How Martial Arts Can Teach Nonviolence

It is a story I told before, but I had not fully considered the implications of the moment I
learned about Bruce Lee. I was 9 years old when my dad brought home spanking
new technology. A VHS machine and tape deck. The first two movies he had were
Alien and an unknown film called Return of the Dragon. After watching the alien break out of a
guys stomach I was happily avoiding watching that film in its entirety. My 9 year old mind just
wanted to know “Who was this dragon?Where did he go? What is he returning to do?”
Boy were all my questions answered. 

After finishing the film and making some nunchucks out of sawed off  yellow
broomsticks and some chains my older cousin Steve let me borrow (he went
onto become a karate master himself). I bonked myself on the head and hands
over and over until I had some half decent skill. I also went
crazy buying any magazines that were connected to martial arts of any kind.
I also took up Judo and, while not being very good at it, I did love it. 

Being a natural born reader, the magazines helped me understand so much of
the mystery behind the men and the motives of their movements. One of the first
magazines I ever bought burned an image in my head possibly forever. The story
was about a Buddhist Monk in Thailand. The monk is in his robes, head shaven
and eyes gently closed in meditation. To his left as a young aspiring Thai
boxing champion cut deep into the heavy bag with his shin bone. The young
students lean cut body was dripping sweat in his display of full force and focused
on the heavy bag before him. The story went onto note that the Monk had created
a space for young poor kids to train and learn about
Buddhism in hope of them valuing peace.

It may appear hard to conceive, but people who train in martial arts are some of
the most peace loving people I have ever met. I think this is because most people
think they want to hurt someone. But people who really know how to harm someone
don't take pleasure in it. This is part of what keeps them calm when things get socially
tense. The truth is that knowing how to choke someone out almost demands that the
person with that skill understand the value of life.

That is how I always understood the picture in the old magazine. Even that that age, I got it,
but I could not have said it out loud. But I understood it. I saw Bruce always try to figure a way
to think things through and help solve problems. He never wanted to fight. I loved his family and his
Because of that unique entry into martial arts, I always had an understanding that the way of the
warrior and the pursuit of nonviolence were eternally connected. I consider these kinds of events
the some of the seeds of what became the
HHCF philosophy on nonviolence. 

I recommend anyone trying to take their wisdom about inner peace and greater global
peace train in jiu-jitsu, judo, kung-fu, boxing, thai boxing- whatever. Read books like
The Art of Peace, The Art of War, The Prince, anything by Marcus Aurelius Clausewitz and others. Play chess casually to add to your understanding of the art of war. If you train and you do that, you will see things others cannot see socially
and do things other cannot do personally. 

For more on Thailand and Thai Boxing catch Fightworld on Netflix.

Learn more about the connections between Hip-Hop, chess and nonviolence by subscribing to the Bishop Chronicles Podcast on Spotify, iTunes, Mixcloud or Libsyn. You can also buy the book  Bobby Bruce & the Bronx: The Secrets of Hip-Hop Chess by Adisa the Bishop on Amazon. 

Broken Rhythm: Bruce Lee, Musashi & Music

Broken Rhythm: Bruce Lee, Musashi & Music

By: Adisa the Bishop

                       Legendary scene in Return of the Dragon starring Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris

No one debates the cultural impact of Bruce Lee. This is especially real inside the Hip-Hop subculture. His roles as a martial artist and philosopher ensures  his status as possibly the most legendary martial artist ever. However, one of the most fascinating things about Bruce Lee is really not his fighting. It is his dancing. More than that though, it is valuable to look at how his dancing impacted his approach to fighting. Futhermore, it is powerful to study how this fusion of dancing, fighting and music seem to be eternally connected.

