Using words to describe reality is tricky, albeit necessary and oftentimes the only means we have available to communicate our experiences. There are over seven thousand languages, and each one of them has different shades and structures. The culture we are born into and the language that we speak greatly affect our personality and view of the world. However, the very nature of relating a symbol or a set of symbols to an object in the world becomes problematic when we talk about abstract concepts.
What is criticism? In essence, it is information about a subject involving thoughtful and thorough examination, offering insights and different perspectives contributing to improvement in the subject’s quality. Formal criticism exists in fields such as arts, sciences, and literature, where experts evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, and impacts of a subject in question. However, in interpersonal relationships, the notion of criticizing someone often carries a negative connotation, and people try to avoid it at all costs. From my point of view, this approach creates more problems than solutions. Honest criticism made in good faith is extremely important to maintain robust relationships that support continuous improvement of all the parts involved. So how can we approach criticism in a better way?
The nature of human experience can be divided into 3 categories: physical, cognitive, and emotional (whether what we denote as “spiritual experiences” can be considered a category apart, or it is a result of the unity of all 3 is up to debate, but this is out of the scope of current discussion). We classify pain from a sprained ankle and the sensation of fear, for example, as two completely distinct entities. This difference in the quality of each experience tends to create a pervasive idea that there is a separation between what we call the mind and the body. In reality, however, the two constitute a single whole for which none of the languages that at least I know has a good word for.
The human kind had been grappling perpetually with the question of the nature of consciousness. Since the early days of recorded history, it tickled the minds of thought giants as ancient as Heraclitus, Socrates and Aristotle. It transcended the ages on to the medieval times by the hands of philosophers like Boethius and Aquinas, picked up by Descartes during the Renaissance, and enriched by significant contribution from the 19th century intellectuals like Hegel, Kant and Camus. The 20th century, marked by development of sophisticated technologies, gave birth to a huge amount of groundbreaking ideas about the nature of consciousness and the mind that could be substantiated empirically, thus bridged the gap between the philosophical thought and physiology.
I have been studying with Ido Portal for almost a decade now, and I do not think I have been able to communicate the experience of it clearly so far, and I cannot promise that this attempt will be much better than the previous ones. The scattered bits and pieces of ideas that I share via public channels do not and cannot explain the depth and breadth of what I am learning and how far it can go. To be fair, I do not even think it is possible to describe it, because the man himself and his teachings are so elusive that when you try to put a name on it, in a second it is already outdated. The only clear definition that can be made here is that of constant change.
Not long ago, I was giving a lecture to my students, citing the work of a known academic. After I finished and we moved into a discussion, one of the listeners asked me: “why do these people write in such a complicated language? Can’t they explain it in a more simple way? It is very irritating!” I have noticed that this is a common complaint. It is true, as Einstein said, that he who truly knows the subject should be able to explain it to a 6 year old. However, I believe the existence of a sophisticated language is not merely an indicator of snobbism, but rather an invitation to foster the complex thinking.
Focus, attention, and awareness are cognitive processes that are closely related, but have distinct characteristics and different neurological make up. The words “focus” and “attention” are often used interchangeably. However, they are not the same and the subtle differences between these two processes are worth knowing. The state of awareness operates through a completely different system than focus and attention do, and in fact serves as a base for the two to exist. In this text I will go through some of the definitions and underlying physiological processes of each of the aforementioned cognitive processes so you can have a better idea of how to distinguish and use them.
There is a direct correlation between skill and confidence. It is a feedback loop: reaching competence in a domain informs the general confidence levels and vice versa. For this reason, it is extremely important to measure steps in the training process to be certain of your abilities when it is time to implement them.
There is no one way to categorize and define the human movement. It is a subject that can be studied during one’s whole life and there will be no definite conclusion about how it can be explained in simple terms. There is a myriad of factors that influence the efficiency of movement, all of them put together to create a unique blueprint for each individual and vary within each specialized field. What is the universal factor that will make the human body capable to move well in a variety of scenarios?
One of the most important concepts I have adopted from Ido Portal is developing quality standards for everything I do. He calls it a “pregnancy principle”: you cannot be half pregnant, or quarter pregnant, or almost pregnant, you either are or you are not, and there are no in-betweens.
Modern Western society is obsessed with individuality. The desire to be different is a normal human trait, and every one of us possesses it to some extent. However, it can become an issue when this becomes a central driving force for every action you take and is not based on real internal motivations but rather on a response to the external world.
Every single time someone asks me about what I do and I try to explain what movement practice is, the next thing that follows is unequivocal “ok, I get it, it is like capoeira/yoga/CrossFit” (insert yours). It is not limited to this specific situation. All of us have experienced meeting someone and they instantly point out that you resemble someone they already know. We explore why this happens in this article.
Probably the most prominent feature of humankind is the capacity for learning. Acquisition of new skills in order to adapt to the demands of the environment is a distinctive quality that is intrinsic to our nervous system. Other animals can develop some novel abilities that are not encoded in their genetics, but nobody comes close to humans in that. A child can be dropped at any place on this planet and the environment will shape his speech, his way of moving, and all his habits, very few things are predetermined. This feature of the system can be both a blessing and a curse because some of the learned patterns that helped us as little children stop being useful when we are adults. Understanding the nature of the learning process is crucial in acquiring efficiently new skills and also in getting rid of behavior that does not serve us any longer when we grow up.
The way physical practice is organized both over short and long time frames determines its outcome. When we talk about movement as a broad concept, it implies that the main interest lies in creating conditions that allow not only for the retention of skills but also an efficient transfer of skills from one area to another. Being good at what you practice is an obvious outcome of repetitive action, but how can you become good at what you don’t do? Contextual interference is one of the concepts we operate with when building the curriculum for our students to achieve this effect.
When people come to study with me, I first ask them what they are looking for. In about 70% of cases, they say that they want to be strong. It usually does not include specifications in which domain, or what they even understand under “being strong”. How do we denominate what strength is? Is it a specific parameter that can be measured, or a way of life that determines whether someone is strong or not? Is it a simple act of exerting force against an object, or is it something bigger than that?
The acquisition of motor skills is a complex process that advances through stages. Roughly speaking, there is a phase of input, a phase of consolidation, and a phase of retention. It can as well be divided into fast and slow learning, the former referring to the immediate change in the systems simultaneously happening with an input and the latter to the changes happening over a longer period of time.
