tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59812411397533506242024-03-05T18:28:05.439+11:00Physical AlchemyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.comBlogger181125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-5792141072713668652015-01-27T11:04:00.003+11:002015-01-27T11:04:50.510+11:00The Agile Lifestyle Part II - Deathstyle Coaching<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> The Agile Lifestyle II - Deathstyle Coaching</span></div>
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Dave Wardman</div>
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<i> "Don't let your tombstone read 'He had great potential'!". [L].</i></div>
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As I sat, contemplating the second part to this article, I weighed the idea
of expanding upon 'work-life balance' as it is commonly referred to, and was
somewhat resigned to the fact of writing upon this, when I decided to scrap that and pen something fresh. It seems every man, woman and dog aspires to be a lifestyle coach
these days, but (almost) nobody wants to be a deathstyle coach. <br />
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So I decided to write about <i>artists</i>, people who have a passion, who have a mission and are standing on the brink but are holding back <i>for some reason</i>. I have met a decent number of human beings in this position. These people need a stronger medicine. These people need <i>deathstyle coaching</i>. Let the other three standard deviations enjoy their lifestyle coaching. <br />
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No, this isn't choosing between being smothered to death by a woman with an enormous bosom or dying valiantly in battle. Deathstyle coaching is utilizing the constant reminder of death and impermanence to fuel the transformational fires to a high enough heat to do what one <i>knows </i>one <i>needs</i> to do in the depth of their heart - not what one<i> ought to do,</i> or has been imprinted to do.<br />
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This means fulfilling the things that have to be done for there to be no regrets at the time of your return to the Emptiness. <br />
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"<i>Raymond! You are going to Die. ...what did you want to be Raymond K. Hessel?...</i></div>
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<i>...I'm keeping your license</i>."*</div>
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There is a reasonably shocking scene in the movie adaptation of Fight Club, where Tyler Durden is threatening to kill a convenience store clerk if he isn't on his way to fulfilling his dreams within a certain period of time (and keeps his license to 'check up on him'). Tyler operates under a dubious ethical framework, but just playing the devil's advocate for a second, I want to expand this a bit.</div>
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As Tyler goes on to say: '<i>Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessel's life. His
breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever tasted'</i>. To follow the heart is one of the hardest things to do, as we have been patterned so deeply <i>not to do this</i>. We push against our patterning and it pushes back with ten-fold force. The purgatory of comfort is too seductive for most to escape from**. It all makes me wonder: perhaps this is what <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upaya">upaya</a> </i>looks like in the 21st century<i> -</i> revolver compassion. I have met many people for whom I am not sure even having a revolver pressed to their head would be able to wake them from their slumber. <br />
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This has nothing to do with utilizing shock methods in the quest for money or prestige as the primary objective in life. I do not, for a second, believe it is anyone's deepest heartfelt dream to own 10 properties by 40, or to be wealthy without purpose. These are patterned dreams, prisons with golden bars and people say 'Please!! Me! I want into that cage'. If you research widely enough you will see how they have come about. Focusing on chasing these carrots distracts (totally in most cases) from deeper self-expression and having purpose in life.<br />
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This said, money is actually no problem for someone with no emotional patterning attached to it, but this is quite rare. My teacher K. has three 'laws of business' which form his total advice on the topic. They are (in order of importance): "Do some good, have some fun, make some money". Focus on the first two if you have an expression you must put forth into the world, the third will come naturally. <br />
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Don't let your tombstone read '(s)he had great potential'. This amazing piece of advice (quoted at the top) was given to me by my third and current Teacher - L. Up until 8 years ago I<i> thought</i> I wanted the work-life balance lifestyle (with the balance firmly tilted towards a life of leisure!). My desire was to coast through life doing as little work as possible and have as much spare time as possible. Alas, past-Dave, it would seem a mission of the highest importance has been passed to you.<br />
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Somewhere along the way, I had the wherewithal to realize what an amazing smorgasbord of teachings for doing good in the world I had encountered during my own explorations. And with this, the dawning of the insight that, as I have received great gifts, so <span style="background-color: yellow;"></span>I need to give back (to All Beings). I sat waiting for a fair while, studied and worked part-time perhaps too long. I can concur with the old adage '<i>sitting between two chairs is the most uncomfortable position'</i>.<br />
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So, this article is for artists. The craftsmen (craftswomen) and tinkerers. People with a <i>calling - </i>a <a href="https://medium.com/@elleluna/the-crossroads-of-should-and-must-90c75eb7c5b0"><i>must</i></a>. This article is for people who have an art inside them but have not yet <i>jumped</i>. They are stalling at bringing out an expression of what is inside that is ready to be seen. If you are 'waiting for a sign', THIS IS IT. I am pointing my spectral revolver at you. If this is not you, no problem, there are plenty of work-life balance strategies to improve your existence - some included in<a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/the-agile-lifestyle.html"> Part 1</a>. Maybe in time you will find something that inspires you to follow your heart. I hope so. Your breakfast tomorrow will taste better than any meal you have ever tasted. <br />
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[D]<br />
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P.s And now, a cartoon re-cap. <br />
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* Yes, I have had well over a dozen total strangers come up to me and say I look like Edward Norton<br />
** I should be obvious that this article is for people in a situation about survival, not for many of the people of the world without a choice. <br />
*** Thanks to Stuart Gadenne for the timely posting of the Zenpencils.com Alan Watts comic. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-78438535959108738592015-01-20T10:35:00.001+11:002015-01-20T10:35:38.943+11:00Guest Blog #3: Vijay Panchia - A Perspective of Training Volume<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e911ce61-fa1e-2e08-1098-34419f286779" style="line-height: 1.1500000000000001; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A Perspective on Training Volume - Vijay Panchia </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">[Guest Blog #3]</span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In this article I will discuss training volume for resistance exercise. Commonly volume is discussed from the point of view of goals such maximum strength and hypertrophy, or the never ending argument between high volume proponents and HIT advocates. I work with mostly high school boys and baby boomers. I do not train the elite, so when doing a needs assessment, my success is seldom based on new and exciting developments in power lifting periodization but passing on the my subjective experience of meaningful workout. It is an art of deciphering the mental minefield of my client and providing them progressive measurable results using methods they can understand, relate to and perform intensely and sustainably. Quality is the name of game, as opposed to quantity or intensity though these things are variables. This requires an eclectic approach of different philosophies.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZ4bNjmtd3FMVgoTJRd89uIDDj0S4q4ufBkX5Q0rxPkX5wugqPiMnHT4ro93urUJIE1sbwC_kGmpyn3XeGzpbVDapTJ-fpAtkzPVcRB-RoLUdTeIUX6bQIzLDL0sl0WvQfQbPknzc6trR/s1600/KevinTolbert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZ4bNjmtd3FMVgoTJRd89uIDDj0S4q4ufBkX5Q0rxPkX5wugqPiMnHT4ro93urUJIE1sbwC_kGmpyn3XeGzpbVDapTJ-fpAtkzPVcRB-RoLUdTeIUX6bQIzLDL0sl0WvQfQbPknzc6trR/s1600/KevinTolbert.jpg" height="320" title="Kevin Tolbert, adopted son of Dr Ken Leistner, built his physique with single set training" width="256" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How much quality can I get out of someone?</span> </span><br />
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I train someone I look at a few different things. Perfect technique,
how intensely I can have someone perform the various techniques, how
much skill development is needed and how this fits with someone’s
lifestyle. Following this forward I then look at whether they are
getting progressive results. I abide by the idea that less is more. The
least I need to do to get someone to be motivated, stay motivated and to
be able to perform quality. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I definitely believe that a single sets of exercise performed to momentary muscular failure(MMF) is enough to create a meaningful adaption from an exercise. HIT Jedis rejoice!!! And progressive linear results are definitely possible. This style of training has worked at beginner level, all the way through to elite level athletes. An example of the success of such a program can be seen in the only undefeated NFL team in history, the 1972 Miami Dolphins. By training in this fashion it possible to stimulate both fast twitch and slow switch fibres without exposing a trainee to maximal load. Research conducted by McMaster University in Canada as shown there to be no difference in hypertrophy between heavier loads and lighter loads when to trained to MMF. I don’t advocate this as the only method you should use but rather method that should be understood. Much truth can be found in the simplest examples of training.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For some working with at a high intensity either in term of 1RM% or to MMF is mentally or systemically too demanding. This can be because someone is adverse to the idea of working hard or their lifestyle it quite hectic and working maximally is too taxing to make gains. Often I find that trainees lack comfort controlling the body either due to poor mobility or other tissue restrictions when trying to work at high intensity. Observations made by many, including Carolina Panthers strength and conditioning coach, Joe Kenn, is that many sporting injuries are the results of having not enough rough and tumble play during childhood. From this we can conclude that currently Western man is not in the same state as when the initial research on single set training was conducted by Arthur Jones. Progressive resistance is possible by using greater total volume with shorter sets and brief rest in between or with multiple sets with lighter weights. By doing this you are exposing the client to a high volume with enough time in between sets to concentrate on form and provide perfect reps. With lighter weights you can make up for the lighter weights with greater volume. The volume can make up for the lack of intensity to a point as there seems to be a point of significantly diminishing returns from light loads. Arthur Jones had the idea that it was optimal to train with 70% of 1RM which if you use the traditional percentage model the equivalent to 12RM. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For some this 70% of 1rm will be represent a different RM due to what Jones referred to as neural efficiency. To increase volume I typically use a model of doubling the volume of a predicted RM for total volume, which I learnt from Wake Forest University strength and conditioning coach, Ethan Reeve. It comes from his model of training called <a href="http://www.cvasps.com/products/cvasps-2011-seminar-videos/">Density Training</a>. This is not to be confused with the Charles Staley’s Escalating Density Training(which is definitely an interesting protocol for maximising volume). An example of this would instead of performing a 10RM(75% of 1RM) you double the volume to 20 reps and perform 4 sets of five, with a set being performed every 3 minutes. This is also a great way to break up standard HIT training which can be quite draining on the mind and nervous system. This is an oversimplification of Mr Reeves’s work and I recommend you looking into it further especially those who have ambitions of working with athletes. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">HIT Training using only a single set is not always appropriate and will not work even for those with the right mind and body. A great example of this would be with the bench press and military press. The bench press despite its popularity amongst the entire male population of gym goers is quite a technical lift initially and requires a larger volume to be competent at it. This is as opposed to a well designed chest press where correct technique is much easier to teach and attain mastery. For a teenage boy I use a strategy of one session of four sets with a goal of 40 reps total. Each set is performed to MMF or close to MMF. A second session of 3 work sets of five with a heavy but sub maximal load. This allows for sufficient practice of the technique and introduces working with a relatively heavy weight. Some lifts are even more technical so it more difficult to maintain form for high repetition sets. An example of such a lift is the bent press. I think it is a fabulous exercise for external rotators and has been a vital part of my shoulder rehabilitation. As it is quite technical to perform I use 3-5 reps for multiple sets. Arthur Jones’s barbell program from the <a href="http://baye.com/store/nautilus-bulletins/">Nautilus Bulletin </a>also uses multiple sets.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How else does technique relate to volume? When prescribing exercise a rep needs to be able to be repeated in the same fashion so that training results can be compared and a more accurate picture of the work being done by the trainee can be understood. This is fundamental to knowing what works with your client. If a rep is performed in a very slow cadence as opposed to a jerky fashion, the total time of tension on the muscles is longer. If I pause at the bottom of a bench press it becomes much harder to raise a weight than if I bounce it off my chest. My preference is for a controlled rep especially for the negative/eccentric portion of a movement in most cases though I definitely use a variety of cadences. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I touched on briefly that lifestyle dictates that standard single set HIT can be draining and can be made up with multiple sub maximal sets with shorts rest. Another option is working with multiple sets to failure with a lighter load relative to what you have been using. While with the heavier weight consistent progress can become too hard to recover from so by working with a lighter load it is possible to make great gains. Research has shown that is possible to make gains and get sufficient recovery from as many 8 sets to failure. An example of a program such a program which I had great success with is the “beginner” lat specialization program by <a href="http://www.dragondoor.com/b31/">Pavel Tsatsouline</a>. In this program 12 sets of chins are performed with for different grips. After working on weighted chins I hit a plateau. This program provided ample stimulation for growth and recovery. Overtime is program would become too much volume however for brief periods like the 6 weeks recommended by the man himself this provides a great alternative. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For adaption, intensity is needed. However as I have said many sets can be used or only one. A workout does not require only mean one style of progression is used. What will dictate overall what a session involves is the length of the whole workout. It seems that humans have a concentration span of about 45 minutes and it is common believe that working out over an hour it the point of diminishing returns and can even be counterproductive. In Marty Gallagher’s opus, The Purposeful Primitive, he gives many different models of training as employed by the greatest lifters in history. Aside from Bill Pearl, it can be said that these workouts were all relatively brief. <a href="http://billpearl.com/">Bill Pearl</a>, applied a model of extreme high volume. He had said in the past that he was unable to make gains on brief workouts like HIT. And like wise <a href="http://www.gridironincny.com/videos/flash/ken/ken.html">Dr Ken Leistner</a> said that he was unable to workout in the same fashion as Mr Pearl. From what I can see Bill Pearl was an extreme exception, and even workouts he prescribes for beginners pale in comparison when compared with the volume he uses. His genetics and consistent training have allowed him to extend himself well past what other can or should do. I also think it makes sense to increase volume over seeking out greater and greater poundage the heavier training becomes. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbYH9OFqZMnLNDrYug2_SCafw64AnJDGzbw_ReYTLAUGEY5kFoEnYvuBz10-0aqp-tmBSVqpJd8wvfIF-XMYvlrDy75c3S_PrYKPyCt5Mv0-4Fk9Yo1BSoeRzmovpFAMOWcduCuGjJR1h7/s1600/billpearl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbYH9OFqZMnLNDrYug2_SCafw64AnJDGzbw_ReYTLAUGEY5kFoEnYvuBz10-0aqp-tmBSVqpJd8wvfIF-XMYvlrDy75c3S_PrYKPyCt5Mv0-4Fk9Yo1BSoeRzmovpFAMOWcduCuGjJR1h7/s1600/billpearl.jpg" height="320" title=" Bill Pearl High volume advocate and bodybuilding legend Bill Pearl" width="248" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I earlier mentioned passing on a subjective experience. This is a somewhat more difficult thing to measure as it is something that cannot be understood by numbers. As a coach or trainer it is possible to get an understanding of the intensity of a workout from observation of the trainee. Expression on their face, breathing, degradation of form are all useful tools to determine volume. As a trainer you should be able to assess and correct issues of breathe, technique and even cue someone to have a “soft” face. When teaching another human, understanding that life is equal parts the subjective and the objective is of greatest importance. Once these things have been addressed one’s ability to maintain these things can be assessed which is an art as much as anything. He have to able to assess how we are going to get the most quality out of someone. A single protocol to MMF, many sub maximal sets, 5x5 etc This is where I coach needs to display emotional intelligence. I recommend seeking out a great coach to learn from for this reason. This is powerful learning. My first exposure to a gym it was single sets HIT and I got dismal results. Some years later I was reintroduced to it my mentor <a href="http://maxwellsc.com/blog.cfm?blogID=145">Steve Maxwell</a>. The difference in results was astonishing. Steve himself was fortunate to learn from some of the best in this area of training who themselves had connections to earliest systems of modern barbell training and the pre-steroid era. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I will briefly speak on periodization, which is simply the planning of the training in regards to long term goals. There are many models, Westside, block,wave, linear, density, undulating etc. All these systems work. I see things from a mostly linear point of view in that even if someone hits a plateau it is simply a hurdle to jump over. As one gets closer to their genetic potential, gains come slower. Sometimes it simply a matter of taking two steps back before taking three steps forward. The cycling of this process is what can be observed in most systems of periodization. Relating back the rest of the article, how exactly to strategize around an issue is something for you to assess based on your observation, training records and the trainees feedback. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Another model of volume found in Zatsiosky and Kraemer’s text <a href="http://www.humankinetics.com/products/all-products/science-and-practice-of-strength-training-2nd-edition">Science and Practice of Strength Training</a> which you can find is the staple of load/intensity vs volume based a percentage model. Kraemer in particular is seen as having contrasting point of views to single sets advocates. Regardless of whether you don’t agree with things he says, much like if you don’t agree with HIT, you need to understand to perceive that there is more than one way to do things. Kraemer was/is in the pursuit of truth. This rant only begins to scratch the surface of the different ideas behind implementing progressive resistance programs. To poorly paraphrase a former school teacher of former Cincinnati Bengals strength and conditioning coach, founder of Hammer Strength and one of Arthur Jones’s top men, Kim wood, “....information is not to necessarily change ones view, but to weigh and consider”. When you train someone, pay attention to what you see before yourself. Think, philosophise, remember your own experiences with the iron, and bring it all together to help enlighten yourself and those you train. Rather than lifeless numbers, understand the process as an organic process. Simple but not simple minded. </span></div>
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Vijay can be contacted at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thedharmicbody">Body Dharma Facebook</a> group. Also, check out Vijay's other Guest Blog on Yoga <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/guest-blog-1-yoga-vijay-panchia.html">HERE</a>. <br />