Bruce Lee was a champion Cha Cha dancer. In fact, his first job in America was as a dance teacher. This may appear boring on the surface to some people. However, for those who are authentic lovers of music (especially Hip-Hop) it makes the man even more fascinating. The first movie I saw that had Bruce Lee in it was Return of the Dragon. Even then, it showed  a glimpse of his love of shrouding devastating attacks hidden in rhythm. In the final fight scene, Lee fights Chuck Norris at the Coliseum in Rome. Chuck remains formidable as an opponent as long as Bruce stays within the traditional scope of kung fu and karate. However, once he starts hiding his attacks in a boxers rhythm (a la Muhammad Ali) Chuck cannot follow Bruce’s form and soon loses the battle. Few knew his ability to find and break rhythm was rooted in his Cha Cha background. But this connection goes much deeper than one film or one man.

Fast forward to the 2004 martial arts thriller, Hero. Jet Li plays a character called Nameless. In one scene Nameless has a powerful sword fight at an outdoor chess house in the middle of a rain storm. It is a soul stirring exchange of movement, music and strategy. As they unsheath their weapons an elderly blind man plays a sad but beautiful song. The old man plays in the rain slightly exposed to the elements of nature . Before he dives into battle, Nameless reflects on the idea that “Martial arts and music share the same principles. Both wrestle with complex chords and rare melodies.”

Nameless and Sky clash physically and mentally at  the outdoor chess house in 2004 classic Hero.

A few years ago I was given a book called The Straight Lead, by Teri Tom. The Straight Lead was Bruce Lee’s favorite and arguably his most powerful punch. In the book, Tom makes a compelling case for the connection between music and martial arts. “The way fighters play with time is very similar to the way musicians interpret time. You can play behind the beat, on the beat, or syncopate. Staccato or Legato. You can chose to play or let the rhythm section pass you by. The tempo may vary from adagio (slow) to allegro (quick). To the time, you can then add dynamic variations- pianissimo (soft), mezzo forte (moderately loud) or fortissimo (very loud). Fighting has analogous variables. “ The connections between music and martial arts is hard to see in today’s times. This is mainly because in the modern technology wave of mind numbing Worldstar and Instagram knockout clips, the art in “martial arts” has largely evaporated. Nevertheless, it is not gone altogether.

I cannot say for sure that Mayweather studies dance. But when I look at his footwork against McGregor’s mummy-like movements in the first round (although McGregor does appear to use the straight lead with some effectiveness in the first few rounds), Mayweather does move like a seasoned dancer. Not just that, the patterns with which Mayweather strikes his opponents have rhythmic patterns. This was something on my mind as I watched the flight. The more I watched, I saw how the flow of his footwork was levels above McGregor. They say Mayweather pulled McGregor into “deep water”. Water, like dancers and fighters, has to flow. McGregor was drowned in the flow.  

Legendary undefeated self-taught swordsman Miyamoto Musashi is celebrated by martial artists and entrepreneurs the world over for his book The Book of 5 Rings. He killed his first opponent at the tender age of 13. In The Book of 5 Rings he talks about the importance of understanding the rhythm of battle when dueling with swords. It is broken down into several sections: the Earth Scroll, Water Scroll, Fire Scroll, Wind Scroll and the Void Scroll (also known as the scroll of emptiness). Each is admired for having its own sense of rhythm. But more than rhythm, like Teri Tom, he focuses on timing:

Timing is important in dancing and pipe or string music, for they are in rhythm only if timing is good. Timing and rhythm are also involved in the military arts, shooting bows and guns, and riding horses. In all skills and abilities there is timing.... There is timing in the whole life of the warrior, in his thriving and declining, in his harmony and discord. Similarly, there is timing in the Way of the merchant, in the rise and fall of capital. All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this. In strategy there are various timing considerations. From the outset you must know the applicable timing and the inapplicable timing, and from among the large and small things and the fast and slow timings find the relevant timing, first seeing the distance timing and the background timing. This is the main thing in strategy. It is especially important to know the background timing, otherwise your strategy will become uncertain.

While it is simple to just passively look at that idea as just an odd relatable tidbit of information, it is not something easily done. While doing some research on his life, you can find an old scroll about his life called Busho Denraiki. Muashi did not write about himself much. He wrote about swordsmanship. But in the Busho Denraiki you learn that Musashi was not just a swordsman, he was an accomplished painter as well. Further, Musashi was also accomplished in the highly regarded Japanese tradition of Noh dancing. William De Lange’s Origins of a Legend: The Real Musashi notes that Musashi adopted a son named Iori. He notes that, “Irori was taught the Noh dance in plain clothes, it seems Musashi was a keen practitioner of the art.”

