Paul Volponi's Blog - Posts Tagged "the-32-principles"
A behind the scenes glimpse at my newly co-authored-- The 32 Principles: Harnessing the Power of Jiu-jitsu to Succeed in Business, Relationships and Life.
The Chameleon-like Power of the Writer
Ever want to grapple alongside one of the Gracies? That’s right, the family who invented the art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which is an incredible sport, an essential part of today’s mixed martial arts (MMA), and a superb self-defense system. Well, that’s the interesting thing about being a writer: You never know exactly which literary door is going to open next or where you’ll suddenly find yourself.
As a journalist and author, I’ve picked up my pen alongside jockeys who’ve won the Kentucky Derby, taking the ride with them as they motivate a 1,500-pound Thoroughbred to reach for the wire through the final furlong beneath the twin spires of Churchill Downs. I’ve recounted the experiences of people who rode out Hurricane Katrina through the darkness and mayhem of the Superdome. And I’ve walked the dangerous and overcrowded halls of Rikers Island, the world’s largest jail, transcribing that too-often-told story about one regretful moment forever impacting someone’s life. So when I signed with BenBella Books to co-author a book with famed jiu-jitsu instructor Rener Gracie on bringing the immense positives of jiu-jitsu into the daily lives of non-martial artists, I understood that once again I needed to morph into the type of experience-sharing chameleon that only a writer can seemingly become.
Before the project became a reality at BenBella, I had bumped into Rener Gracie on-line and asked about writing something specifically on him and the Gracie lineage. Rener, however, had a different idea in mind. He was intently focused on turning his bestselling video series The 32 Principles, which he developed with his brother, Ryron, into a book. He sent me a link, and I sat down to watch it. I understood that this would be a supreme challenge for me as a writer. Though I had diligently studied martial arts for more than a decade, I had never taken a single lesson in jiu-jitsu. Despite the video series being aimed at jiu-jitsu practitioners, the principles therein were incredibly universal, lending themselves to nearly every aspect of daily life. I felt completely comfortable with them, and I sensed that Rener and I could eventually create that same feeling for readers, no matter their martial arts IQ.
I sat down to interview Rener a total of 32 times, and he didn’t disappoint. He dug exceptionally deeply into his personal life to communicate a relevant story for each of the principles covered in the book, which would eventually be titled The 32 Principles: Harnessing the Power of Jiu-jitsu to Succeed in Business, Relationships and Life. Rener was a touchingly open book about the passing of his beloved mother, explaining how the Detachment Principle allowed his closest circle of family to let her go in peace. He spoke about how the Clock Principle allowed him to connect with a young student who suffered from severe anxiety issues, and sat in the backseat of his mom’s car with the teen, waiting as long as was necessary for the moment of calm in an emotional storm, in order to escort him into Rener’s jiu-jitsu school for the first time. The instructor also recounted the stories of several middle school and high school students across the country who had been the victims of senseless, unprovoked violence, sharing how he and his brother brought many of those students and their families to California for a week to learn jiu-jitsu, leaning on the Momentum Principle that the events in your life, even traumatic ones, can lead you to a new and positive open door.
During the course of the writing, it became my passion to make this burgeoning book even more inclusive by gaining outside perspectives. So I set out to find contributors—some famous, some not, but all extraordinary—who had used these same principles to scale the mountains in their own lives. I was extremely thankful to interview 2x-Olympic Gold Medal winner Kayla Harrison, who as a teen suffered sexual abuse by a former coach and formed a foundation to help others who have been victimized. That was followed by an interview with blind Paralympian Maria Liana Mutia, whose use of the arts helped her to define the boundaries of her constantly changing surroundings, and pro bowler Anthony Pepe, who had recently made the decision to publicly acknowledge his sexuality.
In all, over 40 incredible individuals agreed to illustrate their use of these principles. They include Seinfeld actor Larry Thomas (a.k.a. The Soup Nazi), legendary pool player Allison Fisher, poker star Maria Ho, champion jockey Julie Krone, jazz drummer Peter Erskine, famed martial artist Ron Van Clief, twin sisters and Iditarod competitors Anna and Kristy Berington, glass ceiling-breaking athlete and scholar Dr. AnnaMaria DeMars (Rhonda Rousey’s mom), and youth counselor Shel Simon, who demonstrated the Ratchet Principle by gaining credits for his degree one night class at a time while working 10-hour days as a single parent, and ultimately securing his dream job of helping struggling teens on the streets of Baltimore.
