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Pleasure and Control:An Exploration of Levator Ani

7/6/2018

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We ride through the physical world in meat suits composed primarily of water, with only a sparse set of more rigid support structures to frame out the vehicle. The bony basin in which the soup of our visceral contents sits is the pelvis, and at the base of the pelvis, supporting these contents and helping to regulate their excretion, lies what is commonly known as the “pelvic floor.” In reality, the pelvic floor consists of the perineal membrane and fascia, and a majestic muscle group known as Levator Ani. The Levator Ani can be further broken out into three distinct muscles: the puborectalis, pubococcygeus (which forms the pubovaginalis in women and the puboprostaticus in men), and iliococcygeus; however, these muscles function together to form a diaphragm-like sling that spans across the interior surfaces of the pelvic bones, wraps around the urethras of men and women alike, and whose fibers eventually become continuous with those of the anal sphincter. Together, they fulfill a role so vastly fundamental to the baseline functionality of our bodies that to address them separately in terms of location and biomechanical action alone would be to diminish their contribution to the human experience. In this paper I intend to explore these most crucial muscles as a group -- in function and in dysfunction, and in structural, psychological and energetic terms.
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Structurally speaking, the Levator Ani performs a formidable task in supporting our entire pelvic contents and maintaining both urinary and anal sphincter continence. This means it is also responsible for maintaining optimal pressure within the abdominal cavity, which of course affects the function of the various organs it contains. In addition, Levator Ani makes an important cameo during childbirth, when its resistance is needed to control the descent of the presenting part of the fetus and rotate it to fit through the pelvic girdle. Weakness or injury to the Levator Ani can leave the unhappy subject incontinent, or even cause pelvic organ prolapse, when the bladder, urethra, small intestine, rectum or uterus protrude into the vagina.

It is not surprising, then, that many expectant mothers and other individuals who prefer to keep their organs unmerged practice Kegel exercises to tone and strengthen the pelvic floor. Invented first, surely, by early hominids -- and, successively and independently, by every being who ever possessed a fanny to play with -- but clinically debuted by Dr. Arnold Kegel in the mid twentieth century, Kegel exercises are simply voluntary contractions of the Levator Ani muscles. 
As it turns out, however, Dr. Kegel was a bit of a gynecological Christopher Columbus in believing he was the first to distribute this wisdom and blazon it with his name. Jade stones or “Yoni Eggs” had been used to strengthen the pelvic floor and vaginal muscles for thousands of years before Kegel’s head ever rotated against his mother’s Levator Ani. Ancient Chinese royalty would exercise the pelvic floor by lifting jade eggs internally, seeking to harness the full potential of their sexual power. Awareness of the pelvic floor also appears in the ancient practices of Yoga and Pranayama. Mula Bandha, an energetic “lock” created by contraction of the Levator Ani, is a central practice in much of traditional Yoga. Nowadays, some Ashtanga Yoga teachers encourage constant maintenance of Mula Bandha, and some particularly avid students of modern Yoga have crossed the Jade Egg with bodybuilding and begun lifting heavy objects with these muscles, much to the benefit of their instagram ratings and, ostensibly, their sex lives.
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Unfortunately, contrary to the Western mantra “More Is Better,” too much tone in the Levator Ani can also be problematic. Levator Ani Syndrome is another unfortunate dysfunction of the pelvic floor, whereby excessive tone can cause painful spasms in the Levator Ani muscles. So it is a balancing act we play in this foundational muscle group, seeking only the right amount of holding at all times.

    Although it would be logical to assume that the Levator Ani is of most importance to bipeds, since gravity brings our viscera to sit in the pelvis rather than be supported by the bony thorax and the abdominal wall, the Levator Ani muscles are actually much stronger in quadrupeds, as they are primarily responsible for the action of tail-wagging. This evolutionary parallel gives an emphatic hint that this muscle group is not only mechanically important but also a strongly expressive body part in terms of emotion. As human tails have been reduced over millenia to a measly, un-waggable stump known as the coccyx, the emotional expression created by tone patterns in this muscle has become a much more internal one, though no less poignant. The rhythmic contractions of the Levator Ani are unmistakably present for humans of all sexes during orgasm. In my view, the ecstatic pumping release of sexual climax represents a perfect antithesis to the too-much and not-enough tonal issues we examined above. And indeed, a psychosomatic examination reveals that the ability to attain sexual satisfaction is very much linked to maintenance of appropriate tone in the pelvic floor, which in turn is deeply connected to psychological and personal history, attitude, and disposition.
    In Bodymind, Ken Dychtwald superimposes psychological and kinesiological disciplines with Tantric energetic anatomy to posit that the pelvic floor, or the anal region of the pelvis (as opposed to the genital) corresponds to the muladhara chakra, which concerns itself with basic survival needs, primitive energy and human potential. He writes: 

[Muladhara Chakra] is responsible for basic survival needs and actions, and, with the corresponding anal region, is said to be the vortex around which the energies and attitudes of primitive, material concerns revolve.
When a person is tense and tight in this bodymind region, it indicates that he is overconcerned with material and survival needs. As a result, he will have difficulty giving and taking in an unrestrained fashion and may try to hoard and possess everything with which he comes in contact. Conversely, when there is vitality and flexibility in this region, it reflects an open, giving, free-flowing way of being in the world. (p. 91)

