A warrior in the garden.

 A student said to his master, "You teach me fighting but you talk about peace. How do you reconcile the two ?:  

The master replied, " It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war."

Welcome back to Chicago brother, Professor Joao Filipe "Jerry" Oliveira. A legend from Brazil returns home once again, to his Chicago home. It is so great to have you back brother !  

We learn so much from our brothers and sisters. Today, brotherhood was reinforced.  The Lebanese-American scholar Nassim Taleb once wrote, "Love without sacrifice is theft."  Today, I will take the liberty to take that on an equal tangent and say "Brotherhood without loyalty and trust is a crime." 

If you have ever had the privilege to see the movie "Fight Club", and have seen through to its message, you will recognize that fighting is not about winning or losing, rather it is about fighting your inner-self, your inner-ego and personal fears. This is not about triumphing over an opponent, one who is after all a brother or sister,  it is about conquering the fears, demons and inadequacies we feel deep inside of ourselves. 

Thank you for coming back to teach us about "the gentle art", jiu jitsu, and for sharing stories and your life lessons.  It will be great to see you and Prof. Carlos back on the mats together, smiling, teaching, sharing and laughing again. As it should be . . . . family.

Life is full of strange gifts, if you can keep your eyes open wide enough to them.  Come join me my friends . . . . the problem is, you still think you have time.

-Shawn