God is Dead and you're Alone(?)

In a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast psychology professor Jordan Peterson discussed important aspects and problems of contemporary Western culture. Especially his analysis of Nietzsche's "God is dead" rang a bell for me. Building on what he said, I would like to propose further conclusions regarding the state of culture in certain aspects.

Wu-Wei: A Physical Approach to Letting Go

TRE, or Trauma-Release-Exercises are a rather new topic in the field of stress and tension release. Tough they resemble a physical, neurological approach to these issues, they are in complete accordance with ancient philosophical concepts. Seen in that light, TRE can be seen as philosophy in the flesh, as will be shown. 

Give Up Now!

The following is an antidote to misguided tendencies in Western society -

In our culture there is a certain standard narrative that seems to ooze out of most movies, pop music and general common sense. It is the idea of never giving up, of pushing through no matter what in order to, finally, take home the gold. "It matters not how strait the gate, how filled with punishment the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul", as William Ernest Henley put it. At the center of this concept and hence strongly advocated in our culture, is the use of will and determination, of obtaining power and control and of general mastery and domination.

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).

Wu Wei is not Hedonism

Wu Wei, the Daoist concept of "going with the grain, rolling with the punch, swimming with the current, trimming sails to the wind, taking the tide at its flood, and stooping to conquer"* is easily misunderstood. I guess especially by Westerners, as it originates from a very different culture. I myself feel like I certainly misunderstood this concept in some ways. It's important to note however, that with my interpretation of wu wei, which is about to follow, I do not claim that that is the right way to understand it. It's just how I personally feel about it right now and what I feel I have misunderstood previously. First, let's get an idea of what wu wei is about, so that afterwards it will be clearer what it isn't about.

*Alan Watts in Tao - The Watercourse Way

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. 

The New Era: Daoism, Nietzsche and Conor McGregor

Both due to its young age and hybrid nature, MMA has allowed us to inquire not only into which kind of technical approach to combat might be the best, but also into which mental attitude could be the most beneficial for accomplishing the task at hand. Further, an attitude which is helpful in facing a trained killer in the octagon will probably also be helpful in the comparatively mild circumstances of everyday life. Yet the immense complexity and multitude of variables involved in determining the outcome of such hand-to-hand combat situations seemingly repel the possibility of a one-size-fits-all solution.

'Comfortable Conformity' with Rickson Gracie

This to me is an all too familiar issue. Actually, it might only become an issue once you become aware of it, that is, it may only piss you off once you have discovered it as is the case so often. However, once you are aware of it, there may also be a possibility of enhancing the situation. Recently, the great Jiu-Jitsu masters Rickson Gracie and Eddie Bravo joined the JRE (Joe Rogan Experience) for an awesome podcast. Towards the end, Rickson mentioned a very interesting observation on society. He stated that in the past he considered cowardice to be the opposite of courage. Today however, he considers conformity to be the opposite. He went on to say that people are too afraid to change certain things, even though they do not like their current situation, like staying at a job you despise because you are afraid you won't find a new one, or staying in a shitty relationship because you are too afraid of possible consequences.

You Better Work Hard, or Else..!

First, I should mention that I ask myself all the following questions as well and that I do not claim to have found any answers. This is to be understood as a conglomeration of thoughts I have come accross and have come up with myself in order to explore possible answers. As always it is exploring, not dogmatizing.

Work is something you do regularly because you have to. It is something so abominable and boring that you need to get paid for doing it. Further, you have to work because you need money.

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