A few months back, I received a letter from a patron regarding my books. A story unfolded shortly thereafter that I think is in the spirit of the season.

Happy Holidays,
Aranha

A Letter from Daniel Fourkiller:

"Hello just a short note to let you know at jiu-jitsu .net how much help you have been in the past year with our training, I teach at an Native American reservation and it is so isolated that the unemployment rate is about 95% many of the kids in the community are turning to alcohol and drugs as a means of release. Suicide and murder are rampant and the population of men who are in prison is phenomenal, the potential of any of these people to leave the reservation a is very bleak (I was very lucky) and the people are hopeless. one positive point is that jiu jitsu is there. I am fortunate enough to have a friend who owns a jiu jitsu school in Sacramento California he has taken me under his wing and is willing to train me without cost, since it is about 3 hours away from the reservation I can make it about twice a month (since the unemployment rate is so high i do not ask for fees and would not ask.) however your book the Master Text (1st version) has been invaluable we had to wait until it was on sale (9.99) which was a steal, we look forward to your new book (the current Master Text) and have saved for it, my question is I do not remember if I ordered the Master Text in my wife's name Jennie Middleton or mine Daniel Fourkiller (to receive the coveted discount) I think this is the first time i have seen anyone who is willing to give for the good of others and rest assured that there is a band of California natives, we are the Elem band of Pomos, who appreciate your generosity and goodwill keep up the great work Coachiese"

I thought this one was particularly cool because most of them (letters sent to me) are kids who should mow a lawn or some guy who tells me he's opening a school (obviously to make money) and then lists how many tournaments he's won and how good he is, then asks for some free books ... like he's the only one who has ever won tournaments or thought about opening a school.

While I think that everyone is somewhat 'special' in their own way, the people who give me money for my hard work are on the top of that list ... and when I hear a story about poor people who save up to buy the book and don't ask for free books, I pay attention.

Hello, my name is Todd and I post as funglool on jiu-jitsu.net. Aranha posted your email about your situation and your jiu-jitsu training group. Several of the forum members, myself included, have been moved by your story and want to chip in to buy you and your group a copy of the new Master Text 2. Our only concern is that you are sincere. None of us are rich and can afford to waste our money on a false cause. Could you send a picture of your group with the old MAster Text? The cause you have written about is most honorable, thats why we want to give to it, and not some wiseguy trying to scam a free book. Please get back to me ASAP so we can get things rolling and get the Master Text 2 on its way to you. Thank you, Todd and friends from jiu-jitsu.net

Dear Todd, I would like to express my thanks to you and your group for your most generous offer. Please except our most heartfelt appreciation. In the native world all action in life, inaction as well, have a hidden lesson for us to extract, our Jiu-Jitsu training as well contains these lessons. The first part of this lesson is that we commit ourselves to our endeavors and then make the necessary sacrifices to obtain these goals. This is part of our native belief as a warrior people and ours in particular on the warriors path. The second part is that we take responsibility for our actions, and inactions as well,(i.e. our commitments and sacrifices) good and bad. In this way we gain independence as a people from fear, prejudice, and reliance on elements other than ourselves. We free ourselves from the restrictions that we face from this society and its own fears and prejudices against us. You by your most generous gesture have helped us to understand this lesson of commitment and sacrifice, we could never repay you for this lesson and are indebted to you. At this time I must humbly decline your gracious offer as it would be contrary to the sacrifice portion of our lesson. Again, in the true spirit of the martial arts and that of a brother in Jiu-Jitsu we thank you for the honor you have given us. You and those you represent exemplify the true spirit of the martial virtues please forgive our declining. May the Great Spirit send peace and blessing on you and all who know you.

Daniel
p.s. the kids would still like to send a picture once we obtain the right camera

About a year ago, former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett tested positive for steroids. At the time, my reaction was outrage. How could Barnett have done such a thing? Didn't he know that the UFC was in a precarious stage of its evolution toward mainstream acceptance? What kind of representative of mixed martial arts was he anyway? I'm sure a lot of people felt the same way. Debate raged amongst fans for awhile over what should be done with Barnett. For their part, both Zuffa and the Nevada State Athletic Commission were fast to act. Barnett was stripped of the heavyweight championship and had his fighting license revoked for six months. Other organizations were wary to pick up Barnett at the price he was asking because of the potential damage to their credibility. This eventually catapulted him to pro-wrestling. Barnett and trainer Matt Hume mounted a shoddy defense for a few months trying to find some loophole in the steroid policy so that Barnett could be exonerated, but it was to no avail. The United States lost Josh Barnett and hasn't really seen him compete since. He's competed for a few Japanese events, but nothing that makes the pay-per-views here in America. Consequently, Barnett, a relatively exciting and well-liked fighter, may never become a star in his home country.

