Searching For Walt Bayless

5:40 A.M........ The sun is yawning over the ridges of the Wasatch Front. Kissing the earth for the first time, a sense of life erupts through out the valley. The sunrise is a beautiful thing to witness. It symbolises so much. Life, rebirth, a new beginning. But just as beautiful and ambient as the sunrise can be, a mere twelve hours later it is gone. It makes a magnificent exit, not warm and vibrant as its entrance, but cool and calm, and majestic. Leaving a lasting impression that leaves you wandering if it will ever come back.

Walt Bayless is a man of mystery. His history loaded with tails of epic grappling battles. It is the modern tale of William Wallace. The hard part with sorting out Bayless History is deciding where it began, the Alpha. For like the Bible so many great tales are told, but few actually witnessed any of it. There are many historians of Walt Bayless. Utah is riddled with Black Belts under the tutelage of Walt Bayless. All very good practitioners who swear allegiance under Walt's Jiu Jitsu flag.
My story begins with a man who I shall name Gordan to protect his identity. ( Bayless followers are very funny about revealing too much about Walt, for in fear they will be shunned from the bosom of the Creator). Gordan is a historian of Walt, unofficial of course. He knows all the tales, has countless VHS tapes of Walts early teachings, and even knows his day to day schedule down to the time he answers his emails.

Many Conspiracy theorists including myself think Walt does not exist, the legend has grown to large for anyone to believe that this man exists. Stories of how Rickson Gracie refused a match with Walt, after Bayless pummeled the mat with his brothers. Tales of secret Jiu Jitsu sessions in Walt's basement were only a lucky few were invited, and no one would speak of the contents of the class. Adventures of Walt traveling the world earning Black Belts in Sambo, Judo, Kung Fu, Karate, and Jiu Jitsu. The one question always left a blank stare to anyone that was asked it. "How is he like in person?" There was a strange coincidence that everyone who was telling these elaborate tales, had never even met the man! In a court of law, if asked, can you give definite evidence that walt exists? The answer would be no! Just hype and enough stories to write his biography. So I dug deeper into my dilemma.
Out of the gate, I searched the web. Countless hours of Walt came up short, just a painter and tons of old posts on his legends, and youtube videos of his students. Next I heard a rumor. That walt had a facebook page. I explored it, but no hard evidence has shown me that it is actually Walt Bayless! Anybody can create a fake profile, and I wouldn't put it past Walt's cult to do such a task. Then a Epiphany hit me like hot dog covered with guacamole and jalapenos. Gordan!! Of course the man that I have known since I took up Jiu Jitsu has to know! His tutelage is traced back to Walt, and some point in his career he has had to meet him. So one day, I had the golden opportunity.......

Riding with Gordan to the gym I asked how good Walt really was in his early days. A look of suspicion spat across Gordan's face. Nervously looking side to side almost like we were being followed, he says in a low voice. "I have a DVD converted from VHS of Walt Bayless and Eric Shulz grappling. It wasn't meant for the public's eyes, but merely a learning tool for the both of them." Gordan went on to explain how he came across this rare piece of antiquity. Given to him by a Walt Bayless student at Jeremy Horn's gym it was the holy grail of Combat Jiu Jitsu. After our brief workout we rushed home, popped in the DVD and witnessed history......

The picture was fussy, obviously recorded when VHS was a primitive art. Schulz was easily recognizable, but who was this man dressed in yellow warm up pants, wrestling shoes, and a barrel chest complete with the chest fro? Gordan sat with his mouth drooling and said "THAT IS WALT BAYLESS!" I sat through one hour of appraisal on Walt this, and Walt that. Gordan was acting like a child meeting old Saint Nick for the first time. Gordan even had the the video broke down, to theories on what Bayless, and Eric were saying. Even when Schulz would tap Walt. Gordan would defend saying "Scholars say he does that on purpose to keep the opposition interested in the training session." Now I am a skeptic by nature! I like facts and good old cold hard evidence. This video would be thrown out of a court of law, due to the fact you can't distinguish who is who to the regular Joe who has no clue who these two are. I had one question for Gordan. "How do I know that is Walt Bayless.... I have never even seen a picture of him. So.... this can be anyone!" Gordan sat there slumped into this couch. His hand rested on his chin in deep thought. Then....his world shattered I seen it in his eyes. "Miles, your right I don't know. I guess I'm running on faith." (Eric Clapton reference).

It was in that moment when I realized what I have done. Feeling remorse in crippling someones hopes and dreams. Cause that is what Walt represents. A set of ideas, collective morals, and most of all hope. Hope that someone can be invincible, and inspire the human race through martial arts. I learned a valuable lesson through my search for Walt Bayless. It doesn't matter if he is real or not. If it keeps people like Gordan interested in Jiu Jitsu, then the fable is worth it. Because the human soul is fueled by faith and hope.

