Founded by Hip-Hop author and scholar Adisa Banjoko, is the worlds first scholar to teach how music, chess and martial arts can promote unity, strategy and non-violence. This award winning speaker teaches youth of all backgrounds risk assessment, emotional mastery and how to apply what they see on the chessboard to real life decision making. Follow us @realhiphopchess on IG! You can also listen to Bishop Chronicles podcast on www.bishopchronicles.com iTunes, Spotify and Mixcloud.
Camp Tazo (and event curated and actualized by the good people at TAZO Tea) recently hosted an artists retreat in Shaolin (aka Staten Island NY) to help them overcome blocks in their creativity. RZA of the mighty Wu Tang Clan put together a series of guided meditations for the campers and they are now here for your personal consumption! I hope you enjoy it! They are truly enlightening ideas and we at HHCF are sure they can help you grow in your personal and professional life.
On Friday Bishop Chronicles has an entire show talking about my visit to Camp Tazo. Subscribe to the show on Spotify, iTunes, Mixcloud or Libsyn to listen or visit www.bishopchronicles.com to listen in.
Long before a lot of people cared about NHB (no holds barred) or Vale Tudo (anything goes fighting) I wrote a piece for a small MMA publication called Vale Tudo News. As a new white belt I was loving jiu-jitsu but deeply troubled by the lack of philosophy that worked to balance such a dangerous art. I don’t remember my exact words but I said something along the lines of “ Without a solid philosophy the people learning jiu-jitsu and MMA we will have a country of bulls with no brains or sense of moral duty.”
While it was well received by some, by many others it was just the whining of a new white belt who wished for teacher and pupil scenes from Kung Fu TV show. As I trained in jiu-jitsu I read books like The Art of Peace, The Art of War, various Taoist and Confucian, Christian, Sufi and Buddhist texts. It helped my understanding of jiu-jitsu, violence, non-violence, emotional control and other areas of my life. I believe without question those years of personal cultivation have made me a better student, t eacher and overall human being.
Despite taking the super duper slow route I am now a brown belt under my instructor Alan “Gumby” Marques at Heroes Martial Arts. I teach chess fused with jiu-jitsu to help people cultivate body and mind simultaneously. I currently teach high school, and college courses on chess and jiu-jitsu. I also teach an all ages class on the weekends. I find it very rewarding personally, but I also see impact in both young and adult lives. Some teens I mentored are now graduating from college and thanking me a lot. Others are just finding their self esteem and trying harder in school. Others are just making better decisions as they do their 9-5 thing.
The other day I was really shaken. I learned a student of mine (who trains in MMA and aspires to be an MMA champion as an adult) . He was accused of intimidating and threatening a teacher who is an elderly woman. I was really confused by the incident. I thought when I met him that because he already did martial arts that he was well acquainted with philosophy. As it turned out he was not. Additionally, he is a borderline average student. Even in my class. He aspired to little more than MMA. Skillwise, he certainly has a decent base but it will remain to be seen if he has what it takes in the long run to get to the top ranks of MMA. I thought we would bond. I found him helpful when it was time to do jiu-jitsu demos. From time to time he was a helpful at getting other kids to be inspired about training. More often than not though, he was largely out to lunch academically.
I was very disappointed in him after I learned about the incident. I asked him about what happened. He was less than truthful initially about what he had done. After I told him I had several witnesses, he admitted what happened. I told him about the difference between being a martial artist and a fighter. I explained a martial artist is trying to cultivate their mind and heart- not just their bodies. I told him a fighter is just looking for a check, a mercenary of sorts. I used Bruce Lee and Jon Jones as examples of each (Jones being a fighter). I could not help but wonder if his martial arts teachers push aside philosophical discussions so they can get another round in on the bags.
He was unremorseful about the incident. His lack of remorse scared me more than the incident. Further he admitted he had wondered about if he was a fighter or a martial artist and he said he saw himself as a fighter. I explained that fighters last only as long as their body holds up but martial artists help the community through their teaching and training of others. The boy blinked at me silently with a minimal sense of remorse or desire to lift up his character. Not only did he not care that much, his desire to pretend he cared was equally low. I realized I was looking at one of the young bulls I wrote about all those years ago. Digital tools like Worldstar, YouTube, Snapchat and Instagram fights add to the emotional vacuum our young people live in.