Nowhere in De Lange’s work does it attempt to explain how this unequalled swordsman found the time to learn let alone teach Noh dancing. However, the fact that he did know the art of Noh well enough to teach speaks volumes about how the role of rhythm in battle came so natural to him as a fighter.

Currently African American MMA fighter D’Juan Owens spends time in Kampala, Uganda and Dakar, Senegal teaching both b-boying and martial arts to kids. He teaches them the connectivity in both. RZA of Wu Tang Clan teaches a lot about these elements not only in his books, but the entire discography of the Wu Tang Clan is an embodiment of that concept.

Khnum Muata Ibomu aka stic.man of Dead Prez is a respected rapper, archer, vegan health advocate, activist and dedicated martial artist. Songs like Way of Life and Back on my Regimen are excellent examples of how music and martial arts connect in contemporary Hip-Hop. His knowledge of martial arts, music and strategy are so deep I had to ask him his thoughts.

“Practice is the way we get better in the application of rhythm” he told me. Stic said he feels that there is “Some science but it is also art. Self expression is required. My studio is a sacred space just like a dojo for experimentation and practice. Lyrics are precisely chosen and placed just like strikes and footwork.” Finally he notes that both music and martial arts are used “to serve a greater good.”

Jeet kune do, bboy/bgirl dancing, boxing, ballet, brazilian jiu-jitsu, capoeira, noh dancing, swordsmanship - all styles, all contain rhythms. Outside of the practicality of each art, each style speaks to us on an artistic and internal levels. Does every martial artist need to study dance in order to be a better practitioner? Maybe not. However, to totally ignore the importance of dance within the fighting arts is to cut oneself off from new insights and opportunities for victory.

LISTEN to this this episode of Bishop Chronicles Podcast on Bruce Lee and his love for dance and how it informed his fighting. 

Adisa, The Bishop is the Founder of the Hip-Hop Chess Federation and host of Bishop Chronicles Podcast. He is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Heroes Martial Arts and author of The Iron Hook Scroll and Bobby, Bruce & the Bronx: The Secrets of Hip-Hop Chess available on Amazon.

NEW Bishop Chronicles Podcast Shows on Bruce Lee, Eminem and more on Mixcloud!

The growth of Adisa The Bishops' RELAUNCH of The Bishop Chronicles Podcast on www.pharcydetv.com has been received amazingly. We wanted to post some of the shows up here for you on Mixcloud! Our team has been putting in a lot of OT to make sure that you get insightful, fun YET VALUABLE information that you can use to stay inspired no matter what you do.

Take a minute to soak up one of the shows below and send one to a friend of you really like it. Every show is produced by the one and only Mike Relm.

Bishop Chronicles STREAMS M-F 5 PM PST on www.pharcydetv.com and posts to Mixcloud and www.BishopChronicles.com at the end of each week!

LISTEN BELOW!

Eminem VS. MGK  

Hip-Hop, Yoga & Mediation

Mac Miller Drugs and Mental Health in Hip-Hop

Bruce Lee and Hip-Hop

The Crucifixion of Kanye West 

Aftermath of Conor VS. Khabib in UFC 

Adisa Banjoko Hosting Talk on Hip-Hop & Martial Arts June 30th 3-5 at Oakland Museum!!

Saturday, June 30, 2018, 3–5 pm

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In Hip-Hop culture, the barbershop is known as a community hub for news and debate. Inside special exhibition RESPECT: Hip-Hop Style & Wisdom, gather around the Barbershop space inside the gallery to learn from guest speakers focusing on new topics each month. Explore unexpected aspects of Hip-Hop culture. This month’s theme is Hip-Hop & Martial Arts, featuring Gene Ching, Publisher of Kung Fu Tai Chi & kungfumagazine.com, and Adisa “The Bishop” Banjoko, Founder and Executive Director of Hip Hop Chess Federation. 

