Back To Ninja College

"Jiu-jitsu is a very, very different way of looking at conflict," Mamet explains. "The essence of jiu-jitsu is, Don't oppose force to force. Learn to conquer yourself. Do away with your anger, which can only hurt you in a confrontation. Don't take on the other guy's weight. Someone wants to call you names, so what? Somebody wants to hurt you? OK, so what? If you clear your mind, you can actually see what's being done to you, what the other person's intent is, and instead of opposing, you can end the confrontation by leaving or by subduing the other person. You don't have to expend your force but, nonetheless, by understanding, by gaining a superior position, you can prevail in a conflict. It really does help me everywhere." ~David Mamet

Tsaoism shares similar beliefs. The energy people use opposing the various forces in their lives is incredible. From butting heads with a boss to fighting against a potential presidential candidate, this is simply energy wasted. I see it every day that I go to work. Somebody gets done with a 9 to 10 hour workday, and they go home to take a nap because they "are exhausted". Exhausted from sitting in a chair. This wouldn't make much sense unless you take into account the amount of mental energy that people expend in a day. These people (read: engineers I sit adjacent to) will complain from 7:30am until 5:30pm about the "stresses of work", "the work they shouldn't have to do" to their "asshole superior that won't them expense this-or-that". What they rarely consider is the tremendous amount of energy that this takes from their energy bank. It is very taxing on your mind, but not at all taxing on your body (and we wonder why we have a weight problem in this country).

There is an old adage that I would like to modify to be more applicable to Tsaoist beliefs:
"____(enter your name here), be intelligent enough to recognize the things I cannot change, the sesability to change the things I can and ought, and the wisdom to know the difference." I would like to point out that I realize the irony of me modifying the serenity prayer (Alcoholics Anonymous's bread and butter saying) while I'm drinking and blogging in a hotel room by myself.

I see so many people wasting their lives (daily mental energy) bitching about and trying to change things that aren't within their scope of control. This is where I think people need to go back to the Tsaoist roots: Let it go. Stop holding onto what you think is "correct"/"wrong". Learn what "is"/"isn't" in your scope of control. No longer will you be wasting energy opposing mental forces. We must learn to use the force and only redirect it as done in BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, not blow job job).

The long and short of this is simple: Put things in a positive light so that you don’t waste your daily energy getting worked up over stupid shit like some overgrown roid-raging pre-safety from the Bitterroot Blaze. Instead, put that energy to good use and get some exercise. I choose to dress up like a ninja, choke people and bend their arms. It is a blast. Last night I went 2-1 (won by head-and-arm, lost by neck-crank, won by omaplata).