Intention & Emphasis

In the words of DMX "The games a lot bigger than you think you know and if you think you know then I don't think you know!"

Obviously I'm no philosopher. Which is why I have quoted a hardcore and old school rapper rather than an old scholar.

It seems like you know something quite well and then someone reminds you otherwise. I've never kidded myself or pretended that I was an expert teacher or practitioner of movement. Never the less movement is my profession and it is what I specialise in: I want to see my clients and myself develop strong, fast, powerful, subtle, controlled and agile movement abilities. So when you realise that your principles and intentions are sound but some of the emphasis you have placed on drills/moves you perform is a bit misdirected it is enlightening but also frustrating.

Two things have highlighted this recently.

1. Conversing, working with and learning from Steve Cotter.

Amongst other points I have had to take on board some subtle adjustments to the rack position, to the application of relaxed tension, energy management and to the mental approach and patience of high repetition ballistic exercises. These are drills that the kettlebell is uniquely suited to and are what makes the kettlebell the superior tool when it comes to developing work capacity and athletic power output.

These subtle things, as always, make significant differences not only to kettlebell lifting but to all athletic and sporting activities.

2. Two weeks ago I had to get treatment for a rib injury (received doing excessive reps without adequate control! - short term gratification got the better of long term progress). I asked Glenn Cumiskey, who works at Balance, to treat me. Glenn is an acupuncturist with traditional Chinese training, and a teacher of chi gung and Tai Chi.

After the needling I was introduced to a chi gung movement called "cloud hands". It emphasises strong but fluid connectivity from the ground through the hips, pelvis, trunk and into the upper limbs via the shoulder girdle. Being taught this in the way Glenn did showed me that whilst my intention is always to improve my ability to move with strong and fluid stability, the subtleties I was unaware of made what I was doing much less effective and would actually hold back my progress.

My intention was good, even the principles are the same but subtle differences in emphasis when executing a move make vast differences to the experience and the outcome.

For many the subtleties appear to be unimportant; progress is progress and to what degree do I really need to improve? For those who want more from life, from their sport, for safety in their occupation the subtleties are all important: small changes make significant differences.

Simply shifting, pushing, pulling, pressing, squatting weight, whether its heavy or light, will only get you so far down the road of athletic development and a plateau of non progression awaits!

On its own running, cycling, swimming 6 days a week, whatever pace you are achieving or distance you are covering, will not take you to your full potential.

You might achieve 15 stone of lean mass, be strong in the gym with barbell, dumbbell, kettlebells etc but this doesn't mean you are going to be able to match the physical abilities of another 15 stoner who understands movement and mechanics, energy management and efficiency, internal power.

It is this internal energy development that needs to be learnt and understood if we want to move toward our potential, whatever that may be relative to existing restrictions - like being old or injured, or both!

Ultimately the idea for any practitioner or professional is that intention becomes unnecessary. This is a vision that has been held by many, including samurai, for centuries. Simply spontaneous knowledge in every situation.

Maybe its too late for me to achieve that, but its worth working towards.
Jonathan Lewis
Industrial Strength
mobile:+447960861267
tel:+442076272308