When I read the about the sirens [in The Odyssey], it was like, holy shit, I do this, whether I want to or not. I sink people at the rocky cliffs at my feet. . . . There’s a part of me that identifies with wanting to sink people. There’s a power in that. And there’s like a dangerous, not very nice, dark allure in having that kind of power. On the other hand, I also love people. I love my friends. I really don’t want them to feel pain at my hand. So I’m in conflict with that. That’s actually something I’m trying to work through, rectifying that conflict with myself. Listen to FPF Episode 3 now. Painting by Thomas Britton. Save Save

“I’ve lost a lot of friends doing this. Or people I thought were my friends. People who don’t do jiu jitsu. They don’t understand that I can’t go out and party every night. . . . And the quality of friends that I have has picked up. They’re a lot more dependable, because jiu jitsu makes you humble and disciplined, and it’s a big ego killer.” FPF Episode 2

“All your heroes in jiu jitsu and all the people who you find fascinating . . . the beautiful part about this whole thing is you can actually meet them. You can actually take seminars from them. . . . I have been able to roll with them, and I’ve gotten to learn from them. . . . The better I get, the more I’ll probably meet them at a tournament. . . . Keep training until your heroes become your opponents.” FPF Episode 2 FPF Save

“I laugh hard all the time. I find so many things amusing and I feel so bad for everybody who doesn’t, because they must have a really bad life. . . . I even laugh by myself, because if you can’t laugh at the little stuff, then how do you expect to laugh at the bigger stuff? . . . It’s like practice laughs.” FPF Episode 2

“She loves people succeeding and enjoying it and I do, too. When I see my students sparring, and they do something that I taught them, I’m like, holy crap, that’s awesome. Or when they come up to me after a tournament and they’re like, “I did that thing you showed me in Garajitsu, and I won the tournament!” . . . That’s all I care about.” FPF Episode 2 Video by Gareth Harte.

“I never try to look for a big moment, because those are so few and far between. But it’s all the little moments. The other day I told three different people, ‘You have improved so much since you began,’ and they’re like, ‘That means a lot coming from you.’ And I’m like, ‘No, I’m not saying it coming from me, I’m saying I want you to know.’ Because sometimes we need to hear that, we need that reassurance sometimes from out of the blue.” FPF Episode 2