Training has become an important part of my life. To contrast, performing, or performance has been displaced.
Aside from a charity event that I setup and participate in annually I do not perform. i do not even like the idea of performance.
Many premises on which my training foundation is built come from various influences, some are 2600 years old and some are quite modern.
One athlete that really stands out for me is the late Bruce Lee. His journey led him through martial arts, however, many of his aphorisms about fighting translate very easily into living. One of my favorites is:
If you consider fighting [living], such as it is, without any rules, then baby, you had better train every part of your body.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkOf358kgys
Another Bruce Lee quote, specifically about training is:
I do not fear the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks one time. I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.
So, why would one practice a kick 10,000 times? It doesn’t sound like a particularly good time. 🙂 However, to many, either does running for over 20 hours.
The reality is that the body is fantastically pliable and such an adaptive device that it can be trained to do things that traditional or popular methods prepare one to do.
Today I will do what others will not so tomorrow I can do what others cannot.
This quote leads into atypical or non-conventional training techniques like:
- Running all night
- Running in extreme conditions (weather and tools)
- Cross training using gymnastics
- Learning to run ‘barefooted’ (mostly in Vibram Five Fingers)
- Nutrition experimentation