onto to be the best of the week. He played in the best game of the week. It see sawed back and forth between he and another kid. In the end he lost but the game was so epic the whole room was laughing and joking and yelling.

Turns out, Tats was a incredible rapper and dropped some heavy verses before class was out. He shook my hand before he went back to his cell. The kids were all wishing I could come back. I feel the sting of it too. But that class was amazing.

As one kid was goig out the door he said “Can I make money playing chess?”

“No lil bro. No. You want to use the game to build your plan for your LIFE and push hard that way. Then you will get paid. But you have to stay on the boards to really see the levels. You understand?” He nodded and smiled.

The highlight of the last class was with a kid who I knew trained in jiu-jitsu and meditation with a good friend of mine. Apparently a kid from my first class had a problem with him. I heard talk about them possibly getting physical. This kid and I played several games all week. This day we did not. As class was letting out and I was saying goodbye I pulled him aside.

I pointed to the thing on the board about the king, the pieces and the victory. I said “Look, you know I don’t know you that well. But I know your instructor and he would not want you figthing right now. He would want you going back to your room and meditating. He would want you in your room exercising. He would want you to think through this. For me, when I look at you. Your king is FREEDOM. I don’t know what that kid did. But nothing he said, is more important than getting out. Unless he is actively on you trying to harm you- keep it peaceful. Because anything you do is going to get you more time. Don’t give the courts one more second than you have to. Get free and then me, you and your instructor can go train and get some sandwiches and chill. Wouldn’t that be better than being in here?”

He nodded. “OK….OK.” in a tone that told me for the moment he was convinced nonviolence was the best way out. I called his instructor and told him what happened as I left.

Oh! I gotta say there were 4 different rap sessions I saw in the hall. One was from a kid who did not know chess. By the end of the week he did an amazing freestyle about chess and life. He said that he was so confused by the game and he never thought he could learn. I promised him he would know the game and he thanked me for keeping my word.

There was the rap session with the Tats who I just mentioned. It was truly amazing.

Another dope moment was a kid handed me a copy of a song he wrote. It is super deep and covered a lot of painful issues around his incarceration, broken family trauma and loniness he faces. I hope to share it with you in the future. But I have to get some clearances before I can.

Also, the first day  when I asked who could rap they all pointed to this White kid. He was the only White kid in the hall that day ( a few more came in the day I left- it was all Black and Brown). He had bright green eyes and slicked back hair. The verse he did blew my mind. He was getting out that day. This afternoon he reached out to me on Instagram. I’m gonna try to get him to record a song.

I want to thank you all for taking the time to read this and I want to thank all the good people at the Alameda County Juvenile Center for their kindness and support. I want to thank all the JIO’s for their support when I’m in all the units. It is always and honor for me to spend time with incarcerated kids. Much love y’all.

Defend The Crown,

Adisa

HHCF Juvenile Hall Diary Day 2 and 3!!!

HHCF Juvenile Hall Diary Day 2 & 3

OK, so my second day I go in and things get real intense, real fast. The kid with the tats who I played and tried to connect with came in tripping. One of the things about the hall is that things happen there that you don’t know about and cannot control. So even if you come in super positive the internal power struggles between the kids, staff and the kids within themselves can make things volotile.

He came in with another kid and though they were in my room there doing what I call “The ostrich thing.” That is when they pull their sweater over their head and put their head on their desk. I don’t tolerate that kinda activity.

I asked them to chill and show respect to the lesson and the time I’m sharing with them. Both sat back up. Later, he starts talking to his boy about street drama and his case. I remind him he needs to quiet up. He starts poppin’ off dropping n-bombs and stuff. I just calmly walked over to the door and had the JIO ‘s (like a CO for juve) come take him out. He was pretty negative on the way out, but the rest of the class was chill.

The rest of the DAY was chill to be honest. I must say though that the peanut butter colored walls and fluorescent lighting really messes with your sense of internal peace. We worked on how to use your rooks together and I showed them the famous Opera House Massacre game by Morphy and talked about the importance of consistence. “What is the queen sacrifice of your life? How seriously are you taking yourself, and your actions irrespective of who you think is ‘hating’ on you?”

They got it. The gaming that day was super positive and fun.

I had some great games with the kids who I played soft the day before. It was a nail biter from front to back.

Day 3

When came in the hall I had my first thoughts ready to go. The kids came in super positive. I told the JIO’s that I would not be taking the kid who was disrespectful from the day before. I opened by giving them some hard, straight talk to realign their collective purpose.

I wrote in huge letters on the whiteboard: INTELLIGENCE WITHOUT DISCIPLINE IS A CURSE!!!

