Rediscovering Flow State Within Jiu-jitsu & Beyond The Mats

The voice in your head quieten as your mind synchronizes with the environment becoming one in the same completely alternating your normal experience with reality.

In those mind altering moments, your perception of time becomes hazy, as if hours pass in mere minutes…

That's the essence of Flow.

A state of mind where every ounce of your being is focused on the task at hand where the present moment, transcends time and space.

Every human being experiences this very sensation throughout their life time:

Avid readers experience this sensation when their imagination becomes fully captivated by the author's writing: evoking emotions and thoughts as they immerse themselves in a different life portrayed on the pages.

Jiu-jitsu practitioners experience this phenomenon on the mats, where they enter an ‘out of this world’ state during live sparring and competition. Achieving remarkable feats as their mind and body unite as one while engaging with their opponent.

Chefs dedicate their entire lives to the culinary arts, immersing themselves in the kitchen to perfect their craft. Engaging all five senses, they also experience this indescribable sensation where time becomes irrelevant.

It’s the surfer that knows how to read the settle nuances the ocean signals, perfectly timing their surfboard’s position within a wave as it crashes above their head.

A state of mind accessible to any experience level across every domain life has to offer.

In this indescribable state of flow… your life experience becomes the world’s healthiest addictive mankind has ever discovered in history.

MULTIFACETED SUPERHUMAN ABILITIES

Flow state unlocks peak performance and extraordinary capabilities, elevating the human experience to its fullest potential.

ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY: Flow state often leads to a significant increase in productivity as individuals become fully immersed in their tasks, minimizing distractions and maximizing focus and efficiency. 

INCREASED CREATIVITY: Flow state fosters a heightened state of creativity and innovation, allowing individuals to generate new ideas, solutions, and perspectives with greater ease and clarity. 

IMPROVED PERFORMANCE : Flow state is associated with optimal performance, enabling individuals to perform tasks with greater skill, precision, and effectiveness than usual. 

HEIGHTENED FOCUS & CONCENTRATION: Flow state promotes intense concentration and focus, enabling individuals to maintain attention on the task at hand for extended periods without becoming mentally fatigued or distracted.

GREATER SATISFACTION & FULFILLMENT: Engaging in activities that induce flow state often leads to a deep sense of satisfaction, fulfillment, and enjoyment, as individuals experience a sense of mastery, challenge, and purpose.

REDUCED STRESS & ANXIETY: Flow state is characterized by a state of deep immersion and absorption, which can serve as a natural antidote to stress and anxiety, promoting feelings of calmness, relaxation, and well-being. 

ENHANCED LEARNING & SKILL ACQUISITION: Flow state accelerates the process of learning and skill acquisition, as individuals are more receptive to new information, more adept at integrating knowledge, and more motivated to overcome challenges and obstacles. 

HEIGHTENED SENSE OF TIMELESSNESS: Flow state is often accompanied by a distortion of time perception, with individuals experiencing a sense of timelessness and losing track of the passage of time altogether. 

INCREASED ENGAGEMENT: Flow state is inherently rewarding and intrinsically motivating, leading to heightened levels of engagement, enthusiasm, and commitment to the task at hand. 

POSITIVE EFFECTS ON MENTAL HEALTH: Engaging in activities that induce flow state has been linked to numerous positive effects on mental health, including improved mood, reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety, and enhanced overall psychological well-being.

How would accessing these on a regular basis enhance your life experience while pursuing your most desired outcomes?

The rewards of flow state is scattered throughout history, evidence remains of the innovations of brilliant minds of the past, while others continue building upon their life’s work from generation after generation.

Across the world these artifacts remain: the roman colosseum, the mona lisa, timeless music, the internet, iPhone and now artificial intelligence.

It’s truly incredible what human civilization is capable of through collaborations with competitors resulting in revolutionary innovations for all to benefit from.

In today’s technological based society leading the way it reveals signs of an incredibly exciting future with no bounds.

However, we must proceed with caution and responsibility: striving to have complete control over our center of focus and a strong ability to not have your attention be diverged against your own self-interest .

Why?

Your life comprises a series of moments, and within each moment resides your focused attention.

Every moment you allocate your attention, you effectively spend, invest, or potentially waste a fragment of the life you lead…

And the exact time death comes knocking on your doorsteps is completely unknown.

Within the digital realm, modern society has become so powerful it takes away from our life experience [in the physical dimension then back through mental again for an ongoing feedback loop].

Technology is suppose to be a tool meant to compliment our lives, not replace and become the center point of our emtire existence as seen in the younger generations before us…

And there is zero signs of this trend slowly down anytime soon.

Teams consisting of the world’s leading experts command substantial salaries to meticulously engineer the bulk of digital infrastructures ie social media and apps.

These infrastructures are strategically crafted to draw away your time and attention, hindering your ability to enter a state of flow.

*It's crucial to note that this doesn't apply to every piece of technology [computers help authors enter flow state as they write instead of the slower handwritten option, formula one racers using the most innovative engines to win racing competition]. Avoid seeing the world in absolutes [black or white] instead, acknowledge there lies a grey area which has many shades of grey with important nuances that must not be overlooked.