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<u>Notes and Links</u><br />
<a href="http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/products/new-bodybuilding-old-school-results-ellington-darden">The New Bodybuilding for Old-School Results - Ellington Darden, PhD</a><br />
(<a href="http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/products/new-bodybuilding-old-school-results-ellington-darden" target="_blank">http://www.oldtimestrongman.<wbr></wbr>com/products/new-bodybuilding-<wbr></wbr>old-school-results-ellington-<wbr></wbr>darden</a>)<br />
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<a href="http://www.humankinetics.com/products/all-products/science-and-practice-of-strength-training-2nd-edition" target="_blank">http://www.humankinetics.com/<wbr></wbr>products/all-products/science-<wbr></wbr>and-practice-of-strength-<wbr></wbr>training-2nd-edition</a><br />
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Dr Ken Leistner squats 405 pounds fro 23 reps<br />
<a href="http://www.gridironincny.com/videos/flash/ken/ken.html" target="_blank">http://www.gridironincny.com/<wbr></wbr>videos/flash/ken/ken.html</a><br />
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DVD set featuring a lecture from Ethan Reeve on Density Training.<br />
<a href="http://www.cvasps.com/products/cvasps-2011-seminar-videos/" target="_blank">http://www.cvasps.com/<wbr></wbr>products/cvasps-2011-seminar-<wbr></wbr>videos/</a><br />
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Official Website of Bill Pearl<br />
<a href="http://billpearl.com/" target="_blank">http://billpearl.com</a><br />
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Free download of Arthur Jones's Nautilus Bulletins<br />
<a href="http://baye.com/store/nautilus-bulletins/" target="_blank">http://baye.com/store/<wbr></wbr>nautilus-bulletins/</a><br />
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A Concise Guide to Doggcrapp Training<br />
<a href="http://muscleandbrawn.com/a-concise-guide-to-doggcrapp-training/">http://muscleandbrawn.com/a-concise-guide-to-doggcrapp-training/</a><br />
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Steve Maxwell - High-Intensity or High Volume?<br />
( <a href="http://maxwellsc.com/blog.cfm?blogID=145">http://maxwellsc.com/blog.cfm?blogID=145</a> )<br />
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A Practical Approach To Strength Training, 4th Ed by Matt Brzycki<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Approach-Strength-Training-4th/dp/1935628135" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/<wbr></wbr>Practical-Approach-Strength-<wbr></wbr>Training-4th/dp/1935628135</a><br />
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Pavel's Beyond Bodybuilding<br />
<a href="http://www.dragondoor.com/b31/" target="_blank">http://www.dragondoor.com/b31/</a> <br />
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Serious Strength Requires Serious Training - Ken Maine (Head S&C Coach, Michigan State University)<br />
( <a href="http://www.coachad.com/pages/Powerline-Serious-Strength-Requires-Serious-Training.php">http://www.coachad.com/pages/Powerline-Serious-Strength-Requires-Serious-Training.php</a> )<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-70859532890715251642015-01-17T13:39:00.000+11:002015-01-18T17:33:16.711+11:00Physical Alchemy "year of the foot" Foot Training Experiment 2015 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuSP0r5IQHjl6JYfXN0vt8oxVTYOvZIpdEOJLnviubYh3x5xlPPefkO7R9Wy-OG9lOXWhiG0Wu1eAsvy-OT_RPOTIfJaBURX5x3kvE0UwgAXnmQYUyYojE4iEbr3m4FywJDZje7wASbFul/s1600/10931291_665917216445_1185509294644124546_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuSP0r5IQHjl6JYfXN0vt8oxVTYOvZIpdEOJLnviubYh3x5xlPPefkO7R9Wy-OG9lOXWhiG0Wu1eAsvy-OT_RPOTIfJaBURX5x3kvE0UwgAXnmQYUyYojE4iEbr3m4FywJDZje7wASbFul/s1600/10931291_665917216445_1185509294644124546_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Physical Alchemy "year of the foot" Foot Training Experiment 2015</span></div>
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<i>"<span data-reactid=".y0.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708172285970058:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:0"></span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".y0.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708172285970058:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".y0.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708172285970058:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".y0.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708172285970058:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0">I've already declared 2015 "year of the foot", by the way</span></span></span>" [Ancestral Simon]</i><br />
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Dave Wardman</div>
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The above photo was taken at the recent <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/review-movement-experience-2015.html"><i>Ido Portal - Corset</i> </a>workshop in Sydney. The foot in the fly, <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/product-review-tiger-shoes-new-balance.html">orange and black tiger shoes</a> is my foot, and the gargantuan hobbit-foot is that of <a href="http://awarerelaxedconnected.com.au/">Mountain Hammer (Craig Mallett)</a>. Hammer started barefooting circa 2012, and has noticed increased width and hypertrophy the foot, and a whole suite of benefits higher up the body related to this. Just look at that foot(!) - it's wider than my shoe (see below)! No wonder Craig has such troubles finding footwear..*<br />
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The comments section of the this photo in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/324171747703449/">Physical Alchemy Facebook</a> group have taken off. Kit, and avid supporter of foot training and barefoot walking for many years now, responded to the picture "<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".5ag.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708143019306318:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".5ag.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708143019306318:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".5ag.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708143019306318:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0">I am now wondering just how many diseases and illnesses have their genesis in insufficient foot stimulation?" - K. </span></span></span><br />
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<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".5ag.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708143019306318:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".5ag.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708143019306318:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".5ag.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708143019306318:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0">So, shall we take some measurements and have at this "year of the foot"? Below I have listed my suggestions for quantitative notation, but I am actually far more interested in the qualitative and subjective 'ripple on' effects that people notice. </span></span></span><br />
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<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".5ag.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708143019306318:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".5ag.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708143019306318:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".5ag.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708143019306318:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0"><br /></span></span></span>
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".5ag.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708143019306318:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".5ag.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708143019306318:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".5ag.1:3:1:$comment707824566004830_708143019306318:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0"><b>Baseline Foot and Lower Leg Measurements</b></span></span></span></div>
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The equipment need for this is minimal: measuring tape (inches and centimeters), pen, A4 (or A3 if you are Craig) size paper and a camera. Besides the measurements shown, a few photos from different angles will create a nice 3-dimensional representation. Try to use similar lighting for each shot. </div>
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The 6 Foot Training Measurements are: </div>
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<i>1) Medial Arch</i></div>
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<i>2) Toe Box</i></div>
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<i>3) Tracing the Foot</i></div>
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<i>4) Calf Girth</i></div>
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<i>5) Secret Lower Shin Girth</i></div>
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<i>6) Photos</i></div>
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*Edit - Kit has suggested measuring the calf and foot girths from a standing, not squatting position, which is probably wise. At any rate, make sure you note which one you did the first time around. </div>
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<b>1) Medial Arch </b>- The measurement is taken at the apex of the medial arch, on the navicular bone. The tape is pull tight, so as to touch the full circumference of the foot. Hopefully this will map hypertrophy of the plantar muscles (plantar quadratus) flexors of the hallicus, tibalius posterior muscle and tendon thickening. </div>
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<b>2) Toe Box [Metatarsal head girth]</b> - This measurement is taken around the heads of the metatarsals, around the 1st and 5th heads. Again, the tape should be pulled tight. This should indicate hypertrophy of the interossii muscles and short flexors of the toes and Hallicus. </div>
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<b>3) Tracing the foot onto paper -</b> Tracing the foot with a pen or pencil. This gives a nice visual impression of a number of dimensions of the foot. Can be done either foot relaxed, and/or foot with the toe-spread maxed out at current level. </div>
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<b>4) Standard Calf (Gastrocs & Soleous) Girth Measurement </b>- Measure with tape taut around the widest portion of the calf (give yourself a fighting chance!). </div>
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<b>5) 'Secret' Lower Shin Measurement</b> - I want to see the change in size of this area due to the deeper posterior comparment musculature changing - tibialus posterior, flexor hallicus, fibularis group, etc,. The measurement is taken four fingers width up from the middle of the medial maleous. </div>
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["Toe Climbing" by Mountain Hammer]</div>
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<b>Training Methods </b></div>
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This experiment is non-prescriptive in
terms of training methods. In fact, I think it will be more
interesting if we have a variety of methods on show. </div>
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Ancestral Simon and Mountain Hammer have already put up an awesome series of foot training exercises that can be followed if you do not have your own exercise protocols. </div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frLkfFCWtpQ">Video 1</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxg4zCGVMao">Video 2</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBwbJyyvNWc">Video 3 </a><br />
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I am going to be using versions of my '<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glWRvN0XYb8">Calfpocalypse</a>' exercise, rail balancing, foot gripping exercises, balancing exercises and a variety of stretching and tissue wringing methods. When I tinker enough to have a protocol I like I will post it. <br />
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Kit has posted a very long and excellent foot mobilisation sequence that can be used regularly, or as a means to test progress throughout the year - see <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvAto6yIGLY">HERE</a>. There is also a large foot pronation correction discussion thread on the <a href="http://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php?/topic/33-flat-feet-pronation-in-response-to-a-q-from-coach-sommer/">Stretch Therapy forums</a> that has a large amount of information and some additional exercises. </div>
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I am quite keen on making this into a 3-part <i>5-neck</i> (1 neck, 2 x foot-ankle-shin, 2 x hand-wrist-forearm) experiment, but may as well start from the ground and work upwards. <a href="http://ancestralmovement.com/">Ancestral Simon</a>
has already designated 2015 the "year of the foot", so I thought it
would be fun and interesting to take some measurements to actually see
what happens when we focus in on foot training methods of various
types. <br />
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Please feel free to join in the experiment (and take full personal responsibility for your own exercise programming). Post pictures into the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/324171747703449/">Physical Alchemy Facebook group </a>comment section to this blog. <br />
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*Craig was telling me he recently we to a bare-footing shoe brand warehouse in the States, and even the XXL width shoe was insufficient, as almost all shoe brands increase the toe-box only, whereas Craig has noticeably hypertrophied the mid-section of his foot (perpendicular to the medial arch). </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-33202373637892821462015-01-15T11:16:00.001+11:002015-01-15T19:22:46.029+11:00Review: The Movement Experience 2015<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Review: The Movement Experience 2015</span></div>
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"<i>So you're sitting on George Street...sipping your tasty beverage, and THIS guy walks passed!</i>" - Ido Portal* </div>
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Over the last few weeks of this summer I have had the good fortune of attending both the Sydney Movement-X and Corset workshops of the <a href="http://www.idoportal.com/">Ido Portal method</a>, put on by Ido and his senior students. </div>
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I have been following his work online for a while and have great respect for all he is doing with the <i>movement culture</i>. I had met a number of his students, who impressed me with their abilities and outlook on physical cultivation and movement. After meeting him personally two New Year's back in the slightly odd way (foraging for food in the NSW bush), I was eager to experience his method at workshop level.</div>
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<a href="http://www.idoportal.com/">Ido</a> is one of the few living examples of the Epictetus quote '<i>Do not explain your philosophy, embody it</i>' that I have met - though he can explain his philosophy impeccably as well! </div>
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I would consider him an 'Expert Generalist', though he interestingly stated at the Corset workshop that he thinks the age of polymath is largely over due to the now huge complexity of the human knowledge base. His expression for the new expert generalism is 'unique fingerprint'...and if these workshops are anything to go by, he's crafting an amazing fingerprint. </div>
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As my good friend <a href="http://awarerelaxedconnected.com.au/">Craig</a> pointed out in his review of the workshops on Facebook, Ido may not be the best at gymnastics or bodyweight strength feats (though he's pretty damn good at them), but he has the '<span class="text_exposed_show">soft connectiveness of an
internal martial artist', high but not contortion level flexibility, amazing agility, speed, explosiveness, rhythm, great physical acting skills, reaction time - and a whole host of kinesthetic intelligences and proprioceptive 'corporeal communication'** skills that defy pinning down with language, but are perceptible in person. </span>He lives his own phrase "1 + 1 + 1 = 17!"</div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show">It was this gestalt and the experiencing of what being high level (but not specialized) across a large number of movement fields looks and <i>feels </i>like, that was one of the deepest lessons for me personally. </span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show">On a more specific level it was not the stuff that people usually emphasize with his work that I found the most insightful. For me, it was the<i> Kinetic Koans </i>section of the Movement X that blew me away. </span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show">To find a skill-set missing from my own practice and teaching, that so well fits with what I am personally trying to accomplish with my own method - this was the biggest revelation for me of both workshops, and I am very grateful to Ido and associates for the exposure to this gap. </span></div>
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As a teacher, it is wise to consider the value of this aspect when attending workshops: am I just pouring more the same concepts in, or am I going to people who can empty my cup - clear out some redundant information, spark re-alignment with the principle of <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/shoshin.html"><i>shoshin</i></a>, make you question and come back to things from a different angle. It is essential to have people who do this if you are a teacher (of movement or otherwise). <br />
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The Corset workshop was great on a number of levels, and my love and fascinating with all things soft tissue re-modelling, flexibility and suppleness training of all types made this a pleasure to attend, and to do it with so many of my friends and peers was a bonus.<br />
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I had seen a number of the exercises before, but got some new ones to play with, too. If I can get 3-5 new exercises to really work on from a workshop I consider it a success, and I definitely got more than that. Seeing Ido's perspective on the exercises I was familiar with was more insightful, still. Highly interesting for me was the relating of his research into western and eastern methods, real life examples and protocol discussion level of this workshop. <br />
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Seeing his example, and the examples of his assisting teacher's (Odelia and Summer), along with the information presented was fascinating. There is a lot I can use here. I am very much looking forward to taking it back to the laboratory and mixing it in with the methods I already practice. Time for hard training. <br />
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So, I now have a lot of new <i>movement nutrition</i> and different protocols to chew on and re-integrate..which is what one should look for in a workshop experience.<br />
As I said, for my own growth as a teacher I seek out people to work with who at the deeper levels are similar in approach, but on a methodological level challenge and spark renewal. <br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show">A final note.. there is a certain type of <i>fire</i> in an individual who lives totally (100%) for their art. It is very rare to see this, sadly, and it is very inspiring to see an someone who is in the same field as you in this state. </span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show">At a level where he could easily sit back and rest on his laurels, he is still as passionate an explorer of movement as ever. He was relating his tales of his recent study trip to China to a small number of us at the end of the Corset with the flavor of '<i>keeping the question alive is more important than finding an answer</i>' - what a note to end on! As I said elsewhere, an honour and a pleasure to see the artist at work. Looking forward to more in the future. </span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show"></span>"<i>Walk into a freezer, kick someone in the face. That's the mobility you
need. That's the mobility life demands!</i>" - Ido Portal</div>
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*The <a href="http://www.liftperformancecentre.com.au/">gym</a> we did Movement-X in was on (one of the) George St, and Ido was having coffee on it and people watching. He <span data-dobid="hdw">caricatured</span> some of this when he was doing the locomotion section, and fuck it was funny (and insightful at the same time)! For a week afterwards I kept getting Ido's voice popping up in my head: "So you're sitting on George Street...sipping your tasty beverage, and THIS guy walks passed!" <span class="text_exposed_show">Ido is a funny bastard. Genuinely, really funny! I think, perhaps, some of
the confusion people have with him is they cannot perceive when he is joking and
when he is being serious. </span><br />
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** The name of workshop Ido used to put on. What a great title for a workshop! <br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-64063157243126656982015-01-09T11:20:00.004+11:002015-01-09T11:20:51.322+11:00The 'Long Class' Experience<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmzWbdc0irSF0YCrLZgRtuQNwDwoFY9zGeGY53n8JPqBhPludo3tpYwW9ycuJebEyymOLDkxTILb8y_jHtryz1r-WKxpizBAhEHv3YqRlhLQtkojEWMc2o5FnbOuomF0eNAWZc2Ek5QVR/s1600/KitLaughlin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmzWbdc0irSF0YCrLZgRtuQNwDwoFY9zGeGY53n8JPqBhPludo3tpYwW9ycuJebEyymOLDkxTILb8y_jHtryz1r-WKxpizBAhEHv3YqRlhLQtkojEWMc2o5FnbOuomF0eNAWZc2Ek5QVR/s1600/KitLaughlin.png" title="http://kitlaughlin.com/" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The 'Long Class' Experience </span></div>
