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.

What Are You Willing to Sacrifice in Chess and Life?

Scene where Larry Fishburne's character "Vinny" plays a young Josh Waitzkin in Searching for Bobby Fischer


You're dealing with a king not a kong out here/ You're a pawn, but we can get along out here!

- Jidenna, Chief Don't Run

These days mainstream TV has been pushing a lot of chess on the screen. Television shows like Fresh Off The Boat, Luke Cage and The Get Down all made chess references in the last two seasons. My boy Mike Relm even called me to tell me the movie Get Out had some references to chess and mma in it.

While a lot of popular players inside chess like to talk about the likeness of chess to life, very few of them are able to share consistent connections. It also hard to do it effectively and consistently. We all know it makes sense to make better decisions in our life. We all want to. Many of us struggle to. However, looking at the life of chess players like Paul Morphy or Bobby Fischer (who both went insane) or others like Mikhail Tal (who was an amazing thinker but was not the best at taking care of his health) make it hard to argue that playing chess alone ensures a good life ahead.

Nevertheless, American chess icon Josh Waitzkin's’ The Art of Learning is one of the best testaments to the relationship between life and chess. It makes looking at the way one can incorporate chess themes in your life digestible. This is important. Especially for someone like me, who is not a world class chess player.

The Hip-Hop Chess Federation (HHCF) is one of the only organizations dedicated to the chess and life strategies theme. We were founded on the idea to keep the connections between life and chess easy to understand and share with casual players.

One of my favorite examples of chess and life is found in the classic game from 1858 by American chess legend Paul Morphy in his game against Count Isouard and The Duke of New Brunswick called “The Opera House Massacre.” It was played in Paris at an Opera House. The Count and The Duke took turns moving the black pieces.

Move 12 for black is a pivotal point in the game. I always ask my kids (almost all of them beginners) who is stronger between white and black. I often get the response that black is stronger. My thought is that black is a better defender of their king, but they have zero active attacks going on. Meanwhile, white has more pieces active in the battlefield. In chess as in boxing, good defense is important, but it is equally important to making sure you have deliberate attacks happening as often as possible.

Moves 16 shows white running the queen to the back rank.  It looks like checkmate at a glance. That is only because many beginners forget to use their knights laterally. They tend to only move them forward and back. These two images are so crucial tactically and philosophically for us in HHCF. We talk about the importance of two things:

1) Morphy had clarity of vision. He saw the truth in the positions he played. One of the biggest problems in life is trusting yourself. Before many of us make a decision, we ask a friend or two “Is this a good idea?” Sometimes they agree, other times they don’t. Other times the response from friends is mixed. Very few of us can laser in on what we see and act from a place of inner conviction. Chess helps us teach ourselves to trust in the reality of what we see. It helps us form a habit of taking the best actions based off of that clarity of vision. One of the best ways to really make a habit of knowing if it IS what it looks like it is- is to play chess.

2) Sacrifice. The word sacrifice is defined as “destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else.”  Sacrifice  is something you must give up or risk- for a greater good (we hope). We have to recognize though that anything you sacrifice is only worth it, if you win! So then let’s ask, “Where are the sacrifices we need to make to achieve our life goals?” Ask anybody (but especially kids) what they want to be, or do, and you get a lot of passionate responses.

Right now, there is a kid on a football team. Let us call him Rashad. If  is truly a top tier player he is spending a ton of time in the gym, studying his playbook, studying film, working hard to make sure his grades are up to par so there is no question about his eligibility. The entire time that is happening Rashad is missing out on school parties, on trips to the amusement park, on online shenanigans etc. Over the course of his high school journey, there are many social events he misses out on.

However, in senior year we see he gets a full football scholarship to a top tier university. Everyone at the school is so excited.  Very few of his fellow students, friends or family realize the years of sacrifice it took to get that opportunity to come to life. “Rashad is so lucky!” they say. Never considering all the years of study and effort it took to get “lucky”.

The question for my class (and my question for you today) is what is the queen sacrifice in your life right now? The queen is powerful, dynamic and brings terror to her opponents on sight. No person lightly gives her away. One only sacrifices her, if they are clear that victory is sure. Training yourself to be willing to let go of the queen is so hard. Few of us can do it. I wrestle with it often. But it must be done.

As on the board, so in life. Next time you are thinking or talking about anything major that you want to accomplish. Think about the last three big things you did to actualize that goal. If it is diet related, don’t lie to yourself about the cookies you snuck in last night. If it is financial, don’t forgive yourself for for spending money you could have saved on shoes.