Included with special exhibition Museum admission. There is an additional $4 charge for special exhibition RESPECT. Advance online tickets are available; choose your date and desired hour of entry.
» Buy tickets

We also have some other special guests coming through....Don't miss this one!! 

New Approaches to Teaching Hip-Hop History at Oakland Museum

The Curatorial Approach to RESPECT: Hip-Hop Style & Wisdom at the Oakland Museum

By: Adisa, The Bishop

Open Arc System (OAS) of Storytelling and Framing History is a method I developed in my approach to planning RESPECT: Hip-Hop Style & Wisdom which opened March 24, 2018 at the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA). Mike Relm and I created this way of approaching curating events while working with Susan Barrett over the course of a year or two. It totally changed the way Hip-Hop is presented, documented and shared with the masses. I have always believed that it is not enough just to cover Hip-Hop history. My job is to cover Hip-Hop in a historic manner. That is what my team and I set out to do.

LISTEN KQED RADIO: https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101864552

Initially, these concepts were employed when I was first working with Susan Barrett when she was Dir. at the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). We did a record breaking exhibit there called Living Like Kings. It was launched a few weeks after the Ferguson Uprising began. Despite Susan’s hard work, there were certainly elements inside the Hall of Fame that were seriously afraid of Hip-Hop, and martial arts. I had to find ways to help others in the WCHOF think around those individuals fear and ignorance- but still connect them to what they loved (be it chess or Hip-Hop). I realized early that it might be better to not dig too deep on the cultural impact of Hip-Hop on chess.  It seemed the deeper I went the deeper they certain people became of Hip-Hop or Black people. I found ways to create “cliffnote” aspects of Hip-Hop in a way that still honored the subculture- without undercutting the actual value of Hip-Hop. It worked. What did was a smash success.

I saw someone who was a hardcore chess historian after giving a talk with Rza to several hundred kids and teens in Stl. I asked him how he liked the exhibit. He said he was blown away by all the things he did not know about chess and Hip-Hop. He acknowledged that he learned a lot more than he thought he would. My job from the beginning was to make sure that if someone came in deeply steeped in Hip-Hop or chess that they walked out knowing more about what they loved and what they were initially unconcerned with than they had anticipated. That, is the hard part. Narrating the story so the novice and the vet can enjoy the exhibit at the same depths with connected coherence and appreciation.

Living Like Kings made history by getting more visitors opening day than the Bobby Fischer exhibit. His exhibit was one floor above ours. Imagine, Hip-Hop beating Bobby Fischer! Living Like Kings proved to be more than just an exhibit. It was a safe place for people to enjoy themselves beyond the racially polarizing chaos fracturing the city and relax. I was very thankful to Rex Sinquefield and his wife Jeanne for their open minds and hearts. It would never have happened without them.

Mike Relm, creator of the amazing video installation at OMCA! Photo SF Bayview

We believe that RESPECT: Hip-Hop Style & Wisdom at the Oakland Museum of California is the best Hip-Hop exhibit in North America if not the world right now. It might be the best Hip-Hop exhibit ever, and I say that with no sense of ego. I say it with utmost loving intention and care for Hip-Hop. I say it because a lot of amazing people came together with not just good intentions but good information that the world needs to see. I say it because we are telling the history of Hip-Hop outside the traditional narratives that are not only not that exciting-  some of them are not even factually true. Rather than getting ensnared in those debates we went in a new direction.

The OAS Framework of storytelling and framing history is something I was doing instinctually but I did not recognize until OMCA hosted a convening. A convening is a gathering of historians and culture keepers where we talked about what the exhibit could look like, who could do what, who should be involved etc. At the beginning of the talk I observed with much sadness how hard people talked to define Hip-Hop. Just asking the question “What is Hip-Hop?” by Senior Curator Rene De Guzman initially brought a lot of classical definitions that I was raised on (rapping, DJ’ing, B-boy’ing, graff and the pursuit of knowledge). However the conversation quickly evolved into discussions of beatboxing, double dutch jump rope, etc. As all those present were passionate about the topic some people seemed to be moving towards argumentation rather than an open discussion.