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Dave Wardman</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"This is <i>workshop work.....!!"</i></span></div>
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<i>[Kit Laughlin during a phone conversation with me sometime mid-2014]</i></div>
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The above quote happened during a deeply interesting and flowing phone conversation I had with my mentor last year. We were having one of our discussions that darted all over the place effortlessly: practical physical cultivation methods, stretching, strength and conditioning, dharmic topics, philosophy, etc,. It's a beautiful thing to have people in your life that you can communicate with unrestrained and completely naturally across all the things that are most meaningful in your life!<br />
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Kit blurted out this line "This is workshop work!" - and we both fell silent for a few moments, knowing something very important had just occurred. <br />
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The specific "This" we were talking about was the method of <a href="http://www.kitlaughlin.com/">Stretch Therapy</a> (the parent art of Physical Alchemy). Stretch Therapy occurs in a number of settings: private sessions, classes and workshops. Something Kit* and I (and others) have been aware of for a while is that there is something different, something very special, about experiencing this work immersion style in groups at a workshop level. <br />
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There a many possible ingredients in the creation of the workshop experience: space, duration (most workshops are 2-3 days - the bodymind warms up and becomes more plastic, more open to change), the 'tribal' aspects of doing an activity with a group of like-minded people is a supportive environment, the method, the teacher, the students - and so on. <br />
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Classes are fantastic, and have similar dynamics to workshops. But they are not as powerful as the workshop experience. Something I have been contemplating deeply since the phone-satori with Kit is: '<i>how can I make classes more like the workshop experience?</i>'. Why? The closer I can get my classes to the workshop level of <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/body-tessellations.html">re-patterning</a>, the more powerful they become and the more effectively and efficiently the methods can work for my students. <br />
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Hmmm, what elements to tinker with? I have chosen duration (to start with). We have been temporally patterned in a certain way in this society. Since high-school most of us are conditioned to do roughly 9-5pm, on 5 specific days out of 7. We are used to a lunch break of around an hour, with or without another small break or two. This is not a natural pattern, IMHO, but it is what we have to work with. <br />
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So, I have been testing out extended duration 'Long Classes' in my Physical Alchemy Experimental classes - see <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/physical-alchemy-experimental-session.html">HERE</a>. <b>These are between 2 - 2.5hrs in duration.</b> <br />
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The results so far are overwhelmingly in favour of this being a superior way to train the method in class format. It seems that for Stretch Therapy, after a hour (the normal duration for ST classes, and mos exercise classes) the body (nervous system and other soft tissues) is starting to get into a plasticity state slightly sideways to normal consciousness - a state where deeper change becomes easier to attain. The increased integration time and lack of haste facilitated deeper relaxation, too. <br />
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But how to implement this out of 'the laboratory'.. Luckily <a href="http://www.sydneystretchtherapy.com/aboutcherie.html">Cherie</a> and I have already found a way to implement this new format of long-play physical immersion - we do it on Saturday! We are currently running these classes on alternating Saturdays at the <a href="http://www.sydneystretchtherapy.com/">Sydney Stretch Therapy studio</a>. <br />
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Also, coming very soon <b>in 2015 I will be running Hybrid Monkey Gym/Stretch Therapy classes in Sydney.</b> Details to come very shortly. PM me (dav.wardman@gmail.com) if you are interested in attending or have any questions about programming this type of experience with other training modalities. <br />
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I intend to run <b>two classes per Saturday</b> in this manner ASAP. Having experimented with this on myself and a number of my collaborators, it is obvious that this is the perfect way to run non-workshop classes. They even work wonders on one class per week (or even fortnight, which is something very interesting). This work is <i>alive!</i> It is a living art. I, and others, are constantly trying to evolve the method (which we already knows works so well) along the lines of effectiveness, efficiency and depth. <br />
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I am also contemplating an evening Long Class, if enough humans are interested. Doing this type of format in the evening has often been giving me and the other collaborators very deep and rejuvenating sleep, and being able to go home and sleep soon after aids the experience, in my reckoning. <br />
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Come explore the art of re-patterning your bodymind for increased movement quality, relaxation and suppleness. It's fun and it feels amazing! <br />
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Please PM me if you have any further questions about the methodology specifically or generally (dav.wardman@gmail.com. <br />
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Join the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/320124731451256/">Sydney Stretch Therapy facebook group</a> for more class details, fun and community. <br />
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Dave <br />
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*<a href="http://kitlaughlin.com/">HERE</a> - also, for trainspotters, hard to see in this image but Kit is wearing his 'Resist Mediocrity' t-shirt. <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-44268854411993385842015-01-06T22:42:00.001+11:002015-01-08T18:50:31.328+11:00The Agile Lifestyle<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Agile Lifestyle</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span> <br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dave Wardman</span></span> <br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span> </div>
One of the things I remember observing and contemplating most as a child, was: 'why do all these adults around me do jobs they obviously disdain/dislike/hate then tell me that I am going to do the same, and that it's "good", "the way it is" and "a part of growing up"..'. It always seemed, although normal in the sense of normative distribution, a highly unnatural state to be forced into. <br />
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I expended a lot of energy dreading the prospect of what out of the standard white-collar professions (that my high-schooling programmed me to think as being the only options post-graduation) would be, not really the most interesting, but the least boring and one that would allow the most free time to do things I actually enjoyed.<br />
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Many of my peers had, or are having, similar contemplations. The (hot) topic of non-linear life style design has generated a fair
amount of intriguing discourse on the few chosen platforms for social
media engagement that I frequent.<br />
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A while ago on there was this thread at the <a href="http://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php?/topic/468-the-great-escape-support-network-thread/">Stretch Therapy Forums</a>. Even more recently in a response to <a href="http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/04/24/sell-your-crap-pay-off-your-debt-and-do-what-you-love-this-makes-it-all-possible/">THIS</a>
on the Physical Alchemy facebook page. Many of the most interesting, open-minded and
forward-thinking people I know have commented with their favoured
methods for which one can perform <i>The Great Escape</i> (a.k.a escaping 'The Matrix' of 'working a job you hate to buy shit you don't need (and pay off your mortgage/debt)' - to have time free for the things they enjoy and that <i>actually </i>make up their life in a meaningful way).<br />
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Post high school I slid into university, mainly as a way of postponing the decision of 'what career I was going to devote my life to'*. It was there, not in any of my classes, but in the university <i>Dojo</i> that I had a minor satori into this <i>perceived</i> dilemma.<br />
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My martial arts teacher C. (and first teacher in a wider sense) was a living example of someone who had <i>not</i> done things the standard way and thrived. One of the many great lessons I received from him was this very thing - hope!<br />
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I had, as a child, always hypothesized that there must be a to evade the dreaded 'inevitable fate' (as I viewed it then) of a job you hated**. And now I was presently multiple times a week with the truth that you could do something different, and in fact <i>by</i> doing something different you transformed yourself in the process. This had a deep affect upon me. <br />
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Now I knew it was possible to do things another way, I made a resolve to never enter into the white-collar path (I did do a small stint in this type of job. 3 months made it totally clear that this was not for me).. Still, I had seen it was possible, but what type of path does Dave take to this end - doubts persisted. I took 6 years to finish my 3 year degree. Just nearing the end of this period, I began to study with another of my teachers (K).<br />
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Meeting K. only strengthened my resolve deeper. Here were the two coolest and most interesting humans I had met at that stage of my life, and both had gone all over the place in terms of work, study and life-experience (I recognized this, too; I had a poverty of life experience at that stage. Having the auspicious fortune of being able to study so closely with these two teachers really broke me out of my shell).<br />
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Both of K. and C. epitomize the '<a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/expert-generalism.html">Expert Generalist</a>' and are both intellectually brilliant, are very well read, have a large practical skill-set, had working Sitting Practices, studied in teacher-student apprenticeship style learning relationships and have high level body awareness. I started to triangulate in on a pattern I could model, not follow exactly as my path differs from theirs, but modelling the commonalities between them. I put it to you, find prototypes; and beg them to let you be their students if need be! <br />
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So, skip ahead 7 or 8 years of my spiritual journey to now, and I find myself precisely where I wanted to be looking forward from that time period. Kinda cool, huh?<br />
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At any rate, a lot of the stuff being talked about in the wider <i>agile lifestyle </i>picture is not-applicable to me. The highly popular ethos of the 4-hr workweek (which I read twice, and like sections of very much) is not really what I am after. I love what I do and will continue, deepen and expand it (at a sustainable rate) as long as I can. I feel like a man on a perennial secret mission. This is a good feeling. <br />
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Agile lifestyle for me means I can do immersion style study with great teachers to improve my specific skill-set so I can improve the Physical Alchemy methods effectiveness. Sitting in a hammock, sipping pina coladas with nothing to do is not for me (I used to idolize having endless spare time, this changed for me during the last 7 years when I realized what that was). <br />
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Agile lifestyle means I can spend a high amount of quality time with my wife and daughter. Extra time to practice and do hard training. Time in nature. More <i>tribe time</i> (time with friends and peers). Time for more Solitude and <i>Silence</i>. Time to practice and tinker with my craft. All the things that <i>are actually my Life</i>.<br />
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One of the reasons I use <i>agile</i> is that there are many different configurations to this - pina colada sipping included! I have met people who work part-time to fund their hobbies <i>(</i>a.k.a their <i>Life)</i>; people who work full-time then have 'mini-retirements' to do immersion style study; people who use their jobs as <i>sadhana</i>; people working whilst studying the thing they actually want to do at night. The commonality is a certain spark seeing a 'glitch in the matrix' of standard lifestyle patterning. <br />
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Agile (for me) is about maximizing the activities of deepest meaning to you within your current resource base (resource base at all levels - mental, temporal, financial, etc) and within the constraints you have (debt, family and other duties). It is about reducing or eliminating the unnecessary, wherever possible - and sometimes that's not possible. <br />
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I also use agile, in the sense of 'traveling light', as for me and others I know well -there is a definite material de-cluttering that accompanies the conceptual de-cluttering necessary to jump paradigms.<br />
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This may be spartan for the nomadic bachelor who is 'walking the Earth like Caine in Kung Fu', or simplification and reduction in non-useful objects for a family with 5 children.<br />
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For me, I like a modified version the ethos of 'Zen-nanny' Marie Kondo (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/garden/home-organization-advice-from-marie-kondo.html?WT.mc_id=D-NYT-MKTG-MOD-61886-11-15-PH&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_c&_r=0">LINK</a>) - give away any items that are not useful, beautiful and that do not 'spark joy'. <br />
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Recently, I have seen a visible shift in a number of areas that I feel is reflective of the larger pattern behind agile living. One of the cool things is what is happening with housing (tiny houses, yurts), architecture (bio-mimicry in design and new materials), food (permaculture) and energy (solar and other 'off the grid' set-ups) production. <br />
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Agile structures such as <a href="http://www.designboom.com/design/jero-flat-pack-yurt-09-11-2014/?utm_campaign=monthly&utm_medium=e-mail&utm_source=subscribers">yurts</a> and <a href="http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/04/24/sell-your-crap-pay-off-your-debt-and-do-what-you-love-this-makes-it-all-possible/">tiny housing concepts</a> are really taking off and this really makes a lot of sense. Having been in a yurt before, I must say the ambiance of a round (or at least octagonal) room is very appealing to me - as are some of the tree house-like tiny houses! <br />
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Communal living of different types also makes sense for many situations, and looked upon through the eyes of history it is actually a much more natural configuration for humans to live in than the odd nuclear family in a massive suburban house that was the "norm" for the city I grew up in.<br />
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For my mind, all this is part of a wider re-patterning of the cultural-body underway at the moment, that bubbles up visibly in seemingly unrelated areas. Two of the books in my <a href="http://physicalalchemy.com.au/recommended-reading">recommended reading list</a>, <i>Coming to Our Senses </i>and <i>The Continuum Concep</i>t when combined, show a nice linking of the phenomena of tiny houses and yurts (and so on) with the silent epidemic of dis-embodiment (lack of body awareness and embodied presence). I won't spoil the surprise - to the library! <br />
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One last thing to contemplate, that Kit and I discussed a while back. In Japan the<i> hara</i> (moving or 'doing' centre) is increased by movement training (often martial arts, and by Sitting Practice too). We were discussing the possible correlation of the <i class="bbc">hara</i> you get from improving your physical body with the necessary drive and
persistence needed to 'escape the matrix'.. i.e it's not a matter of intellect (or
intellect alone); I know many intelligent people without the will to
follow it through.<br />
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Tune in to the Physical Alchemy Facebook group and Stretch Therapy Community Forum for more developments, watch out for Part 2 of this article coming soon..! <br />
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[D] <br />
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Thank you to my teachers C. and K. for their inspirational and guidance in all things, and especially in showing me the way to break free. <br />
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Thank you to all who participated in the Physical Alchemy Facebook group discussion in the comments of 'Tiny House' article. I am blessed to have you all communicating with me, it is quite an honour to be able to link with you via that interface. What an interesting time to be alive!<br />
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*As an interesting aside, during high school I was afflicted with near crippling indecision. Martial arts training whilst at university totally cured this for me, and I wonder how many other kids would be far better suited doing a martial art as an actual class at school instead of double maths or something else arbitrary like that? I remember nothing of most of my subjects in highschool, but I will remember forever and carry forth the transformation from the martial arts training - that was true <i>education</i>! <br />
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** possibly amplified by programming from shows like The Simpsons, where the humour involves characters in jobs they hate, but doesn't show how to escape this. <br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-84896476115001716582015-01-05T10:01:00.000+11:002015-01-05T11:59:31.752+11:00Physical Alchemy Experimental Session 2nd Jan, 2015As 2014 started to draw to a close something very interesting was occurring (almost) every Friday night, hidden away near the Lane Cove forest in Sydney. Myself, and between 1 and 3 collaborators (Robbie, Michael and Hanh), have been performing physical alchemy in my living room, whilst others are out drinking or home watching TV.<br />
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What began as a casual stretch session has evolved into a Physical Alchemy laboratory. These experimental sessions are now averaging around 2 and a quarter and 2.5hrs in duration, and the intensity and creativity of the sessions has been steadily increasing. And man, is it exciting! <br />
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I am personally
very interested in the ability of these 2-2.5hrs experimental sessions
to produce a <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/body-tessellations.html"><i class="bbc">re-patterning effect</i></a> similar to what I used to only be able to attain during workshops (7-8hrs). A couple of the sessions did this in particular and we are trying to triangulate in on the specifics in terms of sequencing, duration, ambiance and other contributing factors. <br />
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The session documented below produce a fantastic <i>re-patterning effect</i> immediately post session and for the whole of the next morning. The beneficial effects in terms of movement quality, ease and enhanced body awareness and proprioception lasted another 2 more days (roughly).<br />
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These are the 'headings' of what we did, the experience and subtle detail is harder to convey. I will think about what medium could work best to get this across more accurately. At any rate, let me know if you have any questions about the below terminology (which is quite specific to people who have trained in Stretch Therapy).<br />
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Follow these sessions at my '<a href="http://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php?/topic/709-physical-alchemy-laboratory-2015/">Physical Alchemy Laboratory</a>' workout log @ Stretch Therapy Community forums: http://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php?/topic/709-physical-alchemy-laboratory-2015/<br />
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<i class="bbc">Jan 2nd, 2015: Physical Alchemy Experimental Session w Michael</i><br />
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<b>1) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtsQTfAwE4Y">Partner Hip Flexor stretch</a> </b>- The classic Stretch Therapy seated hip flexor stretch. Simple and brilliant. I haven't done the standard one for a while, and it is always good to revisit it. <br />
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<b>2) Romanian DL from Deficit (slow):</b> 15 reps @ 40kg, 12 reps @ 50kg<br />
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<b>3) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLMU-q3t9ZE">Nordic Hamstring Curl</a>:</b> 1 set of 3 isometric hold reps<br />
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<b>4) Partner Front Splits I. </b>Hip Flexor C/R. Scissor C/R. Scissor plus Pelvic Torque C/R. Knee-bar C/R. <br />