Look for the hard sacrifices you need to make. Look at your personal goals and work to consistently make the sacrifices needed. If you are not making the sacrifices you may be unclear on what you want and why. Look into that. If you are afraid to give everything to get what you want then don’t complain. Until you are ready to put it all on the line you will never reach the level you say you seek. Enjoy your games.

Watch the entire Opera House Massacre played out here: https://www.chess.com/blog/Boogalicious/morphys-opera-house-game

Community Art Discussion in Oakland April 7!!

Alice Street Symposium Addresses Gentrification, Displacement, and Cultural Resiliency

On April 7, the Community Rejuvenation Project (CRP) will host the Alice Street Symposium on Community Engagement Strategies and Best Practices. The event includes a screening of director Spencer Wilkinson’s “Alice Street Short” documentary film, two presentations, and a moderated panel discussion followed by an audience Q&A. The event’s objective is to facilitate a dialogue between community leaders, arts practitioners, funders, and public officials focusing on community engagement strategies using arts to address issues of gentrification, displacement, and resiliency.

As Oakland’s gentrification epidemic continues, cultural arts practitioners and low- and middle-income residents now find themselves threatened with displacement -- which creates an opportunity for common ground with historically-underserved communities of color. “Alice Street” spotlights these issues through a unique perspective – the painting of a massive mural which becomes a connecting bridge between two neighboring yet seemingly-disparate communities, as well as a symbol of the gentrification threatening communities or color and artists, and the struggle for equitable development.

The symposium will further explore key issues and themes of the film: the role the cultural arts play in resiliency efforts of historically-underserved communities; community responses to concerns and threats of displacement; the impact of new development on ethnically-diverse neighborhoods; how murals transform and reshape blighted neighborhoods; the importance of community engagement efforts in public art projects; and how public art can be a connecting link to a city’s cultural history. This event will engage and inform at-risk populations, culture keepers, arts advocacy organizations, and policymakers by identifying and sharing cultural resiliency best practices as part of anti-displacement efforts which seek to mitigate the negative impacts of gentrification.

Presentations by CRP founder/Executive Director Desi Mundo and Roy Chan of the Chinatown Oral History Project will share stories of cultural resiliency and the evolution of community engagement models. Chan will focus on Tai Chi practitioners in Maidson Square Park who have faced constant threats of displacement and Oakland Chinatown’s long history of resiliency in the face of land grabs by the city of Oakland, developers, and BART. “With Oakland's recent push for new development such as the Lake Merritt Station Area Plan, this story highlights ever more the importance of sustaining cultural identity in long-standing ethnic neighborhoods like Chinatown,” Chan said.

Mundo will relate the evolution of CRP’s community engagement model and the development of their pavement to policy approach to public art policy over the past decade, as well as how cultural arts practitioners can play important roles in community-based advocacy efforts around equitable development and calls for increased investment in the cultural arts as an economic development strategy. “Without embedded arts advocates within the structural framework of the city, artists have been forced to speak up for themselves and navigate the complex processes to stay afloat, as rental costs increase exponentially,” Mundo said. “The arts are critical tools in the fight against gentrification and the retention of cultural identity. At the core of that is community engagement."

The panel discussion will be moderated by CRP Communications and Policy Director Eric Arnold, and features local historians, culture keepers, artists, and organizers.

The symposium will take place on Friday April 7, 2017 from 12 PM - 3 PM at the Elihu Harris Memorial Auditorium at the State Building and is free to the public. This event is sponsored by the Akonadi Foundation and Assemblyman Rob Bonta’s office. For more information, contact Eric Arnold at escribe68@gmail.com/(510)-681-8213 or visit www.crpbayarea.org and www.alicestreetfilm.com.

HHCF Raw Power Team wins USA National Championship!!!

HHCF "Raw Power" dance team took GOLD at USA Nationals in Anaheim a few weeks back. I'm very sorry for posting so late about this. This is a HUGE deal and I'm so proud of the team. The category was in Senior Contemporary. A lot of our dancers are also chess players.

In that category we did Lyrical Dance, for those who have not seen it looks like rhythmic ballet. The choreography is made to complement the lyrics. The routine was done to Empires POWERFUL. It was so cool. I wish we could show you the video. If you are interested in joining one of the best dance and cheerleading teams in the bay area- hit us up. 888 588 4418.

