One thing that is inevitably a part of learning, of growth, is the time spent in (on?) plateaus. I am writing this post mostly as a reminder to myself, as patience is something I need to practise as well. Currently I am at a kind of plateau on pointes (which makes for an interesting visualisation),… Read More Pointes and Plateaus
If there is one thing that I love about Martial Arts (if I had to choose) it would be that the learning never stops. It’s not supposed to. This might sound cliché, but most probably that’s simply because it’s true. What makes it even better is that the learnings seem to transfer to other (life!)… Read More Perpetual Learning
With any kind of progressive training, for strength or for other skills, it can be easy to forget that the magic really happens in between the practise sessions. And that the times where we struggle is where we learn/grow the most. The body (and mind) adapts after the training, to the stresses that the training… Read More The Invisible Work
Of course there were plateaus, periods when my results leveled off while I internalized the information necessary for my next growth spurt, but I didn’t mind. Another book for the re-reading list is The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin.
In the spirit of this week’s theme of incorporating the senses more deeply into all aspects of life, here’s a look of how it connects with flexibility. First of all, I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to my flexibility mentor Stacey Nemour for very generously sending me a newer version of her stretching straps… Read More Stretching the Senses
An inspiration for this week‘s posts, and very much fitting the apparent theme, has been Mr. Russell Brand‘s fantastic ‘Under the Skin’ podcast. I deeply enjoyed listening to episode nr 42(!) with Prof. Barry Smith. It touches on the multitudes of human senses (ie many more than the 5 that get all the attention), and their fascinating… Read More Under the Skin
Have you ever noticed how our senses start shifting more to subtleties when we‘re out in nature for a while? From sights (the ranges of different colours, the textures of soil and bark, the plays of light, a bird) to sounds (rainfall, rustling leaves, the crackling of branches – or snow, mud, or sand –… Read More The Subtlety of the Forest
Seems like this week’s blog posts are going to be all about the senses 🙂 I’m adding this incredibly beautiful book today, as a reminder to myself (or rather a jolt into action) to finally pick it up again – I will read it in full, and take my time to work with the exercises… Read More Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance
Practising with a blindfold. During a weekend seminar for Haidong Gumdo this November, a few of the exercises we did were executed with our eyes closed/blindfolded, to help sharpen our senses. It was an interesting and enriching experience. Removing sight from the equation tells you exactly where you are ‘at’, training-wise. It slows you right… Read More Sharpening the Senses
I learned today – while skipping ropes – how much our state of mind really influences how we move. For the past few weeks I had noticed that I wasn’t able to keep my rope-skip rhythm as steady as I used to. During summer, after just a few weeks of practise, I was able to… Read More Untangling the Ropes
