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Envy, and minor achievement
Mar. 5th, 2016 10:11 amSigh. There's this girl at work who recently started picking up on the acro thing, and then coming to Esh contortion classes. She's a long-time dancer, with a lot of the stereotypically associated attributes: flexible, can't do a pull-up. Anyway, something like TWO WEEKS AGO she told me she can split-press into a handstand, and that she never thought she'd be strong enough to do handstands at all but this gives her a gentle way into the balance. I thought that was cool and recommended she try some handbalancing classes... she didn't, or she hasn't yet, not a single fucking lesson, but this week she posted video of her straddle press. >.<
Which, in case anyone doesn't know me at all, has been the overriding goal of my athletic life for at least the last seven years. She got it with no lessons and two weeks of effort, the little shit. Oh, sure, there's probably something I do well that she does badly, there's probably something else she'll value more because she has to work for it, etc. And still, it turns my head into a shrieking fiery ball of inchoate rage. I'm glad I've seen this a few times before.
(Someone else at work half-jokingly said to me "Now you know how most people feel about YOU". Which, ugh, is it that bad? Sorry about the dragon pistols, in that case, and the rock climbing too.)
Anyway, it's obviously always the fucking contortionists who get their presses quickly. I've known forever that it's a balance between strength and flexibility, plus the whole problem of proprioception / DOING the right thing. But lately I think the scales are tipped, that flexibility is 80% of it and strength 20% in most cases.
Doubling down on my pike stretching. I have some effective new drills from, yes, the contortionists. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
AND ALSO I'm just doing my thing. Pokemon canceled my private lesson on Friday, so I went to the gym and flew solo, and I hit one of my handstand goals for the year: ten Charlie Chaplin kicks in one set. Maybe it was a shitty little goal, but it was mine, and it felt good to do, and so there.
Which, in case anyone doesn't know me at all, has been the overriding goal of my athletic life for at least the last seven years. She got it with no lessons and two weeks of effort, the little shit. Oh, sure, there's probably something I do well that she does badly, there's probably something else she'll value more because she has to work for it, etc. And still, it turns my head into a shrieking fiery ball of inchoate rage. I'm glad I've seen this a few times before.
(Someone else at work half-jokingly said to me "Now you know how most people feel about YOU". Which, ugh, is it that bad? Sorry about the dragon pistols, in that case, and the rock climbing too.)
Anyway, it's obviously always the fucking contortionists who get their presses quickly. I've known forever that it's a balance between strength and flexibility, plus the whole problem of proprioception / DOING the right thing. But lately I think the scales are tipped, that flexibility is 80% of it and strength 20% in most cases.
Doubling down on my pike stretching. I have some effective new drills from, yes, the contortionists. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
AND ALSO I'm just doing my thing. Pokemon canceled my private lesson on Friday, so I went to the gym and flew solo, and I hit one of my handstand goals for the year: ten Charlie Chaplin kicks in one set. Maybe it was a shitty little goal, but it was mine, and it felt good to do, and so there.