I reminded them that I chose to be there. “ I struggled with drinking and I did a lot of stupid things in high school, but I never got caught” I told them. “ I dropped out, I had to teach myself the bulk of everything I’m doing today. But I need you to respect my time. If you are not interested in living better than you are, go back to your room.” I let the last sentence hang in the air to emphasize my seriousness.

“You know, between the games I hear you all talking about how the streets love you. How the block has your back. But when I come in the morning, I don’t see any of them in line to see you. Nobody is checking to kick it with you. Where all that hood love at?! I don’t see it” I spat defiantly. You should have seen their eyes. They were staring me down with a lot of raw emotion.

“We can’t have friends here. Only family!” one of the boys snapped back.

Before I could respond a JIO in the room with a voice like Barry White yelled out “So what?! Where y’all letters at? Ain’t nobody writing y’all. Keep it real! Nobody checkin’ for you.” Then he looked at me and nodded.

“The hood ain’t missing you. The block don’t miss you. The block don’t miss me. None of us are special and when we are gone, it keeps going on. My point of saying this is not to hurt your feelings. My point is to ask if that is a fact, why do some of you come into my class and waste my time and my knowledge and wisdom that I am trying to bring to you.?!” I was not yelling, but there was what Bruce Lee would call “emotional content”.

“For the rest of your life, it is unlikely that you gonna meet someone that knew Pac, knew The Jacka, knew Eazy and saw some of the greatest to ever do it- do their thing.” I was wearing a college sweatshirt. I pulled on the shirt at the shoulders and said “These colleges I speak at, I taught myself everything I speak on. I guest lecture there because of all the reading I did. All the hours I put in to get that knowledge. I bring it to you from a place of love because I know you don’t understand everything waiting for you outside.”

I paused to let that sink in.

“Most of you don’t even understand how you got here. I can tell you a little bit of how it happened. In 1967 the FBI rolled out to programs. One was called BLACKPRO and the other was called COINTELPRO. Both were aimed at undermiing Black leadership coast to coast. They had an army of 3,000 informants.”

Now before this keep in mind that J. Edgar Hoover, one of the early heads of the FBI was trying to get Black people to take heroin. But Blacks at the time did not like needles. This was back when most of your grandparents were young. In the 80’s White middle class and rich kids did cocaine powder- but Blacks did crack. Whites got short sentences for powder. Many Blacks and Latinos did life for crack.”

“Today, you kids are all taking syrup. Codeine, promethazine, percocet, etc. All of them are opiates- liquid heroin. You are living the dream that Hoover wanted for your grandparents.”

One of the kids interrupted me. “Stop talking about syrup so much. I want some right now.” a boy confessed without reservation. Despite being under 16 his favorite drink is percocets dissolved in Patron. So scary.

“Look” I continued “The closer you are to those drugs, the closer you are to making a mistake that will get you locked up. It is not an accident. Y’all are kids. Alcohol is illegal right? So how is it that billion dollar pharmaceutical companies are able to lose all this top grade syrup and it just happens to be available for cheap in your hood? How is it for sale by your homies at school. Because it is not an accident.”

I pointed to the a digital display of a chessboard. Right now, in the game of life, you are all in check. It is almost over for you. I hope you realize the seriousness of the times you are living in.” By now the room was pretty silent.

“What is the good thing about being in check though?” I asked the strongest Latino chess player.

“He nodded as he spoke to the class “There is still a way out.”

“EXACTLY!.I cried out. “ Exactly. There is still a way out. That is the blessing. I’m telling you now. Stay sober, study, play this game and find your way out. Let me do that for you. The game ain’t over. You can win this, but let me help you.”

From there we went into studying knights. The games were amazing. The one who admitted his addiction played the hardest and came a long way. Monday he did not know the how the pieces moved. Today he was losing, but he was checking people and growing with the game.

I lost a game to a kid after a foolish exchange. Tomorrow, I'm gonna go super hard. These kids are brilliant.

I took some photos of some of the games that got played. I cannot take pics of their faces. But you see the high cognitive function of the kids. A lot of these teens are considered ADD or ADHD. But look at the high level cognitive function happening. Kids this smart should be recruited by Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and Oracle. They don’t need to hire folks from Asia, India, Africa and China. They can go to NY, LA, Chicago and St. Louis and raise American minds to do this work. Fantastic American genius is being abandoned everyday simply because they were born Black, Brown or poor. Our technology companies need to take big steps to fix this.

I love these moments. I love these opportunities and I thank you for taking the time to read this blog.

PARENTS: Below is a huge song called “Mask Off” by Future that openly promotes the use of “molly” percocets and other opiates to our kids. This style is called Trap Music. The trap is, that if the kids soak in songs like these it leads them to the trap of addiction. I love Hip-Hop. But old school music always had a balanced dialogue. All the popular music on the radio and TV these days is sadly in this vein. Peep the beauty of the melody. IT is an amazingly well produced track. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Future was hired by Hoover.