Words Through A River

"All good things-trout as well as eternal salvation-come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy."
Many people search the whole lives for a passion, for something that brings them joy. I have been lucky and fortunate, because I have this in life. Fly fishing is a hobby that for me brings me peace, and comfort. Many people just say it is just fishing, but its more than that to me. It is a way to connect to the energy around you. The river is a sanctuary, there is something so familiar about the way the river moves, and yet it remains foreign to me. From the moment that I set foot in the river, it seduces me. hypnotized by the ripples and sounds, the cool air that rushes through your lungs and the smell of dew that soothes your senses. It is nature that takes you away from the stress and the chaos of the world, and makes it right from the first cast you make.
Watching your fly line gracefully wisp through the air, and land gently on the water, you wait. Focused, attentively watching for any slit moment of your indicator. Then in the midst of this calm world, adrenaline spikes as you hook your first fish of the day. The fish fights for its life, jerking, pulling, desperately trying to get free. You patently reel your line in, trying not to be to forceful, but gentle like a painter guiding his brush across the canvas. As the fish comes in excitement over comes you, smiling and boasting with pride. For anybody who has fly fished, knows reeling in a trout is no easy task, it takes finesse and grace. As the fish approaches you defeated, you sooth it with your hands under their underbelly. Unhooking your fly from there mouth you take a moment and admire God's creation. Beautiful, brilliant radiant colors beam throughout the whole body of the trout. For a split second you are thinking of nothing, just peace of mind, all the worries in the world are gone, nothing exists except for that moment or serenity. As you cradle the fish under water for it to regain its breath, it darts off. You start the whole process again, but each experience is different, for no two fish are the same. I think that is what captivates me, that each catch is different, its not mundane nor repetitive, like many things in our lives.
I will close this thought with a passage from one of my favorite books, and films of all time. "A River Runs Through It" by Norman Maclean.
"We sat on the bank and the river went by. As always, it was making sounds to itself, and now it made sounds to us. It would be hard to find three men sitting side by side who knew better what a river was saying.
On the Big Blackfoot River above the mouth of Belmont Creek the banks are fringed by large Ponderosa pines. In the slanting sun of late afternoon the shadows of great branches reached from across the river, and the trees took the river in their arms. The shadows continued up the bank, until they included us. A river, though, has so many things to say that it is hard to know what is says to each of us."

PAN AMS, AND GIGANTIC BEAVERS!

Okay first thing is first. Sorry that I have been lazy and haven't wrote on my blog for nearly six months (not that anybody reads this anyways). I have been busy with the Fire Academy on top of a hectic schedule; so I sincerely apologize.
For those who do not know, I am training for the Pan American Jiu Jitsu Championships. It is one month away, and I'm starting to get nervous. I have been training for this tournament since January and I am down to 114.5 kilograms (that's 252 pounds, they use the metric system in the ibjff). I feel a lot better, and have gained speed and stamina. I didn't realize how much weighing 280 pounds really hindered my Jiu Jitsu. I have made big strides in my game but last night I realized something. It hasn't been all me. A big part of my game comes from the people I train with. I have been training with Mark Johnson ( he is like my Yoda) on Sundays , if you haven't rolled with Mark you need to come, cause he is a technique tester, which means if your technique is not to pair your doomed! For the first time I was able to get Mark out from side control into Half Guard. Thats a small acomplishment for sure but I have never done that before, he has always obliterated me from that position. Jason Miller is another guy I train with, he has great survival skills and is hard to submit. Jason passes guard very well and is a student of jiu jitsu so he always brings something new to the table.
Jeff Moore (Dragon Eagle) Jeff is my stamina tester, this guy is a physical BEAST! Jeff has just barely tapped into the Gi game, and is very dangerous in the no Gi aspect of Jiu Jitsu. In fact I out weight him by 60 pounds, and he submits me all the time in no gi. The point I'm trying to make is, although Jiu Jitsu is a individual sport in terms of a tournament, you can not reach potential without the help of others.
Okay there is my moral plug for this post now lets get down to the nitty gritty. The Olympics are over (thank God!). I have never been a fan of the Olympics they have the most boring events. Bobsledding, ya its cool when they crash. Figure skating, ya its cool when they crash. Down hill Skiing, ya its cool when they crash. hockey, ya its cool when they fight, oh wait they can't fight that's lame. All the events are like the alternate after school activities for those who couldn't play football, or baseball, or even soccer. Plus I heard that Canada seriously blew the budget, and will probably go into a economic depression. This is how lame Canada is. For the closing ceremony, they had gigantic beavers and mounties balloons! Ya I said it gigantic beavers! WTH!!!!! Who does that oh ya the same country that calls ham...... bacon. The same country who has two official languages. The same country that GSP is from......enough said!