HHCF Chess and Jiu-Jitsu Representative Takes Gold at Jiu-Jitsu by the Bay!

Congratulations to HHCF Chess and Jiu-Jitsu representative Andrew for winning GOLD in his division at Jiu-Jitsu by the Bay this past weekend. It was a great event with a really tough bracket. There were truly zero slouches in his bracket. Every match was a battle. Andrew is not only a member of our team, he is the wrestling coach and an amazing mentor to our kids. 

He embodies the physical and philosophical attributes that the HHCF Chess and Jiu-Jitsu program teach. He is a young man of immense character. It wasn't until after his second match he told me he had come down with what he thought was the stomach flu. He fought ANYWAY. 

I want to thank my instructor Alan "Gumby" Marques and every member of the Heroes Martial Arts team for being an amazing family. Next week our kids will be competing in SF. We expect to bring our best and nothing less. 

                                                                    Defend the crown! 

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

BREAKING: HHCF Launch Chess & Jiu-Jitsu Classes!!

Hip-Hop Chess Federation Unveils a Fusion of Chess and Jiu-Jitsu to Promote Peace on the Streets  

HHCF Launches Chess & Jiu-Jitsu Class to Promote Fitness and Nonviolence

3/15/17 San Jose, CA- Hip-Hop Chess Federation 501(c)3 is proud to announce it has created a Chess & Jiu-Jitsu class for kids, teens and adults. The class is the brainchild of the HHCF’s Founder, Adisa “The Bishop” Banjoko. Mr. Banjoko holds the rank of brown belt and is author of The Iron Hook Scroll (a book on submission holds) and the self improvement book Bobby, Bruce & the Bronx: The Secrets of Hip-Hop Chess. The book illustrates how strategies from Hip-Hop, chess and martial arts can be used to build short and long term goal setting. It seamlessly connects concepts found in shows like The Get Down, Luke Cage and The Breaks to daily life. His lectures on this topic have brought his unique brand of wisdom to podiums at Harvard, Stanford, Oberlin College in U Conn among others. The Bishop was recently the recipient of The Legacy Award by Rock The School Bells for his consistent work in the field. The organization is an innovator in the space of STEAM and STEM.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one of the fastest growing sports in the country. Rap artists like Rakaa Iriscience of Dilated Peoples, Public Enemy DJ Johnny “Juice” Rosado, and even R&B artists like Usher have spent time learning the art. DJ Qbert even made a song about it on his last album.  At the same time jiu-jitsu masters Rickson Gracie, Ryron Gracie, Carlos Machado and others have shown a consistent affinity for the game of chess. The HHCF however is the first organization to ever fuse both arts into one class.

“This class is built for average people to discover and actualize their extraordinary potential” stated The Bishop.  “We show the overlapping mental and physical themes between chess and jiu-jitsu. It was something I envisioned when I started HHCF a decade back. I recently had a chess student I wanted to test my theories on. In less than four months we took him from ‘What is jiu-jitsu?’ to taking second at the US Open. Now what I taught him, I want to teach around the world in hope of promoting peace and nonviolence across the globe.”

The organization teaches that chess is jiu-jitsu for the mind and jiu-jitsu is chess for the body.”

Right now the HHCF Chess & Jiu-Jitsu class has a solid group of  students (a mix of kids, teens and college age adults) taking the class and the growing interest shows no sign of slowing down. “People always say the Hip-Hop community never offers solutions to violence in the world. Our program proves them all wrong.”

For more information on workshops and how to join visit www.hiphopchess.com

Adisa Banjoko on Tupac, Machiavelli and Chess at Skyline College THIS SAT

From Machiavelli to Makaveli: The Strategic Life of Tupac Shakur

RTSB Facilitator: Adisa Banjoko

This presentation will cover Tupac’s life in jail and how reading the works of Niccolo Machiavelli and Sun Tzu’s Art of War helped him prepare for his years at Death Row.

If you live in the bay area you should come out to this!!! 

For more info visit www.rocktheschoolbells.com 

Listen to Adisa Banjoko on The Dope Science Show!! #Chess #Steam #Stem + more!!

If you have never heard The Dope Science Show, you are missing something extremely cool. A week or so back they were kind enough to interview HHCF's own Adisa Banjoko about all things related to Hip-Hop, chess, science, steam, stem and all things in between. We encourage you to check it out, follow them and enjoy a fun conversation. Shout out to Science Stuff with Steph for being a great host. Be sure to follow @thedopescience show on Twitter. Here is the link to THE DOPE SCIENCE SHOW!

