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Thanks For The Business, Real Yoga Gear!

Three and a half years ago, I had an idea for a new Toro BJJ rashguard: I grew up playing 8-bit video games, so I thought it’d be cool to create a mock Jiu-Jitsu video game and put it on a rashie. I drew an 8-bit scene of me grappling with my buddy Sean, created a scene reflecting a game cartridge, and shipped it out. We got a great response and BJJHQ picked it up!

It’s always flattering when people dig your work, so I was pretty excited that a company called Real Yoga Gear had grabbed the design as well. Sure, they removed the “Toro” branding, but I’m sure that was just a mistake. They have a bunch of other rashguards on their site, and I’m sure none of those were lifted from other companies’ proprietary artwork. Even better, they say they handmake all their material right here in the USA, and I’m sure that’s true, too.

They even used my art in Instagram ads to drive people to their site! This is also a huge compliment for me, and I’m excited for the exposure. Even more exciting is the value they see in the work — they wouldn’t pick just any image as an ad, so it’s clear they see the financial returns art can create.

I love yoga, too, so I wanted to make sure to express my appreciation. I sent them the following message:

“Hello! I saw your ads on Instagram for the 8 Bit rashguard. I’m so glad you’re offering this product, since that’s original artwork I designed for Toro BJJ expressly for this purpose.

I notice that you’re both selling the rashguard and using it in Instagram advertisements. It’s super-flattering to know that you think my work has such value! I’m attaching my usual invoice for work of this nature.
My typical rate for licensing my art is $500 per piece, so please find my invoice attached. Because I love yoga and admire your commitment to making everything by hand in the USA, I’m willing to offer an alternative: a $250 donation to the Women’s Debate Institute, a great non-profit. You can even deduct it on your taxes! My invoice is here. (Also kindly note that Live to Roll / Roll to Live is a registered trademark of Toro BJJ).
Please note that merely taking down the ads and rash guard listing will not be enough to satisfy this invoice, since my work has already been used for profit. Please either send payment directly (I accept PayPal and Venmo) or proof of a non-profit donation by Oct. 1.
Thanks again,
Jeff Shaw”
I wanted to share this because I know that a lot of my friends make art, and would be as flattered by this as I was. Also, a lot of my friends are lawyers, and while I’m sure many of them would encourage me to take a different approach, I’m confident that Real Yoga Gear will accept my offer of a donation to a great non-profit before any of them send me offers of pro bono work.
Namaste!
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Creative work, remixes and ripoffs

Once, in 1997, I was in a bar with my drunk friend. Even while sober, my friend was kind of a holier-than-thou hater. After the whiskey started to flow, well, you can guess.

“Tubthumping” came on. You remember: “I get knocked down / and I get up again.” I still have a good deal of fondness for this song, and for Chumbawumba generally, so it was clear I was enjoying myself. True to hater form, my friend couldn’t have that. So during the breakdown, where they quote lyrics from the old Irish traditional “Oh, Danny Boy,” my friend started to rant.

“They’re ripping off Irish music!” his spittle-flecked hipster screed began. I rolled my eyes and ordered another beer.

It was, of course, a meritless criticism. This was a remix of a classic in the public domain, a reinvention of the familiar into something new and different. Even if it was a pure “quote,” jazz musicians have been inserting bits of classic compositions during performances forever. (Besides, as I should have pointed out: Johnny Cash also covered “Oh, Danny Boy.” Hipsters love Johnny Cash almost as much as they hate being called hipsters).

Which brings me to the real topic of the day: creative work in general lends itself well to what might be called remixing. Collage artwork draws on existing visual work. Mash-ups pull audio into new combinations. Andy Warhol certainly didn’t create the Campbell’s Soup logo when he drew on the can for pop art. Even parody of pop culture phenomena might be considered a remix of a sort.

It’s parody of pop culture that I want to talk about today, and creative work.

There is nothing new under the sun. That dope idea I had last week? Some ancient Greek already did it better. That genius concept I based an entire freelance project on? Some dude in Cleveland or Chicago or Constantinople might already be working on it.

