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“Anyone can be tough for a season. It takes a special kind of human to rise to life's challenges for a lifetime.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“On the other side of self-doubt comes a confidence from faith in the process. Even though our destination may be a long way off, each day we rise with a subtle smile as if we have already achieved it, because, when we are truly committed to a task, we already have.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions.”
― Carlos Gracie, Sr.

“Make no mistake, you earn a white belt. The belt is a physical representation of a commitment to the beginner's mind. It is a vulnerability and a willingness to learn that shines through.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“Today's world is flooded with participation trophies. In an attempt to promote equality we have robbed our youth of the most growth-inducing aspect of competition, failing. If you want to be resurrected, you have to first be crucified. Everybody wants to be reborn, but no one is willing to die. Losing, in the context of whatever arena it may be, is a microcosmic death. When we learn from our failures and grow because of them, we are reborn.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“When you realize you are no longer made of glass, you lose the desire to demonstrate that fragility in others.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“Many of us begin this art with little to no understanding of what we are getting ourselves into. Then, maybe a year or a black belt later, we realize this odyssey we have embarked upon and rest happily in knowing we have chosen a noble struggle.

I think we owe most of our successes to our initial ignorance. When we begin, we cannot see the obstacles ahead, and so we march on optimistically. In hindsight, when we look back and connect the dots, we see just how green we were at the start, and it was only our ignorance that upheld us from the crushing despair of the task at hand.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“The highest aim was never to master Jiu Jitsu; it was to master myself.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“After I received my blue belt, I soon recognized that the belts were simply an external representation of an inner experience, and that they mattered little compared to the person I was becoming.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“Jiu Jitsu is a baptism by combat, and serves a purpose in the inner life of the individual that has always existed, but our modern culture fails to acknowledge.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“There is no losing in jiu jitsu. You either win or you learn.”
― Carlos Gracie, Sr.

“If you can wrestle but not play Jiu Jitsu, or you can play Jiu Jitsu but not wrestle, you are not a complete grappler and lack the sufficient skills to safely subdue an opponent.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“The medal from an old grappling tournament will not serve me today, but the courage I developed in its acquisition will. By investing in yourself, by using all endeavors as a vehicle to shape who we are, we exist in the present moment with a lifetime of growth behind us. I have loved many vehicles throughout the years, Jiu Jitsu more than any other, but the vehicle has, and always will, be a distant second to the driver.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“Plateaus are a manifestation of the law of diminishing returns, and when we reach one it simply means that it is time to adjust our methods.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“To achieve anything we must grind, but to enjoy anything we must flow.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“We are never truly ourselves as we are mid-roll.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“Jiu Jitsu uses us to express itself, and the best thing we can do to is to become a vehicle capable of expressing Jiu Jitsu with all of its perfection minus our imperfections.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“If you are forcing it, you are doing it wrong”
― T.D. Abe

“Jiu-Jitsu is just an excuse Brazilians came up with to hug people for a few hours a day.”
― Rayron Gracie

“The high-minded pursuit of a Jiu Jitsu practitioner pursuing mastery cannot coexist well with the modern world. Our values vary immensely from our contemporaries. This pursuit leaves societal norms slaughtered in our wake. Those who share this journey will praise our efforts; those in the hive will think we have lost it. We must be willing to be misunderstood if we are to understand ourselves.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“Nothing worthwhile ever came from divided attention.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“We can either approach Jiu Jitsu through the lens of the "real world" or we can approach the real world through the lens of Jiu Jitsu. I have found the latter to be far more rewarding.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“We have an obligation to ourselves to foster the environment that allows for our self-actualization. Rather than my gifts serving me, I must serve them. I want to be a steward of the best aspects of my character and assist them in their fulfillment through proper discipline and habits.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“We can lose the roll, we can lose position, but we can constantly strive to win the moment.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“Consistently failing is nothing more than an indication that you are progressing. The more we fail the farther we will see. Failure is not an option; it is the only option. A master is a master because he has had the courage to fail and the wisdom to learn from it.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“The road from white belt to black is long and arduous; most never reach the end. There are simply too many obstacles of daily life, and too much effort and attention required, for this to be something that the majority of practitioners achieve. This is why a black belt in Jiu Jitsu, especially from a reputable source, is the pinnacle of martial arts rank. It is valuable because of what must be traded for its achievement.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“We are not practicing Jiu Jitsu to learn how to fight, we are learning how to live.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“All successful people live how great guard passers pass.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“There is no more valuable skill than studentship. The farther we go down one area of human understanding, the more we see the corollaries that all activities share. Everything I do for the rest of my life, all the skills I acquire, will be made possible because of my time spent on the mats. It has revealed a symbiosis between all things that I never knew existed.”
― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

“Hélio Gracie made comments that he never wanted to teach a guy bigger than 175 pounds. That Jiu-Jitsu wasn't for the big, strong guys, it was for the smaller and weaker people to be able to defend themselves against those big, strong guys. When you teach those big guys you're basically teaching them how to beat you.”
― Richard Bresler, Worth Defending: How Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Saved My Life