As I left school that day my hope was that he changes. He is young, so, the potential for change is great. When I was his age, I did did a lot of reckless things. Things that made it so nobody I grew up with back then could evision me the way I live now. At the same time I can’t help but wonder if bulls I spoke of years ago are starting to stand up. Is he just one kid in the new era of morally unreachable young men who happen to train as fighters? Without using Eastern philosophy, meditation, chess etc. to balance out the martial arts training, we can only expect more of these kinds of incidents will become commonplace in our society.
You know, when people try to jump in the mix and claim anything.....All you have to do, is look into their past. What were they doing BEFORE what they claim...... I've never been all saint or all sinner. But my evolution as a MAN, and as a lover of peace, is undeniable. I came from a very sheltered suburban place. That led me to a very hardcore Black radical place. That Black radicalism led me to Taosim, Confucianism, Buddhism, Kemetic science and Islam. Those studies let me to nonviolence. My man Kool Kyle just posted an old mix we had an idea for in 2004 (2 years before the existence of HHCF) that championed the cause of MLK Jr. This actually aired on a conservative talk show I used to host. It was one of the things that got me kicked off the air KSFO I think.....Whatever Michael Savage was on....WE were on there via Icicle Networks.....Once of the first internet radio hubs in the bay......Please sit with this, LISTEN to things from MLK you don't often hear and walk with us on this path to peace. ASHE!! HOTEP!! SHALOM!! SALAAM!! PEACE!!http://soundcloud.com/baylando-records/got-m-l-k-megamix-2004
One of the things that I recall most vividly (outside of the moment we all got kicked out for making so much noise- I love it!) was when DJ QBert and Yogafrog walked in. QBert has a chess clock in hand and was like “This is the only way I like to play!” At that time, I had never really played on a clock , but I knew it turned up the pressure on the players. Later in the afternoon Vinay and Q were playing a series of games. At the close of one of them Vinay and Q were locked in a frantic focus and as he checkmated QBert and slapped the button there was one solitary second on the clock. Qbert was laughing almost in extacy holding the clock “Look!!! One second man, this is amazing!’” We were all in a balance of shock and awe. It was then that I realized the importance of bughouse and speed chess. It altered my cultural understanding of chess in America and the world.
For me chess is about fun more than anything. From the fun and the joy, everything else can evolve. But if you try to enforce kids to live and die by the checkmate in the beginning, kids burn out. I’ve seen parents grind their kids through the chess tournament circuit in just a few years. Its like the kid was cursed for having a skill. For having a deep love for the pieces, their young minds were imprisoned on 64 squares. No philosophical angles can thrive when this happens. It is a tough line to walk on how hard and when to push your kids through the eras they want to quit any given sport (especially if they show promise). As a spectator sport, chess games that go on for more than ten minutes lose the attention of all but the most hardcore lovers. While there is an authentic long term wisdom and strategy in the traditional longer games, in a fast food, smartphone, instant message America- most lose interest and in turn lose the wisdom and power of those games.
But almost all of us love a good game on the chess clock. It turns up the heat on our ideas. It forces us to show and prove our skills in 20, 15, 10, 5, 3, 2 minutes. Even the greatest classically trained chess players melt under the rays of the clocks heat. Its as equally beautiful as it is ominous. The clock reveals us. Time reveals all. The dedication you claim to whatever you say you are about will all be played out in time. Time ruins religious hoaxters and political jokesters. It reveals frauds in finance and faith. Nobody can escape its effect, but many try.
Essentially, in the HHCF methodology, the clock represents the finite reality of time. It symbolizes the reality of death. When we are young, it is so hard to imagine the frailty of life. We are running around the earth at warp speeds. We get injured quick and heal quicker. Food is fast, information bombards us in nanoseconds and its hard to make sense of it all. The planet is in a deep series of transitions. Our current rampant wars sparked over land, religion, political, racial and social ideologies are a clash of old and new ideas initializing a ripple effect of separation I believe will lead to a new unity. Our individual lives are a beautiful moment to soak in the beauty of infinity.
