Meditations on God

Pay for Potential
It’s a common practice at many companies to pay new employees a lower rate during an initial probationary training period than they will be earning after they are fully trained and, presumably, autonomous. The thought behind this is that a new employee must spend some arbitrary period of time proving his/her worth to the company before being paid for their future, ie potential, worth.

When I worked for a large, corporate coffee company in the early 2000’s, I was a store manager for a time. I used this practice of hiring people at a lower rate than I would be paying them once they were fully trained. Upon discovering this, my District Manager, a man I have written about elsewhere, questioned me. He asked why I would pay someone less than I hired them to be worth.

I explained the logic behind my methods. I told him that I was paying them for their present worth as a trainee, which was less than they would be worth to my team and the company once they were fully trained, at which time their pay would increase as promised. He asked, “Why don’t you pay them based on the potential value you see in them? Why don’t you give them what they will be worth once they are fully trained? Set the standard high and then make sure they live up to that standard by training them. Don’t waste everyone’s time by playing games. Hire good people, train them well, and pay them what you believed they would be worth when you interviewed them.”
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November 21, 2018
Stepping Into Higher Education
Being a senior-year high-school dropout, I will always be grateful for community college because it allowed me to restart my education with a clean slate, opening the door for me to enter University without my high school records being held against me.

With GED in hand (something a judge required me to earn as part of my societal amends for some trouble I got in as a teenager), I simply needed to apply, take some entry exams, pay for my classes, show up, and I was a ‘college student.’ No one cared who I was, where I came from, or what I did (or did not do) during my previous schooling. It was like a new lease on education.

It started with curiosity. I truly hated school growing up, but I was different now. College was voluntary and that was something that intrigued me. Perhaps I would enjoy and benefit from a new knowledge experience. It was worth a shot. I made a commitment to myself that I would take one single class.

Having some degree of self-awareness, I knew if I was going to be successful, I would have to start with what interested me, not with what was required of me. I cannot honestly say that I am proud of my inherent resistance to that which is required of me, but I have learned to live with my shortcomings and to do my best to use them to my advantage instead of allowing them to be my downfall. So, I started my college career with a subject that fascinated me: Asian religious studies. It was the first step on a long, winding path, but it was a step I am glad that I took because it was my step and my path.
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November 6, 2018
Henry Akins and the BJJ Seminar to End All BJJ Seminars
I originally wrote this post on March 8, 2015 after attending my first seminar with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Henry Akins. I’m re-posting it now because Henry Akins is scheduled to teach a seminar at my dojo’s affiliate headquarters in Columbia, MD on April 6-7, 2019.

What follows were my thoughts after my first seminar with Mr. Akins:

I’ve been reflecting a lot on the Henry Akins seminar I attended earlier this week. I was thoroughly impressed by Mr. Akins’ techniques and his demeanor. I’ve seen a lot of good techniques though and I’ve met a lot of nice people. These things alone, for me, are not what stood out about this seminar – although the details to Mr. Akins’ techniques are truly amazing and he is a really nice guy who obviously loves sharing what he knows (and he knows a lot!!!). What really stood out to me about what Mr. Akins taught was the fluid consistency between techniques – the principles that underlie all that he taught. Mr. Akins has a deep understanding of WHY he does BJJ the way he does and why he DOES NOT do it other ways. Henry Akins understands a few fundamental principles which make every technique he does and teaches work – consistently.

In my opinion/experience, this is what is missing from BJJ (and most other arts) these days. Without a clear set of fundamental principles, what we have is a seemingly unrelated set of skills that, while they may all come together when we roll/spar (we may even beat most people in the class), we don’t really understand. From what I’ve seen, most people in BJJ take the “more is better” attitude (this is America after all) and are merely collecting as many techniques as they can. Akins’ approach is exactly the opposite. His focus is on a few basic techniques with fine-tuned details that follow a set of physical and strategic principles. In other words, for Akins more is not better… better is better.

