Category: The Martial Way

• Turn Toward Trouble (A Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)

  Our only hope for overcoming our troubles is to turn toward them.

  

  One of the most valuable lessons we learn, as we practice jiu-jitsu, is that our troubles do not go away when we turn our backs on them.

  In fact, the more we train, the more we discover that, by turning away from our problems, they actually tend to get much, much worse.

  By turning our backs on our troubles, we forfeit nearly all ability to defend ourselves against them, to overcome them, and to be triumphant against them.

  At first, it may feel like the only way out, it may feel safer and more comfortable than what is in front of us, but, as time goes on, we learn that turning away actually makes us more vulnerable, more susceptible to danger, and leaves us with little to no recourse.

  Turning away in an effort to escape our problems, we come to find, is tantamount to giving up.

  No matter how much pressure we are under, no matter how aggressive and persistent the attack, and regardless of how unprepared, outsized, and outmatched we may be, our only hope for overcoming the difficulties we face is to actually face them.

  To be sure, this is no easy task, but with enough courage, enough persistence, and enough practice, we eventually learn how to not only survive, but how to thrive in unfavorable, uncomfortable, and even painful situations, and, over time, we even come to embrace them and use them to our advantage.

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  Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

  Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

  All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.

  Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

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  August 19, 2020

  brazilian jiu-jitsu, courage, gracie jiu-jitsu, grappling, jiu-jitsu, life lessons, Martial Arts, persistence, practice, submission grappling, success, vulnerability

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• The Consequences Of Overextension (A Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)

  In Brazilian jiu-jitsu, we learn over time that overextending ourselves has very real, even painful, consequences.

  

  One of the greatest benefits of jiu-jitsu training is the near-immediate feedback we receive from rolling (grappling for submissions). When we make mistakes, if we are rolling with someone of equal or greater skill, there are consequences in the form of a a guard pass, a pin escape, a reversal of positions, or a submission.

  Submissions are meant to represent the final outcome of an engagement wherein one person has no physical options left and must, therefore, submit to defeat under threat of a joint break or strangulation. Over time, jiu-jitsu practitioners learn that one of the easiest ways to secure a submission or to get submitted is through the overextension, and therefore, overexposure of a limb, whether an arm, leg, or even the neck.

  If we expose our elbows or stick our arms out, we are likely to get arm-barred, shoulder-locked, or head-and-arm strangled, exposing our legs or feet will result in leg or foot locks, and sticking our necks out with no protection will get us strangled. In short, an extended limb is a vulnerable limb. When we are on the offensive, we are looking to force or exploit overextension and when we are on the defensive, we are looking to limit it.

  The truth of this hard won lesson goes well beyond grappling, however. As is often the case, that which is true in the microcosm of jiu-jitsu also tends to be true in the macrocosm of our lives. Simply put, overextending ourselves sacrifices our integrity and makes us vulnerable in budo and in life.

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  Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

  Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

  All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.

  Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

  If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.

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  June 20, 2020

  bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, budo, commitment, extension, gracie jiu-jitsu, grappling, integrity, life lessons, Martial Arts, overcommitment, overextension, submission grappling, submissions

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• To Fight For Peace

  We all need to fight for what we believe in, but what some of us believe in is not fighting.

  

  People are complex creatures full of inconsistencies and contradictions. Quite often, our actions do not align with what we claim to believe or value. Sometimes, our behaviors even directly contradict the very principles we espouse.

  One such contradiction is the idea of fighting for peace. This may be the ultimate human paradox. In fact, literally millions of people have died over the years in an effort to live more peacefully, whether through acts of self-initiated violence, self-defense in the face of violence, violence as a means of protesting real or perceived injustices, or as innocent bystanders caught up in violence.

  The fact is that we live in a violent world. Nature itself is violent. That we do not have to constantly fight for our lives against the elements, against predatory creatures, and against enemies or warring tribes is truly a modern, perhaps even regional, luxury.

  While unrealistic to believe that we can live without struggle, challenges, conflict, or difficulty, we can choose to live without fighting and without violence unless and until someone forces our hand to the point where we must defend ourselves.

