This idea or metaphor is mainly inspired by a quote (or a tweet rather) by Gracie Jiu Jitsu master Ryron Gracie (@RyronGracie) which provided me with a great image that I will use in order to explain a philosophical approach that I have recently been thinking about. This is the quote:
"My stillness creates movement." - Ryron Gracie
In the Martial Arts context
This beautiful quote should maybe first be interpreted in a Jiu Jitsu (or martial arts) context, since that's where it's from. As far as I can recall Ryron Gracie is leading a movement within the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community that is called "Keep it Playful" (keepitplayful.com). From what I understand (I hope correctly), this attitude towards training in the martial art of Jiu Jitsu* involves giving up superior positions from time to time in order to sharpen the defense and become more comfortable in those inferior positions. Also, a certain kind of patience is emphasized which is understood as being able to wait for the right moment to escape or attack and remain calm and relaxed until that very moment presents itself. I guess in this context the quote can be interpreted like this:
If one of the two Jiu Jitsu competitors (or fighters) is in an inferior position, he will not use all of his force to escape right away, since that is what his opponent would expect and therefore is braced for. He will rather wait and not move at all. This again, leads his opponent who has attained the superior position to relax or move in order to establish his offense which is precisely the moment during which the opportunity for escaping the inferior position will emerge. As the two bodies are closely connected in a Jiu Jitsu match, every relaxation and even tiny movements can be detected, and as the two competitors move in a relation that can be described as an antagonist/protagonist relation, the stillness of the person in the inferior position will create a movement of the other person.
*a martial art mainly focused on grappling, that is e.g. chokes, arm-locks and leg-locks. (usually no striking)
A similar phenomenon can be observed in martial arts that focus on strikes. For example in boxing, if one boxer steps back just a little bit, the other boxer will feel compelled or almost pulled towards his opponent just as much of a little bit. You are leaving a void that has to be filled, just like the before mentioned void of action (stillness) forces movement. Again, the two boxers are connected in a protagonist/antagonist relation which makes this possible and almost forcing. Experienced boxers (or fighters in general) are able to utilize this phenomenon and can make their opponents run into counter punches etc.
In my opinion, the underlying principle of these examples may also be applicable to other areas of life.
In the context of life in general
So, whenever we find ourselves in a protagonist/antagonist relation, the absence of movement, stillness, creates movement? Or expressed differently, if we don't act, there will be action? But we aren't in a protagonist/antagonist relation the entire time, are we? Considering the Taoist principle of Yin-Yang, maybe we are.
Without black, there cannot be white, without light, there cannot be shadows, without hot there cannot be cold and so on. As Alan Watts described it: When you are operating the steering wheel of your car, you are never only pushing or pulling, but always doing both. You're doing both because one requires the other. Further, as Alan Watts describes in his book Tao The Watercourse Way, Yin Yang goes along with another principle called hsiang sheng or mutual arising:
This idea of total interdependence of all things suggests that we might very well constantly be in a antagonist/protagonist relation with our surroundings, or rather that we are part of this coming and going, being and nonbeing. Therefore, as seen in the examples above, if we as a part of the whole do not act, action will happen. This does not mean that if you lean back and do nothing, everything will come to you. Not at all. But what this may mean is that there is an energy that emerges from stillness, from silence.
Jiddu Krishnamurti used to talk about this: If your mind becomes still and therefore silent (no thinking going on), there is an enormous amount of energy. He goes on to say that if you only observe what is going on and do not contemplate it, you can enter this state of silence and meditation.
By stopping your movement (be it a physical or a mental one) you create the void that will be filled. This can be seen as relinquishing control and trusting the fact that the counterpart will act which leads me to another point that is often discussed by Alan Watts:
(Returning to Jiu Jitsu for a second: If you relax and do not hold on to your opponent's body fiercely, you are essentially giving up control. But in doing so, he will move and therefore allow you to improve your position. So in a way, you did control him.)
Further, you can't actually fully control your environment anyways. So, once you have realized that there is no point in trying to control everything and that it is a waste of time, you can explore what happens, if you just don't do so. That's where the energy is at. The movement that happens, if you do not move. Of course this is connected with a great risk, since you are giving up control, but once you realize that you cannot possibly control everything, the only alternative to letting go is fiercely trying to control everything and failing.
Just like in martial arts, you need to know when to relax and let go, if you want to survive.
I feel like the martial arts analogy illustrates this idea pretty well (also because I have a martial arts background), and may present a different approach to the topic. Of course there are a million more things to say about this and I will probably come back to this sooner or later (preferably when I have learned more about it), but for now this is it.
Without black, there cannot be white, without light, there cannot be shadows, without hot there cannot be cold and so on. As Alan Watts described it: When you are operating the steering wheel of your car, you are never only pushing or pulling, but always doing both. You're doing both because one requires the other. Further, as Alan Watts describes in his book Tao The Watercourse Way, Yin Yang goes along with another principle called hsiang sheng or mutual arising:
"When everyone knows beauty as beautiful, there is already ugliness; When everyone knows good as goodness, there is already evil. "To be" and "not to be" arise mutually; Difficult and easy are mutually realized; Long and short are mutually contrasted; High and low are mutually posited;. . . Before and after are in mutual sequence." - (Alan Watts quoting Lao-tzu in The Watercourse Way)Anticipating how difficult this type of approach might be to understand for westerners (as he himself was), he adds:
"But it is difficult in our logic to see that being and nonbeing are mutually generative and mutually supportive, for it is the great and imaginary terror of Western man that nothingness will be the permanent end of the universe. We do not easily grasp the point that the void is creative, and that being comes from nonbeing as sound from silence and light from space." - (Alan Watts in the Watercourse way)
This idea of total interdependence of all things suggests that we might very well constantly be in a antagonist/protagonist relation with our surroundings, or rather that we are part of this coming and going, being and nonbeing. Therefore, as seen in the examples above, if we as a part of the whole do not act, action will happen. This does not mean that if you lean back and do nothing, everything will come to you. Not at all. But what this may mean is that there is an energy that emerges from stillness, from silence.
Jiddu Krishnamurti used to talk about this: If your mind becomes still and therefore silent (no thinking going on), there is an enormous amount of energy. He goes on to say that if you only observe what is going on and do not contemplate it, you can enter this state of silence and meditation.
By stopping your movement (be it a physical or a mental one) you create the void that will be filled. This can be seen as relinquishing control and trusting the fact that the counterpart will act which leads me to another point that is often discussed by Alan Watts:
"In giving away the control, you've got it." - (Alan Watts)**Taken from here
(Returning to Jiu Jitsu for a second: If you relax and do not hold on to your opponent's body fiercely, you are essentially giving up control. But in doing so, he will move and therefore allow you to improve your position. So in a way, you did control him.)
Further, you can't actually fully control your environment anyways. So, once you have realized that there is no point in trying to control everything and that it is a waste of time, you can explore what happens, if you just don't do so. That's where the energy is at. The movement that happens, if you do not move. Of course this is connected with a great risk, since you are giving up control, but once you realize that you cannot possibly control everything, the only alternative to letting go is fiercely trying to control everything and failing.
Just like in martial arts, you need to know when to relax and let go, if you want to survive.
I feel like the martial arts analogy illustrates this idea pretty well (also because I have a martial arts background), and may present a different approach to the topic. Of course there are a million more things to say about this and I will probably come back to this sooner or later (preferably when I have learned more about it), but for now this is it.
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