Chris Matakas Quotes

Mastery lies on an infinite continuum, and as a result we will never reach the end. We can, however, see to it that we are as far along that continuum as our circumstance allows.

In Jiu Jitsu an inch is a mile, and a second is an eternity. Use each wisely.

The most meaningful endeavors are the ones that come without an end.

Perhaps the journey towards epiphany is an unseen, steady process towards understanding. Likened to a combination safe, as you scroll the dial towards the inevitable correct combination you cannot tangibly see your progress.

I believe the best use of ones life is to serve others through a medium you are most passionate. Jiu Jitsu allows me the opportunity to give someone my time in the pursuit of THEIR dreams. It affords me the gift of willingly spending my non-redeemable life in the interest of another. Jiu JItsu has given me the opportunity to positively influence countless lives.

All these men recognized what they themselves valued, and lived according to these values regardless of their relationship to the values of their community. Each lived according to what brought them happiness and peace rather than commonplace prescriptions of the multitudes.

It is fellowship, this most fundamental need on our way toward achieving our highest expression of the human experience, which Jiu Jitsu provides.

We must know where we want to go in order to get there. Our modern lives are growing increasingly chaotic, and it is only a clear, definitive purpose that will keep us on track.

I can think of no more worthwhile aim than pursuing mastery in this craft while transcending one's own limitations.

The time we spend talking about Jiu Jitsu is time not spent practicing Jiu Jitsu. This is a necessary aspect of study, but it is one we mustn't lose ourselves in; we learn best by doing.

This philosophy teaches us to leave safe harbor for the rough seas of real-world experience, and to accept that a rough copy out in the world serves us far greater than a masterpiece sitting quietly on our shelves.

I have found the more worthwhile something is, the more of your life is required to achieve it.

The rare opportunity to exist, no matter how brief, is worth the pain left in the wake of its disappearance.

The more closely two organisms depend upon each other the harder it becomes to tell where one organism ends and the other begins.

We must remember that science is a way of using empirical evidence to better understand our world. We are all scientists, just many of us are not very good ones. However, we are all capable of exercising our intellects in a purposeful, linear pursuit of knowledge.

Autopilot is great, and removal of thought is one of the highest ideals of training. But removal of thought in the moment must be preceded by purposeful thought beforehand.

The secular world often finds its constituents disenfranchised and solitary as it has spent a great deal of time debating the religious community while failing to build a true community of its own.

We call it training. Not because we are training for Jiu Jitsu. We are training for life.

The beautiful truth about service is that we are afforded countless opportunities to be its vehicle. Every interaction with another is an opportunity to serve. From simply letting someone into your lane in traffic, to holding a door, to a kind smile. This is all service. I am humbled by this simple truth. We are given the opportunity to express the most meaningful use of our lives every time we interact with another sentient being.

All successful people live how great guard passers pass.

No one's life will be harder because I exist.

It was my letting go that gave me a better hold.

Self-improvement is generally a removal of a vice rather than an acquisition of a virtue.

Jiu Jitsu is the vehicle. Not the road.

Jiu Jitsu has given me something to pursue. We all need something to work towards. For people, as well as every piece of matter in the universe, there is no such thing as maintenance. If you are not growing you are decaying. The insidious nature of modern times is that it is so easy not to pursue anything. Societal norms pressure us into jobs we do not like, and the daily comforts of televisions and computers offer much in the way of distraction. If that isn't enough, there is always the numbing effects of alcohol coupled with attention-grabbing sporting events which conveniently run year round so one is never short of stimulus.

Anyone can be tough for a season. It takes a special kind of human to rise to life's challenges for a lifetime.

I had no desire of being professionally successful. No desire for material wealth. All I wanted out of life was Jiu Jitsu.

You are never as good as you think you are, and you are never as bad as you believe yourself to be.

We must not learn to try harder. The key is to learn how not to try in the first place.

The more we have outside ourselves the harder it is to get inside ourselves.

Mastery does not exist.

We are now forced to actively pursue our struggles. If we do not go out of our way to stretch our comfort zones and grow, no one nor nature will do it for us.