Entering flow state directly benefits your life experience [as every ounce of your energy is channeled to the task at hand ultimately navigating you to your life’s purpose] effectively tuning out the distractions of the world that prevent you from fully immersing yourself in this empowering sensation.

You MUST protect the focal point of your attention as quite literally your life experience depends on the strength of your willpower.

If it does not add value into your life [but takes away from your life experience discard of it immediately] as it is not a resourceful use of your limited time, could be better invested elsewhere that would better serve your purpose.

Through ongoing testing, reflecting and refinement: optimize every waking second to embody Flow as a new Way of life.

FLOWING INTO AUTHENTIC INDIVIDUALITY

You and I are extremely complex human beings that require a lot of time and energy to truly understand oneself.

As you delve into these depths, you will continuously peel away layers until you reach a point where your individuality is slowly revealed through time and patience.

This process begins the moment you set an intention to make a life commitment to self-discovery.

By strengthening the connection between self-discovery and authenticity that resides in your individuality, you can enhance the overall coherence and effectiveness of your journey.

The turning point starts when you make a promise to yourSelf: to live an authentic life aligned with your individuality without compromise.

Not only will it be a difficult, long and tedious path which turns away millions that settle for competency or giving up all together to conform to societal expectations and falling victim to the dopamine traps.

This journey becomes one of the most rewarding life experiences:

Make life’s suffering a meaningful existence through conscious sacrifices in pursuit of a desire outcome.

As a Way of life you navigate equipped with Flow.

You consciously embrace challenges that are within your existing skill levels to flow in a sweet spot where you neither feel anxious nor boredom.

Biting off more than you can chew leaves you discouraged to the point of giving up and if it becomes too easy you lose interest all together as you settle into comforts which is the world’s most dangerous drug.

You will not get it at on your first attempt: you need to experiment with experiences that evoke both anxiety and boredom until you can slowly identify where this sweet spot of flow exactly lies.

Accessing flow aligned to your authentic individuality becomes an intuitive sensation after intentionally experimenting while accumulating life experiences.

This intuitive becomes easier to identify when you reflect on all your various interests and experiences to identify the overlap to activate the flow state of mind.

On a micro level: you probably experienced a flow state while training jiu-jitsu, sparring your partner that hovers just above your current skill level presenting a challenge [without it being boring through pure domination].

*those that never trained jiu-jitsu may have experienced this sensation within an activity of interest.

On a macro level: embracing this Way of Authentic Individuality [combined with ongoing optimizing time management] you can elevate your flow experience to new heights.

I’ve recently stumbled upon this new unique life experience, still very fresh and fascinating to me. I’m in the process of understanding it fully then will share further insights in the near future after further experimentation.

Through constant experimentation you too can experience it for yourself.

The first time I experience this phenomenon was during “Life Revelations From A 63 Week Part-time Jiu-jitsu Training Schedule” [read this for context as I’ll be going into detailed nuance in this section]

JIU-JITSU PART-TIME TRAINING SCHEDULE:
63 CONSECUTIVE WEEKS [0 REST WEEKS]

• 5x Pre-training workout/drilling & stretching

• 5x Jiu-jitsu training sessions

• 5x Post-training workout/drilling & stretching

• 5x Post-training ice bath recovery sessions

• 3x Flexibility & Mobility sessions

• 3x Strength & Conditions sessions

• 3x Jiu-jitsu drilling sessions

• 1x Rest day on Saturdays

Anyone looking at this schedule knows how boring structure and repetition can be… even if it’s your biggest passion in life.

However the biggest mistake people make is to stop the habit the moment it becomes boring.

You must rewire your reaction to the following:

Have you ever realized kids never actually get bored?

Somehow they have unlimited energy… before crashing out for a few hours only to do it again with the same enthusiasm.

Is that not something you want in your life anymore?

Be full of energy with genuine excitement to live your life?

If you examine closely enough: these tiny minons are wired a specific way that we adults have lost touch with [when the world told us to grow up, be responsible, fit in with the crowd and do as you are told].

When we decided to listen, act and behave accordingly years ago, we responded in a black or white manner with a naive mind instead of exploring the many shades of grey.

This means adults should actually be the ones learning from children [to get back in touch with their own child like spirit] to really embrace their authentic individuality to squeeze every last bit of juice life has to offer.

No matter the circumstances kids will tap into their natural imagination/creativity to make the most out of the situation to make it fun.

The moment boredom kicks in they’re automatically seeking a creative way to make it fun again.

This is exactly what I was doing the entire 63 weeks of Deliberate Training.

What exactly is Deliberate Training?

It’s setting an intention with training to go from passive to a focused and purposeful approach to practice.

I wasn’t just going though the motions as I see very often on the mats [in my opinion: it’s one of the leading causes of people quitting jiu-jitsu].

There was always something to improve in countless of areas:

• what would happen if i stopped responding this way but instead look for another option?

• what can i do to completely get rid of this nagging knee injury?

• how can i recover faster so i can be ready for the next training session tomorrow without having a bad sparring performance?

