Few Thoughts on Freedom

As should be clear by now, the central premise at the heart of this blog is the unity of body and mind, and resulting from that, the equation that movement is life. In our culture however, the mind-body split is still deeply rooted. (Ironically, of course this very concept of a mind-body split is itself embodied within the human organism, but that's for another day.) Therefore, most philosophical notions that originate from a body-mind unity will differ from classical Western philosophical notions and also from Western 'common sense.' Today, I want to take a short look at the term of freedom and how it may relate itself to an embodied existence.

No Block

Muscle tensions inhibit flexibility. Sounds simple, right? The more flexible you are, the more you can move around freely. Right? Right. The way you move your body, from your head and face to your feet and legs is how you express yourself. Hence, if you are really tense, you will not be able to express yourself to the fullest extent. Now, where do chronic muscle tensions come from? Trauma. Trauma can be physical, like damaging impacts in an accident, or emotional, in a shit happens kind of way. They can be more or less bad, but they can manifest themselves in more or less strong chronic tension. The answer is, to let go..

Dancing, Toddlers and Natural Movement

This text, as the title may indicate, goes hand in hand with two other texts, namely 'Let the Thunder Rumble: Natural Movement with Thoreau and Chuang Tzu' and 'Mountain Presence with Nietzsche, Lin-Chi and Conan the Barbarian'. These texts explored the idea of realizing that nature and with that ourselves as part of it are subject to constant change. Resisting this change is futile, regardless how horrible it may be. If you're in a bad spot this may help you, knowing that it will most likely pass. If you're in a great spot however, you may start to get anxious about it being taken away from you (which is going to happen inevitably) and try to cling to it (which again, is futile). Living with this knowledge of impermanence though, can and will shape your character in a certain way, as it requires a quite big amount of both strength and flexibility which are mutually dependent on one another. Only possessing strength may leave you rigid, stiff and hard-nosed as someone who has lived through too many hard times and had to put up a front for protection. Because the body and the mind are one, putting up a front like that will happen both in the body and the mind, leaving one cold (emotionally) and rigid (physically).

Joseph Campbell And The Hero's Journey

Joseph Campbell, professor of comparative mythology, has spent his life studying all sorts of mythological stories, symbols and characters from all over the world. He came to the conclusion that one particular kind of story can seemingly be found in every single culture and also appears again and again in contemporary literature or film. He termed it Monomyth or The Hero's Journey.

One of the main reasons why this particular story shows up in basically every culture is that it engages human beings at a level which is so fundamental to our existence that we all can identify with it. The Hero's Journey is something that happens to virtually everybody. It is the classic story of a youth, living comfortably at home, sheltered by the parents, being called out into the world in order to face adventures and challenges, growing stronger and gaining self-knowledge in the process. It is Luke Skywalker setting out to defeat the dark side and gaining knowledge about who he really is; it is Hercules confronted with challenges and adversity in the shape of The Nemean Lion (for example) only to slay the beast and increase his strength; it is yourself moving out from your sheltered home and looking to become your own person in this world. In this article, considering my age and experience, I will focus on the first couple of steps of the journey today.

"Each Moment is Precious" Meaning and Experience (feat. The Fool)

At this point most of us have probably come across these neat little quotes and sayings with which people plaster their walls, be they physical or virtual. They range from something like "Carpe Diem" to something like "Sometimes we just have to let things go" and whenever you find yourself in someone's apartment at their kitchen counter disguised as a cool self-made bar you are invited to ponder these deep secrets of life over your matcha tea. I'm not saying that all of these things are complete bullshit however, there is something about this that doesn't sound right. Author and host of the Drunken Taoist Podcast Daniele Bolelli has already touched on it during one of his podcast episodes while talking about the New Age movement. While there may be some truth to certain claims, often times there seems to be nothing behind them, no experience or proof that could provide these quotes with a real significance or meaning. It's fairly easy for someone who has never experienced any difficulties in his or her own life to claim that if you only think positively or do good things, good things will come to you. Firstly, there is no proof of there being a law or something similar which will provide you with good fortune once you start thinking positively and secondly, it is almost insulting to good people who have to live through horrible things. For further inquiry into the debunking of the New Age movement and critical thinking in general I recommend MMA pioneer Matt Thornton's blog: http://thorntonsguerillablog.blogspot.de/

Realizing Purposelessness in Martial Arts and in Life

Purposelessness doesn't really sound like anything anybody would want to realize in their lives, does it? Particularly to western ears - I know this because I myself happen to possess a western pair of ears -  the first connotations might be that if there is no purpose in something, it's something useless and terrible which is to be avoided. Further this may lead to accusations of laziness or hedonism because if you do something that has no use you are not productive. Taking a look at the Martial Arts with this in mind, it may seem even wronger. Every move you make in a fight fulfills a purpose and going into a fight with a carefully worked out gameplan has proven to be effective for fighters at all levels, including the highest. Maybe though, just maybe there is something to be learned from accessing a state of purposelessness, at least sometimes.

Let the Thunder Rumble: Natural Movement with Thoreau and Chuang Tzu

Alan Watts once called change a synonym for life. For if something does not change anymore, does not move anymore, it is dead. Movement is life. Nothing stays in one place forever, as Heraclitus put it, "everything flows". The nature of reality seems to be dynamic rather than static. Everything moves, grows, is in decay, wins, loses, inhales and exhales. It is an up and down that is often hard to accept. Almost by design we as humans seem to want things to be permanent. We want to keep things the way they are. Change provokes insecurity and monotony in change presents us with familiarity. These, however seem to be unrealistic expectations. Reality doesn't work that way*. Taking a look at it usually confirms this: The movements of waves, tides, birth and death all point towards an impermanent reality. It may be argued that all of this is part of a huge cycle of coming and going, yet it is evident that most things do not last, at least not in the form in which they are perceived at the moment. 

Stillness creates Movement: Jiu Jitsu and Alan Watts

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