Listen
unto the silence
speaking
listen
more deeply
still
search
your heart for love
eternal
rest
within the empty
space
REST IN EMPTINESS
By Robert Van Valkenburgh
‘Meditations of a Gentle Warrior’ at http://www.holisticbudo.com
To read my longer writing, visit my blog ‘Grappling With Divinity’ at http://www.robertvanvalkenburgh.com
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.
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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“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.
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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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.
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.
If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.
Meditations on God 