Martial arts is a beautiful part of the human experience. In virtually every discipline, one can experience immense physical and mental growth. Martial arts teaches patience, strength, and resiliency. 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu promotes such tenants within their practice and Onnit is parallel in its pursuits to promote what they call Total Human Optimization. I attended the Onnit Invitational 4 located at 10th Planet Austin, photographing the action from the edge of the mat. Super exciting and super fun! I made two sets of photographs, this is the first that showcases some of the matches that transpired that evening. My goal with this set was to highlight the matches and competitors as they tangled each other up to both victory and defeat. The major challenges in photographing an event like this is lighting and speed--some of these matches are over in a blink of an eye. I have to be sure I take my time to make a great photograph while being fast enough to make a good photo with minimal motion before the match ends. I love moments like this where you have to block it all out and capture something before you miss it. The photos were well received by Onnit and martial arts fans abound and I will be making it out to more tournaments in the future. Enjoy!