This is especially true when you’re talking about making pop culture references. You’re not the only person who has seen Deadwood, or Doctor Who, or Daredevil. It’s a big world out there, and there are more clever people doing creative work faster than ever before.

Sometimes I see people angry when they see a meme that’s a lot like the meme they made. Worse, I see fans of brands — or brand owners, or brand staff — leap to the conclusion that a similar design done elsewhere is a result of someone directly copying them.

Rip-offs absolutely happen, of course. I’ve had my designs taken by random people on Teespring and sites like that. If you look, you’ll see the repeat offenders are out there. That’s sad and gross, but those people will make themselves known soon enough.

Generally speaking, though, I think it’s more productive to make generous assumptions about people, particularly creative types. Remixes happen when we are more free with access to ideas, and remixes and collaborations can be mindblowingly cool. I hate to see potentially productive creative relationships poisoned by hasty assumptions.

Simply put, if you think your style got bitten, it’s the best practice to just assume you drank from the same well as the other guy — and hope that it wasn’t the well my hater hipster friend drank from in 1997.

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Gifts For Grapplers: 2015 Holiday Edition

With only a week left until Christmas, it’s finally time to start shopping. At least, it is if you’re me. Is this because I’m lazy, irresponsible, or because I’m distracted by training? Yes.

But you can benefit from my sloth! Behold the 2015 Dirty White Belt Grappler Gift Guide, featuring sweet ideas for presents that will benefit the jiu-jitsu practitioner in your life. Some of these are gear suggestions, which I wholeheartedly recommend. Because it’s so late in the game, I’ve also listed some gift ideas that don’t need to be delivered, so you can be sure to have something to stick into your beloved’s grubby, mat-burn-laden hands.

A lot of these are from Cageside Fight Co., which has a new website. That’s not only because it’s a great company that has supported me a lot throughout the years, but because I *know* they’ll take getting your order to you by Christmas seriously. Cageside and Toro BJJ get the uncritical endorsement, deservedly so.

That said: on with the commerce!

 

GIS

The first run of the Toro BJJ JS 2015 sold out super-fast. But they’re back in stock, and believe me, I’d be telling you that this is a great gi even if I hadn’t designed it. It’s been my primary gi since it came out, and I love the look, feel and fit. It’s the first gi I’ve designed for Toro, and we plan to do one each year. Please help me out and get a terrific value in the process.

GiftGuide1

Speaking of first runs, Toro also made its first Navy Blue gi, and man, does this thing look sweet. I’ve seen a few folks around wearing it, and it’s a striking color. If you’re more of a black gi person, the new Dark Horse is a killer gi, too. I haven’t seen the horizontal lapel embroidery style before, and I think it’s a very cool innovation.

GiftGuide2

Rounding out my gi recommendations: Meerkatsu’s Orchid Dragon gi is gorgeous. Blue gis are typically not my thing, but this is an artist who really knows what he’s doing.

RASH GUARDS 

The 8-Bit Jiu-Jitsu rashguard I designed for Toro BJJ was a pretty popular item when it was released, and we did a quick re-release for the holidays. At $23, that’s a steal, and it’s one of my favorite rashies I’ve ever done.

Also, Guard-Zilla is loose! I’ve been wearing this one around and getting lots of nice compliments on it. I’m stoked to have mine, and your grappler pal will be stoked to get theirs, too.

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Scramble is doing a pre-order of a killer new rashguard that will benefit Paul, and I just ordered mine. It looks sweet, and it’s a great cause, so buy it and leave a “look at this awesome rashie I ordered you” card under the tree.

 

PRIVATE LESSONS

There are many great aspects to private lessons: you can learn directly from a tremendous teacher, you can tailor your training to what you need most, and you can use it basically any time you want. Plus, you don’t have to worry about delivery.

To give one of these as a gift can be simple — you can just buy a private for your grappler from her or his instructor. Everybody can benefit from personalized attention.

