Meditations on God

Science And Medicine Are Slow-Moving Processes
One thought I have had during all of this is that our information age has damaged science and medicine in a way most do not consider. It has forced scientists and doctors to be experts in real time, but that is not how science or medicine really work. They work slowly.

In the past, the experiments, the trials, the data, conclusions, mistakes, etc. were all done behind the scenes over a long period of time before being presented to the public as expertise. Now, the public is given a view behind the curtain, so to speak, but the public does not understand that what they are viewing is a process, not a conclusion. We are not equipped to handle the process. We are wired to need a solution. And, on top of that, we should have no say in the process, but now we do, in some weird way.

None of us is capable of being an expert in all things. Nor are we capable of holding informed, educated opinions on all subjects. Knowledge and expertise at the highest levels, especially with regards to science and medicine, are not democratic in that way, even if access to them may be.

Personally, I would rather not know until the truth reveals itself, which may be years away. In the meantime, I want to live my life with my own knowledge, my own peers, and in my own community. The science and the medicine will get to me when they are ready, which may be never.

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.

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May 24, 2020

community, culture, digital age, expertise, family, information age, knowledge, medicine, patience, polymath, science, society, specialists, wisdom
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.

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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May 23, 2020

bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, budo, flow state, grappling, jiu-jitsu, Martial Arts, mystical experience, mysticism, rolling, sparring, spiritual experience, spirituality
The Mouse And The Trap (A Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)
Do not chase your opponents into their game.

The longer we practice jiu-jitsu, the more we develop our own uniquely personal technical-style, strategies, and tactics. While this is happening, however, our training partners are also working on improving and developing their own personal styles as well, their own games, so to speak. Like us, they, too, are developing a mindset, philosophy, and a physical language all their own, based on their personal goals, their physical attributes, and their strengths and weaknesses.

Through this process of individual and mutual improvement, we have the constant benefit of increasingly complex and challenging problems to solve. We learn what works and what does not work in what circumstances, against what offenses and defenses, and what causes us repeated success or failure against whom. The better we get at our own personal style of jiu-jitsu, the more we tend to want to impose our game on others while they try to impose theirs on us in return.

One of the primary lessons in all of this is that, not only should we not try to beat others at their own game, but we should also not chase them into the positions they are best at and we are worst at with the hope of out-thinking and out-maneuvering them where they are comfortable and we are not. We learn not to attack others’ strengths with our weaknesses and, instead, to try to lead or guide them into the places we are strong and they are weak. As Pedro Sauer says, “The mouse trap does not chase the mouse.”

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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May 22, 2020

be yourself, bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, express yourself, jiu-jitsu, pedro sauer, personal expression, philosophy, problem solving, self expression, strategy, strength, style, weakness
On Non-Resistance (A Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)
Long-lasting solutions begin with empathy, not animosity.

If we want to make a change in our lives, we will inevitably come up against resistance. Instead of perceiving this resistance as a negative thing, we should embrace it for the lessons it offers. Resistance forces us to know ourselves, our desires, our capabilities, and to adjust our posture, firm up our stance, and focus our attention and intention so that we are not overcome by the forces working against us and also so that we can find an intelligent and efficient way through or around them.

In jiu-jitsu, if we stick around long enough, we begin to learn that fighting force against force is not only exhausting, but also gives the advantage to whoever is bigger, stronger, and more persistent. Over time, through many mistakes and many losses, we come to accept the fact that the only way for a smaller, weaker practitioner to defeat a larger, stronger one, is with integrity, angles, and timing. The longer that we practice in this way, the more sensitive we become to the defensive and offensive motives, desires, and strategies of our opponents, giving us the ability to think and move ahead of them instead of in response to them.

This type of physical intelligence is not available to us if our minds are clouded by frustration, anger, or egoism, however. If we want to intuitively know how to effectively deal with resistance, how to neutralize it, and how to use it to our advantage, we must practice empathy. Empathy allows us to be sensitive to the needs and wants of others so that, instead of fighting against them, we can work with them, allowing them to be who they want to be, but to do so in a way that is advantageous to us, binging us closer to our goals.

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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May 21, 2020

angles, bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, change, compassion, empathy, integrity, jiu-jitsu, kiai, Martial Arts, non-resistance, posture, resistance, sensitiity, solutions, the obstacle is the way, understanding
Martial Arts And The Freedom To Choose
As long as we have choice, we have hope.

One of the most powerful lessons martial arts teach us is that very difficult, seemingly insurmountable problems can be solved by applying the right combination of posture, balance, angles, and leverage. What at first feels like a hopeless challenge becomes less and less so the more we learn and practice. Over time, positions we were once helplessly stuck in no longer cause us concern or discomfort because, as our skills improve, so does our power to choose how and when we escape or reverse a bad position.

With this ability to choose comes confidence and optimism. The more we practice, the more we learn that, as long as we have not yet been submitted or knocked out, we still have some degree of freedom to choose our own fate and the fate of our opponent. Skill and experience gives us hope because, as long as we are free to move in some direction, even if it was not the direction we once wanted or hoped to move in, we know that the fight is not yet over.

The experience of being stuck or overwhelmed can feel almost claustrophobic at first. It is enough to make many people want to quit, but the ones who stick around, the ones who see past their own discomfort and keep coming back in spite of it or even because it, soon discover that fear and pain are temporary, and are far outweighed by the joy, satisfaction, and physical, emotional, and psychological freedom that comes with the progress that continued practice offers. Success, we come to find out, is not necessarily reserved for the best of us, but for the ones who keep showing up and who remember that no matter how bad it gets today, there is always a solution to the problems we face, even if we do not know it or know how to apply it yet.

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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May 20, 2020

bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, budo, choice, fate, fear, freedom, growth, jiu-jitsu, Martial Arts, optimism, persistence, presence, problems, resistance, showing up, success, taikyoku budo

Science And Medicine Are Slow-Moving Processes

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The Martial-Mystical Experience (Rolling Into Transcendence)

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The Mouse And The Trap (A Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)

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On Non-Resistance (A Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)

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Martial Arts And The Freedom To Choose

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