Andrew Smith: Massage Therapist

02/22/2025

02/22/2025

I’m not going to carnival this year, for the first time in over a decade, but I can make some videos based on passed costumes and put music to it!!!

12/25/2024

The Solstice!!! 😂😂😂 Until then, merry Christmas and happy new year 🎆 and the Jewish one too!!!

04/25/2024

Purple Belt!! Another step, another day of progress.
I am so happy to still be training karate with . Shihan is an invaluable source of inspiration, I always leave the dojo with a new perspective on life and living it to my fullest potential. Anyone who finds their way to this dojo can feel confident they are on the right path. Thank you Brandon, Yvette, and Yolanda for all your good work! OSS!
PS, im smiling but sometimes my mouth goes the wrong way lololol

04/17/2024

This was in Jan. 2017 on the road from Hana to Kihei on the south eastern side of Maui. We were driving along and could not resist this grassy knoll in the sunset hours, there were a couple photographers in the group so you cant just take a picture, it turns into a photo shoot….

I immediately got nostalgic and thought about a more simple time, I guess because it seems like we have been through a lot since then. But then I realized that it wasn’t actually a simpler time, I definitely wasn’t as simple as I intend to be now. That year I was in 3 or 4 countries, and kind of all over the place inside as well. Since i was 15 Ive been a ‘rambling man’ and I was really proud of it. I thought that the more traveling one did the more they were learning or the more experience they were getting in life, which may be true to some extent.

I think i filled up two passports! For a lot people that travel for work or are wealthy this doesn’t seem remarkable but for me, some random kid born off Hwy 41 in East Tennessee…. well i ended up in some pretty remarkable places all over 3 continents. I traveled humbly while alone and sometimes I was able to game the system i was in and get a lot of that travel paid for by someone else…. It was all worth it.

The simple man i am becoming doesn’t want to travel, He is content being consistent in his studies and learning and applying the knowledge gained over this lifetime. 30 years of traveling have brought me back to myself, now i feel like im on a far out trip!

Between Qigong, jiu jitsu, karate, and acupuncture school, my massage practice, my marriage and my friendships and family…. This is a wayyyyyy far out trip!! And I love everyone on this boat!!!

03/21/2024

Chop wood, carry water. This has to be my favorite sayings referring to the path to mastery, I think it was from a story of a samurai. It’s what the student does for his self and his master while he is learning, and what he continues to do after he is given his sword and even after he becomes a master himself. I’ve taken two classes since I received my black belt and I think I’ve done well in those classes, I feel a bit different with a new belt on but I definitely have not achieved mastery, I don’t even know if I’m entitled to mention mastery. But I do feel like I’m on a path and In the end I trust there is no wrong path just your own. I think we all are on a path to master ourselves and in my opinion mastering an art , whether it be painting, martial arts, poetry, flower arranging can give us insight to our own way of being and how we grow and move through life. I was honored to have my favorite people in one place the other night, my mom, my husband and shihan along with my brother Harold and sister Victoria. Having solid company along the way makes it that much more enjoyable. Much love to all of my BBJJ family, every professor and student who have helped me get to this point and everyone who is still on the way. .cobblehill Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Jitsu • KickboxingmBrooklyn Brazilian Jiu-JitsuaVictoriateveryday

03/21/2024

Chop wood, carry water. This has to be my favorite sayings referring to the path to mastery, I think it was from a story of a samurai. It’s what the student does for his self and his master while he is learning, and what he continues to do after he is given his sword and even after he becomes a master himself. I’ve taken two classes since I received my black belt and I think I’ve done well in those classes, I feel a bit different with a new belt on but I definitely have not achieved mastery, I don’t even know if I’m entitled to mention mastery. But I do feel like I’m on a path and In the end I trust there is no wrong path just your own. I think we all are on a path to master ourselves and in my opinion mastering an art , whether it be painting, martial arts, poetry, flower arranging can give us insight to our own way of being and how we grow and move through life. I was honored to have my favorite people in one place the other night, my mom, my husband and shihan along with my brother Harold and sister Victoria. Having solid company along the way makes it that much more enjoyable. Much love to all of my BBJJ family, every professor and student who have helped me get to this point and everyone who is still on the way. .cobblehill Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Jitsu • KickboxingrBrooklyn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsuteveryday

01/11/2024

I’m proud of the people and government of the other country that I call home. 🇨🇴 Recognizing genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes is not difficult, its less about getting your head out of the sand and more about the courage to step up to the bully on the block. Humans know all too well what genocide and massacre look like and now we can have it live streamed to the palm of our hand. I personally can’t watch and don’t encourage anyone else to watch or engage in violent activity but we know what is happening, extermination is not pretty but we do it all the time. My heart is with the oppressed, neglected, shut out, dispossessed, enslaved, the underdog. Maybe its the Christian in me or maybe its white guilt. Maybe I’m a born loser and just can’t empathize with the oppressor, the war hawk, “the man”, the one with his knee on the neck of people who want to return to the home that was stolen from them. There is hope though, if George Floyd’s murderer, a white cop, can go to jail in this F’d up racist society then Palestinians can be free in their country, I really believe so. My prayer is that a country full of free and equal Jews, Arabs and Christians living in their holy land emerges from this abomination, this failed last attempt at colonizing the Middle East with another European foot hold. But for now we must go through this again, what can be different is our reaction. Do we wait and see how we can benefit like General Motors and Ford did with the n***s or draw a line and say enough is enough like Gandhi, Dr. King or Brother Malcom? What kind of human do you want to be? Or better yet, what kind of humanity do you want to leave behind? I think we are doing better this time, a declaration of genocide has already been filed BEFORE millions pay the ultimate price.

01/05/2024

There is a one state solution, it’s called Palestine 🇵🇸!!!

03/16/2023

Recently I was honored to be in class when these three amazing people received a well deserved promotion in ranking. Graduating to the next belt in a way seems like a simple act of replacing one belt with the other but somehow it elevates you in unexpected ways. These changes begin ‘internally’ with a different mindset and are manifested through a change in a confidence in your own ability and supported further through your training partners expectations of you and your abilities. This is how i experience it anyway…
One thing is for absolute certain, consistency is key. I received a third strip on my brown belt a few weeks ago and went through all these phases of owning this third strip.
My goal this year is to be more consistent, not only in jiu jitsu, but outside of the dojo as well. I am more convinced than ever that consistent practice will produce the outcome that you most desire.
Thank you for your consistent service to the community and me individually. OSS!

01/14/2023

Let’s get your new year rolling with a new feeling body! HMU and let’s book ☮️ ❤️ 🙏🏽

10/17/2022

One of the nice things about my new studio is that even with north facing windows I still get beautiful sunset light reflecting off all the new shiny buildings between Korea town and Chelsea.