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<b>5) Nordic Hamstring Curl:</b> 2 sets of 3 isometric hold reps<br />
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<b>6) Partner Tailor Pose. </b>Standing assistance of ~80kg human.<br />
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<b>7) Partner Front Splits II</b> (This was done much longer and stronger. I made a breakthrough on both legs) Again: Hip Flexor C/R. Scissor C/R. Scissor plus Pelvic Torque C/R. Knee-bar C/R. Though Knee-bar Contract-Relax was done longer and the deep breathing re-patterning phase was extended another 5-6 breathes. This was very intense, but good. Lying integration with inner smile post each leg. <br />
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<b>8) New Physical Alchemy variant Floor Pec Minor/Major</b> (got best pec
minor sensory awareness ever during contraction on the right side). This will be filmed soon. It rocks. <br />
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<b>9) Double Partner Pancake</b> - Hanh joined in, sitting between my shoulders, which now offers superior assistance
and allows me to hyper extend my lumbar spine and really wind-up various fascial chains in my legs. <br />
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<b>10) Partner assisted soft tissue work with ball on right medial epicondyle.</b> Ouch.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-91557686415136297532014-11-24T15:30:00.002+11:002014-12-01T10:55:25.026+11:00Body Tessellations<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr"> <span style="font-size: large;">Body Tessellations</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dave Wardman</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">My childhood involved a lot of climbing, jumping and moving, a fair amount of watching <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXgeqhZFzBg">Monkey Magic</a>, and slightly later on (~8 years old) a fair amount of looking at the art of M.C. Escher and reading Bruce Lee books. The art of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._C._Escher">Maurits Cornelius Escher </a>had a deep affect upon me, and I spent many, many hours gazing at his drawings. I may be wrong about this, but I think my first introduction to his work was the first time my parents ever let me watch a movie at nighttime. The movie was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth_%28film%29">Labyrinth</a>*, and the Escher-esque final scene was burnt into my mind. Later, my mum and dad bought me Eschers '<a href="http://www.amazon.com/M-C-Escher-Visions-Symmetry-New/dp/0810943085/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416803348&sr=8-1&keywords=visions+of+symmetry"><i>Visions of Symmetry</i></a>' - one of the best presents I have ever received!</span></span><br />
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">Fast-forward a few decades, I recently have had a number of epiphanies in regard to this thing called Physical Alchemy. Firstly, Physical Alchemy is an <i>art of re-patterning</i>. And that 'art' in a number of forms is a big part of this. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">Secondly, that one of the main methods I use, partner based stretching and re-patterning work (drawn from my studies in Stretch Therapy) is actually (especially in multiple person partner work) a form of <i>Body Tessellation</i>. You are arranging humans in an artistic, anatomical way to enhance the re-patterning effect-affect in the person being stretched. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">Googlepaedia tells me a Tessellation is: </span></span><i>'the process or art of tessellating a surface, or the state of being tessellated - </i><span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr"><i>an arrangement of shapes closely fitted together, especially of polygons in a repeated pattern without gaps or overlapping'. </i> </span></span><br />
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDs1EKbt1MKsxHIPxJKAxAWP2uFcgSVXY6iB7SMp_bMC23RP5Qky3eG4K-xwHUxsxDfLVHN-pjB_Jd2sTI5qvQV_tZfJT8kGlMLJ3Ke8Sg3SiKry1bCa5kdqyeGMHKVYYaNN37WgFPP5XD/s1600/Human+tree.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDs1EKbt1MKsxHIPxJKAxAWP2uFcgSVXY6iB7SMp_bMC23RP5Qky3eG4K-xwHUxsxDfLVHN-pjB_Jd2sTI5qvQV_tZfJT8kGlMLJ3Ke8Sg3SiKry1bCa5kdqyeGMHKVYYaNN37WgFPP5XD/s1600/Human+tree.jpg" height="400" title="http://a-apollon.com/" width="300" /></a> </span></span></div>
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">When we assist in partner stretching, we use our hands, bodies and limbs to fit into the gaps in the shapes made by the stretching humans body. This is a proprioceptive-kinesthetic aid and enhancer which provides increased sense of one's body in space and time. It decreases the '<i>apprehension reflex</i>', as Kit dubbed the fear experienced whilst having strong stretching sensations occur in a novel and/or complex arrangement of the physical body. </span></span><br />
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">The assistance of other humans seems to often extend the duration<i> </i>that a person can hold a stretch for and, somewhat paradoxically, also the intensity of stretching sensation their bodymind can tolerate whilst keeping in the desired state (interiority and slow, deep breathing). </span></span><span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">It also increases comfort, which is always a good thing when re-patterning. One of Kit's greatest lessons to me was the use of a <i>soft, but unmovable force </i>when aiding people in stretching. A simple phrase, but a life-time's practice in that one line! </span></span><br />
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">One of the ideas I am playing with in regards to this type of stretching, and how it increases flexibility and body awareness in the way it does, is that it is not simply the additional load on the stretching tissues (the person does add mass - and it's a warm, responsive mass, not a cold, inert mass) but the fact that it allows for increased duration and <i>quality</i> of new impressions in the <i>re-patterning phase</i> of the stretch (the stillness of the post-contraction 'simmering', kinethetic-sense dominant phase before movement patterns initiated to begin the slow withdrawal from the position) via the comfort, support and enhanced feedback aspects. This provides high quality 'movement food' for digestion via the relaxed state with strong sensations-impressions, 'cooking' the person in their own juices (fava beans and fine chianti not provided). </span></span><br />
<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr"><br /></span></span>
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">Multiple partner-assisted stretching is something from the Stretch Therapy workshops and old P&F Advanced Class syllabus (it is not shown too much in Kit's Stretching & Flexibility book, but is very much part of the system) that I am really picking up and running with at Physical Alchemy - with a number of new stretches and novel variants already created. </span></span><br />
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">It can be especially effective </span></span><span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr"><span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">to stretch in this manner</span></span> for people who already have a high degree of body awareness and movement quality. The multiple, <i>spiraling </i>force<i> </i>vectors allow for tissue wringing of a different order of magnitude than normal, and the <i>tractioning </i>forces can feel amazing (and allow things to unlock that would not have otherwise). </span></span><br />
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">Add into this the increased quanta of effort available to work with one's breath (if that skill-set is present in the individual) and you can create a truly interesting stew of forces and proprioceptive information that can have some quite powerful and novel effect-affects. </span></span><span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">It's also great fun, and
there's something cool about working in a group to do this type of
thing. It is a supportive and human thing to do.</span></span><br />
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">Recently, I have started a secret, experimental 'Physical Alchemy' class with a couple of high quality human beings who are studying with me and a lot of the benefits I received from partner stretching in the past have amplified significantly. </span></span><br />
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">Just last Friday I had one of the top three stretching sessions of my life in terms of<i> </i>the <i>re-patterning</i> <i>effect</i>**. It was actually quite profound, and something that normally is reserved only for post-workshop stretching (i.e it normally occurs after 7-8hrs of stretching, but I have somehow bridged the gap and got the same thing in a much quicker time-frame). This is very exciting for me! I am certain it is the ability of multiple partner stretching to raise the amount and quality of sensations and impressions whilst preserving the ability to deeply breathing and remain silent inside that does it, but more tinkering is necessary (and desirable). </span></span><br />
<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr"><br /></span></span>
<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">Talking with my wife the next day, I was again struck by the profoundity of this - as the only equipment necessary was a staff made out of Tasmanian Oak, a couple of cushions and a bolster. The key ingredients are the practical method and techniques, and the two other human beings who want to work on themselves. How beautiful is that?! </span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">So, unlike my strength work which I like to keep
rather ‘meat and potatoes’, my stretching and soft body skill work is a spice-filled,
well-cooked jungle curry. A whole host of postures, movement exercises,
stretches, body tessellations and awareness practices are brought together to challenge, <i>shock</i>
and expose the body, brain and mind to new impressions for digestion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Generally
the pace of this is much slower
than strength work, with higher awareness and relatively smaller (in
relation to one's absolute strength) external resistances involved. This
is blended with heightened <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">interiority</i> and an intention to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unlock
</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> re-pattern </i>the bodymind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">This is not the only effective way to stretch, it is simple how <i>I like to stretch</i>. Other methods have been and will be trialled. I have found multiple partner assistance done properly to be up there with the most effective physical training I have ever done. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">A final note, as my mentor Kit has mentioned on his blog (http://kitlaughlin.wordpress.com/), stretching is a great locus for awareness training more generally done via through the body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The heightened sensations of stretching greatly
increase the ability to peer within, provided the awareness can be
maintained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The combination of strong
stretch sensation (note: strong <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">enough</i>);
control of the nervous system via breathing and focusing of the awareness is, IMHO, truly an
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">alchemical</i> art when done
correctly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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Please join the Physical Alchemy Facebook group if you enjoyed this article, or check out the website @ http://physicalalchemy.com.au. <br />
<br />
D<br />
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<b>Notes: </b><br />
Some examples of Body-Tessellation level stretches: <br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh2Lgq3lTJA">Video: 2-Partner Assist 'Bamboo Staff' Pancake Stretch </a></div>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mPbEggRY_k&list=UUVz3b1bpwQnLYrT_0R8EFog"><br /></a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mPbEggRY_k&list=UUVz3b1bpwQnLYrT_0R8EFog">Video: 2- Partner Staff Chest Opener</a><br />
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">Photos</span></span><br />
(To come as soon as I update iPhoto)<br />
<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr"> </span></span><br />
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">*Yes, the movie starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. An aside, I spent a large part of my kindergarten year fully convinced that clocks had 13hrs on them - a fact I rigorously argued with my mum. I remember the day I spent the whole afternoon looking at the clock and counting the hours endlessly. My mother informs me that I came home, crestfallen, and admitted that there were indeed only 12hrs on the clock. Years later I re-watched Labyrinth and saw where this had come from, the clock has 13 hours on it in the film! </span></span><br />
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<span class="_r3"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">** I may describe my take on the re-patterning effect in a later post, though far more useful is to experience it yourself and draw your own conclusions. </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-7091718685468070992014-10-13T12:16:00.002+11:002014-10-13T12:16:19.397+11:00Floreio Art Resources Check out <a href="http://antranik.org/the-floreio-project/">THIS</a> compliation of Ido Portal's <i>Floreio Art</i> resources compiled by Antranik (http://antranik.org). Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-12772297276501727802014-09-28T10:07:00.003+10:002014-09-28T10:07:57.750+10:0010 Most Influential Books List [circa 2014]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUPXujQRN2QEjO3qDaLLOj2L6t_dCqV_S3tSmRkZkRNrL7zCYvl5HIzHe_FoTQJw95tU3r68gqLrOSI3pZeKBnz0QzfebImL2Ss8hpwYhBifsrT_1p5RJ12AFatnPouSWtNl686qz6sSKf/s1600/10414406_652425533885_5789062966176861310_n.jpg" height="476" width="640" /> </div>
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<a href="http://kitlaughlin.com/forums/">ST Forum</a> member Tris nominated me for a 'Post the 10 most influential books in your life' style challenge, which is a cool idea. Here's my list circa 2014. A number of other people in the Physical Alchemy Facebook group have posted theirs, too. Feel free to join the group and post. D</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-76200359052437959262014-08-15T01:14:00.002+10:002014-08-26T14:19:25.892+10:00Deep Physical Relaxation <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Deep Physical Relaxation</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dave Wardman</span> </span></div>
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<br />
In my 30, or so, short years on this planet, I have borne witness to quite the acceleration of events and speed of activity in the day-to-day lives of the people around me, as well as in my own activities. In the pursuit of 'progress' many have not questioned whether this is actually a good thing, or not. I think it is more likely to contain both good and bad elements. I posit that the 21st Century will require the ability to exert some control over the nervous system, breathing and relaxation - to buffer the increasing rate of information bombardment and complexity (madness) of life. <br />
<br />
The ability to bring about deep relaxation in the body is not a given in this culture, regrettably. <i>But it can be trained</i>. Firstly though; one has to come to an honest conclusion that one is, in fact, not relaxed - and don't know how to go about attaining this elusive state (at least not at will or without chemical assistance). <br />
<br />
There is much confusion here, in part coming from the experience people sometimes have of an <i>illusion of
difference</i> "relaxation" in their lives; that is, they go
from highly stressed to moderately stressed and the difference in
stress levels feels remarkably relieving (no doubt) - but they have not actually (physiologically) activated the <i>relaxation response </i>in the parasympathetic branch of their autonomic nervous systems, and thus are not relaxed at any great degree.<br />
<br />
I remember one day early 2008, walking around the campus of the Australian National University with <a href="https://kitlaughlin.wordpress.com/">Kit </a>(probably after a coffee), and discussing relaxation (yes, coffee and relaxation - I know, I know!) and the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nidra-Re-print-Swami-Satyananda-Saraswati/dp/8185787123/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404549244&sr=8-1&keywords=yoga+nidra"><i>yoga nidra</i></a> practice - when he said something fascinating, that I have not
forgotten.<br />
<br />
He said: <b><i>"Dave, out of all the chapters in my book (<a href="http://kitlaughlin.com/store/cart.php?m=product_list&c=3">Overcome Neck and Back Pain</a>) the most important chapter is the last (on
relaxation); and nobody ever reads that one!".</i></b><br />
<br />
Now, Kit wasn't actually saying that absolutely nobody reads that chapter, but he was
merely using poetic license to comment that the amount of people who read the last chapter is small,
and the number who implement it, is even smaller still.<br />
<br />
What is
fascinating about this is relaxation costs virtually nothing (other than the time taken to hone the skill-set), can be
done in one's own home and is far more comfortable and pleasant than
stretching or working out(!). Plus it has a whole host of health and life
benefits to it (see below). This absence of interest is truly fascinating, and I believe it is linked with our culture's obsession with progress; meaning that things that are in the <i>not-doing</i> category, like relaxation, are shunned subconsciously. <b><i> </i></b><br />
<br />
Just a few weeks before this conversation, I had begun Kit's short-lived (but excellent) <i>Deep Well Being</i> course of which the <i>yoga nidra</i> relaxation and awareness exercise was a core practice. Having just collapsed numerous systems of my body via long term <a href="http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/prajnaparadha"><i>prajnaparadha</i></a> I was unable to train any of my usual <i>yang</i> methods (and was generally a mess), and was searching for restorative (<i>yin</i>) methods to rejuvenate my body and for something to take the place of my now missing training. The <i>Deep Well Being</i> course offered just what I needed, and arrived at a most auspicious moment! <br />
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From my experiences during the <i>Deep Well Being</i> course, of actually feeling profound embodied relaxation, deep physical relaxation has become a core aspect of the Physical Alchemy method.<br />
The <i>yoga nidra</i> and other lying relaxation and tension release exercises (Steve Maxwell had some great ones at his <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/workshop-review-mobility-conditioning.html">Mobility Conditioning Seminars</a>) are fantastic practices to incorporate into your training and life. <br />
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As I have said <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/physical-alchemy.html">elsewhere</a>, I believe these types of practices will offer increased <i>survival value</i> in the unfolding complexity of the 21st century.<br />
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One major aspect of this silent epidemic of lack of body awareness and
embodied presence (I need a shorter way of saying this!) we are in, is that people do not possess the ability to <i>deeply</i>
relax the body and mind, giving them that sub-verbal itch (broken Continuum*) that manifests as not
feeling content or at home within their very own flesh, muscle and bone. I believe this to be linked with the stress and anxiety levels of the populace
(among many other inauspicious things). <br />
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For me personally, the ability to cultivate relaxation and the practice of <i>yoga nidra</i> were a revelation. There were many profound benefits to this training; a few of which I will make mention. <br />
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Firstly, it changed my relationship between noise and <i>sound</i>. This, as a youth who would wake up between 5 and 15 times a night, was no small thing - as it radically altered, for the better, my sleep quality and restoration.<br />
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Entering the state described as <i>yogic sleep</i>, which is a deep bodily relaxation with mental awareness still intact, I used what is sometimes described as a rotational awareness focus. I would focus on one particular sound, and <i>just hear </i>it. No labeling; just <i>experiencing</i> the sound, and feeling as if the sound were traveling through me. Then, moving onto the next distinct sound that I found within the sound-scape. In the <i>Deep Well Being </i>course it helped that classes were held adjacent a sports hall, so there were shoes screeching; basketballs bouncing; talking; air-conditioning; people snoring next to me; etc. Cycling between focusing on breath, and focusing on sound, totally re-patterned my relationship to external sounds and eliminated <i>noise</i> (which I define as the mind negatively (or positively) reacting and commenting on sounds occurring).<br />
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Secondly, the physical dimension of training deep relaxation has a number of benefits upon the soft tissues and tension patterns of the body. One of the primary Stretch Therapy dictum is: <i>no unnecessary tension</i>. My spinal curves which in the beginning were moderately uncomfortable (my spine was quite straight to begin with) and raised from the floor, relaxed so that my whole spine (more or less) was on the floor when I practiced, and now, following practice and re-patterning, its default position of floor based relaxation is all vertebrae touching the floor (which the brain interprets as non-apprehensive and thus relaxes the para-vertebral muscles much more profoundly than if there is daylight under the cervical and lumbar curves). <br />
