Tag: irimi

• Pivoting For Progress

  Move forward decisively and purposefully, but leave room to pivot.

  

  Whether in relationships, business, fitness, or martial arts, once we know where we want to go and we have a plan to get there, it is important to begin moving in that direction without haste and to stick with the plan as best we can. No plan is perfect, however, nor can it account for every contingency, variable, or obstacle we may face along the way. This fact should not stop us from planning or from acting on our plans, though.

  If we want to make any progress in our lives, toward our goals and aspirations, we have to assume that there is a path forward in whatever direction we choose to go, or we have to make a plan to create the path we need. This requires a kind of progressive optimism. It requires a mindset that tells us, regardless of the fact that we may, no, that we will run into difficulty along the way, that we will not stop until we get where we are going.

  Sometimes, in spite of our will to progress, in spite our optimism, and in spite of our best planning, we come face-to-face with a challenge that we simply have no way to overcome with the tools at our disposal. If the obstacle in our path is truly insurmountable, we must choose whether to keep moving forward, crashing into it to the bitter end, to quit and go back to from where we came, or to humble ourselves, look for creative solutions in other directions, and pivot. In the end, the true path forward requires us to be both open-minded and agile.

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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 (artist unknown, unless otherwise noted).

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  March 28, 2020

  aspirations, challenges, goals, irimi, irimi tenkan, obstacles, pivot, pivoting, progress, the path, the way

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• Grappling Is Measured In Irimi

  “Whoever controls the center, wins.” —Ellis Amdur

  

  Grappling is essentially a negotiation for space, space that one person is attempting to occupy to the detriment of the other. Takedowns, throws, pins, strangles, and joint-locks, are really all variants of taking space so that we are in control of it and our opponent is not. In Japanese martial arts, this idea of taking space is known as ‘irimi,’ literally ‘entering body.’

  Irimi, as Ellis Amdur describes it, is a martial form of displacement wherein “[t]wo objects cannot occupy the same space, and I, with greater power/speed/timing/postural stability, etc, take that space.” Whether we are talking about destabilizing an opponent to the point of a fall, like in sumo or judo, pinning an opponent such that he or she can no longer move, like in western-style wrestling, or submitting an opponent with a joint-lock or a strangle, as in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, grappling is measured in our ability to take space and not give it back. It is measured in irimi.

  Through irimi, we develop the ability to predict where our opponent wants to be, the space he or she wants to take. Then, we can choose to either be there first, to cut him or her off by making that space our own, or to not be there at all by moving to a more advantageous position from which we can take more space with less resistance. Irimi is the means by which we take space until we achieve our takedown, throw, pin, and/or submission, and it is also the means by which we do not give up our own space in the process.

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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, as well as a founding member of the Severna Park and Baltimore Holistic Chamber of Commerce.

  Artwork by Ana, except where otherwise noted.

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  January 11, 2020

  bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, center, grappling, irimi, judo, space, submission grappling, sumo, wrestling

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• Commit Forward (Then Pivot)

  If we do not first commit to a relationship, we cannot pivot within that relationship and be taken seriously.

  

  In aikido, there are two fundamental concepts of movement. In the most general terms, the first is entering (irimi) and the second is pivoting or flanking (tenkan). Irimi is the act of moving in, on and through the line of resistance. Tenkan, often misunderstood as turning or moving around resistance, is actually the act of pivoting on the line of resistance, once it is established that the way forward is blocked.

  Irimi is the act of committing ourselves to a path. It is the principle of entering into a relationship with confidence, certainty, and integrity. It is a straight line in, eschewing our fears, being present, aware, and powerful. Irimi is belief in ourselves, our purpose, and our ability to carry out our mission.

  Sometimes, however, we meet an insurmountable resistance when we move in and we must take a different angle. When we have fully committed ourselves into something worth doing, with all of our essence and all of our being, but it is simply not working because there is too much resistance on the other end, or perhaps because we took the wrong approach from the start, we must pivot. This is tenkan, but, more accurately, this is irimi-tenkan.

