Periscope Depth

like a star that can’t wait for the night

This past Saturday, I audited the oral exam for the newest class of jiu-jitsu instructors. It took just over four hours to get through twenty students. Each student got two five-minute segments: one to teach a technique of their choosing, one to teach a technique that our sensei assigned. As an instructor, I kept score [...]

come talking that trash and they’ll pull your card

Ilkka recommended the following blog post about hacking the status game a few weeks back. The “status game” in question is an improv exercise, in which every player takes a playing card and puts it to their forehead, face out, without looking at it. Their status corresponds to the value of their card. The object [...]

when they grip the mic, it’s like, come on kids, let’s say good night

One thing I’ve learned from teaching jiu-jitsu is that telling someone not to make mistakes doesn’t help. Nobody wants to make mistakes. That’s why they’re called “mistakes.” People approach their work with different levels of engagement. Some are quiet and diligent, some are loud and enthusiastic, and some just want to get through the day [...]

let him feast; my heart is big

Buses remain America’s strongest link to the past. Sure, technology has dragged them forward some distance: you can pay for a bus ticket with a credit card, many buses offer seat-back outlets and WiFi, etc. But you can still show up at a bus terminal fifteen minutes before departure, buy a ticket, board the coach, [...]

you know the escape. you know the escape.

The best forms of exercise almost never come in a gym. This is because you really have to work to master them. Sunday morning was the monthly black-belts-only class at jiu-jitsu. We ended the class with some freestyle grappling: start off mounted, then reverse your opponent. Once you end up on top, switch roles. After [...]

did our boy do something rash?

We worried about rain, but it was still clear out when Sylvia and I showed up at Joe’s place in Watertown. I’d picked up some snacks and beer at the Shaw’s around the corner. Joe’s dad was grilling in the backyard; friends and family circled around. We weren’t alone, but we were some of the [...]

hold your blindfolds down

Saturday was the black belt test at my dojo for Senseis Danio and Dennis, promoting to fourth-degree black belts. Nick, the master sensei at our school, has never promoted someone as high as fourth-degree before (he’s a fifth-degree, but his brother administered that test, with O’Sensei Joe Puleio supervising). The senseis demonstrated while blindfolded, with [...]

I save coupons from packets of tea

Tuesday was a marginal evening: if I’d felt any worse, I would not have gone to jiu-jitsu. As it is, I still ended up taking an open-handed biff to the head and a shot to the gut in the course of scrapping that evening. Not to mention the eight to ten chokes that were demonstrated [...]

it doesn't matter; put your fists up and instigate it

Every night after jiu-jitsu, as I stagger into the tiny curtained room that two dozen men change in, I play the where-am-I-bleeding game. We practice at a kids gymnasium; our practice space is four inches of foam rubber, atop flexible plywood, atop another four inches of foam rubber, the whole affair covered by a thousand [...]

where, only there; when, only then

Two blocks from the school where I study (and teach) jiu-jitsu is a bar called 21 Nickels. It’s built in the low, narrow style of urban bars: bar running from entrance to bathroom, row of bar stools, aisle and a row of tables. This makes sense in the heart of a city, where square footage [...]

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  • Periscope Depth

    The website of John Perich, author of TOO CLOSE TO MISS and editor for Overthinking It. He's learning about writing, marketing, publishing and promotion, and he encourages you to learn along with him.

    perich@periscopedepth.com

  • TOO CLOSE TO MISS




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