HHCF Jiu-Jitsu Student Takes Silver in JJ World League + New HHCF Queens Team Announced

15 year old HHCF Chess and Jiu-Jitsu student Young Megatron won a silver medal at the Jiu-Jitsu World League Championships this past weekend. It was a great event with ton of competitors from all over the state. It was really well run. To see the high level technique today's kids compete at is very inspirational. Look for more HHCF Chess and Jiu-Jitsu teens and adults to be competing in June at the All Star Championships in Santa Cruz. 

Young Megatron gets silver at the Jiu-Jitsu World League Championships at Cal State East Bay 

This summer, the HHCF has launched an initiative to help young women learn the benefits of chess and jiu-jitsu. We started the HHCF Queens Team. Here is one of our new ladies after her first class. We hope to enroll more and more young women. Right now we only have a few. If you know a teenager or adult woman that would like to learn the power of the fusion of chess and martial arts please have them contact us at 888 588 4418 or visit www.hiphopchess.com for more info!! The HHCF is a proud affiliate of Heroes Martial Arts. 

                                 One of the new young ladies to join the HHCF Queens Team

If you would like an HHCF Oakland Gi (fashioned after the Raiders) visit www.deusfight.com 

The Fist of Wisdom: Hip-Hop and Martial Arts

By, Adisa, The Bishop

From the first season of The Get Down, many were struck by the references to the martial arts. One second we are watching the dance battle skills of Shaolin Fantastic. The second season, we are listening to Grandmaster Flash tell his disciples to do “zazen” (meditation). Flash calls his key disciple Shaolin Fantastic Grasshopper.

For many people this seems confusing. In truth the martial arts explosion of the 1970’s comes at the beginning of Hip-Hop. The ripple effect can still be felt today.

WATCH Boondocks Kung Fu fight compilation

Even before The Get Down, we saw kung-fu elements heavy in The Boondocks. Before that we heard homages to martial artists as far back as the 1980’s with T-La Rock (start it at 20 seconds in). If you remember the 1990’s, DJ’s like Mixmaster Mike  with Terrorwrist (Beneath the Under)  rappers like Jeru The Damaja Ya Playin; Yaself , Afu-Ra’s Mortal Kombat ,and RZA’s Tragedy cemented the martial arts path to the global community of Hip-Hop.

The short version is Hip-Hop was getting its baby legs in the early 1970’s. According to Grandmaster Flash it is even earlier than that. Rather than get bogged down in the “When did Hip-Hop start” debate we need to look at two other global events that changed New York and the world forever.These things unintentionally infected one another on the streets of New York. In the global explosion of this global subculture, the warrior spirit of Hip-Hop was born in Shaolin. But how?

The first is the release of Enter the Dragon in New York August of 1973. The other is the rise of DJ Kool Herc’s parties. As the spirit of competition began to grow within Hip-Hop, battle strategies began to be implemented. With Hip-Hop in its embryonic stage, the kung-fu films gave Hip-Hop the blueprint for war and peace.

The same parks that hosted the battles at night, had people doing tai chi during the day. The same street corners where people went head-to-head  in chess also hosted rap ciphers and bboy battles. Some might argue the streets of New York have always been a war zone.

Additionally, it is important to note that because of the intensity of gang culture that permeated NYC streets, knowledge of martial arts (and military strategy) was consistently sought after. Also keep in mind that this surge of gang culture happened during the Vietnam War. Some people who were deep in street culture like the street legend 50 Cent (not the rapper) went into the military to avoid doing jail time. This not only gave them time to get away from the street life, it made them official as warriors.

Many are often blown away and confused about how Black America and the Hip-Hop community became so fascinated with Kung Fu films by Bruce Lee and The Shaw Brothers. The simple answer is that Black men had their warrior spirit and traditions taken from them during the transatlantic slave trade. Their spirits were broken further through the implementation of Jim Crow and the wave of White violence across the country during the Civil Rights Era. Bruce Lee films gave Black men a new path to engaging and actualizing the warrior traditions that had been centuries removed by their sojourn in America.

Bruce Lee vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Game of Death

In this scene from Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury, Bruce is not allowed in a park due to his race. They only allow dogs in. A Japanese guy tells him if he crawls on all fours, he can go in the park. Bruce not only beats up the guy, but breaks the sign (symbolically shattering the system). These movies inspired more than just the fighting spirit of the martial arts. It also taught Blacks and Whites about the power of nonviolence, meditation and was a key entry point for African-American’s to learn about the benefits of vegan diets.

In the 1980’s the VHS tape explosion created a second wave for Black America to not only soak in the films, but watch them over and over again.  Now, with Hip-Hop having some legs, the warrior culture became even more embedded. However, it was happening with the DJ’s and the Bboys. Not with the rappers. In fact, the rappers are the last people in Hip-Hop to take on these ideas. In the book Foundation: B-Boys B-Girls and and Hip-Hop Culture in New York  he speaks with dancers like Alien Ness who talk extensively about how Bruce Lee specifically and martial arts culture in general impacted the psychology of battle for dancers.

In The Get Down often when Shaolin Fantastic dances there are often punching, kicking and battle screams playing. This to me illustrates the conviction and intent to represent, defend and embody the essence of Hip-Hop itself in battle.