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Thirdly, breathing and the muscles that co-ordinate breathing relax and expand, allowing more air to stimulate the parasympathetic receptors found within the deeper recesses of the lower lobes of the lungs, leading to further relaxation and activation of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Relaxation_Response"><i>relaxation response</i></a> .<br />
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There is also increase sensory awareness of the internal movements that make up the breath. The increased effectiveness of 'belly breathing' has flow on effects (affects) in the visceral and digestive organs, and other branches of the nervous system. The enhanced <i>interiority</i> lends itself to feeling the various pulsations of the body in more detail. There are some additional things I do in the the <i>yogic sleep</i> state for breathing that I will elaborate on in a future post.<br />
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This list doesn't really do justice to <i>having these</i> <i>experiences</i> (especially for the first time), and as you practice regularly other cooler things happen, too.<br />
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Once you have regularly had the experience of actually being deeply physically relaxed (mental and emotional relaxation often follow suit when the body relaxes) whilst lying stationary on the ground, rugged up and in an environment conducive to learning to relax, it may become possible for you to bring this state into other postures, and into doing slow movements; and then, perhaps eventually, maintaining being deeply relaxed in daily life.<br />
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Further, and linked to my last blog, I see both the <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/the-experience-of-letting-go-in.html"><i>experience of letting go</i></a> and being able to deeply relax physically as being crucial elements in moving from 'stretching' to <i>stretching </i>(aka. Stretching to Stretching 2.0).<br />
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There are other elements to this, but these two are primary experiential elements of this evolutionary jump. The lying relaxation (yogic posture <i>shavasana</i> 'Corpse Pose') offers a great entry point for beginners, and is also useful in re-training adults to be comfortably and relaxed on the floor again. <br />
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Traditionally, the <i>yoga nidra</i> practice is classified as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratyahara">pratyahara</a> (sense withdrawal) the 5th limb within the framework of <i>The Yogasutra of Patanjali</i> and aims to induce the practitioner into a state of consciousness somewhere between the normal waking state and the dreaming state (<i>yogic sleep</i>).<br />
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The book itself (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nidra-Re-print-Swami-Satyananda-Saraswati/dp/8185787123/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407912442&sr=1-1&keywords=yoga+nidra">Yoga Nidra - Swami Satyananda</a>) goes on to list many other benefits (aside from the ones I have mentioned) flowing from continued, regular practice, such as: release of three-fold tensions (muscular, emotional and mental); increased creativity; re-patterning of the sensory-motor homunculus; as well as many other health and more esoteric benefits. It should be noted that similar techniques are found elsewhere, and are used for preparation for various trance-work and lucid dreaming practices. <br />
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It is also interesting to speculate about the endogenous
auto-alchemy of neurotransmitter substances, brought about by gaining some control over the autonomic nervous system ('Getting high on your own supply'). But, besides all this theory and conjecture, the simple <i>experiential</i> sensations of being deeply relaxed are worth the (very) low price of admission.<br />
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These simple practices can be programmed in a number of ways, but first you need to learn the basics of the skill-set (see Notes below). Once you learn to bring about the experience of relaxation more regularly, you may notice that you can observe, more easily, the tension and stress saturating everyone's bodies. It's sort of a 'be relaxed to <i>see </i>relaxed (or not)' type of thing. <br />
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Do yourself a massive favor and learn the simple art of deep physical relaxation. If you're truly interested in all things physical cultivation it is a necessity to learn these techniques. Active recovery and restoration is an entry level benefit, but <i>deep</i> relaxation flows into all aspects of your life and begins to untie the knots restraining full expression of the human being. <br />
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Please join up to the Physical Alchemy Facebook group, and/or get in contact! <br />
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[D] <br />
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p.s Check out the notes section for a link to some free yoga nidra/lying relaxation Mp3's recorded by Kit whilst teaching workshops. They are high quality (Kit's voice-recorder looks like it fell outta a UFO! I'll see if I can get a photo of it..) and <i>free</i>**. <br />
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<u>Notes: </u><br />
*<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Continuum-Concept-Arkana-Jean-Liedloff-ebook/dp/B0033806L4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408018851&sr=8-1&keywords=continuum+concept">The Continuum Concept - Jean Liedloff</a> is an amazing little book that my good mate Simon (<a href="http://ancestralmovement.com/">Ancestral Movement</a>) suggested for me during my wife's pregnancy. Not just for people who are about to have little humans to look after (but I highly suggest you read it if you are procreating), this book looks at the differences in imprinting between people of industrial nations and tribal peoples of the South American region - giving some startling insights that are very congruent with the Physical Alchemy methodology. Many of the methods employed within Physical Alchemy could well be said to be aimed at 'restoring Continuum' to poorly imprinted adult humans of the industrialized cultures. <br />
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**[Kit has recorded a number of free audio recordings of these practices <a href="http://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php?/forum/10-all-topics-relating-to-the-three-rs-now-the-five-rs/">HERE</a> for download in mp3 format]<br />
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[*] The two books I read around this era, that were useful are:<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nidra-Re-print-Swami-Satyananda-Saraswati/dp/8185787123/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407912442&sr=1-1&keywords=yoga+nidra"><i>Yoga Nidra - Swami Satyananda </i></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Imagery-Healing-Shamanism-Modern-Medicine-ebook/dp/B00ET924FW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407912476&sr=1-1&keywords=imagery+in+healing"><i>Imagery in Healing: Shamanism and Modern Medicine - Jeanne Achterberg</i></a><br />
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Others books somewhat related I have read since then that may be of interest: <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-Zebras-Dont-Ulcers-Stress-Related-ebook/dp/B0037NX018/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407912503&sr=1-1&keywords=why+zebras+don%27t+get+ulcers+4rd+edition"><i>Why Zebra's Don't Get Ulcers - Robert Sapolsky </i></a><i>(</i>great book on Stress and the bodymind) <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Ayurveda-Self-Realization-David-Frawley-ebook/dp/B001XCWA8E/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407912558&sr=1-1&keywords=yoga+and+ayurveda"><i>Yoga and Ayuveda - David Frawley</i></a><br />
<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Soma-Yoga-Ayurveda-Rejuvenation-Immortality-ebook/dp/B0085TJYAK/ref=pd_sim_b_50?ie=UTF8&refRID=06W5500DT4Z19K2TJV77">Soma in Yoga and Ayurveda - David Frawley</a></i><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-45487550633117733482014-06-30T10:02:00.002+10:002014-07-02T15:34:09.777+10:00The Experience of Letting Go (in Stretching) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Experience of Letting Go (in Stretching)</b></span></div>
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<i>Dave Wardman</i></div>
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Last week, on the Stretch Therapy forums (ST Forums), forum member Tris posted a topic entitled '<a href="http://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php?/topic/531-great-insight-while-stretching/">Great Insight While Stretching</a>'. The post is talking about the experiential dimension of a 'big release' in a stretch; and of the somewhat illusory nature of the sensations presenting immediately prior to the relaxation and re-patterning.<br />
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This made me think of the first time I really, tangibly had this experience - and as it was quite a profound experience for me, I thought I would tell my story..<br />
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It was probably 6 months, or so, into my joining the Advanced Posture & Flexibility class, at the ANU in Canberra. Originally I thought nothing much of stretching, and being of above average flexibility for a male human I couldn't see too much benefit in it 'other than as a warm-down' after martial arts practice. I was eventually convinced to attend a <i>Posture & Flexibility</i> course by a combination of my martial arts teacher's (Chris) recommendation that it might increase the speed and power my striking; by the fact that Jen (Chris's partner) was a teacher and I had talked to her about the classes, and from reading the introduction to <a href="https://kitlaughlin.wordpress.com/">Kit</a>'s <i><a href="http://kitlaughlin.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=62">Stretching & Flexibility</a> </i>book - which offered other reasonably interesting reasons for doing flexibility training. I think, perhaps, that martial arts and strength training had put me 'into my body' enough so I was actually getting very intrigued by physical training of all sorts. So I enrolled. <br />
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I had done a beginner's course (with Jen), after which I was invited to the Advanced class instead of Intermediate. I had found out that the classes were actually fun (who would have thought..)! I had found that, although my spine and shoulder flexibility was high, my hip flexibility had much work to do (and it's always the spots that are tight <i>for you</i> that give the widest re-patterning).<br />
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It was around this stage (circa ~2007) that Kit was on his 'Hip flexor stretching answers the <i>Great Riddle of Life and Death</i>; cures all diseases and adds two inches to your...height' phase - i.e we did unrelenting hip flexors, hip flexor partials and warm-up for more hip flexor stretching for about 18 months. <br />
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I had already experienced that interesting physical sensation that when you contract a muscle on stretch, the Golgi Tendon Organs over-ride the <i>stretch reflex </i>in the muscle spindles and produce, seemingly miraculously, an increase in range of motion (and sometimes a decreased "pain/stretch" sensation). I had got used to this sensation, and was stretching how most people who use PNF methods do (i.e minor/moderate change in range of movement; few breaths and come out - nothing too profound). <br />
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Now, sometime very shortly after my arrival in the Advanced Class, Kit decided my purpose for being there was as his new guinea pig (aka 'training partner'). This was actually a fantastic experience for me, as the way Kit stretched himself was different again from how the other teacher's in the class stretched(the class was like a mini-workshop, in that everyone there was a teacher or had long experience with the method; and/or did other physical training) - and I got to digest this kinesthetic food, and my stretching practice was greatly nourished from it.<br />
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One class I was doing a stronger version of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtsQTfAwE4Y">THIS</a> hip flexor stretch (it looks kind of odd when you walk in on a room full of people doing this, if you've never seen it before), and was in a very strong stretch position, and starting to get the 'it's time to get the fuck outta here' sensations building up.<br />
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Kit, sensing this, turned his head around and said something along the lines of "I know you want to come out right now, and I will certainly let you out at a moments notice, but if you have any energy left, do another contraction -and then 5 more deep, slow breaths". Now, I am not sure if I said anything back, but for the stories sake let's say I said "Are you fucking crazy, fool!? My fucking hip flexor will snap off, motherfucker!!" - as this was precisely my thoughts towards the suggestion to contract again instead of abandoning ship. <br />
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It was, also, precisely the sensations coming from my body. <i>It felt</i> like there was no way in hell I could go deeper without snapping my hip flexor clean off. Now, as a brief aside, I will mention that I have never actually injured myself stretching. IF you have insufficient body awareness and experience with stretching in the way that we do with the Stretch Therapy method, the potential is there. Also, Kit knew fair well that I had sufficient body awareness to do another contraction without risk of injury, and would definitely have let me out at a moment's notice if I had asked (it is the person in the stretch who controls the stretch, in ST).<br />
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And then.. and then, the oddest thing happened. I decided to see what would actually happen if I contracted. I slowly and with full awareness contracted again, then with a deep breath and a massive sigh, <i><b>let go</b> </i>and focused on deep breathing. The effect was a turning point for me, both physically and conceptually. I immediately dropped 1.5-2 inches (which felt like 6 in the moment), which was shocking enough, but more interestingly all the strong sensations (largely emotional and nervous system freak out, in retrospect - but felt 'physical' at the time) evaporated*.<br />
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I then, in partial euphoria, easily completed the 5 full breaths, before coming to another barrier of resistance much further down, and deciding to call it quits for that go. Walking around afterwards my entire bodymind was re-patterning, with sensations rushing around all over the place (especially spine, and obviously hip complex).<br />
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I have had many such experiences since then, but that marked, for me, the beginning of my ability to do <i>stretching</i>. Before I had just done 'stretching'. They use the same postures, but occur in different universes. <br />
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One of the primary things I took away with me from this experience was that sensation <i>can</i> be illusory. Every thing of that magnitude I had felt in my body in my life up until that point I had taken as 100% accurate. Having the sensation evaporate in a moment whilst <i>actually going into a deeper position</i> was a real mindfuck for me, at that stage. "This throws my whole view of Reality into question!". If that had seemed so real, and disappeared like that, maybe there were other such things of equal illusion in the body (the answer is 'yes!' and 'lots!')?<br />
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Along similar lines, I found, as have others, that people with low embodiment and body awareness label any strong sensation as 'pain'. Part of the process in <i>using stretching in this specific manner</i> is to heighten the embodied awareness of the person (this, for me, is a higher benefit than achieving extreme postures and range of movement - which is also fine to work on, obviously). Via increasing one's vocabulary in the language of the body (sensations), with awareness one can get a far more accurate assessment of what is 'real pain' and what is a 'strong stretching sensation' - and there are many, many finer layers of sensation than this. It is also possible to separate out what is an emotional barrier or fear (apprehension) barrier, and safely work on these. <br />
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Some links to Kit's recent blogs on like topics: <br />
<a href="http://kitlaughlin.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/what-use-is-stretching/">'What use is stretching?'</a><br />
<a href="http://kitlaughlin.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/where-does-tension-come-from-revision-i/">Where does tension come from? Revision I</a><br />
<a href="http://kitlaughlin.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/principles-of-stretch-therapy/">Principles of Stretch Therapy</a><br />
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*picture that scene in the Simpsons, where the Head of the Stonecutter's
sacrificially burns Homer's officical Stonecutter™ underwear as he is
being excommunicated from the group - and all the evil spirits howl and fly off in a cloud of smoke. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-56591774172431336342014-06-09T09:16:00.003+10:002014-06-09T09:16:52.529+10:0090 Day Video ChallengeSo; I have been challenged to a <b>'90 days of Video' Challenge</b> (by Stretch Therapy forum member <i>Adurst</i>) - and I have accepted! <br />
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This should be interesting. Things I am hoping to get out of this are:<br />
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1) Reform my upwardly inflecting voice patterning during speech in videos<br />
2) Learn to use iMovie, instead of just 'one taking' everything<br />
3) Learn how to use my new camera more effectively<br />
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I am counting the challenge on June 6th 2014. <br />
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Here are the videos I've posted so far.. <br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmoiwePbaGg">Agility - Precision Rail Jump 1</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fXYKsTsy1Q">Agility - Precision Rail Jump 2</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXQzd2XN0i8">Tree Climbing - horizontal under branch</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxLD95Ims7g">Pseudo-Archer Chin-up pt1</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7gJCiKwZdU">Pseudo-Archer Chin-up pt2</a><br />
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Stay tuned! <br />
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p.s I have about 10 large-ish blogs in partial completion. Hopefully I will get the time-energy to get these out soon. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-46598981215359096042014-05-28T08:03:00.001+10:002014-05-28T08:03:24.300+10:00Grip Strength and Various Health and Aging Correlates<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/05/08/4000298.htm">HERE</a> is a brief, but interesting, article on the health and healthy aging correlates of having a 'powerful handshake' (aka. grip strength). The research of most interest is the million or so Swedish military recruits, who have their grip measured - then are followed throughout life. Not too definitive, but interesting none-the-less. <br />