As a friend pointed out once, there is a classical Japanese sword school whose entire curriculum is one single sword cut that they practice over and over with frightening intensity. Their attitude is essentially, “Who’s going to stop us?” Along these lines, I once read an interview with the great judo player Masahiko Kimura (the one who beat Helio Gracie and whom the technique is named after). In it, he explained that the only throw he really used was Osoto Gari (large outer reaping leg sweep). Why? It worked. This is one of the things that impressed me about Akins. His focus is not on how many techniques he has, but on how to most effectively use the few that he knows work.

With each technique he taught, Akins answered the question: What are the underlying principles of physical integrity, power generation, and martial strategy that will make this or that technique most effective? If you are a collector and you want more techniques to add to your toolbox, you probably won’t get them with Akins. If you like complicated, multi-step techniques akin to “human oragami,” look elsewhere. However, if you want the highest level of skill and a deep understanding of the art of jiu-jitsu through a few highly evolved basic techniques taught using principles that have the potential to change your entire jiu-jitsu trajectory, find Henry Akins and PAY ATTENTION. With more techniques, you simply have more techniques with which you can DO jiu-jitsu. With principles though, you are empowered to BECOME jiu-jitsu. Henry Akins is empowering the jiu-jitsu community and it was an honor to train with him.

Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Kogen Dojo in Severna Park, MD where he teaches and practices Taikyoku Budo and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
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November 4, 2018
My Emotional Inference Filter is Broken
For many years, I worked for a large, corporate coffee company. I held every position from Barista to Store Manager to Coffee Equipment Service Technician, until being laid off in 2010 along with all of the other Service Techs. By the time I was laid off, I had about twelve years of service with this company, much of that time in a leadership role of one sort or another. I have had many supervisors and managers along the way, but most did not really know how to lead. They were task managers, not leaders of men or women. A leader, I have come to understand, is committed to the development of the people he or she leads, even more than to the accomplishment of the tasks themselves.

After several years at the aforementioned coffee company, I first promoted to Store Manager. During a good part of my time as a Store Manager, I had a particular District Manager who made a strong, long-lasting influence on me as a leader. He was direct, stern, and to the point. Anyone who worked with him knew exactly where they stood at all times, for better or worse. He had a clear sense of right and wrong that shaped his leadership style, in a way that made him seem passionately unforgiving of mistakes in both himself and others. He just wanted things to be right, but he would do anything in his power to help you to achieve this standard. He spent many long hours coaching and training his managers to be impeccable and unimpeachable as leaders.

Some of my peers saw his character as unnecessarily harsh, but I saw someone who held us to the same standards to which he held himself. I respected him for his honesty and sincerity. Part of this likely comes from the fact that I have lived my life confused by the subtleties and nuance of human interaction. I have a difficult time comprehending, on an emotional level, the implied needs of others and translating those needs into actionable information. Therefore, when I come across someone who is explicit about his or her needs and wants, about the rules of our relationship and the means by which I can help us find success together, I find great relief and comfort in that.

What this man taught me about myself was how I most successfully interact with the world. I learned that I thrive in environments where the rules and parameters of success are clear. If I know what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and why it needs to be done, I will always figure out how to get it done. However, my emotional inference filter is broken. When I am left to infer meaning from vague, emotion-based standards, I get confused and frustrated. I shut down and withdraw, defaulting to being isolative and anti-social. By being utterly and consistently transparent, this man gave me a framework by which to be successful. Under this man’s leadership, I always knew what needed to be done, when it was to be completed by, and why the goal or task was important. This clarity and structure of purpose allowed me the mental-emotional space to be creative where it mattered.
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November 4, 2018
Sharpen Your Sword
If you have an idea, if you feel inspired by something, first put it on paper. If it’s written down, you will either forget about it, in which case it was not meant to be acted on (yet), or you will keep going back to it and tweaking it until it comes to life. Sharpen your sword.
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November 1, 2018