The more I thought about it, what I knew as Hip-Hop classically had evolved into so much more than that Kool Herc, The Rocksteady Crew, Grandmaster Flash and others had seemingly initiated. First of all, we had to look at the idea that the classical 1973 “creation” of Hip-Hop is not wholly accurate. Eric Arnold really hammered this idea home in his research. You can see his ideas on the Hip-Hop timeline at OMCA. What we mean for instance is that there were many rebellious aerosol can artists before 1973 across the country.

The first graffiti I recall was on a short pedestrian bridge in SF in 1975 as I approached my grandmothers house on the edge of the The Mission District, in Noe Valley. It read simply “Vietnam Killed My Brother” and it was painted in a hard place to remove. Thousands of cars ran under it every day. Every time we visited her I read it. I thought Vietnam was an individual who killed this persons brother. I asked my parents one day about Vietnam and they tried to explain it as best they could to a 5 year old about war and how many needless people died. Now was that Hip-Hop? Maybe not in the classical sense. Maybe it was. What had occurred on a psychological level though was that I understood art as a form of open rebellion. This was 7 years before I knew Hip-Hop existed.

Beyond that there were other regional dances than b-boying happening in the streets. Journalist and critical thinker and arts advocate Eric Arnold (who wrote extensively for the exhibit) notes that Boogalooing (Eric talks about this in the KQED link towards to the top), popping and locking were getting their start on the west coast before 1973.. There were rebellious forms of oral poetry in the mid 1960’s (The Last, Poets, Watts Prophets, Gil Scott Heron, Nikki Giovanni etc.), Black funk music was evolving in different ways. What came together to be known as Hip-Hop got its embryonic baby legs in the South Bronx. However, it seems to me that it was a cultural  inevitability on a national scale. Let me be clear, what Herc, Bam and Flash did was huge and crucial to the creation of what we now know as Hip-Hop. But the wave of artistic rebellion of Black and Latino youth was untouchable force the world could not stop.

Beyond that, we have to look at how quickly things changed from the first five elements of Hip-Hop. Everything from Grandmaster Flash's’ creation  FlashFormer (which allowed people to transform scratch without a mixer), to rap producer Marley Marl’s innovations with sampling specific drum sounds to create new patterns etc. led to technological innovations by the artists and corporations. The Turntablist movement (using the turntable as a musical instrument) created by DJ Disk, DJ Qbert, Mixmaster Mike, DJ Apollo, DJ Flare and others overturned the entire mixer and turntable design industries. All of them consciously working to accommodate battle DJ needs.

In the early 2000’s DJ Vlad took the courageous step of using CDJ 1000’s. Many traditional DJ’s who used vinyl regularly mocked him and chastised him for moving forward with technology. I remember him saying then “Why carry huge crates of records around party to party when I have software that can hold thousands of songs? Today it is a standard and the DJ’s who laughed at him then use similar equipment now, without ever mentioning his courage, vision and influence.

These days folks are making whole albums on their phone! If you said a phone was Hip-Hop 20 years ago people would have laughed at you and beat you with the phone. Now they are collabing, sharing files in the cloud, DJ’ing, sharing dance routines, making album covers etc.

The problem in the traditional framework used by most museums and university archives is that they use dated, boilerplate methods for telling you the who, what, where when and why any given thing happens. This archaic way of sifting through the granular, often conflicting elements of the Hip-Hop subculture make it hard for institutions to be authentically engaging.

This is why our approach had to serve as the root framework for Open Arc System (OAS). a living breathing global subculture as ever expansive and vibrant as Hip-Hop. It has to be told in a new way- we have found that way.

