EARLY YEARS: CHESS
Josh Waitzkin first caught a glimpse of a chess set while 6 years old and walking with his mother in New York City's Washington Square Park. He was going to play on the monkey bars, and instead he fell in love with the art that would dominate much of his young life.
SECOND CAREER:
TAI CHI CHUAN
At twenty-one, Josh began to transition away from his early career in chess and into the study of the chinese martial art, Tai Chi Chuan with Grandmaster William CC Chen.
He was drawn into the art by his love for eastern philosophy and meditation, and by the desire to begin a learning process anew, as a total beginner, away from the spotlight that constantly followed his chess career.
THE ART OF LEARNING PROJECT
In 2007, Josh released his second book, The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance, an autobiographical discussion of the learning process and performance psychology, drawing from Josh's experiences in both chess and the martial arts.
JIU JITSU LIFE
As Josh’s study of Tai Chi Chuan gained new depth, he began to explore martial arts that involved fighting on the ground. Eventually, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu became his new passion. The art allowed him to further deepen his relationship to Dynamic Quality as the sport continued to evolve.
Josh went on to open Marcel Garcia Jiu Jitsu with the BJJ legend in 2009. He would also go on to become Garcia’s first black belt, and found the revolutionary digital learning platform, MG In Action.
Foiling
Josh is now pursuing the highly dynamic sport of foiling. In foiling, riders ride boards that use hydrofoils—submerged wings that attach to the board with a mast. With less surface contact with the water, foil boards easily outpace conventional surfboards and are more maneuverable. Riders can also move through stretches of flat water by pumping the board. This leads to more ride time and rides that stretch from wave to wave.