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(http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/05/08/4000298.htm)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-48342870642293127632014-05-26T09:04:00.001+10:002014-05-26T09:04:52.226+10:00Physical Alchemy Diagram Mach II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-82110068718327130342014-05-17T17:11:00.002+10:002014-05-19T12:14:25.091+10:00Guest Blog #2 - Craig Mallet [ARCtraining] on Zhan Zhuang [Standing Meditation] practice<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Guest Blog #2 - Craig Mallet [<a href="http://awarerelaxedconnected.com.au/">ARCtraining</a>] on <i>Zhan Zhuang</i> [Standing Meditation] practice </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">About a thousand years ago I was having a conversation with my good friend Dave about my standing meditation practice. I don’t entirely remember what we talked about specifically, but I do remember saying that I’d write an article on the subject for Dave to use as a guest post on his website. Despite best intentions, I promptly forgot about it for a long time and ended up writing a bunch of other articles and guest posts for other people and left Dave crying himself to sleep every night (at least I like to think that’s what happened). Dry your imagined tears Dave, it’s time for me to finally make good on my promise!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Standing meditation appears in quite a number of traditions. Yoga, Buddhism, Zen, Daoism and I’m sure many other traditions that I am not so educated on, contain variations of meditation practices; typically some variety of lying, seated, standing and walking/moving meditations. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Each method and tradition has different purposes and different outcomes. My particular practice is drawn from the arts of Xin Yi Liu He, Yang Tai Ji, Cha Quan and Qi Gong, all of which for the most part are built on philosophies drawn from Daoism (with a hint of Buddhist). From what I’ve seen, the Chinese traditions seem to have a lot more detail in the standing practice compared to other traditions, although this is more than likely just a case of the details of the other traditions not being as readily available, or that I haven’t learned them yet.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">At any rate, I’m going to keep this article reasonably confined to the methods I have learned from the Chinese martial arts. Let’s start with some terminology. In mandarin, standing meditation is called <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhan_zhuang">zhàn zhuāng</a></i>. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">站 <i>Zhàn</i> means to be stationed or to stand and 樁 <i>zhuāng</i> is a post, stump, stake or pole, so common translations are usually “standing like a post” or “standing like a pole”. It is often shortened to <i>standing post</i> or <i>standing pole</i>. The idea is not only that you are standing, but that you are fixed in the ground like a stake or stump. Often imagery of being buried up to the waist line is used during practise to invoke this feeling of sturdiness.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Zhàn zhuāng </i>acts as the core of most of the internal Chinese traditions, and is considered fundamental to proper understanding of internal skills. It is such an effective practice, that there is an entire style that practises <i>zhàn zhuāng</i> almost exclusively to great effect, called <i>Yì Quán</i> (意拳 - ‘Intent Boxing). It might be important now to note that there is more than one standing posture, each which has a slightly different focus. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One posture might be used for general health; others help with generation of whipping power, and others again that cultivate the feeling of <a href="http://awarerelaxedconnected.com.au/what-is-qi/"><i>qì</i></a> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> There are endless variations, as basically any posture that you move through in any of the forms or movement practi<i>c</i>es can also be practiced as a post.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The most common <i>zhuāng</i> that is practiced and generally found across all of the styles, is called <i>hún yuán zhuāng</i> (</span><span style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #3e454c; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">浑</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">圓樁 completely circular post, often also called embracing post, or embracing the tree post. NB: different characters appear to be used by different people, sometimes the second character used is <i>yuán</i> 元, which would make the meaning something like complete primary/basic post). There are other common stances too, such as <i>sān tǐ shì </i>(三體勢) and </span><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">wú</span><a href="http://www.mandarintools.com/sounds/wu2.aif" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> j</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">í </span></i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>zhuāng </i>(</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">無極</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">樁</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">), but I’m not going to go into any detail on those specific practises in this article. Instead, I will simply provide some global queues that can be used across all standing practises. If you are a beginner and wish to try this for the first time, use the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">hún yuán zhuāng.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To set up:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Stand with the feet shoulder width apart and the knees softly bent (nb: foot position might be different for other </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>zhuāngs</i>).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lift the crown of the head and sink the hips. My favourite imagery for this is imagining the head is a helium balloon, the pelvis is a weight, and the spine is a string connecting the two. So the head is floating up, the pelvis is sinking downwards and spine is drawn into a lengthened position. You can also imagine that this causes a gap between each vertebrae to form, as if the spine were a slinky being pulled apart. It is important to note here that for the spine to get longer and the vertebrae in the neck to separate, the chin must tuck in; pointing the chin towards the sky will actually compress the neck.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Let everything else soften and hang from the lengthened spine structure. Even the spine itself is soft and pliable just like the string connecting the balloon and the weight.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Relax and soften the point between the eyebrows, inducing a feeling of the eyebrows moving further away from each other, and the wrinkles in the forehead and the bridge of the nose flatten out.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Let this feeling of softening and relaxation cascade backwards into the face. First the eyes, then the eye sockets and superficial muscles in the face, next the sinuses above and below the eye sockets, and then the top back of the nasal passage, the back of the throat, then softening the deeper tissues of the head and neck, where the top of the spine meets the base of the skull.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Continue cascading the softening and relaxation down through the shoulders, arms, hands, ribcage, waistline, hips, upper legs, lower legs, ankles and feet.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Imagine that a rope is connected to the end of each finger tip, and is being drawn away from the arms in the same direction as the fingers are pointing creating a feeling that the hands are being suspended and therefore don’t need to be held up by the shoulders. Let the shoulders relax and sink, as if they could go totally limp without affecting the position of the hands.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As the hips soften, they should open up, as if they were a set of jaws swallowing the torso whole, or as if they were a sack that was being opened to envelope the torso.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The knees should not feel like they are holding any weight. They should feel like a load transferring joint, rather than a load bearing joint, simply directing the weight through the lower legs and feet and into the ground. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The centre of the bottom of the feet should feel like they are the centre of a suction pad, being drawn or sucked up into the legs.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Finally, take notice of the fact that you are 80% water, invoking the feeling of all of the bones, muscles and organs suspended and floating in liquid wrapped in a semi permeable membrane.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Points of attention after set up:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The most basic thing to do once the set up is complete is to simply continually return to the first point and scan your way down through the body again, re-cuing everything that was queued initially in the same order as above. Often you will find that as you return to the crown, for example, it is no longer lifted and you need to do it again, or that you can somehow find a deeper level of softness. This can be continued for the full length of practice and I highly recommend beginners stick to this method for at least a few months before experimenting with anything else below. This will ensure that the structure is strong and stable.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Once the structure is reasonably secure, you can bring your attention and awareness to the abdominal region between the belly button and the spine (called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dantian">Lower dān tián</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Simply see if you can be aware of all the happenings down here. After time you may start experiencing strong feelings of buzzing and warmth, as well as a deep and strong feeling of relaxation that starts to radiate outwards from this area. Simply stay with this feeling, without trying to force it. If it’s not there, just watch what is there.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You could also explore single pointed attention. </span>See if you can keep your attention on one particular point for extended
periods of time such as the tip of the nose. Any point will work here,
and it doesn't matter which point you use so long as you can keep the
attention there. </div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Finally, in any meditation, exploration of the <a href="http://awarerelaxedconnected.com.au/using-the-breath-as-a-tool/">breath</a> is always a fantastic idea [See Here: http://awarerelaxedconnected.com.au/using-the-breath-as-a-tool/] </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Before I wrap this article up, I want to mention a very important point in this practice. There is some variety of cascading effect that happens when you practice standing pole every day that allows progress </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">not available to those who do not practice daily</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. It’s as if you build up a particular momentum doing daily practice, and if you stop, you must then expend more energy to build it up again. My teacher would always say <i>“miss one day, and you will need three days to catch up”</i>. In fact I’m reasonably certain this is a paraphrase of one or more of the classical texts surrounding these topics. At any rate, I have definitely found it to be the case, as it appears all of the fun exploration parts of the practice are only accessible to me after 2 - 4 weeks of constant practise, despite my 10 years of experience. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s also probably a good time to mention now that initial practice is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">very</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> uncomfortable. To begin with, your body is going to tell you where your problem areas. It will tell you this by making them become incredibly uncomfortable, possibly by trembling and shaking, and more than likely by burning. You are going to want to give up, and your mind will make up every excuse in the world as to why you should. Here’s the interesting bit, you’re not in any real danger, and the body is more than capable of continuing (with the only exception being the knees, do not go too far into a deep posture unless you are definitely totally relaxed in the legs and hips!). It will be an exercise in persistence for quite some time until eventually, those points will relax and open up and become very comfortable. Sooner or later, the entire body will be engulfed in this feeling of deep relaxation and it will eventually get so comfortable that you won’t want to get up - a very different experience to pushing through discomfort to some preconceived end point. If you don’t persist, or practice consistently, this will never happen. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Finally, I would like to finish this article with a link to some very classical views on this kind of practise. If you read these and they don’t make sense, then perhaps its time to do some serious practise. You can read them <a href="http://www.smilingtiger.net/pangen.html">HERE</a> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">and <a href="https://wulinmingshi.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/wang-jiwu-on-hidden-power/">HERE</a>. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Happy practice!</span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-3618892840802255402014-05-05T08:23:00.000+10:002014-05-05T08:34:17.415+10:00Great Steve Maxwell Clip - Reflecting on his method and life<div style="text-align: center;">
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<img alt="" class="irc_mut" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmD8I7nY7BYS5SjRwoTq-eMIwdmc6OynNdpfjEDNRpMZ8iEHJniLfP90ZgyC0wpmkUKZi6YN_AfD6Q8vZYU35rp5icqdrNkXzDUsqTY7wk5R-qwz6In7O3QR59wRUAKHJo_LFxh3HDfCp/s400/steve+beach.jpg" height="303" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 45px;" title="http://www.maxwellsc.com/" width="256" /></div>
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<br />
Check out this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kXWrSAlA3o">CLIP of Steve Maxwell</a>, featuring a lot of footage from Steve at the place I train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/jiujitsukingdom/581879921925493/?notif_t=group_activity">Jiu Jitsu Kingdom</a>) - from Steve's most recent trip to Australia. The clip is a snapshot of Steve and his methods as they stand at the moment, and a bit of a trip down memory lane it terms of the methods and systems that have been most influential to the formulation of his approach.<br />
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The clip is a refreshingly honest look at a man in his 60's and still loving Life (maybe even more than ever..); and contains some quotes on the simplicity needed for happiness through life. I class Steve as one of my primary mentors in the physical cultivation methods I employ, and this clip showcases (again) a number of the reasons I like his approach so much. Steve is truly one of the happiest humans I have met.<br />
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You might also want to check out Steve being Steve on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast recently: http://maxwellsc.com/articles.cfm?art_id=3120<br />
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I recently attended two of <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/workshop-review-mobility-conditioning.html">Steve's Mobility Conditioning Workshops</a> - and highly recommend anyone interested in physical cultivation and movement to check them out. <br />
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There are a number of great quotes from the clip (and a nice soundtrack), including this one: <br />
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"I guess if there is a secret to youth; it's play" Steve Maxwell. </div>
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The whole clip very much reminds me of another great quote:<br />
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"Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities." Aldous Huxley</div>
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I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-90699193393983659572014-04-28T08:45:00.000+10:002014-04-28T08:45:02.570+10:003 Hypertrophy ArticlesHere are three relatively interesting hypertrophy articles sent to me by my friend Vijay: <br />
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Strength Training: Overloading to Increase Muscle Mass<br />
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/strength-training-overloading-to-increase-muscle-mass-40882<br />
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Serious Strength Requires Serious Training: <br />
http://www.coachad.com/pages/Powerline-Serious-Strength-Requires-Serious-Training.php<br />
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The Mechanisms of Muscle Hypertrophy and Their Application to Resistance Training: http://img2.timg.co.il/forums/1_158907702.pdfAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-69187002474822574862014-04-07T05:20:00.000+10:002014-04-07T05:20:09.148+10:00Article: Shock-absorbing 'goo' discovered in bones Here's a brief article about a recent discovery, that bones have a water-and-chemical-citrate 'goo' substance that seems in between the crystalline matrix of the bone. This is very interesting for a bone-plasticity point of view.. the living bone-matrix is a very alive and changeable thing - as I have blogged about <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/train-them-bones.html">HERE</a>, before. <br />
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<br />
See <a href="http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/shock-absorbing-goo-discovered-in-bone">HERE</a> for the mini-article summary. <br />
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And <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/03/21/1315080111.full.pdf+html">HERE</a> for the scholarly article. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-62020118826448532572014-04-07T05:08:00.000+10:002014-04-07T05:08:20.798+10:00Article: Embodied knowledge and bodyweight trainingI read this short article the other day.. great little piece with some similar themes to the ones I discuss on this blog. See <a href="http://www.startbodyweight.com/2014/03/embodied-knowledge-and-bodyweight.html">HERE</a>. <br />
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[http://www.startbodyweight.com/2014/03/embodied-knowledge-and-bodyweight.html]Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-37546543744258996552014-04-05T10:41:00.000+11:002014-04-23T13:44:36.989+10:00Physical Alchemy: Basic Strength Training (Structural, Constituitional and Fundamental factors) <div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="http://albertis-window.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Farnese-Hercules-Roman-copy-by-Glykon-after-the-4th-century-bronze-original-by-Lysippos-3rd-century-CE.jpg" class="decoded shrinkToFit" src="http://albertis-window.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Farnese-Hercules-Roman-copy-by-Glykon-after-the-4th-century-bronze-original-by-Lysippos-3rd-century-CE.jpg" height="400" title="" width="217" /> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Physical Alchemy: Basic Strength Training</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: small;">Dave Wardman</span></span><br />
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People utilize many different strength training methods for a lot of
different reasons and goals. This article is mainly concerned with how Basic
Strength Training is used within the Physical Alchemy method. This is a general 'strategic' outline, it will not be concerned with specifics in terms of programming parameters and such details (that will be later). <br />
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Strength training is a strong (somatic) medicine for our bodily un-aware culture. Not many people view it as such, but my observation and research over the passed decade and a bit (the last 7 years in particular) have lead me to view this as being very much the case. It is more than just 'getting stronger', 'bulking up' or 'getting ripped'; and so on. <br />
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When used well it can have a very powerfully positive effect upon the bodymind. When abused, it can have an equally powerful, inverse effect. The mistake is in the viewing of physical training as just 'going to the gym/getting fit'; and as being somehow separate and unrelated to the totality of ones' life, more generally.<br />
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Putting on muscle, getting fit or losing body fat is no problem (having an aesthetic or fitness primary objective); is often great, in fact - it is just somewhat wasteful of something that can do this (easily) and much more (physical cultivation primary objective); if you are skillful in the implementation and programming. <br />
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Many of the common primary goals people have for their use of strength training are not
primary objectives for Physical Alchemy: aesthetics; performance (in sport or physical activity and/or towards advanced strength work); fitness
(general). <br />
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[ Further see also '<a href="http://maxwellsc.com/blog.cfm?blogID=95">Dynamic Health</a>' and '<a href="http://maxwellsc.com/blog.cfm?blogID=125">Demonstrating Strength vs Building Strength</a>' by Steve Maxwell ]<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Basic Strength Training from a Physical Cultivation perspective</span></div>
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Basic Strength Training in the Physical Alchemy method is largely for <i>structural</i> (correcting imbalances of strength, contraction coordination and activation); <i>constitutional</i> (using methods to improve health in preference to fitness or performance - unless there is a good reason to preference differently) and <i>fundamental </i>(providing the base strength levels and patterns needed to work on higher level complex movements) benefits.<br />
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Two of these categories (<i>Structural</i> and <i>Constitutional</i>) fall into health cultivation and longevity (both quality of movement and vitality into old age; and length of lifespan). For people who are not performance based athletes, these two aspects can make up the bulk of the 'why and what' to train for. <br />
<i> </i><br />
The illusion that athletes (because they visually appear as fit/muscular specimens of humanity, and fit certain cultural ideals) are healthy is something that needs to be stated. Performance passed a certain level is depleting upon the vitality of the body (except, apparently, in swimmers - where it confers added lifespan. That tidbit I picked up off <a href="http://maxwellsc.com/index.cfm">Steve Maxwell</a>, and it is interesting to contemplate the mechanisms behind this..) <br />
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<i>Fundamental</i> strength work facilitates quality of movement learning and adaptation in chosen complex movement patterns (movement arts, martial arts, sport, games, play); as well as providing resilience/injury proofing and reducing physical demands of some activities. This can also be explained in reverse; if you lack basic strength-awareness (generally and/or in specific key areas and patterns) your body will find a dysfunctional way to complete the movement pattern you are asking it to learn. Various injuries, dysfunction and tissue damage result. You see this all the time; it is almost the rule, rather than the exception to it (sadly). <br />
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Using strength work in harmonious combination with the practice of
complex movement patterns (movement arts), soft body skills and
flexibility work is the primary goal at Physical Alchemy. The emphasis here is on <b>basic</b>.
