Simply because we get used to something does not mean it is good for us.
Humans are amazingly resilient and adaptable creatures with a great capacity to work through stress and pain as long as we feel like we are making progress because of it. This survival mechanism can be extremely useful when we need it for some specific task, but, like every tool at our disposal, it is not intended to be a one-size-fits-all solution for every aspect of our lives. Simply put, we are not meant to push though every difficult, stressful, and painful thing we experience just because we can.
Stress and pain are our mind and body’s way of telling us something is not right, of telling us to slow down or not to do something. They are indicators that what we trying to do, if we do it in this way for a long enough period of time, could cause us injury or even death. Undertaken for good reason, under the right conditions, and with proper precautions, however, working through stress and pain can actually make us stronger, healthier, and more resilient, but only so long as these periods of work are bookended by a proper amount physical and mental rest, recovery, and nutrition.
Without reprieve, stress and pain over long durations actually make us weaker, more fragile, and vulnerable. While we may come to not notice it, if we experience the same stresses and the same pains constantly, day in and day out, we put ourselves in a position to be blindsided by other physical, psychological, and emotional dangers because we have become unhealthily desensitized to their warning signs. It is actually in the space between, in the periods of physical and mental rest, recovery, and nourishment, that we heal and grow.
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 & Bodyand Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.
We must not forget why we started training martial arts and why we decided to stay.
It is difficult to explain to people who do not know, just how important martial arts are to the lives of the people who practice them. For many practitioners, martial arts saved us from ourselves. They saved us from isolation, loneliness, depression, and an otherwise unhealthy, self-destructive lifestyle.
More than just a hobby, martial arts give us a community, a sense of purpose, a feeling of belonging, a place where we can get away, challenge ourselves, work out, and put life in perspective. Martial arts bring people together from all different walks of life, socio-political and economic backgrounds, religions, and occupations. They unite us around the common purpose of mutually beneficial self-improvement.
For many of us, martial arts are our lifeline, our stress relief, our exercise regimen, our social life, the means by which we improve our mental, physical, and emotional health, and perhaps even our primary source of income. For some, the martial arts we practice are even our chosen spiritual path and the dojo our temple. It is not all that important for others who do not practice to understand these things, but it is essential that we who practice do not forget.
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 & Bodyand Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.
Some of us need to protect ourselves from other people’s problems and personalities, and that’s okay.
There are certain people who are empathetic to the point that they find it difficult to maintain boundaries between other people’s emotions and their own. They feel other people’s problems as if they are theirs as well. Depending on how these feelings manifest, are processed, and managed, this can either be a powerful tool by which to serve others or it can be like poison, eating the person alive from the inside out.
In order to not be totally overwhelmed by other people’s emotions, whether positive or negative, it is important for these people to learn how to manage physical space and distance for themselves. In order to maintain their own emotional and psychological integrity, they must, at times, distance themselves from certain people and situations, lest they lose sight of who they are and become overwhelmed by their surroundings.
These people are the types who, if they are not careful, will willingly, even if sometimes unknowingly, sacrifice their lives, their health, and their best interests for the sake of serving the emotional, physical, and psychological needs of those around them. Obviously, such loving service is necessary to the world, as long as it is healthy. Since not all relationships are healthy, however, for their own emotional, physical, and mental well-being, such empathic people must take caution with regards to who they associate with, where, and for how long.
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.
Meditations on God 