Professor Chris Fowler is a professional abstract painter and a jiu-jitsu black belt who spent years working in realism before he found his voice by bringing his two loves together. Rather than paint techniques, he decided to paint the feeling of jiu-jitsu, the momentum of a sweep or the weight of a partner, in a way people who train would recognize. A small, claustrophobic white belt who had only technique to rely on, he never felt the urge to compete and gets all the competition he needs in the training room. He also explains how he has always gravitated toward unusual techniques, the same way he does in art.

Chris says jiu-jitsu taught him how to get good at things, which is why at 35 he is teaching himself to skateboard by breaking it into drills. He remembers a newcomer who quit because he still wasn't good after ten hours, and a shy 13-year-old whose whole life changed after a few months on the mats. His favorite painting comes from his white-belt days: a summer morning class near the beach, garage doors open and sunlight turning the mats gold, when he thought it must have felt like the old days in Brazil. His advice to beginners: "you're never going to regret going."

In this episode

• 0:00 Welcome
• 1:09 Meet Professor Chris Fowler
• 2:13 Finding his voice as an artist
• 5:28 Painting the feeling, not the move
• 6:31 Finding an audience
• 9:40 Feeling stuck in art and jiu-jitsu
• 11:47 Learning to skateboard at 35
• 12:48 Small, claustrophobic and all technique
• 14:57 Why he never competed
• 18:04 Helping new white belts stay
• 20:15 Being a beginner again
• 22:19 The man who quit after ten hours
• 25:35 Painting his favorite memory
• 28:41 Why it is worth it

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