Jiu Jitsu has given me an education in education, which I now see is the most valuable education there is.

Every opportunity with another was an opportunity to serve my fellow man. Every moment alone was a chance to grow and become more of who I already was. I instantly felt how great a life could be, and that was only made possible by service toward others.

The greatest effects we have on the world are the ones we can never see.

In whatever we do, we should be investing in ourselves and not our jobs. Everything I have ever pursued has been for the sole goal of who I was becoming in its achievement. I competed and fought because of the man I became. This is the only worthwhile victory. You cannot take the trophies with you.

It is in community where we find our very selves.

What greater fetter to anchoring ourselves to the false notion of self could there be than a selfie? It is named after an illusion!

When you realize you are no longer made of glass, you lose the desire to demonstrate that fragility in others.

I have seen far by seeing through the lens of Jiu Jitsu. I have exchanged a great deal of physical health for these insights, and these were trades worth making. My efforts were worth the return. I have sacrificed much in the name of this craft. Not for trophies or belts or prestige. For these fall away like dust. I pursued this art so fervently because it was not actually Jiu Jitsu I pursued. It was myself.

I use my understanding of jiu jitsu as a road map to learn other activities. I look for the similarities between the two, and use jiu jitsu as an allegory for whatever my new practice may be. I truly believe once you have learned one thing, you have learned all things because you have learned how to learn.

The best yardstick for our progress is not other people, but ourselves. Am I better than I was yesterday? This is the only question worth asking. As long as you go to bed at night a better practitioner than the one who woke up that morning, you have succeeded. Your worth should have nothing to do with how your progress stacks up relative to another.

I have always found that effort is most easily produced when performed for the benefit of something external to ourselves.

Anyone who has ever achieved anything has been a steward of his potential.

We are the estranged orphans of our nations and tribes, and we now bear the weight not of survival of the group but of personal identity.

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.

The point of meditating is not to learn to sit quietly in a room. The point is to live that way in the world.

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.

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.

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.

It is important to realize that we so often define ourselves by what is in opposition to ourselves.

In the present moment, no past achievement has any bearing, but we perpetually bring ourselves into the here and now; we are our constant companion. By carving the ineffable nature of my soul, rather than simply pursuing the "W," I am able to bring all of my past accomplishments with me into the present. They do hold bearing on today, not because of what I have done, but because of who I have become. This is what matters.

An arm bar in a vacuum is worthless. It is the realization of the truths which constitute that arm bar that is the real treasure we seek.

I would more appropriately define mastery as the technical ability possible within the constraints of your particular existence. It must be noted that this is a subjective definition, and that this degree of mastery would be individual to each of us.

Your happiness is in direct proportion to the amount you serve others.

Do not seek victory, for victory in itself will not serve you. Seek to understand what made the victory possible.

A saw by itself holds no value, but when coupled with your labor can clear forests.

We are only different because there exists something to be different from, and it is this difference that bonds us.

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.

It is a shock to many college graduates that their segway into the real world is one of obligation, profound debt, and countless sacrifices of the soul.

Society is a collection of selves perpetuating their myth.

I believe we must pursue mastery for who we become along the way in its achievement. When we progress in Jiu Jitsu, that newfound experience and wisdom transcends into all areas of our lives. We use Jiu Jitsu as the vehicle for growth, but that growth radiates over all of human activity. Someone who devotes time and energy in learning this skill is learning far more than how to subdue an opponent. The student learns persistence, perseverance, pattern recognition, problem solving, and most importantly, learning how to learn. In the arena of life, these virtues are far more valuable than any guard pass.

Things can be added, but that doesn't mean that anything is missing.

Life is so unlikely, so rare and beautiful an opportunity it is to live, we must be on constant guard to ensure that our actions are worthy of the life it takes to perform them.

There is no concrete way to play Jiu Jitsu, and this is why so many different types of people find joy in it.

Through Jiu Jitsu I have developed many of the most meaningful relationships in my life, and if that were the only benefit of my practice, Jiu Jitsu would still be the best endeavor I have ever undertaken.

The great men of all areas of humanity's activities never tried to be a better version of someone else. They simply brought to the table a full life's cultivation of their particular skill sets, experiences, and passions, and we must do the same.

