stay positive

"cardio" jackie chan style

why balance?

handstand play

the movement pyramid

The path toward a movement skill is a progressive one. We begin from step A, designed for the absolute beginner, and may proceed all the way to step Z, which can be performed only by those who have mastered the movement. How to progress to mastery of a movement is a complete mystery for the vast majority of us. We probably don't have any idea of how to proceed with even the beginning steps of A, B, C. Enter the merchants of movement who will present to you a package of a series movements to help you reach levels leading to mastery. In exchange for your money, all the knowledge to get there is at your disposal with a click of button. Now you only you need time, energy, and will power, and that desired movement skill can be yours. This is capitalism meets body movement. I am not in the least bit opposed to this. The world is a better place when money is spent for self-improvement rather than spent on things leading to self-destruction or harm to others.

 What then is missing from this decent, business transaction? Exploration is missing, as well as the ability of teaching oneself "how to fish," as opposed to "receiving a fish" from another.

With exploration, we allow ourselves to make lots of mistakes. Yet, we don't limit ourselves to trial and error. We unleash our natural curiosity with direct and indirect research to help us avoid injuries and release us from those plateaus. Certainly, exploration is not the most efficient path toward the goal of performing a movement skill, but it makes the entire learning experience more playful. With a spirit of exploration, the process itself takes on more importance than the goal.

 As for the teaching oneself "how to fish," this involves an understanding of the underlying ideas -- the framework -- required to design a movement progression. The creative process of formulating our own movement progression is ours to enjoy. Why not customize a movement progression that is more suitable to your unique body?

 Here is a video about those underlying ideas for you to create your own movement progression, or at least to develop a deeper understanding of someone else's.

remove distraction and move with intention

mil pasos, part 2

the tortoise and the cc hare (play bodies movement gallery)

mil pasos (play bodies movement gallery)

yoga play

backbend flow

art du déplacement conditioning

helicopter man

ab snails

repetition or superstition?

angry yoga

bed play (play bodies movement gallery)

shaolin dance

the "90-year-old" parkourista

capoeira dance (play bodies movement gallery)

soft touch to the floor (play bodies movement gallery)

adiemus

liberating

creative

expresssion

improve your climb

Notes: 

Spiraling the body in a climb, rather than keeping the hips perpendicular to the wall

Pushing off the foot underneath you on the outside of the edge of the foot

Using the flag technique for one foothold 

Using the drop knee technique for two footholds

falling off a skateboard

why is this called "zombie handstand?"

floreio fun

up!

concrete surfer (play bodies movement gallery)

circles and waves (play bodies movement gallery)

hoop and roll (play bodies movement gallery)

la beauté du mouvement (play bodies movement gallery)

slow groove (play bodies movement gallery)

what to do if you're locked in a small prison cell?

100 variations of planks, of course.

progress by going backwards!

You can progress in strength, mobility, and better posture with backward crawling.

brick on the wall

"All in all, it's just another brick on the wall" -- perfect for a top-out tuck planche.

restoring the lost squat

Restoring a lost movement, such as the squat, can be just as inspiring as learning a complex movement like the handstand.

mallakhamb

trance in a low stance dance

duck feet

To try to correct posture, we are often taught to force the body to do something it is not ready to do. Chronically tight muscles pull us out of proper alignment. Rather than relaxing these tight muscles through static stretching and myofascial release, we are misguided into recruiting the wrong muscles to conform to external models; this leads to further complications.

bring play back!

Talk on the positive effects of play and the negative effects of the decline of play.