Many of the strength exercises popular at the moment have a moderate to
high degree of strength-skill attached to them, and their
transferability quotient is debatable (and IS debated, endlessly, across
the Internet).<br />
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<b>[*] Diminishing Returns </b> <br />
This raises the concept of <i>Diminishing Returns</i>. At what point does the amount of time-energy put into Basic Strength Training reach a point of diminishing returns in relation to health and skill increase in chosen complex movement patterns (i.e resources could be siphoned off into more skill training for the chosen complex movement art)?<br />
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There are many factors to this question: the individual's constitutional and genetic-biological makeup; the training age of the person; the complex movement pattern(s) being studied; the totality of stressors (physical; mental-emotional; environmental; viral; economic; temporal; etc) effecting the bodymind; the attributes already present (where they are with strength, flexibility and agility); whether the person is emotionally dependent on physical training; and on and on. <br />
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IF strength training is <b>not</b> an end in itself for the person (and it can be, which is what I would call 'Advanced' or 'Specialized' strength training); how much energy should you devote to it to maximize gains in terms of health and foundational aspects to aid other movement studies?<br />
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My answer.. you don't need so much, if you are doing it skillfully (balancing weakness; strengthening basic patterns; programming to aid the other movement activities). Then again, strength training is fun in and of itself - so I can see why people specialize in it (which is no problem; unless it <i>is</i> a problem). Problems creep in when people try to specialize at strength work at the same time as working on multiple complex movement patterns/arts (and working a day job; and having a relationship; etc)...<br />
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Classic signs of this occurring are the symptoms of over-training
manifesting in the bodymind of the trainee. And I must say I totally
understand how this occurs, and have done this myself, when I was
younger. Strength training can be <i>really</i> fun and rewarding - especially when you start
to <i>get</i> how it works well (training age and skill increases); it is
mood-enhancing, confidence increasing - you get the increased somatic <i>feeling of strength</i>
(the altered body-image from training) etc.. Also, complex movement
patterns are great fun... so you end up in the gym 3-5 times a week; training
for martial arts or whatever is 3 nights a week (sometimes more), and
nobody's paying you to work out (unless you're lucky!) so you need a
job; etc.<br />
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The body, more or less, takes all these
stress as combined. The view that the whole of your life situation
is somehow separate from your training is the downfall of many. <i>The Stress of Life</i> (as Hans Selye put it) is digested whole. <br />
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For some decent information on over-training, there is a section in Science of Sports Training on this that goes into much more detail than normal (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Science-Sports-Training-Control-Performance/dp/0940149109/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396311264&sr=1-1&keywords=science+of+sports+training">Science of Sports Training</a> - Thomas Kurz) - especially in regards to the differences between <i>basedowic </i>and <i>addisonic</i> overtraining; and strategies to overcome these. I did a brief overview of these 'yin and yang' types of over-training <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/the-yin-and-yang-of-overtraining.html">HERE</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Expanding the Structural, Constitutional and Fundamental factors a bit more: </span></div>
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<b>[*] Structural</b><br />
This refers to the use of strength training methods (in combination with <i>Soft Body Skills </i>(Flexibility; Stretching; Deep Physical Relaxation; RollStretch; etc) within a <i>Spatial medicine</i> (Structural Integration/Osteopathic/Daoist fusion) approach the the structural health of the bodymind.<br />
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One of the major things I seek to do with basic strength training is balance any imbalances in the soft tissues of the body (muscles, fascia, nerves): Left-Right; Back-Front; Upper-Lower; Rotational and Spiral Patterns.<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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In the Physical Alchemy method we utilize both classical-reductionist (especially Janda's work) and more pattern-based (Anatomy Trains/Myofascial Meridian; Chinese Meridian-organ channels and a few other perspectives) anatomy in the application and theory.<br />
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Using a combination of reductionist isolation work with integrative work is a useful thing to do, IMHO. Some muscular structures appear to perform a 'keystone' function and confer wide benefits upon the organism from their awakening (sensory awareness), strengthening and activation. <br />
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There is a fair bit out now about this type of thing.. I really like(d) Tom Myers (Anatomy Trains (KMI) & Fascial Fitness) take on this, in his <i>Spatial Medicine</i> concept - mentioned above (there was a great article on the old AT site, but it no longer works..alas).<br />
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Ido's (Portal) facebook page had a great little diagram (See <a href="http://the-universe-inside-your-mind.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/the-road-to-mastery.html">HERE</a>) showing: Isolation --> Integration --> Improvisation. This is a great way to look at it.<br />
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This aspect concerns, not just range of movement available (and other quantitative physical measurements), but also the texture, tone-responsiveness and 'health' of the soft tissues of the body.<br />
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What we are after is <i>Optimal Responsive Tonus</i> - a myofascial (soft-tissue) matrix that has lines of tension balanced; is relaxed when at rest (reduced 'parasitic tension' in the body), and is neurally responsive (so that you can leap into action at any given time and from any given posture - then return to rest). <br />
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<b>[*] Constitutional</b><br />
As I said, I utilize basic strength sessions in a <i>Spatial Medicine</i> way, as well as (more conventionally) for hormonal (neuro-endocrine) health; health of the fluid systems (taken generally to all fluid systems - and the prevention of <i>stagnation</i> in these systems - not just the heavily focused upon (and obviously important!) arterial and venous systems; but the lymph and cerebrospinal fluid too (what <i>does</i> strength and movement work do to the CSF, anyway?!); interactions and movements within organ-systems; lean muscle mass and the (re)-ignition of the <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/physical-alchemy.html">Radical Plasticity</a> of the body.<br />
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Training is a stress on the body. By intelligently programming our training in various ways we can (hopefully) force adaptation in a desired direction via <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercompensation">supercompensation</a> (if adequate food; rest; rejuvenation; etc..). If we focus on purely numbers (making 'x' reps) or competition, we often lose awareness and quality for sake of quantity and 'glory'. Training <i>should</i> make the body adapt in a favorable direction in terms of health. Performing thousands (tens of thousands..) of repetitions of faulty, low quality repetitions is giving the brain a lot a poor quality 'neural-movement food' to <i>digest</i>. <br />
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<b>[*] Fundamental</b><br />
Many people are far too weak. Too weak for the activities they undertake. Too weak for the activities of daily life, in some cases. What I mean by this is they have to compensate in a posturally poor, mal-adapted way to a given movement; due to lack of strength and/or poor basic locomotion and movement patterns. <br />
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Many of these people want to go out and take on complex movement patterns that are beyond their current capacity. This is where basic strength training comes in, and it is one of the best uses for basic strength training (and you'll likely put on some lean muscle mass, too). <br />
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Basic Strength Training is just this; the basic strength attributes to lay the foundation for complex movement patterns (even simple movement patterns!). It provides:<br />
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• Basic Strength and Lean Muscle Mass</div>
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• Basic Human Movement Patterns </div>
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• Sensory-motor Basics: Contraction (muscular) awareness; activation pattern and sequencing; basic muscle group and movement pattern awareness. </div>
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<img class="irc_mut" src="http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111210185722/mythology/images/2/27/250px-Michelangelo_Caravaggio_065.jpg" height="303" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 100px;" width="250" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Other common primary goals for strength training <b>not </b>emphasized in the Physical Alchemy method. </span><br />
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<b>[*] Aesthetics</b><br />
Whilst having this as primary outcome for training can have a certain narcissism to it, the isolation work and seeking a balanced symmetry in musculature is not without some merit (I refer here more to the golden age of bodybuilding).<br />
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As mentioned above, certain specific activation-hypertrophy-strengthening of key 'asleep' muscles groups can be a wonderous thing - if brought to life by re-intergration into larger, more global movement patterns. Common spots for this are: forearm and hand muscles; feet and foreleg; neck training; deep anterior spine muscles; glutes; and a few other areas.<br />
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Aesthetics should flow out of correct Basic Strength Training in a Physical Cultivation configuration (and a certain degree of non-attachment present in this). <br />
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<b>[*] Performance</b><br />
Just to things clear, the Physical Alchemy method of Basic Strength Training is <b>not</b> about pure performance enhancement (especially competition training for sports), but is the use of strength work within a physical cultivation parameter.<br />
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Performance will definitely improve (to a point) from training to improve the <i>Structural, Consitutional </i>and<i> Fundamental </i>aspects mentioned above - but at the higher levels performance will eat in to your health.<br />
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And there is <i>no problem</i> with this if your passion in life is to perform at a competition level in whatever movement activity you chose (some activities being less effecting of health; some more). We all gotta go sometime; no point living to 100 having never really lived with <i>aliveness</i>.<br />
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There are many examples of great people who burned quick and bright, and positively influence thousands (or millions) with their legacy (on of my favorites being Bruce Lee (of course)). [ See Kit Laughlins blog <a href="http://kitlaughlin.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/why-living-longer-is-a-potential-benefit-to-all/">HERE</a> for more insights on this ]<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have a preference for certain modes of training (as do most trainers). I will steer clear of too much 'one true way' methodology, in terms of 'best' methods. I personally love minimalist training because it is practical, fun and has an 'agile-lifestyle' vibe about it. It's also effective for my non-elite performance physical cultivation training framework - and easy to give to people to do at home (without them spending a mint on equipment that gathers dust in the corner). </span></span></div>
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I utilize largely exercises from the <a href="http://www.kitlaughlin.com/docs/monkey-gym-foundational-skills.pdf">Monkey Gym Syllabus</a> (which I helped create); the methods of <a href="http://maxwellsc.com/index.cfm">Steve Maxwell</a>; Stretch Therapy methods; physical conditioning methods from martial arts (especially Chinese and South East Asian martial arts) and various other exercises I have created. </div>
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Exercise is a large part body-weight; with some kettle-bell lifts (especially the strength-stretch and multi-plane movements: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8GdWEViPPg">TGU</a>; Side press; Windmill; etc) and gymnastic holds; some clubs and band work, too. I have nothing against other methods (barbell; strongman; etc), I just do not personally specialize in them and would rather refine what I already do. </div>
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As I have been mentioning throughout this piece; the strength work is kept basic in Physical Alchemy, so that there is high remaining energy to work on complex movement patterns from movement arts - because these are much more fun; offer higher level benefits and are more life-enhancing in my opinion.<br />
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* Ok; so maybe the Farnese-Hercules image at the top is not 'Basic' strength training - but it is a great statue. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-64856119241778114002014-04-01T21:30:00.003+11:002014-04-01T21:30:48.162+11:00Coffee - Modified 'Nityananda Spices' w Coconut Cream <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6vhw7tqk6zoESUw-cl7tFhlv4yDPrSlU_rfpz1STQwWTRgYg80cJKjDsIZ6qOInLNbkvWQbl66o1lbawdT5-H4-Ii-1Q6Sh9drWhesRX91TjCaHzGhK739wyAR3Ti7biwFnzAmMqHazB/s1600/IMG_0468.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6vhw7tqk6zoESUw-cl7tFhlv4yDPrSlU_rfpz1STQwWTRgYg80cJKjDsIZ6qOInLNbkvWQbl66o1lbawdT5-H4-Ii-1Q6Sh9drWhesRX91TjCaHzGhK739wyAR3Ti7biwFnzAmMqHazB/s1600/IMG_0468.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Coffee - Modified 'Nityananda Spices' w Coconut Cream </span></div>
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So, I tried (and succeeded!) going cold turkey from coffee for about 10 days. There was some protesting, but it wasn't too hard. Now, I am having one a day, and not every day. The method I have been trying at home is very tasty, so I've decided to blog about this simple concoction. It is a modification of a recipe that <a href="https://kitlaughlin.wordpress.com/">Kit Laughlin</a> shared with me - the <i>Nityananda herbs (spices). </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4UClRAtBL_VLXgCxUdH2DKtnpqqzDGb7eq3vemHeK-6ampGnw0fcXaZzi3pfufodpXZzU_yPwLEUBeVxL8JvikBz2oEicY8cwDtRzKngzPfB5PDdUtSUG1ICa6InUZeD26QG6yRrvikqU/s1600/IMG_0463.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4UClRAtBL_VLXgCxUdH2DKtnpqqzDGb7eq3vemHeK-6ampGnw0fcXaZzi3pfufodpXZzU_yPwLEUBeVxL8JvikBz2oEicY8cwDtRzKngzPfB5PDdUtSUG1ICa6InUZeD26QG6yRrvikqU/s1600/IMG_0463.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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Shown are the 3 herbs (spices) of the blend: <i>Cinnamon; Cardamon & Nutmeg</i>. Also shown is a great little grinder I inherited from Kit (thanks man!). I haven't actually be grinding beans for the last few coffees, as I have some cheap packet coffee I am using up. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj11Y_wRAX_NpPgAJ-h43qh7Amdm4fKQwg4z6EYjMA0rWLdFjv88_8hJjgs10-RfomJ9r-zPc_n7cMzldo3_-YWFRcRwCuExCPUnYmnSaXQRt-TWyTxcPuyzk9z_Yiu_wxdMSiYDYgZua0J/s1600/IMG_0465.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj11Y_wRAX_NpPgAJ-h43qh7Amdm4fKQwg4z6EYjMA0rWLdFjv88_8hJjgs10-RfomJ9r-zPc_n7cMzldo3_-YWFRcRwCuExCPUnYmnSaXQRt-TWyTxcPuyzk9z_Yiu_wxdMSiYDYgZua0J/s1600/IMG_0465.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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So, I pack 3 and a half scoops of coffee into the coffee-pot (in respect to the 3 and half times the <i>kundalini </i>is coiled at the base of the spine, of course..). </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmy9VqXbQ2fEM-e6tw_l3xHaE-q1l-Urrbb6OIWp1PvV0a9wAU7-P8b9tLN8sJ9M7zsA_6dDVVpphnrb2bzNqzGTC_u7JG1Z4NGNx4NweSLxDo2MIYkaoDm4rsAKL94rhPJgWbpGs2CNoR/s1600/IMG_0460.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmy9VqXbQ2fEM-e6tw_l3xHaE-q1l-Urrbb6OIWp1PvV0a9wAU7-P8b9tLN8sJ9M7zsA_6dDVVpphnrb2bzNqzGTC_u7JG1Z4NGNx4NweSLxDo2MIYkaoDm4rsAKL94rhPJgWbpGs2CNoR/s1600/IMG_0460.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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Post ~15 second extraction (shown as title picture), I add some coconut cream. Shown is the brand I found in the cupboard this time.. I think the best one I ever did used the Aroy-D brand of coconut milk/cream. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFSKLwSROY2Xe78ZkehjX2QImZXOPH7ZbeM-kEVe1yOfRNkdeJn1250btxmcr7_-cvSa4lggs_jsZ5Sp85KnWL2Sh2QT3-va3njXD__qkHi2LMbu-BfOWZRUhxsM-8Sa6YakXL01nZ7bEL/s1600/IMG_0461.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFSKLwSROY2Xe78ZkehjX2QImZXOPH7ZbeM-kEVe1yOfRNkdeJn1250btxmcr7_-cvSa4lggs_jsZ5Sp85KnWL2Sh2QT3-va3njXD__qkHi2LMbu-BfOWZRUhxsM-8Sa6YakXL01nZ7bEL/s1600/IMG_0461.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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On top of the this brew, you add the three herbs. Largest portion cinnamon; next largest is nutmeg - and a sprinkle of cardamon (change up for your preference). </div>
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Done. I made one that looked much prettier (and was delicious) but didn't get a picture. The above one was still far better than many I have paid for that used highly expensive coffee machines, so goes to show you can make great coffee with low-tech equipment. </div>
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Thanks to Kit for sharing the secret 'erbs with me; and to Tanya, who I believe suggested coconut cream to me in my coffee. :) </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-1959193650264135222014-03-28T16:33:00.003+11:002014-03-29T17:28:52.055+11:00Guest Blog #1: Yoga - Vijay Panchia. I count myself blessed to know, and count as friends, a fair number of other people on <i>the path</i>; humans into the same type of things I am interested in, here at Physical Alchemy - but approaching it from their own unique viewpoint, and with their own skill-sets and teachings. <br />
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I would like to feature these people on my blog; getting them to distill an aspect of the knowledge base that they specialize in, or, an insight they have gained from training. That type of thing. I am really looking forward to this myself, as I will learn much from my peers posts.<br />
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So, without further ado, my inaugural Guest Blog post is by my recently gained good friend and fellow explorer Vijay Panchia.<br />
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I met Vijay at the <a href="http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/workshop-review-mobility-conditioning.html">Steve Maxwell Mobility Conditioning Seminar</a> that I reviewed a number of posts back. Our initial conversation jumped around all types of interesting things: movement training; physical cultivation; Thai, Burmese, Indian, Chinese and Brazilian martial arts; Dharma; sanskrit (which Vijay studied at Oxford); shaivism; various types of obscure (but awesome) strength training methods - you know, all the same stuff I like. It seems somewhat inevitable that we would meet.<br />
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The guest blog post for today is a general introduction to the word <i>yoga</i>. I had to stop Vijay from writing a mahabharata-esque epic, so I am hoping to get him to expand upon a number of things in future posts. <br />
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<img alt="" class="irc_mut" src="http://www.theshivaexperience.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Shiva-Chalisa.jpg" height="400" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 154px;" title="http://www.theshivaexperience.com/product,experienceshiva,theshivalife/shiva/" width="332" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Yoga </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Vijay Panchia</span> </span></div>
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<i>What
is Yoga?</i></div>
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</i><br />
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<i>Is
it what we find in our local fitness clubs?</i></div>
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</i><br />
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<i>Is
it something of myths?</i></div>
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<i>Is
it something only for Indian Holy Men?</i></div>
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</i><br />
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<i>Is
it a form of ancient gymnastics?</i></div>
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<i>Or
is it something else?</i></div>
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When
confronted with writing on the topic of the yoga by my friend Dave, I had to
really think about what I was going to write about. It is a truly vast topic.