HHCF Chess and Jiu-Jitsu Team Get Gold and Silver at American Cup!!

Just wanted to congratulate Young Skywalker (in the black on the photo to the left) for getting the GOLD  and Megatron ( in white gi on the right) for getting his SILVER medal at the American Cup in San Francisco.

I want to make sure to thank our wrestling coach Andrew and our other BJJ coach Sammy for all of their help in the preparation for the tournament. We must also acknowledge our head coach Alan "Gumby" Marques, Trevor and Chuck of Heroes Martial Arts. They are our brothers in arms. We appreciate all the insight they gave us in preparation for the event. The HHCF Chess and Jiu-Jitsu Team is proud to be under the banner of Heroes Martial Arts.

As a coach, you get a lot of anxiety in your head about how your students perform. They were both amazing. Not only in action, but in action.

Our team has gotten  a few more students on deck and you will see more of them in the coming the neat future. Lastly, I want to thank all the amazing parents who entrust their kids with the HHCF Chess and Jiu-Jitsu curriculum. They showed immense clarity of mind before, during and after the match. We are actively enrolling kids, teens and adults right now. So far every student who has competed has won a medal. It is not about medals for us. At HHCF in fact, it is the LAST thing we compete for. We compete to represent the art of jiu-jitsu. We compete to share the strategic clarity of mind we get from chess. We play to finish. We never lose. We only win or learn. To join us call  888-588-4418.

HHCF Chess and Jiu-Jitsu Student Neutralizes Bully

Many people often get confused about what we do. At the end of the day, we teach non violence through the fusion of art and logic. We pull wisdom from wherever we find it. But we mostly find it from blending concepts from Hip-Hop, chess and martial arts.  It takes a lot more to explain how we do what we do and why it works. At the end of the day however, we teach peace. That is what HHCF does. The good grades, the scholarships, the trophies are just things some of the kids get on the way to a fruitful life.

The creation of our org, the lectures across the country, our exhibit at the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2014, our championship dance teams, the book Bobby, Bruce & the Bronx: The Secrets of Hip-Hop Chess are all tied to that endgame- nonviolence.

We recently announced our Chess and Jiu-Jitsu classes and I am happy to say it is growing. Each class is a fusion of chess instruction and gaming and jiu-jitsu or wrestling positions. Assistant jiu-jitsu instructor Sammy Teame and wrestling coach Andrew Swank ensure each class is technically on point and physically demanding. In every class we always return to the importance of emotional mastery, kindness and mercy. You always hope these things reach our students, but you are never sure.

The other day one of my students told me had gotten into a physical altercation. He is 14 and while off campus a bully (who was acting very immature) and hit my student in the face with leaves on the branch of a tree branch. My student told him to not do it again in a respectful, but firm way. The bully took it as a challenge and did it again and ran off.

He said to me “I chased him, and then as I got close to him he threw a fist full of acorns at me as he turned to face me.”  From his repetition in training, after being approached he was quickly able to get to the bullies back and begin applying a choke hold. He said he felt the bully tense up  from not being able to escape the hold. The bully could feel the dominance of the position as my student got ready to squeeze. Then my student remembered the talks on nonviolence I gave in class. Released the choke put one hand and put the bully's arm behind his back and pushed him away. He again told the bully to stop being childish and leave him alone. When I asked him specifically HOW he got to the kids back, he replied “I don’t know how. I just got there.” This impressed me.

After being pushed away, the bully got enraged and charged him. Again my student got to his back, and reset the choke. He was angry he said at this point. He let go of the choke again, and bear hugged the bully to prepare to suplex him. Then he said he thought about how dangerous it would be to slam him on cement. He also thought about how mad I’d be at him for seriously hurting a kid he did not have to hurt.

My student let him go. The bully, realizing the level of mercy being given him stopped harassing my student.

I was happy to hear a few things:

1. That he did not recall how he got to the choke. I was happy to see he was not bogged down in mechanical thinking.
2. That he did not fully apply the choke or slam the bully on the concrete. In a world where young men love to express rage and power as others film it I was proud of him for being his own man.
3. That the work I do to teach nonviolence had a tangible outcome that made this kid, his school and the world a little more safe. If only in a super small way, in a small city, with ONE kid- it happened.

His father took me outside and thanked me for teaching his son. I was thankful to him, for trusting me with his son and joining our chess and jiu-jitsu program. I feel good. This is not a scientific study. But it is real. A new student starts tonight. I look forward to helping this youngster grow on the chessboards, on the mats and in life in a similar way. I hope in the future, all of our children can learn how to return injury with kindness through the fusion of chess and jiu-jitsu.

Join today at www.hiphopchess.com