Watchdog

I spoke to writer/director David Mamet last Friday about his new movie, "Redbelt," which comes out Friday, and about the rising profile of mixed martial arts in general and of his particular interest, Jiu-Jitsu.

"It’s coming out of the woodwork," he said. "It’s great. MMA is just part of the movie. It’s part of the world these guys move in. But I’m really glad that MMA has become so popular, because I think a lot of MMA fans are going to appreciate the movie, because we have a lot of MMA fighters, and we have a lot of the MMA spirit.

"It’s a movie about Jiu-Jitsu. I got into it about six years ago. I ran into a pretty good friend of mine in Los Angeles, Eddie O’Neill, who’d been studying for many, many years, and he said you come out to Los Angeles I’m going to get you to some guys, and he did.

"I started when I was 55, so it’s great. You do it little by little. They call it the old man’s sport, because the better you get at it the less force you use.

"It’s like trying to hit a golf ball. You use knowledge."