A huge part of OAS method that made OMCA is how ahead of the curve they were on making museum exhibits interactive. A friend of mine who recently got his Doctorate in Education told me OMCA knows more about educating kids than most school districts. We invited battle champion DJ AkikoLuv to our first gathering of culture keepers. She brought a portable turntable to the meeting. The son of another DJ was addicted to scratching with it. He was about 6. We knew having turntables, beat machines, mics, tagging areas and open space to dance would be crucial to the exhibit from day one. But that moment was magic for all of us.

Senior Curator at OMCA Rene Deguzman, Fashion Consultant Susan Barrett of Barrett Barrera and Guest Curator Adisa Banjoko Photo SF Bayview

Rene DeGuzman, Penny Jennings, Rhonda Pagnozzi, and their team worked with us tirelessly to ensure that Hip-Hop was experienced- not just seen under glass. The idea was always that if we can let them experience Hip-Hop through direct participation that we would not need to tell them every “element” of Hip-Hop. By engagement in the art itself, all visitors would know Hip-Hop for themselves.

Opening night, I saw an elderly women and men making beats. I saw kids scratching on the turntables and families playing chess and dancing together. It was perfect.

Looking at it there are a lot of pro's to this approach.

Pro’s and Con’s of Framework:

Pro’s:

1.Storytelling becomes more fluid.

2.Institutions do not have to burden themselves with having definitive positions on Hip-Hop history. What Kool Herc ate for breakfast may be interesting to some but it does not define the depth of one's knowledge. We lead the visitors down open paths of Hip-Hop that are not burdensome.

3. The traditional artist profiles and histories do not have to be mandatory parts of an exhibit. It helps the space breathe more and

4. Specifically using the video remix method of Mike Relm we are able to create dynamic engaging content that connects generations. For example he remixed Cardi B’s Bodak Yellow over 90’s classics (Jay Z, Aaliyah and more!). Teen girls cried out “Ayyye!” as soon as they saw their icon rapping. The

moms were clapping to. But that was because they heard her rapping over Jay Z and Aaliyah.  These videos also allow you to celebrate the local Hip-Hop culture and still honor the national icons on the same level.

         5. We do not attempt to define your interpretation of what Hip-Hop is or may be. Is it anti-establishment? Is it a part of mainstream America now? Has it lost its political edge? None of that is our job. Our job in the OAS method is to deepen your exposure and point you in the direction of where to learn more of what you want. This is your life and your art to interpret as you wish.

Con’s:

1. Sometimes artists may feel slighted that their specific histories are not outlined for visitors. However, due to the rich multimedia section and the manner in which we ultimately we point in the direction of all subsections that exist in Hip-Hop. Granular knowledge of the elements we believe is on the visitor we are simply the guide.

In conclusion, we believe that in 5 years most museums and universities will use Open Arc Systems to tell Hip-Hop narratives. Further, we believe that in 10 years other artistic mediums will be using Open Arc Systems to tell other stories. This is not a Hip-Hop specific methodology. If your museum, brand etc., is in need of being re-framed please feel free to reach out to us. We would love to help you breathe new life into your exhibit. I can be contacted directly at hhcfteam@hiphopchess.com for serious inquiries.

An Open Letter to Bruce Lee from Hip-Hop Chess Federation

Dear Bruce Lee,

        On the 44th anniversary of your death, I find myself very short on words. I was only 3 when you passed away. It would be 6 more years for me to learn who you were. But my life after that was forever changed. I still remember it very vividly. 

        In the Summer of 1979 (yes I know, I'm quite old) my father came home with some of the newest technology in his hand. It was a VHS tape recorder. For the first time, American's could watch movies in their house as often as they'd like. The first two films my dad brought were Alien and Return of the Dragon. I did not know who Bruce Lee was at the time. I had seen a few Shaw Brothers films before, but I didn't really care about them much at the time. 

        I walked into my parent's bedroom and I saw you destroying people in the alley behind the restaurant in Italy. I asked my dad "What is this?!" and my dad explained to me who you were. It was the middle of the movie so I left and ate so it could finish. Then, I went back in and watched it from the beginning. It is hard to say exactly what I felt. It is hard to explain all the questions I had in my head. How can a man move like that? How can a man fight like that? How can a man be so skinny, but so strong? How can a man be so good at beating people up but be so nice? None of those things had answers that satisfied my mind. 