In the 1990’s (with 20 years under Hip-Hop’s belt) everything starts to unfold pretty fast. It is during this time we see DJ’s (especially on the west coast) taking in these ideas of having an unflinching work ethic, being original over all else and having confidence in battle. A series of independent records put out by Ace Beat and Dirt Style Records launched a series of Battle Breaks. These records were made by DJ Qbert, Mixmaster Mike, DJ Apollo, DJ Yogafrog and others. Rather than carry crates to battles these records had a few banging beats and a mountain of scratches to rock with for battles. This was like putting 20 records into one record. It changed the game. On almost every battle record there would be clips from kung-fu films. Not long after that we see the artists like Jeru, Afu-Ra and others bring these Eastern elements into their lyrics.

The 1990’s also gave rise to The Wu Tang Clan. The only group to ever perfect the  fusion of martial arts, chess and Hip-Hop to date is Wu Tang. That can never be understated. Most of their strategies in business and their approach to artistic dominance came from RZA who was deeply affected not just by the films, but their true philosophical essence.

Today African Americans are moving rapidly toward a vegan lifestyle. Additionally we see growing numbers of African American Buddhist’s. It is hard to imagine these trends without kung fu films as an entry point.

DJ Mixmaster Mike’s original logo was a recreation of Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do logo

Arguably one of the best recent examples of Kung Fu in rap is Zion I’s Shadow Boxing video. Zumbi of Zion I practices Qigong. It is important to note some of the rappers who train in various martial arts include RZA from Wu-Tang Clan, Rakaa from Dilated Peoples, Tajai of Souls of Mischief, DJ Rhettmatic, J-Live and many others. Not all of them practice kung fu mind you. Some practice Japanese or Brazilian jiu-jitsu, some box, or do other styles. One of my personal favorite videos ever done with kung fu is Aesop Rock’s ZZZ Top featuring an woman who is an elderly Tai Chi master going toe to toe with Zumbi from Zion I. It is important to note that Kung Fu films are the only films on earth where a woman fighting is not only seen as something “unladylike”. In fact they show that a woman’s beauty and power can often best be expressed in martial arts. It is hard to imagine that the women’s UFC champions of today were not influenced in part to these films.

Today rappers like Ka’s Honor Killed The Samurai are a great example of how the warrior tradition in Hip-Hop is still alive. Additionally, Oakand’s DB Tha General calls himself Sun Tzu (the author of the Art of War).

Right now as the world is soaking up Kendrick Lamar’s album, we see his new alias Kung Fu Kenny hit the scene.

Today, in the world where youtube beats have given open channels to people the rap music industry ignores, you can find many gems. One of the real things you can see out there is that there is a whole theme of music inspired by classic samurai and Chinese warrior culture.

Tokyo by Justin Case

King  by Ronin   

Old School Oriental Hip-Hop Instrumental by Raven

Japanese Type Beat by Sakuhachi

Now with these elements solidified in The Get Down,  we can only imagine what new forms, styles, and lyrical warfare will be unleashed in the future of Hip-Hop.

Adisa, The Bishop is the Founder of the Hip-Hop Chess Federation  author of Bobby, Bruce & the Bronx: The Secrets of Hip-Hop Chess and The Iron Hook Scroll. He is a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and teaches a class fusing chess and jiu-jitsu at Zaytuna College in Berkeley, CA. Follow him on IG @realhiphopchess

US Chess, Trump and The Russians

A cool article I did for US Chess site. I think you will dig it

              International Master John Donaldson L and Grandmaster Nick de Firmian

Chess for American kids is on a huge roll, with US Chess just hosting the largest tournament in history at the SuperNationals. At the top, we have 90 Grandmasters, and the gold medal Olympic team. Earlier this year, I caught up with Grandmaster Nick de Firmian and International Master John Donaldson of the Mechanics Institute in San Francisco to get a sense of why chess is so hot in the US right now.

Mechanics Institute is the oldest continuously operating chess club in America. Nick played in numerous chess Olympiads and picked up plenty of tournament victories along the way. John Donaldson is many time Captain of medal earning Olympic and World Team squads, leading to a career highlight in captaining the 2016 Gold Medal Olympic team.

FULL STORY

Free HHCF event at Benny Adem in Oakland THIS SUNDAY!!!

Bring your family out to this event. Participate in open gaming, come learn and participate in a community discussion on chess and education.

Complex Magazine on Kendrick Lamar aka Kung Fu Kenny!!

Article by Shawn Setaro:

At Coachella, Lamar started his set by unveiling a short film titled The Damn Legend of Kung Fu Kenny that was modeled after the kung fu films of the 1970s. Similar imagery, including the phrase "Kung Fu Kenny" spelled out in Chinese characters, appeared in the "DNA" video. The moniker itself seems to be inspired by Don Cheadle's character in Rush Hour, who goes by Kenny:

  Full link to COMPLEX

HHCF John O'Connell Team Takes 2nd at Mechanics Institute Tournament!!!

We must congratulate the HHCF Chess Team at John O'Connell for taking 2nd place at the Mechanics Institute Tournament. For those that don't know Mechanics is the OLDEST chess club in America. We will be visiting them next week. Many photo to come!!! We must give Coach Moskowitz a standing ovation for her dedication to the thriving chess scene at OC. 

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!