In fact, the jiu-jitsu principles that Rener and his brother identified were so classical in nature, being long recognized as the building blocks of a balanced life, that historical parallels found their way into our project.
That process began with Thurgood Marshall’s associative use of the Posture Principle in upsetting the opposing side’s foundational theory in Brown vs. Board of Education Topeka. As a lawyer arguing in front of the Supreme Court, a body on which Marshall would later serve himself, Marshall argued that the notion of “separate but equal” was inherently unequal, exposing a fragile fault-line that eventually brought down segregated schooling.
Michael J. Fox’s reflective words, “My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations,” clearly illustrated the Acceptance Principle. A decade into battling Parkinson’s and serving as a beacon in shining a light on that debilitating disease, Fox appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm, handing Larry David an exploding can of soda that had been shaken by his tremors, and sharing a hearty laugh with us all.
Many other luminaries including Henry Matisse, Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Helen Keller, Frank Lloyd Wright and Bruce Lee also found their way into the text, as well as pieces and sidebars on the etymology of martial arts, the dualism of Yin and Yang, and the evolution of the colored belt system from white to black.
As a total differentiator, Rener and his brother created a short video for each chapter (accessed with a QR code via a cellphone camera) demonstrating how these synergistic principles are actually used in self-defense scenarios.
This is how a journey worth experiencing comes together. The creative doors are flung open without fear, with any trace of self-doubt being (for the most part) swallowed up by a belief in the literary/journalistic tenant that writers possess the chameleon-like ability to perfectly blend, morph and immerse themselves into their ever-changing surroundings.
Several days after Rener Gracie and I completed the jiu-jitsu manuscript, I learned that I’d be writing the biography (excuse me, fun-ography) of SpongeBob SquarePants, and sitting down for an extended interview with the voice of that happy, yellow, porous protagonist, Tom Kenny. As I watched a myriad of SpongeBob episodes to ready myself for the new journey, the writer in me, waiting to suddenly shape-shift again, began chanting the iconic character’s catchphrase, I’m ready! I’m ready!
The 32 Principles: Harnessing The Power of Jiu-jitsu to Succeed in Business, Relationships, and Life. Rener Gracie (Author) Paul Volponi (Author) Foreword by Jocko Willink will be published by BenBella Books in August of 2023.
Ever want to grapple alongside one of the Gracies? That’s right, the family who invented the art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which is an incredible sport, an essential part of today’s mixed martial arts (MMA), and a superb self-defense system. Well, that’s the interesting thing about being a writer: You never know exactly which literary door is going to open next or where you’ll suddenly find yourself.
As a journalist and author, I’ve picked up my pen alongside jockeys who’ve won the Kentucky Derby, taking the ride with them as they motivate a 1,500-pound Thoroughbred to reach for the wire through the final furlong beneath the twin spires of Churchill Downs. I’ve recounted the experiences of people who rode out Hurricane Katrina through the darkness and mayhem of the Superdome. And I’ve walked the dangerous and overcrowded halls of Rikers Island, the world’s largest jail, transcribing that too-often-told story about one regretful moment forever impacting someone’s life. So when I signed with BenBella Books to co-author a book with famed jiu-jitsu instructor Rener Gracie on bringing the immense positives of jiu-jitsu into the daily lives of non-martial artists, I understood that once again I needed to morph into the type of experience-sharing chameleon that only a writer can seemingly become.
Before the project became a reality at BenBella, I had bumped into Rener Gracie on-line and asked about writing something specifically on him and the Gracie lineage. Rener, however, had a different idea in mind. He was intently focused on turning his bestselling video series The 32 Principles, which he developed with his brother, Ryron, into a book. He sent me a link, and I sat down to watch it. I understood that this would be a supreme challenge for me as a writer. Though I had diligently studied martial arts for more than a decade, I had never taken a single lesson in jiu-jitsu. Despite the video series being aimed at jiu-jitsu practitioners, the principles therein were incredibly universal, lending themselves to nearly every aspect of daily life. I felt completely comfortable with them, and I sensed that Rener and I could eventually create that same feeling for readers, no matter their martial arts IQ.
