01-08-2004, 12:35 PM
Well, I got the package in the mail last night and started reading. Looked at the pictures and said to myself "what in hell is this stuff?" :? Came to work, popped in the first video (I work in media) and started watching.
Watched the tape three times!
I was like, "Scott Sonnon makes a ton of sense" but I couldn't believe that rolling about would make a damn of a difference. I took Systema for a while and I am not shy about rolling on the floor. I can also nose-to-mat bridge (I saw the article advising against it) and my neck is really strong. However, my pelvis is really tight in certain planes of motion and I have always tried to open it up but with minimal success. My back-bending is great but my front bending stinks and I have tried every trick out there for years.
One thing that I saw someone do in Systema way back was called a "Spetz-walk" and this is on tape #1 as "long-leg creep (sic?)" and I smiled bacause I always suspected that the solution is somewhere in that motion and all of the hip work seems to me like the same motion in a way.
So I went into an empty conference room, turned out the lights and tried those flat-footed squats and tried folding my legs down with the inner blade of the foot against the floor and boy do I suck. It is so bad and just trying the movements on tape 1 that involve the lower body (upper body is not too challenging)--specifically the hips makes me feel uncomfortable in a nameless way and I start to feel very, well... anxious to put it mildly.
I guess it is lucky that I watched tape #1 three times because I was like "I can't do ANY of these exercises so how can I get better?" Then I remembered to not think about the goal of folding my inner leg with the blade of the foot flush against the floor but rather to do whatever I had to do to accomplish that movement correctly.
So, I leaned back and supported my self with my hands and then I could do it. Sounds pathetic I bet, but I did reps for two minutes and found I could lean forward more and more. It seemed so stupid because there was no struggle and how could I accomplish anything without struggle? :shock:
I got up and left the conference room feeling lousy and suddenly my structure started to shift! I couldn't believe it--or maybe I should say that I didn't want to believe it because it destroys my mind's vested interest in all the effort I have put forth over the years for nothing.
I feel a little guilty about vomiting this story up like this, but at least you know where my problems lie and how I am attempting to follow the protocols of Body-Flow. Scott Sonnon is right on when he talks about a problem in the right shoulder being a problem in the left hip and all that stuff. That is how I experience my body, too.
Watched the tape three times!
I was like, "Scott Sonnon makes a ton of sense" but I couldn't believe that rolling about would make a damn of a difference. I took Systema for a while and I am not shy about rolling on the floor. I can also nose-to-mat bridge (I saw the article advising against it) and my neck is really strong. However, my pelvis is really tight in certain planes of motion and I have always tried to open it up but with minimal success. My back-bending is great but my front bending stinks and I have tried every trick out there for years.
One thing that I saw someone do in Systema way back was called a "Spetz-walk" and this is on tape #1 as "long-leg creep (sic?)" and I smiled bacause I always suspected that the solution is somewhere in that motion and all of the hip work seems to me like the same motion in a way.
So I went into an empty conference room, turned out the lights and tried those flat-footed squats and tried folding my legs down with the inner blade of the foot against the floor and boy do I suck. It is so bad and just trying the movements on tape 1 that involve the lower body (upper body is not too challenging)--specifically the hips makes me feel uncomfortable in a nameless way and I start to feel very, well... anxious to put it mildly.
I guess it is lucky that I watched tape #1 three times because I was like "I can't do ANY of these exercises so how can I get better?" Then I remembered to not think about the goal of folding my inner leg with the blade of the foot flush against the floor but rather to do whatever I had to do to accomplish that movement correctly.
So, I leaned back and supported my self with my hands and then I could do it. Sounds pathetic I bet, but I did reps for two minutes and found I could lean forward more and more. It seemed so stupid because there was no struggle and how could I accomplish anything without struggle? :shock:
I got up and left the conference room feeling lousy and suddenly my structure started to shift! I couldn't believe it--or maybe I should say that I didn't want to believe it because it destroys my mind's vested interest in all the effort I have put forth over the years for nothing.
I feel a little guilty about vomiting this story up like this, but at least you know where my problems lie and how I am attempting to follow the protocols of Body-Flow. Scott Sonnon is right on when he talks about a problem in the right shoulder being a problem in the left hip and all that stuff. That is how I experience my body, too.