         There was not much I could do about it either. The only thing I could do was to try and make some nunchucks. I immediately went downstairs and took a hacksaw to an old yellow broomstick and put my 9-year-old elite craftsman skills to work. A year or so before, I went to visit my older cousin Steve. He was a cool older dude who looked like one of the Jackson 5. While sitting in his living room, I saw an old metal chain (very small) sitting on his coffee table. I asked him for no reason if I could have it. He said yes. I had no idea what it would be used for. Once I saw you, Bruce, I knew it was meant to be the links between my sticks. I still thank my cousin Steve till this day for giving me that chain. Till this day, he does not even remember giving it to me. I hit myself 100 times the first day I made them. But I did not care. I kept going. I'm nowhere as good as you, but I still have enough to beat up some guys in an alley if I need to with nunchucks. 

           A few years later, I had a friend at Pacific Heights Jr. High named Jamal. He wanted to be a stuntman when he grew up. He was the first kid I remember that I knew, who loved you as much as I did. We used to jump and fall down hills and climb walls trying to be like you. In the 1980's there were spots in almost every major city called Kung Fu Shops. I don't know what they were really called. They sold ninja stars, nunchucks, knives, and all kinds of weapons. The one I knew of was around 25th and Mission in San Francisco. I went there more than a few times to get stars. I still have one somewhere at my parent house. I think it is nuts they sold that stuff to us. But I am glad they did.

          I loved your other movies as well, but none as much as Return of the Dragon. Nothing can ever recapture the wonder that exploded in my head and heart the first time I saw you. Years later when I got ready to be married, I came to study you again. I never realized the responsibility of a man to keep the house safe. At the same time, I did not want to own a gun. I was studying the stick fighting art of Escrima, but I was really bad at it. My friend taught me about Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and I learned as much as I could be based on as little as  I had access to. So many jiu-jitsu players are driven by your work ethic. So many people of all styles aspire to match the clarity in your movements. 

        For my birthday, I was given the Tao of Jeet Kune Do by a San Jose graff writer and my life was never, ever the same. I was already a rogue scholar of Eastern philosophy and history. But to see your ideas on paper. To see your sketches. To see your philosophies opened my head and my heart in ways that are still happening. Your work gave me moral courage. Your writings helped me be proud to be Black just as you were proud to be Chinese. Your willingness to train Black students and White students at a time when racial separation was so common pushed me to study other cultures more diligently. Every time I get ready to eat bad food I feel like I can hear you telling me to stay away from it, that it won't make me a better warrior. I read a lot about Chinese medicine and tea because of you till this day.  

       My book Bobby, Bruce & the Bronx: The Secrets of Hip-Hop Chess and my organization The Hip-Hop Chess Federation would not exist were it not for you. I recently spoke in Washington DC about you at the Kennedy Center. The entire community of Hip-Hop loves you. Thank you for making Hip-Hop better. So many rappers, DJ's, Bboys and Graff writers have worked to improve themselves because of your efforts. Your impact can be seen in the work of Public Enemy's S1W's to Wu-Tang Clan, Mixmaster Mike, Andre Nickatina and Dead Prez. So many Black people eat better because of you. So many Black people think better because of you. Thank you is such an insufficient phrase as a response to your contributions. I can only promise to champion the value of your work and to encourage others to embrace your ideas as much as I can. I started out so sad writing this. Right now though, I feel happy. I think I am happy because the ripple effect of your work is yet undone. I look forward to the joy and peace your work continues to inspire in my own life and others around the world. Much love always. Peace Bruce. 

Much Love,

Adisa Banjoko 

        

Bushido Beats: The Art of War in Hip-Hop Production

By: Adisa, The Bishop

There is a powerful trend in Hip-Hop production growing outside of the rap industry. It is happening organically in the free landscape of the internet. I call it Bushido Beats.