We seek to understand Jiu Jitsu as a vehicle to understand ourselves. We have different explicit goals, from getting in shape, learning self-defense or competition, but tacitly we all seek mastery of ourselves.

To base your self worth relative to others is to play a losing game. If you are at the bottom, you will be filled with self-loathing. If you are at the top, you will be filled with self-aggrandizement and ego. This will most certainly be one of your greatest obstacles to achieving whatever degree of mastery you are capable.

Every interaction with another is an opportunity to serve.

I envision a world in which the vast majority of us are actively striving toward our potential by serving others through mediums we are most passionate.

The best indicator of a man's philosophy is not what he reads or says, but the way in which he lives his life, the way in which he acts.

Let's live our lives with great meaning and purpose in the attempt to influence the world to whatever degree our circumstance allows.

When we let go of the story, we are no longer bound to it.

I believe that which you study is only matched in importance by the sincerity with which you approach it.

Jiu Jitsu is basic training for life. We are training not to learn how to fight, but how to live.

Your potential for growth is directly proportionate to the degree to which you are willing to make mistakes.

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.

We are very much at the mercy of circumstance, but it is how you choose to respond to circumstance that determines the quality of your life.

Philosophy is then nothing more than properly directed questions made in an attempt to better understand the world in which we live as a means of improving the quality of one's life.

A man has only so much life, and must diversify his efforts according to his values.

We can lose the roll, we can lose position, but we can constantly strive to win the moment.

Those who serve others have purpose. Those who serve themselves are lost.

Every moment is an opportunity to exercise effort in pursuit of your dreams. Whether you do or do not rests solely on your shoulders.

I train Jiu Jitsu because I recognize that I am a piece of the whole, and as I grow so does that which contains me. The whole of man advances with the growth of a single individual. Every life I influence is benefited from the fact that I have devoted such a large portion of my life to this pursuit. I will be a better husband, father, and whatever other future roles I may hold because of my time in this sport. In making me a better man, I know that society as a whole is improved.

For the sincere student, it mustn't be enough to simply understand Jiu Jitsu. We must seek to understand ourselves.

All of the great writers and sages we are so quick to quote have simply given their interpretation of what it means to be human.

Jiu Jitsu is meant to serve us, not the other way around. It is meant to make you more of whatever it is you already are. It is meant to separate the wheat from the chaff. It is meant to bring to conscious attention all that once went unseen. It is meant to make you more loving. It is meant to make you more wise, but less certain. It is meant to make us humble, yet supremely confident. It is meant to remind us of our frailty while simultaneously making us feel invincible.

There is no higher calling than the service of your fellow man, and to do so through your own personal mastery of a craft is a gift enjoyed by few.

Your job as a young adult is to become as valuable to the marketplace as you can. Your job as a human is to do so without working a day in your life.

Nothing worthwhile ever came from divided attention.

The infinitude of Jiu Jitsu allows for the infinitude of the types of practitioners. There exists a game for each and every one of us which is specifically possible within the confines of our particular skill set.

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.

All of Jiu Jitsu is finding a way to get your partner to willingly go where you want him to go in the first place.

We are all philosophers. The only question is to what extent is our philosophy sound!

The very fact that you can observe this thinking mind is proof that you are not this thinking mind.

True mastery, it turns out, is not found in accumulating each and every tool under the sun. True mastery is learning that there are really only a handful of tools, and it is the proper application with correct timing and setting that makes them so useful.

Your progress as a Jiu Jitsu practitioner is a direct reflection of the standards you have for yourself.

In Jiu Jitsu, we often fall into the trap of simply trying a technique "harder," rather than recognizing that it is a poorly chosen tool for the task at hand.

As far as our relation to the physical world, I doubt there will be much more improvement. Our basic survival needs have been met, and much of our current progress is superfluous or downright troublesome. Most advancement is performed out of comfort rather than necessity. What we are lacking, what the world so desperately needs now, is adjustments of the mind. We need to see the world again with fresh eyes, and come to an understanding of who we are as individuals, and what drives us.