Hello ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode 2 of people of the blue basement with Max Hsu. Special thanks to Max for his time.
TRACK: The Renzo Gracie academy. The world-famous jiu jitsu school in New York City. It’s filled to the brim with enthusiastic students who work on their craft daily. Each person setting goals, having aspirations, getting closer to where they want to be day by day.
AMBI: Neiman teaching a technique
TRACK: It’s a typical Wednesday afternoon class at Renzo’s, typical in that it’s as educational as it is arduous. After cooling down for a little, Max and I take to one of the empty training rooms. We’re surrounded by the blue mats, to our left is the weight lifting area. He says today’s class went well.
ACT: “I’ve been cutting down on the aggression a little bit, focusing more on technique, so,
you know, I feel like a lot of the times in life and in BJJ people try to force things, and they don’t really think about the complex problems that arise within our dynamic environment, but today you know I was able to keep up, I was able to put the puzzle pieces together, it was fun.”
TRACK: Most people don’t find rolling in sweat looking for chokes and arm locks fun, but jiu jitsu practitioners aren’t most people. People start their BJJ journey at different points in their lives, some old, some young. Max started his journey after feeling unfulfilled with what he was studying in college.
ACT: “I studied cyber security, homeland security and criminal justice as my double major. I graduated in May 2018, and I know that’s obviously different from what I’m doing now but you know I had some big time job offers from big 3 letter agencies down in DC, and with defense contractors down in the Arlington and Roseland virginia area, and you know what I realized something towards my senior year, this is not what I really want to do. I really don’t enjoy it, I don’t enjoy cyber security. It’s cool to learn how to password crack, people think its cool, once you really do it its like if you’re not about that life, you’re not about THAT life”
TRACK: Jiu-Jitsu had always been in the background. It hasn’t been a constant forward progression for him to get where he is. It started very rocky. He first tried it out when he was 17, six months before he went to college.
ACT: “I hated it. So I quit it. I basically took over 2 years of not doing anything, not having anything to do with it, just doing what college students do. Went to class, slept in, partied, got internships, I don’t really care about that stuff.
TRACK: But in the summer between his sophomore and junior years, he did an internship in London and spotted a familiar name.
ACT: I passed a Gracie school out there, and I was like “lets go back in” just you know a white belt who doesn’t know anything anymore. And I got choked out by a 21 year old Brazilian nurse. Who was 2 years older than me at the time, and it was like “what the hell” she’s 5 feet tall, 115 pounds, what is this magicianry that I didn’t see the first time around? So I was like you know what im STARTING BJJ now!
TRACK: When he got back to Albany, he kept it up.
ACT: I went from fucking absolutely hating to BJJ, to disliking it, to being neutral with it, to liking it, and then I realized it was the ONLY thing that I really loved. Like, something I was truly passionate about”
TRACK: Max always had a fighting spirit. As a kid he found himself channeling what would fuel his passion for BJJ in a much less healthy way. Its safe to say Jiu-Jitsu’s helped mellow and develop his character.
ACT: “But, in hindsight, looking back at myself as a kid, yeah I could see myself doing something in fighting. I’ve been fighting since I was like 5 years old. I’ve been fighting in school, I was fighting in middle school, I was fighting in high school, I was fighting outside of school, I was fighting with my family. I got into a fist fight with my father when I was 17 years old. And you know, I think at the time you know when I tried BJJ I was like “oh I knew how to fight” right? I had this ego, I had this young bravado. And I think I was insecure, and im still insecure, but im working on it. 7:38
TRACK: Max’s perspective on life has evolved a lot just through this former hobby turned full-time. Most people throw the term “live in the now” as a way to excuse them hurting themselves. Max uses it to improve himself, and at some point he would like to make a living doing it.
ACT: “But what im more worried about, is being 35, 45, 55, 65, or any age, and looking back and going the fuck did I do with my life? I got a job in cyber security. I went for a 401k, I got benefits and pension, and what did I do? I spent 9-10 hours a day doing something I truly didn’t want to do because people who have what I don’t fucking care about told me to do it. And at the end of the day its like, there are obvious insecurities and worries I have but what trumps all of those is looking back in 15 years and going what did I do?”
TRACK: BJJ is also a great foundation for establishing a person’s confidence. For Max, it completely changed his view of himself in his day-to-day life. It’s not about hurting others or putting other people down, its all about self-improvement.
ACT: “it might seem like, we wanna hurt people, but I don’t wanna hurt anybody. When I was younger, and especially in college, id get drunk and wanna go out and fight. And its like I look back and im like “yo dude you’d get crushed man.” Like that’s such a bad physical and emotional mentality to have. It makes no sense. So now when I train, unless someones being extra aggressive and you know jamming their elbow in my eye or raking my face, I don’t try to hurt people. I don’t wanna hurt anybody, I wanna get better”
TRACK: BJJ is a real community. People practice with each other, point out each other’s mistakes in technique and execution. Some go a step further, and go out of their way to devote their time to teaching others. Max is one of those people.
ACT: “I teach BJJ and regular martial arts. In the regular class it’s a mix of basic boxing and karate punches, crosses and jabs, then its you know games also theyre kids they gotta play they gotta have fun, some wrestling some BJJ, no submissions though. But then on our BJJ team we let these kids go all out. They’re doing real stuff, like they’re doing legit world class techniques. They get hurt, they cry, we make them brush it off and throw em back in. Kids need adversity, PEOPLE need adversity”
TRACK: I tried capping off the interview with some sort of profound question, something eye opening. I asked Max who he looked up to, what kind of person inspires him. I found myself realizing his answer was a lot like how I would answer.
ACT: “One of my friends here, Deshawn, that dude works 56 hours a week, trains almost as much as I do, and he’s a beast. Think about that. This guy is training at least 20 hours a week, working 56, that’s like an 80 hour work week. And nobody understands it, how much it takes, how much energy you need to do this thing. This is a lot, theres different types of energies but this is a lot. That’s extremely admirable, and if I feel like I have to make an excuse, its like nah dude shut up, get to work get to training, people are always working.”
TRACK: His next tournament’s coming up next month. Needless to say, he’s aiming for first place. This has been another episode of people of the blue basement. I’m your host Konrad Szybisty, thanks for listening.