Absurdly enough, this whole drama replayed itself recently when current UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia tested positive for steroids after a recent title defense against Gan McGee. While it seems incredible that Sylvia would risk using steroids, knowing the fate that Barnett suffered, he did it anyway. Like Barnett, Sylvia was stripped of the heavyweight title, fined $7,500 and suspended from fighting in Nevada (and by extension anywhere else) for four months--admittedly, a slap on the wrist. Interestingly, the UFC is making no moves to crown an interim champion right away since the heavyweight division is somewhat lacking in legitimate contenders and talent. So it seems, once again, that another athlete has done something "bad for the sport."

It's silly to lay the fate of our fledgling sport at some fighter from Maine's feet. Sylvia and Barnett are humans and are no more responsible for MMA than Michaelangelo was responsible for the Renaissance. Those who judge this sport by one or two individuals are ignorant anyway. If their voices are the only ones being heard, then MMA's public relations are horrid. With all that in mind, however, I think Tim Sylvia taking steroids was the best thing that could have happened to the UFC.

When Sylvia defeated Ricco Rodriguez for the heavyweight title, a friend of mine told me that he thought Sylvia would hold the belt for a long time because he's tall, strong and a pretty hard hitter. His prediction was that no one would be able to dethrone him based purely on his size and moderate skill. I winced at the thought. I hate the Miletich camp. I have nothing against them personally, but I hate their style of fighting. There's not a single exciting fighter among them. Matt Hughes is the closest thing resembling a real fighter in that whole camp and even he makes me yawn 80% of the time.

Pat Miletich established this style of boring-jitsu back in UFC 16 when he was taking a nap on top of Townsend Saunders and later perfected it in UFC Brazil while holding onto Mikey Burnett's shorts. His teammates would later practice this style to much success, Jens Pulver being the best example when he became the UFC's lightweight champion. The majority of the Miletich camp are Midwestern scrappers who make Lennox Lewis look like the most exciting heavyweight champion in the history of boxing by comparison. Miletich himself is part of a small group of people (including Dan Severn, Mark Coleman and Pedro Rizzo) who led to the decline of interest and pay-per-view buy rates for the UFC. And now, Tim Sylvia…

Tim Sylvia probably would be champion for a long time. He would fight an uninspiring rematch with Ricco Rodriguez where he'd employ his long reach to keep Rodriguez away until he got taken down. There they'd stay for a few rounds until somewhere in the third when Sylvia would either finally connect with something big or gas out completely. He would go on to fight Frank Mir in a contest sure to end with Mir unconscious and then he'd sit in limbo until another contender presented himself. Six months would go by and then Zuffa would put him up against Kazuyuki Fujita, who would probably take him down and fight a match reminiscent of Mark Coleman vs. Pedro Rizzo from UFC 18.

The long and the short of it is that Tim Sylvia will eventually bore us to tears. He'll knock out a few guys that Zuffa puts in front of him and then he'll fight action-free lay and pray matches against whoever is skilled enough to bring the fight down. Sylvia is a big tall guy who punches straight (rather than looping) and consequently has knocked out all but three of his fifteen opponents. Yet he lacks both the exciting knockouts and the quality opposition record of a Mike Tyson or even Josh Barnett. He belongs in K-1, not MMA. The UFC's heavyweight division is ridiculously lacking in talent and excitement and Sylvia (or any MFS fighter) is a perfect symbol of this fact. There's a difference between being king of the trash heap and king of the mountain. Sylvia easily falls into the former category. By disgracing himself with easily detectable steroid use (purportedly for cosmetic reasons) Sylvia has given MMA a great gift. He has excused himself from the table before the sport in general and the heavyweight division in particular is ushered into another MFS-led dark age that would make even the Lennox Lewis-helmed boxing world shudder.

Diami J. Virgilio
November, 2003
kneeblock@yahoo.com