Back in the early 1990’s, I was in a rap group called Freedom T.R.O.O.P. 187. I used to be obsessed by studying Taoism, Buddhism and Confucian scholarship. I used to go with my friend MC Hi-Low to Shambala Books on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley, CA. We would buy whatever we could find. Once I bought a tape of some Japanese flutes and another of a Japanese harpist (sadly both their names escape me now). Back then Hi-Low and I always said we were gonna put the melodies to a beat. We never did. Luckily a lot of other rap artists emerged with Eastern-themed music. DJ Premier did a lot with Jeru and Afu Ra, and of course the Wu Tang Clan.

Many years ago I interviewed Shaolin Monk Shi Yan Ming (Kung Fu teacher and mentor of RZA)  for the Yoga Journal for a story about rap artists who practice meditation and do yoga. He said “When people listen to Hip-Hop, they dance and are happy. This is also meditation. RZA, when he writes songs, uses philosophy to help people. He is giving people meditation.”

When he said it at the time, I was much more of a yoga practitioner than a meditator. I respected it, because how can you not respect the wisdom a Shaolin Monk speaks. At the same time, I felt it was a little over the top. Now that I do practice many forms of meditation, I am still shocked at how strikingly accurate his words were.

About a year or so back, I got online looking for Wu Tang instrumentals. I had just finished listening to El Michels Affair Album Enter the 37th Chamber. It is a collection of Wu Tang classics replayed. He just released a new one, Return to the 37th Chamber with some fantastic tracks on there as well.

In any case what happened next was fantastic. It suggested I play a song called King by an artist named Ronin. It opens with a mellow meditative stringed instrument. Shortly after a bold bassline and military drums and flutes masterfully emerge. The end result is quite spectacular. From there I learned Ronin had another song called Mesa and that this was indeed a full music genre with the participation of artists from all over the planet. I feel like if Bruce Lee were alive today, he was bump this hard. One can dream.

Keep in mind these are created to be instrumentals. Rappers are not needed for this music to enjoy a lane of its own in cyberspace. A great deal of it is very aggressive. You can imagine Sun Tzu commanding 10,000 troops into battle to some of them. Others are laid back and quite relaxing. A great example of this beat is simply called Asian Rap Beat  posted by Thai Rex. I cannot tell if Thai Rex made the beat or just posted it. It currently has more than 2 million views on youtube. Other artists who deserve an honorable mention in the space include (but not limited to) Raven, Justin Kase, and VintageMan Beats and  Ratz Beats who now has more than 5 million views with Shaolin Style Type . Two of my other favorites is a Grillabeats Kontaru and Trapanese by Sez. It has massive bass and will surely blow your parents speakers if given the chance.

At the HHCF Chess and Jiu-Jitsu classes these beats are often banging as students enter the academy. There is something magical to me about the music helping to set the tone. Now, there are other days when we train in complete silence. Both have their benefits.

It is important to note that these are not new tracks. Some of them have been around between 5 to 7 years or more. The consistency the Bushido Beats emerge with is proof of its staying power. Keep in mind that this is an internet phenomenon that has no place on commercial radio or TV. And it appears to be growing.

I keep seeing people post tracks as “Asian type this” or “Oriental Hip-Hop beat”. I am choosing to name this style of production Bushido Beats. At the end of the day, it is still Hip-Hop. Real Hip-Hop. True Hip-Hop made for the love of the path, not pop music galore.

This is music that I workout to. This is music I write to and sometimes meditate to. I find it inspiring. It motivates me through my yoga poses and drives me to knock out another set when I want to quit.

When trying to understand and accurately measure the impact of the Wu Tang Clan on the planet, this emerging genre is yet another manifestation of their seemingly infinite legacy. At the same time it is important to note the roll that local traditions have in the global expansion of Hip-Hop. It makes total sense that Wu Tang or not, a DJ in Japan or China, India, or Tibet might want to add some local music from their tradition to give an original stamp on what they make.

If you know artists who make beats like these, please tweet me the link with the hashtag #BushidoBeats @hiphopchess on Twitter.

As a bonus I'm gonna add this Mike Relm produced jam called The Iron Hook Scroll. Enjoy!