J Jahanian Combat Press
Catalogue Entry No. 1

The Jahanian Book

A long-form work on memory, discipline, and the strange grammar of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu — written across nine years on the mats of lower Manhattan.

What it is

Part memoir, part field guide, part quiet argument for the slow life. The Jahanian Book follows a single white belt from his first stripe through twelve years of practice, weaving in conversations with coaches, training partners, and an unnamed referee who appears in three chapters.

It is not a technique manual. It will not improve your guard. It might, however, give you a sentence to think about while you are warming up.

Specifications

  • 312 pages, 5.5×8.25 inches
  • Mohawk Superfine eggshell, 80 lb text
  • Cloth-over-board hardcover, blind-stamped spine
  • Printed and bound in Long Island City, NY
  • ISBN 978-1-7392001-0-8
Contents

Twelve chapters, three appendices.

  1. I.The First Stripe. On the difference between knowing a move and trusting it.
  2. II.Tap Early, Tap Often. An ethics of surrender, written for adults.
  3. III.The Coach Who Did Not Speak English. A portrait in three rounds.
  4. IV.Open Mats, Open Hours. The civic life of a small Tribeca academy.
  5. V.What the Belt Will Not Tell You. A long essay on plateaus.
  6. VI.The Travel Year. Five gyms, four cities, one borrowed gi.
  7. VII.Injury, and the Library. On what to read while the meniscus heals.
  8. VIII.The Purple Belt Question. Why so many quit at the third belt.
  9. IX.Children on the Mat. Notes from coaching a Saturday kids' class.
  10. X.Tournaments, Briefly. A reluctant chapter.
  11. XI.The Brown Belt Year. On becoming, almost, a teacher.
  12. XII.What Remains. The closing essay.

There are weeks when nothing on the mat makes sense. Those are usually the weeks I learn the most. This book is for those weeks.

Reading copies and orders

Each printing is limited. To request a reading copy, ask after wholesale terms, or join the small mailing list, please reach our office directly.

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