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What do bamboo rod building and Brazilian jiu-jitsu they have in common? bending…twisting…and perhaps a little more… John Danaher, former Colombia University philosophy Ph.D. student, and now one of the all-time greatest Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts coaches, holds that improvement in a particular area is predominately linked to skillset development and training. He further says that sometimes an ephemeral comment or meeting can drastically change one’s perspective and entire trajectory. Early in his career, Danaher had a fleeting, one-time meeting with Dean Lister, two-time ADCC world Champion. Lister had perfected leg locks as a mechanism for submission. Not fully appreciating the value of leg locks, Danaher discussed this with Lister. Lister simply asked Danaher, why would someone ignore half of the body. Perplexed, the former philosophy Ph.D. student and black belt, Danaher said, “I don’t know.” This brief, one-time meeting changed Danaher’s thinking and trajectory. He would go on to become one of the greatest Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts coaches of all-time, developing some of the greatest practitioners of all-time. These practitioners became known as “The Danaher Death Squad.” A significant focus was placed on leg locks. Among other things, he credited this brief, one-time meeting to changing his trajectory and methodology. I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Catskill Rodmaker’s Gathering this month. With familial responsibilities, this was no easy task, and previous efforts had fallen short. I met up with a friend, who I knew for a few years from Connecticut. I had been thinking and constantly adjusting my technique for addressing nodes in bamboo rod strips for a long time. We discussed this. Like Lister, he said something brief, simplistic and piercing. I was bewildered and reminded of the almost speechless Danaher comment, “I don’t know.” For me, a lightbulb went off, and I was shocked that I had not considered his methodology. Luckily for me, lightbulbs continued to go off throughout the weekend as I met other rod makers and compared notes. A wonderful event with wonderful people.  I subscribe to the concept of Kaizen - continuous improvement. Bamboo rod building requires diverse skillsets (machining, woodworking, etc.). One day, the builder is cutting a fine taper into a piece of bamboo, and the next day he is adjusting the male slide of a ferrule with 3M polishing paper to achieve an almost airtight fit into a female ferrule. Then, the builder is tasked with joining wood and metal so they seamlessly work together to deliver a fly to an eager trout.
Rather than looking at the monumental task of building the ultimate, flawless rod (an ideal that is arguably non-existent), a better approach is making fine-tuned micro adjustments to one’s building on a daily basis. Learn from mistakes, embrace friction, and push the ball forward, even if daily advancement is small. |
