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I am probably going to hurt myself. But hey at least now you can learn how i did it!
Starting over with poi
I just spent an hour outside doing nothing bet reels, stalls, and turns. It feels like I made no progress.
JUST GOTTA PRACTICE MORE YAYYY
You have not known pain until you have dropped a sai sword on your foot
Fuck my ankle hurts
But I think I’ve almost got a tornado kick down.
Over the past few months I’ve accepted a position with Fema Corps and moved to a different part of the country, so tricking/blogging has fallen behind. Sorry.
But I found a new friend and we’re going to be learning together. We have videos. I might put them up. but in the meantime I think I’m going to look up ankle braces on ebay.
On coming back
When I was taking dance classes in college, my professor said something I’ll never forget. She said
A day without practice, you’ll know
Two days without practice, your teacher will know
Three days without practice, your audience will know
Between working with FEMA over two disasters, moving and living in three different states, and the moderate turmoil that has been my home life, I’ve gone waaayyy longer than three days without practice. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve had what I can really call a “practice session” in over six months.
Some of it has been genuine inability. It’s been too cold, I’ve been busy, I’ve had no room, etc. But I know that especially in the last two months, it’s been 80 percent excuses. So today I cut myself off from the computer, layered up, and went outside for a practice session.
On the one hand, it felt great. The stuff that I do is the only thing I’ve ever been able to honestly call a passion, and returning felt like seeing an old best friend when the two of you haven’t changed at all.
On the other hand, I’m not sure I’ve ever been so disappointed in myself. I’ve never felt like such a beginner since, well, I was a beginner. I felt ashamed at the thought that I’ve been calling myself a circus artist when my skill if so clearly bottom-level. And what hurt more was that if I’d been practicing all this time, I’d have been exponentially better by now, not drastically worse. And honestly, that thought made me want to put it all away, go back to my computer, and avoid thinking about all the skills I’ve lost.
But you know what, internet? It’s okay to be a beginner again, just like It’s okay to be a beginner at all. It’s rather like starting a video game over after you’ve made a lot of progress or even finished it. It’s even a bit nostalgic. As long as I’ve loved teaching beginners and watching their progress, now I get to watch it happen to — me. It’s like I get to watch a teenybopper version of myself and I get to say, “You go, little dude. You go. You have so much ahead of you :3”
I suppose if nothing else it’s given me new insight as to the beginning learning process, which can help me teach all the workshops I’m lined up for this summer.
AND THEN I MADE A PAIR OF RICE POI AT 2 IN THE MORNING
because I damn felt like it.
Picture these scenarios:
Crack. Suddenly, your ankle is in fiery pain. No training allowed while you recover.
Snap. Your knee shouldn’t be making that sound on landing. No training allowed while you recover.
Twist. Guess you won’t be using that shoulder for a few weeks. No training allowed while you recover.
Injuries, sickness, and general life often get in the way of proper training. But that’s no excuse for not getting better. Parkour has a huge mental component – and you don’t need to be physically active to train your mind.
I have an unfortunate amount of experience at waiting for injuries to heal. I’ve spent entirely too much of my parkour career laid up due to injuries – usually from chronic overuse. Therefore, I’ve become quite good at finding ways to get better at parkour while waiting for injuries to heal.
Note: While this was written specifically to deal with parkour, the principles within can apply to any sport or discipline, whether parkour, weightlifting, martial arts, running, swimming or anything else.
