Creative Movement...Break the Exercise Rules

“Exploration “Play Rules.” These rules are as follows:
(1) you shall investigate the unfamiliar until it has become familiar; (2) you shall impose a rhythmic repetition on the familiar; (3) you shall vary this repetition in as many ways as possible; (4) you shall select the most satisfying of these variations and develop these at the expense of others; (5) you shall combine and recombine variations with one another; and (6) you shall do this all for its own sake, as an end in itself.”

— Desmond Morris - The Naked Ape (1967)

I wrote about this exact topic a few months ago. The fancy term in the movement literature is Motor Creativity but Creative Movement sounds much better.

You can check out that article here: What is Motor Creativity?

I Am Trying

I am trying to learn how, when leading a workshop, to speak from the creative in me to the creative in each one of the people present. I do not mean by this anything to do with good creative or bad, better creative or best.

I find such distinctions meaningless and unhelpful.

My own experience is demonstrating that there is a creative voice in each one of us and that is not helped by any comparison except with our own deepening growth. In each of us there is our pinch pot, as there is our dance, our poem, and our song. What it looks like or sounds like is less important than the artistic journey we take to discover it.

I greet the creative in you from the creative in me.

Who is the Best Dancer?

This is what I’m talking about!

I’ve been diving deep into the works of M.C. Richards and Paulus Berensohn.

I quoted M.C. Richards on this blog before here: Life is Physical & Artistic.

What I absolutely love about both of of these artists, potters and poets actually are their other physical pursuits like dance.

There is a deep connection between the physical, mixed moving arts and other creative arts. This is clear. And if we are to approach wholeness and a deeper life we must remain and cultivate a well-rounded approach to movement and self-expression.

Specialist may get paid more but to quote Paulus.

““It’s not a way of making a living. It’s a way of making a life.”

— Paulus Berensohn

The above video is a reading from a book by Corita Kent called “Learning by Heart.”

Great Creative Minds and Moving Artists.

I'm a sucker for imagery. I’m also a sucker for discussions on craft, art, nature and human performance so I thought I’d share a few cool quotes with you.

These two quotes come from two different authors and books but they share a similar spirit. The first book is from "The Little Book of Talent." by Daniel Coyle.

The second book is "Deep Work" by Cal Newport.

Escaping the Shallows

“My purpose is to re-instill passion and romance into our connection with movement and play, to make movement and ability our primary aim, over appearance and ego, and to let joy, pleasure and excitement be our main motivations and inspirations.”

— Jason C. Brown

My work and this site is undergoing a bit of a rebrand. After spending 22 years in the fitness and performance fields I simply need to branch out. To curate, to teach and to share content, clarity and coaching on topics that I honestly consider much more important than exercise, sets and reps. The art of expressing the human body, the craft of teaching human movement and the profound effect that a physical practice can have on our creativity and quality of life will take center stage.

Perhaps my new direction began as an unconscious reaction to the surge of a more surface kind of physicality and creativity that I started to notice and live within.

A rebellion of sorts against the rushed demands that were creeping into my own physical practice. Once I became consciously aware of the tolls these shallows could take, I longed to enter into a deeper conversation and exploration about the wellspring of physicality and creativity. I began to identify in my own physical practice (as well as those of my students), certain eternal elements to access and enthuse. These elements will serve as our foundation to building a creative physical practice and enjoy it forever.

These 4 elements are:

• Deep Play

• Deep Practice

• Deep Nature

• Deep Rest.

I hope you’ll join me on this journey, in this new direction. And as your guide, I’m excited to start sharing. Thanks for being here with me.

Power and Accuracy Day in The Strength Garden

In this video I share one of my favorite workouts from my humble Strength Garden. To be completely honest, most of my physical practice is spent playing and moving in other ways like hiking and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but I always enjoy a quick and focused training session.

This particular session consist of an explosive extension exercise (kettlebell or CMB Snatch) super-setted with an explosive flexion exercise, a single-arm slam using a dead-ball that I borrowed from the Baseball world.

I usually match the repetitions per move…5 slams for 5 snatches. And I usually perform 5 sets. I do not work for time and rest as needed since my focus is speed and power.

I add the accuracy by slamming onto stone pavers. It seems a little silly and the dead-balls do not bounce well, but if I’m not on point and accurate with my slam they will bounce off in chaotic directions. Which can be fun as well.

7 Super Skills Every Movement Coach Should Know

What is a Super Skill?

Super Skills are skills that have a guaranteed result on your investment regardless of your professional circumstances or otherwise.

Super Skills increase the value of nearly every activity , as well as the value of all of your other skills.

There are many Super Skills but I have carefully curated the Top 7 for movement coaches and created the brief yet comprehensive guide.

This guide contains 7 videos and PDFs that you can download onto your own computer and study at your own leisure.

You can order your downloadable copy below.

Life is Physical and Artistic

Life is physical, that’s what makes it artistic. That’s what makes artistic practice its central discipline.

Of course it’s deeper than that. What makes life artistic in its physicality is that it is created by inner processes. Inner processes are generative, life in fact is creative. That is how come science is an art and the poet writes from a sense of fact. The imagination is a fact.

After a while I took up pottery as a craft. I also took up dancing and woodworking and printing and farming and cooking and cutting stencils.

An Idea for Jiu-Jitsu Teachers

“As I contemplated my art practice this morning —where each individual portrait is a physical/visual record of my investment of practice, I was gifted an idea I would have certainly tried / executed if I were still teaching young people the martial arts:

I would order some attractive pea gravel or decorative (small) stones —and at the end of every practice I would have the kids stand in a line to say goodbye —and I’d place one of these little stones in their hands.

I’d encourage them to place them in a big jar, so that they (and others) might better understand how each of those practice sessions accumulate. Each is light and small individually, but over time the cumulative practice becomes…something all together different.”

This is a reprint from my mentor Tom Callos. He’s an Artist that’s also a Martial Artist.

It was just a simple IG post but I thought it deserved a blog post someplace so it wouldn’t get totally washed away in the stream.

How to Develop your Jiu-Jitsu...the Soft Skill of Breaking Bones

Jiu-Jitsu is a soft skill, a soft art.

The Japanese term Jiu-Jitsu can actually be translated as soft-skill, although we often translate it as Gentle Art or Soft Art.

In human movement studies and motor development, skills are broken down in many ways. Two big broad categories or classifications are soft skills and hard skills. These are also known as open vs closed skills. It all depends on where you went to school or the textbook you used.

A closed (hard) skill is a skill where repeatable precision is needed. Hard skills are usually free from outside distractions as well.

A classic hard-skill in the sporting world would be a foul shot in basketball. There are no other players reaching for the ball, no dodging or cutting involved. Just one target and one player. All other shots on the court would be soft skills or open skills because they are completely dependent of reading, reacting and recognizing the complete situation on the court as well as the other players from both teams.

Soft skills are flexible, soft skills are all about sensitivity, feeling and physical improv.

So they question arises?

How do we develop soft skills? The answer is play. Play more Jiu-Jitsu. Play with more players. Play with players of all different shapes, sizes and skill sets. Play with variations and positions. Explore and experiment with different paths , approaches and combinations.

When working on the soft-skill of Jiu-Jitsu focus on creating a high number of varied repetitions. Don’t worry so much about making mistakes, the most important thing is to keep it playful and explore. Jiu-Jitsu is fun to practice because it is a soft-skill. But…because it is so fun to practice, it’s important for you to self-coach and observe yourself. After each practice simply ask yourself what worked? What didn’t ? What got you smashed? And why?