But before specific areas are covered I thought best that I express what yoga
is to me. You are entitled to disagree with what I have to say but this at least
gives a starting point.</div>
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Yoga
is a system or path for means of spiritual fulfillment or enlightenment. It
provides the practitioner with direct perception with the spiritual or divine.</div>
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There
are a multitude of physical systems in the modern western world that are called
yoga however few really present anything which can to be used to reach such
goals or at least accordance with what we find in early yoga texts. </div>
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The
earliest Vedic texts to make reference to such practices include the <i>Upanishads</i>,
the <i>Mahabharata</i>, the <i>Bhagavad-gita</i> (which is a chapter of the <i>Mahabharata</i>, more
often read isolation) and <i>Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali</i>. What is presented by such
texts could be said to be a practice of mental science or alchemy, where the
yogi distills the mind in order achieve his spiritual goal. There is no mention
of the acrobatic like postures and stretches that we see in the common
practices in the West. </div>
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What
are mentioned are the <i>asana</i> or posture of keeping the body, neck and head erect,
and the practice of <i>pranayama</i> or breathing exercises. These are the assistant
exercises for the yogi to his goal. No mention what so ever of being able to
put your legs behind your neck (not that I’m saying there isn’t any merit in
this). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is also interesting is there
is no detailed explanation on the practice of <i>pranayama</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The greatest emphasis is put on how one is to
think and perceive the world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One might
say “how to navigate the mind”.</div>
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This
way or path of thought is possibly best expressed or at least most accessible
by the teachings of Lord Krishna and his discourse with Arjuna found in the
<i>Bhagavad-Gita</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a masterful
teaching on the mind. He presents different paths of yoga, making accessible to
all some practice of yoga. It could be said he is presenting a single path of
yoga but giving various start points to fit with the aptitude of the
practitioner. </div>
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Rather
than going into the specifics of the <i>Bhagavad-Gita</i>, I would suggest tracking
down a good copy of it and reading it yourself. Everyone seems to take away
something different from it and it would be clumsy of me to even try to match
Krishna in a blog post. There are many translations of the Gita available and
all with have their own bias.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Winthrop Sargeant translation is not a bad place to start and even has the
transliteration of the Sanskrit. </div>
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<i>The
Yoga Sutra of Patanjali</i> is the text often perceived as the quintessential work
on yoga and teaches the eight fold path refered to as <i>Ashtanga</i>. This is not
to be confused as a reference to the work of Pattabhi Jois. It is divided into
the four parts: Contemplations, Spiritual Disciplines, Divine Powers and
Realizations. Like many Indian works, it is intended be used along with direct
teachings of a guru, and does not provide a complete discourse on practice. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is very readable for the most part but be
wary that there are many translations of the text with much variance. With the
original Sanskrit, Patanjali has used very intricate and dense vocabulary.
Hence it is hard to give a recommendation to any single translation. But don’t
let this deter you from reading this work. </div>
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The
Upanishads are regarded as part of the Veda. The Veda is divided into<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>four parts: the Rig, the Sama, the Yajus
(which comes in two forms, known as shukla and krishna, light and dark) and the
Atharva. Each of these four is in turn divided into four types of material,
which are the Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads. The <i>Upanishads</i> are
the philosophical discourse on Vedic philosophy, giving an explanation to the
nature of this world. There are many texts given the title of Upanishad however
it said there are ten primary texts which are based on commentary by Advaitan
Philosopher, Sankaracharya (AD 780 to 820). These “other” texts often deal
specifically on the topic of yoga, however as they are not primary sources and
from a much later date, I will leave them from this discussion. Of the ten
primary <i>Upanishads</i>, the <i>Katha Upanishad</i> and <i>Shvetashvatara Upanishad</i> offer the
most obvious statements on what we consider to be yoga. These are more
challenging works and some background knowledge or guidance may be necessary. </div>
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The
<i>Mahabharata</i> is the great Indian epic poem, much like the Odyssey and Iliad.
However the <i>Mahabharata</i>, being three times the size of the Bible, dwarfs these
great Greek works in size. Even more amazing this work is from an oral
tradition, meaning it was originally transmitted by being put to memory. The
original author attributed to this work is the Indian sage Vyasa, whom is said
to have split the Veda into its four divisions and authored 18 of the major
Puranas. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>It was written to summarize the
Vedic teachings. It is a story of the Pandava and Kaurava princes and the
rivalry and war that breaks out between these cousins. Various discourses are
given through out the text on yoga and the metaphysics behind it. One we have
discussed already is the <i>Bhagavad Gita</i>.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Something that really needs to be made clear
about Indian thought is that it is an open conversation where one does not have
to agree with everything in a text. However you need to well versed in order to
engage in this ancient dialogue. Indian systems more often than not are based
on logic and experience, hence dogmatic practice is a misdemeanor. </span>Also I would like to say that being well versed in
these Yoga texts does not make you a yogi or yogini, and they may not even be
necessary to achieve the elevation or mastery of the mind discussed. A big
part, if not the most important aspect of transmission of this knowledge, is
through the direct oral teachings of a master of these practices. To establish
whether or not someone even is a master of this spiritual path, the knowledge
from these texts may be very useful.</div>
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If
one wanted to delve deeper into these texts I would like to suggest seeking out
the online courses offered by my friends at the <a href="http://www.ochs.org.uk/">Oxford Centre for HinduStudies</a>. These are academic level courses put together by the brightest academic
minds on Hindu thought. They offer specific courses on the Bhagavad Gita, the
Upanishads and a general course on Yoga among others. </div>
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<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWqRs44S6vy207jXbtBjc6Bqrne9ZeAmsqk9h19Sg2ts9ngTf00fnzPHR2PAgATOxnEa9CrhdYHRYvJ6jO84eBSko5N62Vd2QqK2tSC3PZScJTE5EVZo1HyRKHOOiQiYEjH3-2iuhg6w/s1600/DSC08143-Sri-Patanjali-Smal.jpg" title="http://jaisivananda.blogspot.com.au/2010/12/what-is-this-sage-patanjali-all-about.html" /></div>
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<u>Useful links</u><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ochs.org.uk/">Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies</a><br />
<a href="http://www.ochs.org.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.ochs.org.uk</a><br />
They offer online courses and many of the texts discussed. There is<br />
also free mp3 lecture downloads on many of the different topics that<br />
make up Indian Thought<br />
<br />
The Bhagavad Gita - trans. by Winthrop Sergeant<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bhagavad-Gita-Twenty-fifth-Anniversary-Perspectives-Excelsior-ebook/dp/B004L62GEW/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=1395897228&sr=8-21&keywords=bhagavad+gita" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/<wbr></wbr>Bhagavad-Gita-Twenty-fifth-<wbr></wbr>Anniversary-Perspectives-<wbr></wbr>Excelsior-ebook/dp/B004L62GEW/<wbr></wbr>ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=<wbr></wbr>1395897228&sr=8-21&keywords=<wbr></wbr>bhagavad+gita</a><br />
<br />
The Upanishads<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Upanisads-Oxford-Classics-Patrick-Olivelle/dp/019954025X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395897283&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=patrick+olievielle" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/<wbr></wbr>Upanisads-Oxford-Classics-<wbr></wbr>Patrick-Olivelle/dp/<wbr></wbr>019954025X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=<wbr></wbr>UTF8&qid=1395897283&sr=8-1-<wbr></wbr>spell&keywords=patrick+<wbr></wbr>olievielle</a><br />
Very accessible translations of the ten primary Upanishads by scholar<br />
Patrick Olivelle.<br />
<br />
Sacred Texts<br />
<a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/" target="_blank">http://www.sacred-texts.com</a><br />
A free online resource with translations of the texts discussed.<br />
<br />
Yogas Sutra of Patanjali trans. BonGiovanni<br />
<a href="http://www.starcenter.com/patanjali.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.starcenter.com/<wbr></wbr>patanjali.pdf</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://yogavidya.com/gita.html" target="_blank">http://yogavidya.com/gita.html</a><br />
Offers a free pdf of the Bhagavad Gita as well as other early Hatha Yoga texts.</div>
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<br />
These drills are totally cool and playful, and can be done just about anywhere. Simon is demonstrating them (on a miscellaneous patch of Earth in Canberra) as they should be done (or, as you should work towards doing them) - with smoothness, awareness and control.<br />
<br />
They make a great warm-up; 'morning mobility' or movement-play session. Looking forward to more videos from my good friends Simon and Craig!<br />
<br />
Videos below:<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-yHTcG8SQQ">Spiral Movement Transitions part 1 - Rotating</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVnuDPPBG3k">Spiral Movement Transitions part 2 - Rolling</a><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".16.1:3:1:$comment530573430396612_530574617063160:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".16.1:3:1:$comment530573430396612_530574617063160:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVBmfN1EUIo">Spiral Movement Transitions part 3 - Following The Eyes </a></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981241139753350624.post-80244985043607293112014-03-21T14:57:00.002+11:002014-03-21T14:57:48.233+11:00Fascial Pec Minor 'Arm Line/Lung Meridian' Stretching <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img alt="Image from 'Trail Guide to the Body; 2nd edition, by Andrew Biel' " class="irc_mut" src="http://www.janebenimble.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Pectoralis_Minor.jpg" height="320" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 18px;" title="www.janebenimble.com " width="274" /> </div>
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I recently put up two clips on Youtube; both of which aim to bring sensory awareness, muscular activation and soft tissue re-modelling stretch to the tissues of/around/involved with the anatomical structure that is <i>pectoralis minor. </i><br />
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This muscle is notoriously tricky to isolate with a stretch, for a lot of people; and my '<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkPYOOjL2j4">Practitioner Hanging Fascial Pec Minor Stretch</a>' partner stretch came about from my playing-exploring with ways to find a tangible and workable sensation of this region in my own body. I am really loving this stretch at the moment (and a couple of other hanging stretches); as it works great solo and *GREAT* as a practitioner (partner) exercise. <br />
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The second video is one starring Cherie Seeto (<a href="http://www.sydneystretchtherapy.com/aboutcherie.html">Sydney Stretch Therapy</a>) has also come up with nice solo stretch (that gets pec minor and the clavicular fibres of pec major very nicely for me) - nick-named '<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdH_8FMoSkw">The Kebab</a>'.(!)<br />
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This one works really well for me as a more active 'contract-move' eccentric style stretch, where the tissues are kept lightly contracted via a straight armed humeral flexion movement and slight elbow flexion; utilizing the breath to change the stretching vectors and release tension more specifically on the tissues attached to the ribcage (as opposed to a more standard contract-relax Stretch Therapy approach). Being a secondary breathing muscle, the use of various directed breathing techniques as enhancers to the stretch should come as no surprise. <br />
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<img alt="From Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapist - Tom Myers, 2nd edition." class="irc_mut" src="http://ittcs.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/img_0356.jpg" height="320" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" title="ittcs.wordpress.com " width="228" /></div>
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Now, both of these stretches can be felt in many other locations - depending upon where you are have restrictions. Biceps and the fascia of the arms are very common. Both the <i>Front Arm Line </i>and <i>Deep Front Arm Line </i>myofascial meridians of the <a href="http://www.anatomytrains.com.au/">Anatomy Trains</a> terminology are effected; and can be preferentially targetted if you know how.. different grip positions and strengths; different rotations of the humerus; different humerus to spine angles - and much more. <br />
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[ Check out the 'Arm Line' article here: http://www.anatomytrains.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/bodyreading1.pdf ]<br />
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Or just buy the new 3rd Edition of Tom Myers fantastic <a href="http://www.anatomytrains.com/news/2014/02/21/new-anatomy-trains-3rd-edition-book-posters/">Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists</a>. The second edition is on my '<a href="http://physicalalchemy.com.au/recommended-reading"><i>Recommended Reading</i></a>' list for a reason.. I'm looking forwards to checking out the changes to the new edition myself!<br />
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Honing in on the pec minor for a moment (and related soft tissues of the Deep Front Line - esp clavipectoral fascia; subclavius), we can see via the anatomy of the area why this region is a potent site for the blood vessels and nerves of the arm to be compressed against the hard tissue of the ribs; and/or tethered and adhered within the soft tissues of the region (neuro-vascular entrapment).<br />
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Magnify the percentage chance of this happening in relation to the degree of Forward Head Posture and all its spine, rib and scapula correlates. <br />
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The chapter on the <i>pectoralis minor </i>in Travell & Simons' great work <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Travell-Simons-Myofascial-Pain-Dysfunction/dp/0683307711/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1395371593&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=travell+and+simons%27+myofascial+pain+and+dysfunction+the+trigger+point+manual">Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual</a> </i>mentions a number of clinical manifestations of pain and dysfunction related to this area, including: golfer's and tennis elbow; carpal tunnel syndrome; various arm pain, weakness and loss of proprioception; and pain, swelling and altered sensations in the hands and fingers. <br />
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<i><img alt="www.nlm.nih.gov" class="irc_mut" height="320" id="irc_mi" src="https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/historicalanatomies/Images/1200_pixels/hua_t03.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" title="Jushikei hakki (Shi si jing fa hui. Japanese & Chinese)" width="238" /> </i></div>
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Taking a slightly wider, and more osteopathic/Daoist perspective (as I do); it makes sense to me that there could be(are) a wider range of inauspicious health, movement and sensory awareness impacts to having this area in a less than optimal state of soft-tissue texture and tone - even if these are 'sub-clinical' in that they have not manifested as pain or perceived dysfunction, yet. <br />
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Reading up about the meridian pathways of Chinese medicine can be very insightful when focusing on the sensations coming about in the whole body whilst stretching certain areas and maintaining sufficient body awareness and a clear enough mind. This complements the classical western anatomy and new fascial anatomy nicely (add in the Ayuvedic/Marma perspective for bonus points). The organ-meridian systems are also useful in watching various <i>pulsations </i>and other phenomena that appear post stretch..play with it. <br />
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Whether this is from a impingement upon blood-born nutrients or Oxygen (the primary nutrient) transportation; impediment of neural information; blocking of waste removal, or block of free flow of any other sort of information - the practical aspect of the effective re-patterning and softening the area is of primary importance in the Physical Alchemy method. <br />
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I have a fair number of variants and enhancements to the Practitioner Hanging Fascial Pec Minor/Arm Line stretch (needs shorter title..), that I will be recorded in the near future - stay tuned! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16290574460859890422noreply@blogger.com0