The Blog of Robert Van Valkenburgh
Freedom is the ability to maintain a diverse set of options in spite of chaos and discomfort. In this image, we see Reyadh and his partner rolling (sparring in a ground grappling context) for submissions. Reyadh is in top mount, a clearly dominant position, but he is trying to attain a higher mounted position to [...]
As has happened many times over in my life, one day in my early 20’s I was having an existential crisis for one reason or another. It is not as if anything particularly terrible had happened on this specific day, but, once again, my inner world was flipped on its head in search for meaning [...]
Take a moment every day to reflect. There is so much attention given these days to the hustle, the grind, and getting after it as a path to success, fulfillment, and freedom that it often feels as if we have missed some essential aspects of a meaningful life. Without taking a moment every now and [...]
If you do not know something, ask someone who does. The open source nature of the Taikyoku Budo framework allows us to draw information from various experts or journeymen from other martial arts. The information is then filtered through our core principles and integrated or pared away as appropriate, always looking to see what is [...]
There are different attitudes about scarcity in this world. Some believe that we live in a world of limited resources and, in order for one person to have something, another person must have without. Others believe that we live in a world of abundance and that there is more than enough to go around. Of [...]