What Makes a Peaceful Brother Turn Grimey?

All my BJJ students know that I don’t start rolling until my Pandora “Pete Rock Radio Station” is properly streaming.  They say music soothes the savage beast.  I say music can bring the beast out of a person as well.

This past weekend I was at the New York International Open Championships and as I drove to New York I scanned through my playlist and found myself getting a little psyched about my fights while listening to certain songs.  I laughed out loud as I listened because most of the songs that got me in the fighting frame of mind were easy listening songs also known as lounge music. I listen to a lot instrumentals from groups and compilations like Thievery Corporation, Wax Tailor, Bob Marley, Illa J, Mushroom Jazz and Pete Rock.  The harder driving music with the rough lyrics boasting about one thing or another and fast paced rhythms that may get others motivated just doesn’t appeal to me.  I prefer calming music to get me in the mood for “action.”

So when I arrived at the competition’s arena and checked into the competitor’s corral, I noticed most of the fighters were trying to get focused for their matches with their headphones on and vigorously nodding their head.   I was curious to what they were listening so I started asking my fellow competitors what they had on their playlist.  Most were listening to songs with more than 180 bpm (beats per minute) which is the speed of song I thought might be more appropriate for clubbing and dancing rather than fighting.  But who am I kidding, the music I listened to is most suitable for sipping chilled cocktails (or coffee) while hanging at a patio bar, but to me this music gets my blood boiling in a calm kind of way that makes me want to rear naked choke the hell out of someone.  The artist that topped the playlists with other fighters were Drake, Beyonce, J. Cole, Aerosmith, Nas, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, WuTang, Maroon 5, Guns & Roses and Biggie Smalls.

My father used to say that music is proof that there must be a G-d because music can move the soul regardless of the lyrics, which I have found to be fairly accurate…at least the part about being emotionally moved by music.  I have been on 5 continents and have heard a cornucopia of music genres.  I have found myself moved by tunes that I had no idea what they were used for.  I’ve heard religious or tribal rhythms and been driven to tears or total elation while having no idea what the song meant or why it was being played but there is something to music that can bring a savage out of a person equally as well as it can soothe the savage beast within.