On the chessboard, eventually even if you have the best idea on the planet- once time is up it does not matter!! Your best ideas can no longer be actualized. Its over. How tragic to see the clock is done and see the potential victory of the next moment knowing it will forever remain unrealized.
Real life is like that. Many of us, myself included, abuse, misuse and lose time tricking ourselves about what tomorrow we will do. Hours, months, years, decades go by and we find ourselves still talking about the same things we have not yet done. This is a game we only play in our own mind. Look at the graves near you. We all have a day to be born and a day to die. Time is REAL. More real than your egos illusions of what it is capable of. Once your time is up, nothing can bring you back.
I don’t say this to be morbid or negative. I tell you this because I hope to inspire you not to be afraid of death. But not to waste time with your life either. Have fun. Feel the suns rays on your body. Laugh under the clouds. Enjoy the rain on your skin. But know that you must balance your time relaxing with consistent days, months and years of deep focus. Take the enlightenment of your brain and the physical building of your body seriously. If you have an idea about a business, an artistic project, a musical masterpiece, an accomplishment of any kind you want to see happen get on it now. Tomorrow may come, but it may not. Not just for you, but for anyone.
Trust in the power of now. Don’t let fear of failure, an unsupportive family, or fear of success get in your way. Beat the clock. The only way you beat the clock is to not waste your time. Even if you can’t hear it- its ticking right now. Its your move.
Adisa Banjoko is founder of the Hip-Hop Chess Federation (HHCF) and author of the upcoming book Live The Game. The HHCF will drop its new Street Games Vol. 1 Mixtape Nov. 15th 2013. For more information visit the HHCF Facebook page.
The idea of “hip-hop chess” might leave some with a puzzled head scratch. But for veteran hip-hop journalist, certified chess geek and Hip-Hop Chess Federation founder Adisa Banjoko, the marriage of the two seemingly disparate worlds was never a question.
Rappers have always used chess as a metaphor, Banjoko said, be it political, like Public Enemy’s Chuck D on “Rebel Without a Pause” (“No matter what the name, we’re all the same pieces in one big chess game”) or a metaphor for street life, like 50 Cent on “Piggy Bank” (“This is chess not checkers, these are warning shots / After your next move, I’ll give you what I got”).
Even rap mogul Jay-Z acknowledged the importance of chess, noting in his 2010 autobiography, “Decoded”: “My pop taught me chess, but more than that, he taught me that life was like a giant chessboard where you had to be completely aware in the moment, but also thinking a few moves ahead.”READ FULL STORY ....
Summer is here and we got the gear to keep you cool on the hottest block!! The "Measure your moments" T-shirt is a reminder for those rocking it to be calculated in all their efforts. Long ago I read a Confucian book from the Ming Dynasty and one of the scholars from that time said "To to too far is just as bad as not going far enough." That sentence was stuck in my head for years. Ultimately its a reminder of being a person clear on JUSTICE . As you know, an overextended attack in jiu jitsu can end in broken arms and choke holds for the attacker. In chess it can lead to back rank mates, stolen queens and gaps for your opponent to threaten the king.
On the back of the shirt at the top is says 3PA > 1NT....If you roll with HHCF philosophy you already know what that means. Its available online for $20.00, holla at a scholar!!
All shirts are in ash grey with burgundy writing only....The ash grey and navy shirts are COMING SOON!
Get yours today www.hiphopchessfederation.org/hhcfstore
I had a great time this weekend competing in the American Cup for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). It was my first time since I got my recent promotion. I lost on points. But it was amazing. I compete again in 2 weeks at Jiu Jitsu By The Bay on May 15th in Hayward, CA.I hope to see you there. The HHCF is sponsoring it and families from all over the state will be attending. Looking forward to seeing you there.
Alan "Gumby" Marques of Heroes Martial Arts and Adisa Banjoko doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Mind Over Matter II
PHOTO BY: Keba Armand Konte It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face in marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt
