Scott Sonnon
12-25-2004, 08:00 AM
Wee hours of the Christmas morning here... little pitter patter of excitement have not found their way to the hard wood floor yet, to dash out to a sea of ribbons and bows and lights... Soon squeals of delight will ring through our blessed house as dreams of fantastic journeys with new imaginary friends... but for now, I wanted to share what this holiday has taught me.
What is Waging Fun?
Can you believe that we could actually ask this question? Can you believe that we have come so far as a "civilization" that we have lost touch with primal play?
I wrote an article on this recently describing the castrated element lost to the 'fitness' and 'martial art' industries; from which RMAX has forged an Empire of the Heart (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/29/sonnon.html).
However, recently people have begun to ask questions about incorporating RMAX elements into the boot camp blend of cross-training mania - a vogue started a few years ago.
I support any method which will help people exhault in their physical life, but this alone remains insufficient for me. One must also be able to creatively express oneself - to have the breathing room to grow and own one's movement... and more importantly be nutured to listen to one's inner guide, and realize that we are always and already self-masters.
The vogue of boot camp cross-training events could include how many times you can lift a sandbag, how much you can deadlift, how many pullups you can do, for example. Honestly, I just wouldn't find that fun, and maybe would even find it laborious (by definition). While I'm sure such a competition demonstrates one's work capacity, I'd be much more impressed by and would be much more interested in a competition which demonstrates one's work sophistication.
A Game of Work Sophistication?
Well, such a game may include: Most impressive Clubbell Combination Routine - where one's ability to apply the ultimate test of strength in full, complete range of motion and sudden, smooth retranslation of forces shine.
Most impressive Body-Flow Kinetic Chain - where one's proprioception, coordination and unexpectedly agile creativity to negotiate three dimensionally shine.
Timed TEAM Obstacle Course Navigation (such as seen in many Western European countries) - where one's ability to critically think, apply resources and skills and most importantly operate as a team shine; an event where the team building strategies would foster the RMAX Tribal concept.
It has also been proposed to take elements of RMAX and incorporate them into this style of 'fitness'. To be truthful, that sounds like a not so great idea to me. RMAX isn't about the equipment or programs. I deliberately made it damn hard to pervert the Clubbell into just another piece of gym equipment to be pumped for reps and pounds. It's like using the Space Shuttle to garbage to and from the landfill; sure it works, but, come on, what a waste of an opportunity to explore the World!
We've been working towards this, as you can see with Team Clubbell and Team Body-Flow. It will take some time though, since the conventional fitness and martial art industries still lag far behind; still thinking merely in terms of reps and pounds.
In 5 - 10 years though, the world will not look the same, and we'll see more and more work sophistication 'reality events' such as the one I've described above (it's already fairly common in other countries.) Look at other 'fringe' activities like Parkour and Trickster... soon, my friends, soon... our Waging Fun will conquer the old dinosaur of "working out" and all the bloated roadkill it has created in its perverse "nip and tuck" insanity.
Can you imagine these 'fitness leaders' doing this with their horrific litany of injuries and immobility sustained from a lifetime of 'working out' - most have been reduced to the mobility of a Sherman tank (and the anguished lack of grace to match.) The others not sidelined currently? Sure, they're "fit" for now, but how long and at one cost? They remain shackled in the basement of a cult of pain, passing their pain from one generation to the next like so much fraternity hazing. In the powerlifting community alone, it is promoted that if you want to be strong, you must accept the debilitating injuries that will come. Huh? :? I feel very, very badly for them and hope that we can as a tribe reform the community away from the windy cliff's edge they remain precariously perched upon. And we can only do so, by embodying our principles... sharing the love through our freedom of movement.
It has been asked if the two can be combined. No, for the same reason that you cannot combine keg tossing and jazz dance, or tire flipping and gymnastics. Work capacity deteriorates work sophistication, just as fatigue deteriorates skill, and exhaustion - creativity. Either you work towards doing 'more' or you work towards doing it 'better' (or more creatively.)
There is more room in Olympic Clubbell Sport (OCS) to do this than any other strength sport considering that OCS involves sophisticated combination routines rather than mere exercises, but again, I am much more impressed by the creativity of the tribe's exploration of Clubbell Combination Routines and Body-Flow Kinetic Chains, than someone's ability to do the same exercise more times with heavier weight. Creativity is the ultimate expression of physical mastery.
Creativity is not Variety
Many approaches confuse the act of creativity with doing many different things. Again, this is fall-out from the boot camp mentality of keeping people interested (distracted) by constantly changing the activity.
People unknowingly enjoy these approaches (for a time) because of the apparent rapid development in the activity. They temporarily feel accomplished.
But this is only because you feel the most amount of development in the shortest amount of time... at the beginning. At the beginning, you experience the first 30% of mastering a skill in the initial 2 months. (Remember, all strength is a skill.) It takes another 4 months for a subsequent 20%, another 6-8 months for 20% more mastery, and 1-2 more years for a final 20% (the remaining 20% of mastery takes course over 5-10 years, which most people never touch.)
Sure, they're not bored, but they're also not going deeply, only touching the veneer. Without sufficient depth, you cannot comprehend the rubrics. Without sufficient depth, you cannot intuitively reclaim mastery of the components of the activity. Only with sufficient depth can you re-learn and sophisticate your ability to weave a tapestry of movement like an arachnid's silk acrobatics.
How many people truly CREATE out of nothingness... something (yes, peanut gallery, there is something new under the Sun every moment!) How many have the courage? Yes, courage... because people fear failure; they fear the "silliness" of doing "unimportant things" like playing. For those of you just starting off in the Waging Fun concept, know this. What initially sounds like ridicule from onlookers, you will rapidly discover is THRILL! People, especially kids, will just ask questions about what you're doing because they can see how much fun you're having, and they want it to.
At the local park, often parents bring their kids over to jump in on the Waged Fun, and sometimes during critical victories of the Cosmos, the "adults" feel overcome by the excitement and leap into the fray. Sure, they may use their children as an 'excuse' at first, but eventually... who knows? Maybe they won't need their kids as a crutch anymore to look like a goof, and do something silly in the hopes of finding some fresh new kinesthetic discovery?
From the mouths of Babes...
My daughter has taught me so much in her one handful of years. She lives in a state of bliss which I aspire to exist within regardless of our "adult" challenges. Can you imagine trying to teach a toddler reps and sets and pounds? :lol: It seems as impossible as trying to teach "adults" the value of play. :roll:
You see, children do not 'learn' skills more rapidly because of some developmental disposition or genetic proclivity. They develop faster because of their mode of operating. They play. They imagine. They invent. They explore. They love every "mistake" and never perceive it as error until an "adult" attempts to "correct" them. It is the adults who are madmen. They grow 'old' because they have consented to a mass delusion of the "very important seriousness" of adulthood.
My daughter dances and spins, rolls and tumbles, jumps and hops with a furious exuberance that nearly makes me pine with jealousy until I realize that my little guru is a gift from God to remind me how to "be." Then, I just slip back into her lead... and return to our natural state of play.
Waging Fun is that doctrine of primal play. Live, love, leap. Be fun to each other. Bliss out in the wonder of this Divine gift of play this holiday.
Body-Flow Wage Fun I Montage (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/images/wagefun.mpeg) (Actually these clips are 3 yrs old)
Body-Flow Wage Fun II Montage (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/images/wagefun2.mpeg) (these clips were taken this month.)
Body-Flow Wage Fun III Montage (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/images/wagefun3.mpeg)
Thanks to Max for putting together these clips of he, Dan and I! Happy Holidays!
What is Waging Fun?
Can you believe that we could actually ask this question? Can you believe that we have come so far as a "civilization" that we have lost touch with primal play?
I wrote an article on this recently describing the castrated element lost to the 'fitness' and 'martial art' industries; from which RMAX has forged an Empire of the Heart (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/29/sonnon.html).
However, recently people have begun to ask questions about incorporating RMAX elements into the boot camp blend of cross-training mania - a vogue started a few years ago.
I support any method which will help people exhault in their physical life, but this alone remains insufficient for me. One must also be able to creatively express oneself - to have the breathing room to grow and own one's movement... and more importantly be nutured to listen to one's inner guide, and realize that we are always and already self-masters.
The vogue of boot camp cross-training events could include how many times you can lift a sandbag, how much you can deadlift, how many pullups you can do, for example. Honestly, I just wouldn't find that fun, and maybe would even find it laborious (by definition). While I'm sure such a competition demonstrates one's work capacity, I'd be much more impressed by and would be much more interested in a competition which demonstrates one's work sophistication.
A Game of Work Sophistication?
Well, such a game may include: Most impressive Clubbell Combination Routine - where one's ability to apply the ultimate test of strength in full, complete range of motion and sudden, smooth retranslation of forces shine.
Most impressive Body-Flow Kinetic Chain - where one's proprioception, coordination and unexpectedly agile creativity to negotiate three dimensionally shine.
Timed TEAM Obstacle Course Navigation (such as seen in many Western European countries) - where one's ability to critically think, apply resources and skills and most importantly operate as a team shine; an event where the team building strategies would foster the RMAX Tribal concept.
It has also been proposed to take elements of RMAX and incorporate them into this style of 'fitness'. To be truthful, that sounds like a not so great idea to me. RMAX isn't about the equipment or programs. I deliberately made it damn hard to pervert the Clubbell into just another piece of gym equipment to be pumped for reps and pounds. It's like using the Space Shuttle to garbage to and from the landfill; sure it works, but, come on, what a waste of an opportunity to explore the World!
We've been working towards this, as you can see with Team Clubbell and Team Body-Flow. It will take some time though, since the conventional fitness and martial art industries still lag far behind; still thinking merely in terms of reps and pounds.
In 5 - 10 years though, the world will not look the same, and we'll see more and more work sophistication 'reality events' such as the one I've described above (it's already fairly common in other countries.) Look at other 'fringe' activities like Parkour and Trickster... soon, my friends, soon... our Waging Fun will conquer the old dinosaur of "working out" and all the bloated roadkill it has created in its perverse "nip and tuck" insanity.
Can you imagine these 'fitness leaders' doing this with their horrific litany of injuries and immobility sustained from a lifetime of 'working out' - most have been reduced to the mobility of a Sherman tank (and the anguished lack of grace to match.) The others not sidelined currently? Sure, they're "fit" for now, but how long and at one cost? They remain shackled in the basement of a cult of pain, passing their pain from one generation to the next like so much fraternity hazing. In the powerlifting community alone, it is promoted that if you want to be strong, you must accept the debilitating injuries that will come. Huh? :? I feel very, very badly for them and hope that we can as a tribe reform the community away from the windy cliff's edge they remain precariously perched upon. And we can only do so, by embodying our principles... sharing the love through our freedom of movement.
It has been asked if the two can be combined. No, for the same reason that you cannot combine keg tossing and jazz dance, or tire flipping and gymnastics. Work capacity deteriorates work sophistication, just as fatigue deteriorates skill, and exhaustion - creativity. Either you work towards doing 'more' or you work towards doing it 'better' (or more creatively.)
There is more room in Olympic Clubbell Sport (OCS) to do this than any other strength sport considering that OCS involves sophisticated combination routines rather than mere exercises, but again, I am much more impressed by the creativity of the tribe's exploration of Clubbell Combination Routines and Body-Flow Kinetic Chains, than someone's ability to do the same exercise more times with heavier weight. Creativity is the ultimate expression of physical mastery.
Creativity is not Variety
Many approaches confuse the act of creativity with doing many different things. Again, this is fall-out from the boot camp mentality of keeping people interested (distracted) by constantly changing the activity.
People unknowingly enjoy these approaches (for a time) because of the apparent rapid development in the activity. They temporarily feel accomplished.
But this is only because you feel the most amount of development in the shortest amount of time... at the beginning. At the beginning, you experience the first 30% of mastering a skill in the initial 2 months. (Remember, all strength is a skill.) It takes another 4 months for a subsequent 20%, another 6-8 months for 20% more mastery, and 1-2 more years for a final 20% (the remaining 20% of mastery takes course over 5-10 years, which most people never touch.)
Sure, they're not bored, but they're also not going deeply, only touching the veneer. Without sufficient depth, you cannot comprehend the rubrics. Without sufficient depth, you cannot intuitively reclaim mastery of the components of the activity. Only with sufficient depth can you re-learn and sophisticate your ability to weave a tapestry of movement like an arachnid's silk acrobatics.
How many people truly CREATE out of nothingness... something (yes, peanut gallery, there is something new under the Sun every moment!) How many have the courage? Yes, courage... because people fear failure; they fear the "silliness" of doing "unimportant things" like playing. For those of you just starting off in the Waging Fun concept, know this. What initially sounds like ridicule from onlookers, you will rapidly discover is THRILL! People, especially kids, will just ask questions about what you're doing because they can see how much fun you're having, and they want it to.
At the local park, often parents bring their kids over to jump in on the Waged Fun, and sometimes during critical victories of the Cosmos, the "adults" feel overcome by the excitement and leap into the fray. Sure, they may use their children as an 'excuse' at first, but eventually... who knows? Maybe they won't need their kids as a crutch anymore to look like a goof, and do something silly in the hopes of finding some fresh new kinesthetic discovery?
From the mouths of Babes...
My daughter has taught me so much in her one handful of years. She lives in a state of bliss which I aspire to exist within regardless of our "adult" challenges. Can you imagine trying to teach a toddler reps and sets and pounds? :lol: It seems as impossible as trying to teach "adults" the value of play. :roll:
You see, children do not 'learn' skills more rapidly because of some developmental disposition or genetic proclivity. They develop faster because of their mode of operating. They play. They imagine. They invent. They explore. They love every "mistake" and never perceive it as error until an "adult" attempts to "correct" them. It is the adults who are madmen. They grow 'old' because they have consented to a mass delusion of the "very important seriousness" of adulthood.
My daughter dances and spins, rolls and tumbles, jumps and hops with a furious exuberance that nearly makes me pine with jealousy until I realize that my little guru is a gift from God to remind me how to "be." Then, I just slip back into her lead... and return to our natural state of play.
Waging Fun is that doctrine of primal play. Live, love, leap. Be fun to each other. Bliss out in the wonder of this Divine gift of play this holiday.
Body-Flow Wage Fun I Montage (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/images/wagefun.mpeg) (Actually these clips are 3 yrs old)
Body-Flow Wage Fun II Montage (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/images/wagefun2.mpeg) (these clips were taken this month.)
Body-Flow Wage Fun III Montage (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/images/wagefun3.mpeg)
Thanks to Max for putting together these clips of he, Dan and I! Happy Holidays!