Month: January 2013

The problem with success

The first movement is key. Without it there is no second. The trouble with success is that it seduces the ego to think you have found the way and if you pour more into that path success is bound to stay with you.
One takes a hand in his and takes a step to the side. A little imbalance is done and from enthusiasm or desire to succeed we proceed in the same direction or forget our feet and pull with our arms faster or harder and so on.
Our breaths are a continuous line from birth to death and the first is the basis of all who come after. Each breath stands for it’s own and so do we. Each moment we change and so does reality inside and outside of us. What worked yesterday may not work now and the movement which just worked we imprison you if you become its captive and stop to simply move and try to win.

Keep moving, Keep thinking, they are not separate.

The outside gift

One student is working to avoid being taken down or immobilized upright against two or more students who use hitting and grabbing and a fourth students walks around them with the goal to place his palm on the back of the head of the first student who wishes to avoid it. The fourth student learns beyond simple paying attention to his partner to move not directly to his target but to swim there where the currents of attention and cones of eyesight and hearing are less evident. This in turn allows the students busy with the physical drill to come back inside themselves and learn that spreading your attention is the best way to grow more of it.

This is a drill to aid you in understanding intention within movement and to avoid showing your intention when you lack awareness of your actions and focus. It can be used for evil but I hope you will choose to see the greater force and freedom it will grant you if you simply do the work without malice. To give in this way is also to receive.

My class is my sit spot

Each time we hold a class I arrive early to walk the ground. I watch for the growth of the trees and grasses. Mind the barren spots and clear out human garbage if it is lurking about. I watch for the angle of the sun in the sky and the movement of the clouds and shades about. I smell the aromas in the air and pay attention to the shifting of the winds  and their heights.

I listen to the birds conveying messages of foes food  family and fun and link them to the territories built with their grazing flying and calling.

When students arrive I listen to their voices and watch their movement and how they hold themselves in their bodies and in regard to others and objects so I can work with them on what they need for that moment and onward.

The more we pay attention the more it pays forward for us. The more we give to others the more we become.

Releasing what is front

Place yourself on your hands and feet or fists and feet and with your partners decide on a destination from a tree to a patch of barren ground. Start going there moving your limbs from your body and your partner works with his legs to move you in the opposite direction. Change roles and repeat a few times.

Now we adjust a bit by working the same drill only you keep your backside toward the goal as you move toward it and work

Repeat with keeping one side toward the target and still moving toward it as your partner works to bring you away from it.

Now comes the good part. Repeat the drill without having to look in the direction you are heading and being able from the working data you accumulated from the previous work to be able to move toward where you want to be from any point in your body which is free. If your partner or partners push your shoulder you move your back side. If you are pushed from the side choose to move where you feel more free.

Smile. It relaxed the entire body.