Rock The School Bells Gives HHCF Legacy Award!!

Much love and thanks to Rock The School Bells for honoring us with the coveted Legacy Award. If you are unfamiliar with the organization they are a leader in Hip-Hop Education. Their next event is March 11, 2017!!! I will be there giving a talk on Tupac and strategy. For more info visit Rock The School Bells site today!!!

Unity in Diversity Was Amazing!!! Amazing

Moderator Miki Noda, DJ AkkikoLUV, Zumbi of Zion I and Sumi Dumela on the technology and culture panel.

Gratitude. That is all I can define my heart's state as. This Sat, the HHCF hosted it's inaugural Unity in Diversity event. It was an attempt to bring a select number of technology people, artists and educators together and talk about the things we love. In the history of my life I have thrown many, many events. All with varied rates of success and failure. Never has any one event I've thrown seemed so well quarterbacked and prepared only to quickly disintegrate at a rapid rate before my eyes. It went from a two day event to a one day event.

The short version of what happened is that I was overextended as a person. As a father, as a husband, promoter, a teacher, a jiu-jitsu student and a friend. But we all have our own issues. It's not all sunshine and rainbows out here. I know that. After a point though, the disintegration was so consistent my heart was becoming hard.

I almost canceled it all a day or two before. Were it not for the actions GOD, of my wife and kids, and friends like Itoco Garcia Paul Moran Chuck Creekmur, AkikoLUV Tomie KingKash Lenear Kevin Clark, Amir Abdul-Shakur and his family, Jay Williams D'Juan "Dirty South" Owens Vince Bayyan Andre Swank, Alan Marques, Iriscience there is no doubt it SURELY would have been canceled.

As I sat up till 4:30 AM the night before I was being terrorized by many levels of failure the event could reach. I was trying to preemptively apologize all the mistakes. Then I realized no matter how bad, or good your world is going. All you can do is get up, take a shower and walk out the door and see what the next day brings. I want to apologize to all the people who were scheduled to speak that were unable to participate due to circumstances beyond our control. I'm resolved to ensuring you all participate in Unity in Diversity II which will be announced in the coming months.

Despite my fears about low turn out and other concerns, Unity in Diversity was amazing. The panels were off the chain. The moderators were on fire. The crowd was dope. The beats banged. Styles were dropped. Lessons were taught. The opening Hip-Hop and Education panel moderated by Daniel Zarazua with Jose Guerra, Mazi Mutafa, Leroy Moore, Dr. Elliot Gann and Dr. Itoco Garcia was really powerful. It highlighted the innovative things many people are doing to inform and inspire kids inside and beyond the classroom.

Artist Amina Lei (center in all black) with UID attendees

The martial arts panel was mind blowing. The technology and culture panel was deeply insightful. Milan Drake was like Rakim talking about technology. Until you have watched Zion I Crew talk with UX Designers about bias in the algorithm you have not lived. Until you see gems from Casey Wong and Tom Callos open hearts and minds simultaneously you have missed something amazing. Mike Relm and his wife drove all the way up to the bay to moderate. That is love. I love Mike Relm though. Blood family level.

Leroy Moore came and brought amazing gems. So did Mya Canty, Miki Noda and Sumi Dumela.

Laughter and understanding were shared. I'm so thankful.

The next day, Paul Moran came and taught my jiu-jitsu kids class. He opened and closed the class with meditation. We hung most of the day. The things he showed me about jiu-jitsu I did not know. He will always be my brother.   

                                         Paul Moran of Open Mat Radio observing HHCF kids chess match! 

Super special shout out to the hardest working woman in Hip-Hop, Christie Z at Tools of War Jams for her consistent promotion of Unity in Diversity. I also want to thank Chuck Creekmur at Allhiphop.com and Kevin Clark of Okayplayer.com for letting folks know about Unity in Diversity and I want to thank all the people who participated as well as all the people who tried to. Forgive me for all the mistakes in the planning and execution. Jose Guerra built a custom made podium for David D. Timony to give the first Unity in Diversity keynote on artificiall intelligence. That is so amazing. Amina Lei brought amazing art. So much to tell. Much love to DJ Just Jay (follow him @Urbanumpires on IG) . He kept it rocking from front to back.