Polyathleticism
“From one thing, know ten thousand things. When you attain the Way of Strategy, there will not be one thing you cannot see.” - Musashi
Lately, I've been very intrigued about the idea of "Poly Athleticism." Mastering one sport can provide a foundation of skills and an understanding of how the human body moves within space. Mentally, it can prepare you for the trials of a new sport, the repeated failed attempts of mastering a new skill, and the grit to endure failure and to continue to sharpen the sword until the skill is learned.
Take martial arts for example, (something I've studied deeply). As you start learning, you're overwhelmed with information and trying to cope with the pressure of your training partner, whether that be striking or grappling. Your sole focus at this point is survival.
After some time, you grow accustomed to the pressure and manage to find a state of "Flow." Your awareness expands, and you start to notice the small nuances of a punch, block or even being in a guard if the scenario is grappling. Further from this, you grow sensitive to subtle changes of your opponent and start to feel openings and have time to strike or go on the offensive. Now what seemed impossible at the beginning of your journey, you have now accomplished.
You will find the most unexpected things can serve as a way to teach and train in parallel. One which I studied when my leg was recovering from a break was Tai Chi.
From the outside, it seems quite gentle and soft, but internally, there is a lot of energy occurring and subtle movement, sensitivity to the world around you, and balance.
Once I've returned to my martial art practice, I've found a new sense of sensitivity and balance, which was thanks to the Tai Chi. I was able to notice the direction of my opponent's attacks and redirect them with little effort.
Recently I’ve started Judo and applied the same mechanics from my martial arts journey, always having a concept in my head of “Sharpening the sword” analogous to repetition equals mastery, or as the Chinese term it ‘Gong-Fu' which simply means “Work and effort”, it has been about two months since starting Judo but I can already feel the overlaps of my previous martial arts experience, understanding the process and the trials of mastery.
From endurance training working primarily with aerobic energy systems, to calisthenics with a gymnastic focus, all the way to barbell work, all these are forms of strengths gained which can build a fundamental base of fitness that can be used in many different avenues.
I have recently taken up ice skating, and I must say I'm quite in love with this sport. My only experience with skating was when I went to the snow on my skis, and I needed to traverse flat ground using the V2 One skate technique
There is a rink near my house, so my partner and I attended and needless to say, I was horrible. My partner has a fantastic ability to pick up new things very quickly. As soon as her skates touched the ice, she was off doing laps around me while I was frequently falling.
Over time, and visits to the skate rink, I observed some subtle changes when I placed the weight of my arches and heels to the edge of the blade, and then it finally clicked "I've done this movement before on my skis." After applying the same technique, I was able to glide forward and move further in the session. The other elements made sense, I was able to stop and start and glide left to right using the same elements of skiing.
Now why do we stop there, where else can one draw learnings and inspiration from?
Climbing, I know what you’re thinking how can climbing assist with Ice skating? Let’s look at it from the macrocosm as one skates is in their “flow” the shifting of balance and the use of edges are working in complete unison, there is a feeling of complete smoothness which is hard to explain, it needs to be felt and experienced.
When I do warm up climbs, I focus entirely on my foot work and being smooth and that feeling is experienced, when everything is hitting the right notes and there is no disharmony in the body, the pressure of the fingers, feet and movement of the hips and weight shifting according to the climbs it is like being absorbed in a dance.
This supreme state can be achieved in all things, mastery in one thing can only mean mastery in many things, there are no limitations to the human spirit which seeks to be better than yesterday.