Or, to go that extra mile, find the one person they’ve always wanted to train with and buy them a private with that person (if they’re local) or during the time when they’re coming through town for a seminar. Watch their eyes light up, and thank me later.

 

INSTRUCTIONAL SITES / VIDEO SUBSCRIPTIONS

Want to make your grappler happy — and not worry about the present arriving in time? Get them a subscription to an online site!

I’ve been watching fewer instructional videos these days, but I’ll always recommend two online sites based on my experience with them. Marcelo Garcia’s site is the OG on the block, and has an incredible library of techniques being taught and implemented during live rolling. You can’t go wrong.

But my personal favorite site is the Mendes Bros. You get tremendous instruction, drilling suggestions, technique breakdowns and amazing sparring sessions featuring the best in the world. And it’s delivered right into the privacy of your own home.

Finally, consider a subscription to FloGrappling. I have one, and have generally positive things to report. If you like to watch your friends compete (and, y’know, the big names, too), it’s a great thing to have in your pocket.

Let’s be real: I could go on forever with the wish list. In the interests of time and in the interests of being light on your wallet, I’ll stop there.

One item I’ll leave you with: if you know me in person, you know that I’m always thinking of new charity projects. I have a very exciting one that might come together soon, so if you want to save a little money this season with the intention of helping support that … just keep it in mind.

Thanks for reading. Happy holidays to all!

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New shirt and rashguard for Toro

Hi folks! A couple of longer posts are in the works, but for now I just want to do a quick one announcing a couple of new offerings from Toro BJJ.

I haven’t been doing a ton of design work lately, since I’m organizing Toro’s first card of local BJJ superfights (more on that later). There’s a new shirt out today, though, and it hearkens back to those innocent days of getting up early to eat cereal and train:

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I’ve been leading a 6 a.m. drilling group for a while that has now morphed into an early morning fundamentals class, and I firmly believe training is the best way to start the day — hence the shirt.

You can buy it here, and if you use the discount code “free15” you’ll get free shipping.

I’m also really excited about a forthcoming rashguard. You can’t buy this yet, but it’ll be available soon and I can’t wait to share it. (If you’re really psyched to get early previews of new gear, you can always follow me or Toro BJJ on Instagram: most of the works in progress get shared there first).

This one was inspired by the era where, in the words of Vast Aire, “when every video game was 8-bit / and you get popped in your mouth for …” … well, you know the rest.

There are some details I want to tweak, but here’s the gist:

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And the close-up view, featuring inside jokes about the De La Riva guard:

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Thank you for putting up with these commercial messages. We now return you to your regularly-scheduled programming.

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New Comic About The Journey to Blue Belt

Hi folks! Haven’t had much time to post lately, but lots of big things are happening behind the scenes (I’ve been busy with work, training, planning my 40th birthday party on Saturday, preparing for a Royce Gracie seminar on Monday and getting ready to leave the country on Tuesday).

But! I made a new comic that I hope you like. I’ll be posting it to the Toro BJJ Facebook tomorrow, but hey, blog readers get a sneak peek.

Oh, and I might just have a big jiu-jitsu-related announcement soon. I think you’ll be interested. At least, I hope you will. Happy training.

SchoolhouseRockcomic

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Your First Day Of Jiu Jitsu

Here’s a comic I posted to the Toro BJJ Facebook page a while ago. I’ll try to be better about remembering to cross-post these here, but generally I’ll post to the Toro Facebook first. So kindly like the page if you haven’t already!

Without further ado: some first class dos and don’ts. As always, feel free to tell me what I missed (or add your suggestions for future comics) in the comments.

Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?
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5 Commandments of JiuJitsu

If there were 10 Commandments of Jiu-Jitsu, what would they be? Air travel without Internet inspired me to come up with 5 and put them into comic form.

Got any suggestions for part 2? I plan on doing a follow-up. And maybe I’ll even do a “rules of the gym” comic to go along with it.
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