  Even then, however, we must have prepared for violence in some way if we are to survive it, overcome it, and even transcend it. The secret is to find a means by which to deal with violence in a way that does not also violate our integrity, turning us into that which we are philosophically or spiritually opposed to.

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  Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

  Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

  All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.

  Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

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  June 15, 2020

  conflict, conflict resolution, deescalation, integrity, Martial Arts, peace, self defense, stoicism, the art of war, violence, war

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• Managing Space (A Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)

  Sometimes the best input is silence and the best proximity is distance.

  

  There are more people than ever who want to tell us how to feel, what to believe, and how to act, but there are very few who are actually concerned with how we feel, what we believe, and what we want to do with and for our lives. With input coming at us from all directions, it becomes increasingly difficult to discern what in our lives is the result of our needs and desires and what is the result of outside influence. The more we engage with these forces of influence acting on us, the blurrier the lines become between who we are and who others want us to be.

  The reality is that there is simply no feasible way to focus on our own lives, needs, and desires while also giving our attention to what everyone else is doing and saying, especially with regards to how we should feel, think, and act. Our capacity for attention is limited and there are only so many hours in the day, so we must spend our time, the only truly nonrenewable resource, wisely. Because of this, it is imperative, for our own health, wellness, and progress, that we make time and space in our lives for quiet reflection and creation, whether alone or with those who matter most.

  Jiu-jitsu teaches us that when we find ourselves in a bad position, overwhelmed by forces we simply cannot overcome head on, the best strategy is to create space and disengage until we can find a new, safer angle from which to more effectively move forward. The best jiu-jitsu practitioners are, not coincidentally, also the most difficult to hold in disadvantageous positions and the least likely to put themselves into those positions on purpose, except perhaps as a way of practicing survival, escapes, and reversals under duress. Over time, we come to find that success demands that we give ourselves room to breathe, to see the big picture, and to move forward intelligently in the direction that benefits us and not our opponent, that we become masters of controlling space.

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  Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

  Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

  All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.

  Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

  If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.

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  May 31, 2020

  bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, creativity, desires, distance management, feedback, goals, input, jiu-jitsu, meditation, needs, position, positioning, priorities, prioritizing, quiet, space, wants

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• The Martial-Mystical Experience (Rolling Into Transcendence)

  It is difficult to worry about our day-to-day problems when someone is trying to choke us unconscious or punch us in the face.

  

  Aside from simply learning how to fight or defend ourselves, there are many psychological, physical, and emotional benefits to be found in sparring based martial arts, martial arts wherein practitioners regularly pressure test one another with live resistance in an attempt to pin, submit, or strike each other. One such benefit is the ability to hyper-focus on an immediate problem while also seeing the bigger picture surrounding that problem. Beyond this state of hyper-focus, however, lies a deeper state wherein our conscious minds gives way to, or become one with, our physical bodies and we enter a state of flow, perfectly present in the exchange, transcendent of all fear, worry, or desire.

  At first, when we begin sparring or rolling, we are easily overwhelmed by the bombardment of stimuli coming at us. Things move so fast, with threats, and even pain, seeming to come from all directions at once, that it is difficult for our conscious minds to keep up with the physical exchange and our minds begin to, for lack of a better phrase, short circuit. By trying to deal with an onslaught of physical challenges consciously, we are slow and we lose, a lot. This experience of being can be extremely frustrating, exhausting, and discouraging, but it is also a necessary part of the process.

  Over time, our physical skills begin to catch up with the challenges we are faced with and our minds begin to relax into the situation, hyper-focusing on what is happening, what may happen, and what we want to happen, and all of this is then expressed through our bodies. As we become more experienced and more comfortable under pressure, we become immersed in the physical exchange, and our bodies, not our conscious minds, begin to guide us in an intricate dance back and forth with our opponent. With enough skill and the right training partners, sparring or rolling becomes a nearly mystical experience that simultaneously takes us out of ourselves and brings us closer to our essential natures.

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  Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.

  Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

  All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.

  Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

  If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.

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  May 23, 2020

  bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, budo, flow state, grappling, jiu-jitsu, Martial Arts, mystical experience, mysticism, rolling, sparring, spiritual experience, spirituality

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