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.
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.
Come to our upcoming Unity in Diversity event Feb 26th and see an amazing panel of tech experts talk about Technology, and Hip-Hop beyond the code. Get tix here! This is an all ages event and we expect a lot of great people coming out. If you are a teacher, a student or a parent looking for new insights, this is the event to be at. Do not miss this.
What a weekend. I don't even know where to start. I guess I will start by thanking all of the HHCF Jiu-jitsu team members and their families for supporting us at the US Open this weekend in Santa Cruz, CA. I also want to thank Alan "Gumby" Marques and all of the Heroes Martial Arts Family for all their brotherhood and sisterhood. I also have to thank the Deus Fight family for designing the only Official HHCF jiu-jitsu gi (The Oakland gi) and donating the uniforms to our team. Please buy one today.
OK.....
I could give you all the back story but I won't. The thing I will say is that when I launched the HHCF Jiu-Jitsu and Chess program I did not expect this. I hoped for things like this, but really, it was beyond what I envisioned.
My first student Forrest AKA Batman walked onto the mats. He came to my school with encouragement from his father and his sister. He had previously been at HHCF Summer camps, but had never done anything like jiu-jitsu. Forrest is a super quiet kid. Till this day, I have never heard him yell. He always had high character and was always respectful. However he was also very mild. Some might say too might. He was never bullied, but, nobody wanted to see that happen.
What he lacked in vocal tone he made up for in focus and effort. In between time, I worked on his mind using books like Josh Waitzkin's The Art of Learning. I want to thank Josh personally and everyone at the JW Foundation for donating books to our class. With training from myself, HHCF's wrestling coach Andrew Swank and our other jiu-jitsu coach Sammy Teame Batman took home second place. I gave him the nickname Batman because Batman has no super powers. He works hard and he knows HE has enough inside of himself to win. Forrest is the same way.
WATCH his first match here:
He won his first in less than 2 min (virtual textbook win) and losing his second match just before the buzzer. The second match was dynamic from front to back, but I don't have it on film. When I asked him what match he liked he smiled and said the second- because of the back and forth.
4 out of 5 of our athletes took home medals.
Batman WINS....This is not a movie. It is real.
BillyRay aka Megatron took 2nd in his division and 1st in open weight div.
Bryan wins GOLD in his division. Fight with heart and technique.
Pete was dominant in his first match. Most scores in jiu-jitsu are single digit, like a soccer game. This guy not only racked up 24 points but he secured an armlock with ONE SECOND on the clock. Electric. He went on to submit two more opponents after scoring big but lost in the semi finals. He walked away with a bronze. It was unreal.
One of our guys was DQ'ed for doing an illegal choke in his first match. I take responsibility for that. He thought the choke was legal. I assure you he will be crushing the competition in tournaments to come. I too will be back in the mats in the next month or so. I'm thankful to all our supporters. I also want to thank the coaches from all the teams that make up the HHCF Jiu-Jitsu team. Fighters from Heroes, Team Silva BJJ, Smash Gyms, Mauricio Alonso, KOA Martial Arts and others have united to support the cause of nonviolence and peace through martial arts, chess and Hip-Hop. There was a time in the bay when all of our schools would never support one another. Now through embracing the unity in our diversity, we stand as champions together.
If you would like for your son or daughter to be part of the HHCF Jiu-Jitsu team please sign them up today at www.hiphopchess.com
