Atheism and BJJ.

[arnisador]

The Atheist Who Strangled Me


In which Sam Harris teaches me Brazilian jiu-jitsu and explains why violence is like rebirth


Well-known "new atheist" Sam Harris is attracted to BJJ for its lack of Eastern philosophy but manages to impose some Western philosophy on it nonetheless:

Less well known is Harris’s other enthusiasm: cutting off the blood supply to other people’s brains by using techniques learned in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, or BJJ. BJJ[...]has since become the martial art of choice for those who wish to make other people physically submit without dabbling in any of the ritual or spiritual froufrou sometimes associated with judo and other Asian martial arts[...](BJJ teaches mercy: before you are maimed or killed, you “tap out,” typically by gently touching your opponent’s body to ask him to stop.) Harris likened training with an expert fighter to “falling into deep water without knowing how to swim.” He sees BJJ as a cycle of mock death and resurrection, wherein an expert may kill you many times per session. “To train in BJJ is to continually drown—or, rather, to be drowned, in sudden and ingenious ways—and to be taught, again and again, how to swim.”

He has had a long-time interest in the martial arts and also owns several guns which he keeps for self-defense because of the angry hate mail he receives for his view.

By the time he headed to Stanford for college, he was studying and teaching ninjutsu, a Japanese martial art.

 

[Janina]

Very interesting article. Thank you for sharing it here!

 

[arnisador]

I didn't expect someone to make a connection like this!

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I could care less about my instructor's religious views, or even if he or she has any. I agree with Harris on his statement that in training, there should be no illusions. However, just as I don't want a religion pushed on me at a studio, I don't wan't lack of religion pushed on me either. It isn't why I'm there.

Also, I find it off putting when people feel the need to get satisfaction by out arguing others, regardless of what view they're arguing. The atheisim vs. theism sandbox is full of petty, maladjusted people. I'll play elsewhere, thank you very much.

 

[arnisador]

What interested me about this was the personal connection he made between atheism and a martial art. I know many people who intertwine religion and a martial art--either their religion or the religion associated with its country of origin--and many irreligious individuals who study the martial arts, but this perspective was mostly new to me. Secular pacifists and aikido are something of a similar issue, perhaps.

 

[Holmejr]

Isn’t he really just a shill for his own life philosophy and books for that matter. His exchange with Jordan Peterson is excellent. His talking points have been successfully debated many times.