Joel Gerson, an MMA pioneer

The latest edition of the Drunken Daoist podcast had Joel Gerson:

http://thedrunkentaoist.com/episodes/bonus-episode-3-joel-gerson-about-fighting-and-phi

I knew nothing of him and his story is fascinating. Well worth a listen.

Here is a list of the topics covered:

Rumina Sato, god of grappling
Daniele's shady quasi-legal deals in the Japanese enclave on Sawtelle
Had texting existed back then, Joel's life would have turned out different
"I was trying to convince myself that I could win, and I knew that I was bullshitting myself"
Joel's university professor father "My son is a bruiser"
"Anybody can learn how to give a beating, it's learning how to take a beating that is the tricky part"
The appeal of combat sports
Being honest with oneself is the antidote to ending up like Ted Haggard
Dogma and ideologies
The fear of facing the universe without certainties
Ideology is a disease
Lessening the hold of fear
Inspiration as fuel for heroism
The quest for self-perfection is something that any human being who is not an ass should be on
Sakuraba epic 2000 Grand Prix
MMA work ethic
Carlos Newton
The joys of the internet

And here is the video of Joel fighting Sato. I particularly enjoyed him talking about 'checking' (taking) leg kicks in the podcast.

This is his fight