  There is no pivoting without commitment. There is no new angle for us to take without first moving forward. There is no adjustment of our position if we do not have one in the first place. We cannot simply move around the periphery of our relationships and expect them to have depth and meaning. In fact, we cannot even be in a relationship, in the truest sense of the word, without first putting ourselves on the line.

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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

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  October 19, 2019

  aikido, commitment, flanking, integrity, irimi, irimi tenkan, pivoting, relationship, tenkan, the obstacle is the way, the path

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• A Willow in a Snowstorm (Jujutsu and the Transcendence of Violence)

  Does your jujutsu (jiu-jitsu) propagate violence or transcend it?

  

  The Japanese word jujutsu (柔術) is often thought to translate as ‘gentle art.’ Gentle implies a lack of force or lack of strength. Anyone who has ever done any form of jujutsu knows that there is nothing gentle about being thrown, pinned, joint-locked, or choked. In truth, the first character in the word jujutsu, ju (柔), means something closer to supple, yielding, or pliable. This is different than gentle.

  The way a loving mother places a sleeping baby into a crib is gentle. A feather floating aimlessly on the breeze is gentle. Jujutsu is not like this. Borrowing from the origin story of Yoshin-ryu, jujutsu is more similar to what happens to a willow tree when snow lands on its branches. The willow gives way to the snow until the weight becomes too much to bear. Instead of snapping, the willow’s branches simply allow the snow to fall off and then they bounce back to their original shape.

  The willow is supple and pliable, but it is not gentle. Its response to the snow is at first yielding, but the willow becomes quickly and unpredictably violent at exactly the right moment. The willow is not rigid, resisting the snow with all its might. If it did that, its branches would eventually break because that which is rigid is also brittle. The willow is strong precisely because it is pliable and gives way under pressure, but only just enough, and it never give up its integrity.

  In other words, jujutsu is the martial study of methods for winning a battle by not directly opposing force. Instead, jujutsu yields to force, and, at exactly the moment when the enemy feels strongest, shifts violently to a more advantageous angle, attacking where the enemy is weak and without defense. In this way, jujutsu’s effectiveness is not in its opposition to violence. Resistance begets resistance. Jujutsu is actually a means for transcending violence so as to win the battle unopposed.

  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, Severna Park’s Holistic Chamber of Commerce, and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

  39.073857
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  August 24, 2019

  bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, budo, gracie jiu-jitsu, irimi, irimi tenkan, japanese martial arts, jujutsu, Martial Arts, resistance, taikyoku budo, transcendence, violence

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• Chess and Collar Chokes

  “If we are playing chess and I do two moves, but you only do one move, who is going to win? Jiu-jitsu is like chess. I do one move and you do one move, but if I do one move and then you let me do another move, game over.” – Relson Gracie

  

  In life, like in jiu-jitsu, when problems arise, if they are not addressed immediately, they can compound and become overwhelming. Imagine you are doing jiu-jitsu and your opponent passes your guard to side control. That is a problem. If you do not address it and re-guard, he or she gets to mount. Now, you have two problems. Then, he or she puts a hand in your collar and you do nothing. You now have three problems and his or her next move is going to be to finish the choke with the other hand.

  If you wait until the second hand comes in to grab your other collar, before you begin strategizing your defense, you are not only behind, but you are positioned to lose. Now, your only move is going to be reactionary and reactive counters are slow because they lack initiative. A lot of things happened between the guard pass and the collar choke that should have been addressed as they came up, but due to lack of awareness, initiative, or skill, now you are fighting to survive. It is very difficult to think about winning when you are fighting to survive.

  The goal is to get ahead, to address issues before they become problems. In Japanese martial arts, this principle, which I have written about in Enter First With Your Mind, is known as irimi. Irimi is the act of taking space, being where your opponent wanted to be before he or she gets there and owning that position. In BJJ, this means capitalizing on the guard pass attempt and either submitting or sweeping the passer at exactly the moment he or she is most confident. Irimi is seizing the challenge, owning it, and using it to your advantage.

  “As in life, so too it is in budo. As in budo, so too it is in life.”

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

  39.073857
  -76.547111

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  June 21, 2019

  bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, budo, chess, collar choke, gracie jiu-jitsu, irimi, japanese martial arts, kogen dojo, life, Martial Arts, taikyoku budo

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