• i still don’t like my style of jiu-jitsu as it feels awkward where else can i learn from?

• how can i reduce the risk of injury so I can stay consistent to improve at a faster rate?

• how can i remember the techniques better so i don’t forget during sparring?

• why am i so stiff and feel uncomfortable in these positions and situations?

• and so much more…

Whenever boredom started sinking in [I made an intention to reflect on the current status of my progress] begun creatively thinking of a way to make training fun again.

As a mere byproduct of focusing on fun: I got better results than individuals that took it serious and allowed boredom to seek in for too long.

This lead to constant iterations and experiments - within my repetitive and structured “boring” training schedule - to improve my overall outcomes.

Sloppy jiu-jitsu movements?

Show up early to drill the same movements again and again until I could pick up on settle nuances in between every rep.

When it becomes boring and second nature?

Find something else to do so training gets fun again like not having to worry about hurting my knee [doing pre-training exercises for my knees while listening to a podcast I have no time for].

Frustrated every time my opponent easily breaks my grips the moment I grab on to him/her?

Start doing pull ups with the belt so the tendon and ligaments in my hands get stronger.

Tapping out white belts too easily?

Explore a different area of my jiu-jitsu where I don’t normally play so we both enter a level that is fun and challenging while we improve together.

“What more can I do to improve and be better than before?“

A never ending to do list that makes one truly fall in love with the process by embracing their innate child-like creativity.

Not limited to “a god given talent” that only a few lucky individuals have been given.

Instead it is accessible the moment you are born and with you until you take your last breath [exactly like billions living among us today and those of the past].

Given the unwavering consistency throughout a period when many would typically take time off, I harnessed the momentum gained to experience a profound epiphany—one that fundamentally transformed my approach to jiu-jitsu training to this very day.

THE STATE OF NO MIND

At first the frustration started from no matter how hard I logically thought about what technique to do in real time [then how to apply the step by step details for maximum effectiveness] it ultimately was way too slow…

My sparring partner was able to easily read the situation, how I was stuck in my head not knowing what to do next which only resulted in him/her taking control of the situation as I fall steps behind trying to figure out what to do next.

To correct this, I experimented by doing the opposite: don’t think at all so I could tap into my body’s reflexes which are naturally fast responses [which ended up being very sloppy technique application because of passively drilling and trying to force situations that were not there].

Yet another dead end.

Although logic is slow, it has the massive benefit of analyzing the situation to best identify the right opportunity for the right technique.

Primal Nature is fast and unpredictable but without an intelligent driver navigating, it can be chaotic without order resulting in bad timing, mistakes and poor technical application.

Then I started exploring an intuitive feel ‘that just feels right’ which reside somewhere between the two and started discovering new found benefits.

The solution surely resides somewhere in between both ends of the spectrum.

I haven’t heard from anyone that this is an actual skill that can be improved.

In fact, I went month after month focused on this unproven concept and only continued because my intuition was telling me it was the right thing to do.

As you can imagine self-doubt started to kick in to the point where I was going to diverge my focus on something else as I was not able to tangibly gauge my progress on a unproven suspicion and missing out on opportunity costs.

With so much uncertainty linked to the future all you can do is have undeniable faith.

Then something truly magical happened one day…

Before my jiu-jitsu session in the early morning, somewhere between 6:00-6:40 when I was living in Bali, Indonesia.

I arrive at the first coffee shop open, where I can read while overlooking the rice paddy fields at a time where one of the busiest streets becomes quiet.

I was deeply immersed in “The Book of Five Rings” by Miyamoto Musashi

The town was slowly coming alive again as the sun slowly rises in the distance - causing the the sky and clouds to look purple and orange with tiny specs of red - the landscape reflects a mesmerizing transformation that I had just gone through off the mats.

I sat back to this remarkable view after having read such a profound page in the book as my mind undergoes a mental shift.

*This feeling is extremely difficult to put to words but the scene I was looking at was a visual metaphorical representation to what the sensation I was experiencing in that moment.

One of the most difficult things to achieve is a experience of having a mental breakthrough epiphany [shifting into another paradigm of thinking] after countless hours of study, years of collecting unique experiences and reevaluating beliefs systems to get the closest view of objective reality as possible.

This sensation hit me the moment after reading this legendary undefeated samurai had written about this very sensation that I had been focusing on called “The Void”

Musashi suggests that the void is a state of spiritual enlightenment, in which one finds the virtue and wisdom that make up the true Way of the warrior.

To access the void, one must develop deep knowledge of all things and constantly train to put the principles into practice.

The void is described as a state of "absolute freedom and spontaneity" where the mind is free from obstructions and distractions.

It represents the ultimate level of mastery in any field, where one acts without conscious thought or hesitation.

An accessible flow state also known as “The Void” available to every one that consciously chooses to participate in a path to mastery: investing every second to live authentically aligned to their own unique individuality.

The new Way of life far more meaningful than blindly following the trends set for the masses believing its a one size fit all puzzle piece to a very complex human being with depths that reach beyond sea’s deep abyss.

See you on the mats,

POJ