I sat down to interview Rener a total of 32 times, and he didn’t disappoint. He dug exceptionally deeply into his personal life to communicate a relevant story for each of the principles covered in the book, which would eventually be titled The 32 Principles: Harnessing the Power of Jiu-jitsu to Succeed in Business, Relationships and Life. Rener was a touchingly open book about the passing of his beloved mother, explaining how the Detachment Principle allowed his closest circle of family to let her go in peace. He spoke about how the Clock Principle allowed him to connect with a young student who suffered from severe anxiety issues, and sat in the backseat of his mom’s car with the teen, waiting as long as was necessary for the moment of calm in an emotional storm, in order to escort him into Rener’s jiu-jitsu school for the first time. The instructor also recounted the stories of several middle school and high school students across the country who had been the victims of senseless, unprovoked violence, sharing how he and his brother brought many of those students and their families to California for a week to learn jiu-jitsu, leaning on the Momentum Principle that the events in your life, even traumatic ones, can lead you to a new and positive open door.
During the course of the writing, it became my passion to make this burgeoning book even more inclusive by gaining outside perspectives. So I set out to find contributors—some famous, some not, but all extraordinary—who had used these same principles to scale the mountains in their own lives. I was extremely thankful to interview 2x-Olympic Gold Medal winner Kayla Harrison, who as a teen suffered sexual abuse by a former coach and formed a foundation to help others who have been victimized. That was followed by an interview with blind Paralympian Maria Liana Mutia, whose use of the arts helped her to define the boundaries of her constantly changing surroundings, and pro bowler Anthony Pepe, who had recently made the decision to publicly acknowledge his sexuality.
In all, over 40 incredible individuals agreed to illustrate their use of these principles. They include Seinfeld actor Larry Thomas (a.k.a. The Soup Nazi), legendary pool player Allison Fisher, poker star Maria Ho, champion jockey Julie Krone, jazz drummer Peter Erskine, famed martial artist Ron Van Clief, twin sisters and Iditarod competitors Anna and Kristy Berington, glass ceiling-breaking athlete and scholar Dr. AnnaMaria DeMars (Rhonda Rousey’s mom), and youth counselor Shel Simon, who demonstrated the Ratchet Principle by gaining credits for his degree one night class at a time while working 10-hour days as a single parent, and ultimately securing his dream job of helping struggling teens on the streets of Baltimore.
In fact, the jiu-jitsu principles that Rener and his brother identified were so classical in nature, being long recognized as the building blocks of a balanced life, that historical parallels found their way into our project.
That process began with Thurgood Marshall’s associative use of the Posture Principle in upsetting the opposing side’s foundational theory in Brown vs. Board of Education Topeka. As a lawyer arguing in front of the Supreme Court, a body on which Marshall would later serve himself, Marshall argued that the notion of “separate but equal” was inherently unequal, exposing a fragile fault-line that eventually brought down segregated schooling.
Michael J. Fox’s reflective words, “My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations,” clearly illustrated the Acceptance Principle. A decade into battling Parkinson’s and serving as a beacon in shining a light on that debilitating disease, Fox appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm, handing Larry David an exploding can of soda that had been shaken by his tremors, and sharing a hearty laugh with us all.
Many other luminaries including Henry Matisse, Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Helen Keller, Frank Lloyd Wright and Bruce Lee also found their way into the text, as well as pieces and sidebars on the etymology of martial arts, the dualism of Yin and Yang, and the evolution of the colored belt system from white to black.
As a total differentiator, Rener and his brother created a short video for each chapter (accessed with a QR code via a cellphone camera) demonstrating how these synergistic principles are actually used in self-defense scenarios.
This is how a journey worth experiencing comes together. The creative doors are flung open without fear, with any trace of self-doubt being (for the most part) swallowed up by a belief in the literary/journalistic tenant that writers possess the chameleon-like ability to perfectly blend, morph and immerse themselves into their ever-changing surroundings.
Several days after Rener Gracie and I completed the jiu-jitsu manuscript, I learned that I’d be writing the biography (excuse me, fun-ography) of SpongeBob SquarePants, and sitting down for an extended interview with the voice of that happy, yellow, porous protagonist, Tom Kenny. As I watched a myriad of SpongeBob episodes to ready myself for the new journey, the writer in me, waiting to suddenly shape-shift again, began chanting the iconic character’s catchphrase, I’m ready! I’m ready!
The 32 Principles: Harnessing The Power of Jiu-jitsu to Succeed in Business, Relationships, and Life. Rener Gracie (Author) Paul Volponi (Author) Foreword by Jocko Willink will be published by BenBella Books in August of 2023.
