DAY ONE - FINISHED!
We started our day with a discussion centred around the term "physical culture." Obviously, every culture has its own expressions and beliefs around the physicality of the body but interestingly enough, from the yogis of India to the Greeks and the Romans, there has always been a close connection between physical well being and mental and psychic health.
What is mobility? As Ido explained, most people think of mobility merely as flexibility; this is a small piece of the puzzle. Mobility is also the ability to isolate certain muscles. So for instance, at Flux we are constantly trying to 'wake up' our scapula or our trap 3. Beyond just waking up the muscles, mobility is also the ability to articulate complex movement patterns. We begin this as toddlers when we learn how to crawl and walk. This idea that mobility is about waking up parts of the body suggests that mobility is first and foremost, a question of the nervous system. Just think of the first time you were asked to mobilize the trap 3, or to tuck your pelvis under, and nothing happened! Is it simply because you are not flexible? No, it is because you couldn't make the neural connections to mobilize the body as you wished.
What is beauty as it relates to human movement? "It is the recognition of efficiency" (Ido Portal). This is an interesting definition. Efficiency is always relative. We cannot think of efficiency as having one definitive standard against which all other movement is measured. Efficiency is based on the capacity of the individual. People with disabilities, for instance, must be creative when it comes to movement and mobility but nevertheless there is still going to be an efficient way to move.
You should see darci and charity box
ReplyDeleteCool... I like the distinction of mobility from flexibility. Since Ido came to our gym and we started incorporating stuff he has taught us (through Darci) I am constantly amazed when I can't activate certain parts of my body the way I want to (hello scaps and traps, where are you?). And just working on it and developing it, I now wonder how I managed to do much before without being aware of the need to work and use those muscles. Is an amazing thing and it sounds like you guys are learning a lot and ...boxing... protect your perfect nose Char!!
ReplyDeleteJane
I'll echo Jane's comment about learning to activate certain parts of your body. When you asked to to do certain movements with the traps/scapula I first didn't know what they were and secondly I couldn't do anything with them. It's like a switch was turned off.
ReplyDeleteI can see very clearly why being aware of your body and how to move clearly has benefits beyond the gym. I had no idea how limited I was before this. This should carry over into a lot of things I like to do outside of CF. Heck, just avoiding injury to overcompensating for parts of my body that didn't work is worth the work.