I am a lifelong martial artist who grew up training in both taekwondo and karate. During a pivotal point in graduate school, I realized that the study of martial arts helped me better understand political philosophy ' and that revelation inspired this course. Southern California contains a unique hub of martial artists, many of whom studied with Bruce Lee. When I was working on my doctorate at The Claremont Colleges, I discovered an exceptional school just down the street from campus and began to study Filipino martial arts, Lee's Jeet Kune Do, and Rickson Gracie Jiu Jitsu. My teacher, Guro Jason Cruz, refined the method of training the body with the training of the mind in a way that is still unmatched. At the time, I was studying political philosophy and education in ancient Greece, including the significance of the 'palaestra' and the 'gymnasia,' which were sites for boxing, wrestling and the pankration ' a practice akin to mixed martial arts today ' but also intellectual...
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