BY JASON HAWKINS © 2020 THREE RIVERS ACADEMY
To define Jiu-Jitsu, you must define equanimity. It’s the allowing of things to come and go while maintaining internal fortitude. Jiu-Jitsu is the state of equanimity.
The art and science of yielding to and redirecting force, Jiu-Jitsu restores balance. Through this restoration, there is a resolution of conflict, both external and internal. It is the absence of unnecessary surplus tension. It is gentleness overcoming brutality.
Jiu-Jitsu is not avoidance of conflict. On the contrary, it is engaging with the aggressive force and working with it in the most appropriate manner. What follows are mindsets and physical practices to aid in the support of this idea, which is discovered through self-study. This is what is at the root of Jiu-Jitsu training.
To engage in self-study, we need steadiness of mind to navigate the obstacles that naturally arise as the by-product of our search for clarity and equanimity. We need a certain distance from what we see as our personal story. To objectify our story, we need space around the story we have constructed in order disassociate with the ego personality. Consequently, we need a certain amount of personal development to even begin self-study.
Allowing things to come and go denotes acceptance, or in more spiritual terms, surrender. In this sense, surrender is not giving up. It is the fortitude to endure change while being fully aware. So a major focus in our pursuit of equanimity is a firm practice coupled with detachment or surrender to how things are.
This can mean having to endure pain and disappointment. Though harsh, pain brings to light the whole concept of nature as a self-regulating but democratic organism. It’s the idea of doing things in accordance with the situation. Gentle doesn’t mean that it’s wrong to use force, but use it in such a way that is easily done. In other words, you don’t just cut wood, you try to cut it along the grain. This is the fundamental principle called Jiu. Nothing is forced.
Sometimes this can be misconstrued as not doing or acting, maybe even ignoring. However, not forcing is the better translation. Jiu-Jitsu is to always act in accordance with the circumstance. However, it would be better to do nothing than to interfere without knowing the system or relations that exist.
It’s important to keep in mind the fact that our actions have ripple effects that reach beyond the immediate circumstances. Using nature as our guide, we should try to see that the so-called conflict of various species is not actually competition. Rather, it is a strange system of relationships feeding off one another while cultivating one another at the same time. The idea of “no friends, no enemies, only teachers” takes this practice off the mat and into the world.
All relationships, whether they appear to be friendly or conflicting, are in fact a form of cooperation. If this idea of not forcing is applied to all that you do, then you get continuity which leads to a life that is so natural, not forced, and not unduly self-conscious. It is a life that is lived gently in accord with nature.
If Jiu is the abstract philosophical idea of softness and yielding, Jitsu is the concrete, actionable method of accomplishment. They are the yin and yang that constitute an actionable philosophy. Jiu could be thought of as the attitude and Jitsu as the nuts and bolts. The term itself suggests a letting go and realigning of your personal magnetic field from pure resistance to more and more allowing.
So Jiu-Jitsu is to always act in accordance with the situation. Strategically, however, we may also include the idea of fortitude or internal integrity as inaction. In some cases it would be better to do nothing, to observe and be still rather than to interfere.
We can all probably agree with this concept of yielding, but the next level is to express it in our physical lives. It’s difficult because it requires the coming together of the opposite poles of our being. Herein lies the elusiveness of the state that we train to obtain. To relax into the technique or overcome hard aggression with softness are quite different ideas from the lessons that life hands us in which most challenges are met with an increase in muscular tension.
To get the effortless power offered by Jiu-Jitsu, we must actually surrender the very thing that has served us for so long – our strength. The power inherent in the concept of Jiu is an entirely different and new way of using the body. The old way interferes with its assimilation. So we must come to terms with losing strength in order to gain power and ability.
If we accept the idea of Jiu-Jitsu as softness and the act of yielding to the direct pressure of a forceful attack, then the quality of firmness must also be present for balance to occur. The concept of Jiu seems to be about nullifying an aggressive act by not giving it a stage to play out on. That stage is resistance.
Resistance is different than fortitude. It is an increase in tension in order to diametrically oppose a force, with the focus being on the external force. Fortitude on the other hand is persistent with less effort. Its level of intensity is appropriate and bears harshness without tiring. It is not an unconscious conditioned response, but the intelligent application of tension in the right proportion with the focus being on the internal state.
We must surrender to something greater than our fragmented individual selves. The ego thrives on this division within us. It is not an easy win by any means, thus the emphasis on the internal work and struggle we hear so much about as we journey through our martial training. Even if we manage to physically defeat all our opponents, this is only the outward expression of the internal conflict. The inner struggle remains and will prove to be our final battle, the epitome of our work.