Rhythmic gymnastics requires attention to lots of details – like chin, head and neck position, shoulders, arms, finger, knees, toes, apparatus and to be in sync with music. To excel, one must embrace all these details and make it second nature. You get deductions when you make mistakes.
In martial arts, there are lots of different details too – like keeping your chin tucked, elbow position, hip, back, angle relative to the threat, what body part to tense up what should relax, keeping the knees bent. The interesting thing is that all these details are almost the exact opposite to gymnastics. To respond to a threat in split of a second, all these have to be instinctive as well. If you make a mistake, you do not get deductions – you get a bloody nose or worse.
Can such drastically different sport co-exist within a person? (Watch a funny video of Shaq O’Neal doing rhythmic gymnastics)
Seeing commonality and relationship between totally unrelated disciplines is valuable to those who love life – lots of varieties. I love curry but I also love a good sandwich with a hot soup. Purists frown at mixed disciplines and claim that it cannot be done. Well, when people say that it cannot be done, I am in for the challenge. Look at the TV reality show “You think you can Dance”. Prior to the show (2005), break dancers have no respect for ballet dancers and ballet dancers wonder why break dancing is even considered dancing but now, the opinion has changed, there are more ‘mixed discipline dancers’ than ever. Look also at the evolution of mixed martial arts. Just remember that there are always people who are against you (even when you become the prime minister), so just be yourself and do what drives you and not how others see you.
While I was working with Special Olympics many years ago, most athletes find it challenging to remember all the details. To help tackle the problem, I tried imagery and sensory stimulation to cause the body to respond and to reposition itself and it worked instantaneously. The approach is not really new, dancers use it a lot, internal styles like taichi or hsing-i also uses imagery. I have since used the method in teaching kung fu as well as gymnastics. The key is to generate a specific feel / principle to bind all the otherwise loose details. Just as an example, we do not need to know what muscles to use to smile but simply be happy (or maybe the word ‘cheese’ is even more effective).
Exercise:
- To be able to let loose during intense situations is a frame of mind and not just to remember to relax. How can you generate that?
- Do you have successes in using imagery within the martial art context? in other areas of your life? Describe.
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