Dychtwald further suggests that inefficient use of the muscles of the anal region during defecation is connected to emotional disturbance caused by imposing early toilet training on toddlers who have not yet developed adequate sphincter control. When children are forced to toilet train prematurely, they needlessly recruit many other unrelated muscle groups, including the pelvic floor. The result is that elimination becomes “a difficult and uncomfortable process that is unconsciously associated with bodymind tension and holding on and with an overriding inability to let go comfortably without activating an unnecessarily wide range of muscles and feelings” (p. 94). Thus the typical ‘anal retentive’ personality is linked to the bodymind significance of the Levator Ani as a muscle whose tone indicates the ability, or lack thereof, to allow experiences and emotions to flow through the body naturally.
This aligns well with the concept of sexual gratification as dependent upon the levels of both emotional and physiological tension in this region. In light of this, isn’t it logical that a person would have difficulty reaching an orgasm, or feeling sexually motivated at all for that matter, if he or she is holding in the first chakra, concerned with paying rent, buying food, or keeping a job? How can a person who is stuck in “hoarding” behavior engage fully in the give-and-take of lovemaking? And on a physical level, how is a muscle that is in a state of constant hypertonicity supposed to create joyful, strong, rhythmic pumping contractions to send blood, fluids and spirit into cosmic circulation? When we think of the human body not just in terms of the meat suit but all the Someone and the experience that it houses, muscles like the Levator Ani take on a hugely complex significance--both as products and creators of the human story.

    In my own story, the Levator Ani has served as a teacher, a friend, and at times, played the proverbial Canary in the Coal Mine. Through the practice of Yoga and Pranayama, I have developed an awareness of this region that is more advanced than the majority of modern society, though I certainly have never lifted a surfboard with my vagina (c.f. Youtube). This journey of self-exploration through the pelvic floor not only gave me access to an immensity of untapped energy that lives within my system, but also brought me directly to the doorstep of many deep-seated fears and holding patterns that riddle my body and personality. The Levator Ani, and the practice of pranayama, continues to be a key part of my daily healing and self-reclamation practices. Though I would be a disappointing student of certain extra-emphatic Ashtanga teachers, the ability to recognize tension in this area of my body allows me to realize when I am contracting around the experience of the present moment. It is my sense that tightening the pelvic floor increases my internal pressure to match a real or perceived pressure from the external world, allowing me to feel myself more strongly and creating the illusion of enhanced self-support and bolstering. In a sense, when I contract my pelvic floor, I feel I am braced and ready --”armored,” as many would call it -- to face an anticipated difficult or jarring experience. Sometimes this is certainly a good plan. But more often than not, this response is a mechanism for shutting off sensation and possibility in the face of a danger that is more imagined than real.

When we consider all of this, The Levator Ani is clearly far more than a structural support or a mechanical sling; it represents fears and wounding, power and control, as well as openness and ecstatic surrender -- but only as long as we are able to consciously engage with it to eliminate skillfully on material, emotional and spiritual levels. It then becomes a most central and fundamental daily practice to cultivate a relaxed and toned, healthy pelvic floor, along with all its accompanying attitudes and dispositions.


Maya Cookson
IPSB ADM

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Are you addicted to food?

4/11/2018

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And remember the 
When presenting people with this question, the answer I often get is, "well, who isn't?"

A fair question. Are we born already addicted to food? If not, when do we become addicted? Are anorexic people addicted to food? And when we feel sick and can't even think of eating, are we still food addicts then? These are extreme examples that obviously don't all represent healthy  behavior, and it becomes even more complicated when we try to define what being "addicted" to food really means. After all, everyone needs to eat in order to live, right? We also need to breathe in order to stay alive, but I've never met anyone who could be said to be addicted to Oxygen. Nobody goes around over-breathing, but overeating is commonplace. 

Addiction is known to be a chemical or emotional dependency on something, and the reality is that people approach food in two different ways: the addicted and the non addicted. 

Helping people with nutrition, I generally get two types of clients. First, there are the ones who want to optimize their diet in order to create a better balance for themselves, both mentally and physically. And then there are the ones who face some sort of a degenerative disease, and are having to face the prospect that there is a big change waiting for them in the near future--either one that they make voluntarily, or one that will be happening to them.

People in the first group usually show less attachment to food.  They realize that they are in charge of their diet and have enough self control to change what they are doing. They see that the changes they are seeking are worth more to them than the immediate satisfaction that certain foods can provide. Often they categorize satisfaction from food as a lower grade pleasure, compared with what life has to offer in other fields of satisfaction.

Within the second group, attachment to food is much stronger. Usually this attachment has to do with carbohydrate rich foods (carbs), and by the time they are affected by a degenerative process strong enough to catch their attention, it feels too late for them to change. By that point, most are addicted to their food, and would rather allow disease to take them than give up their specific eating habits. 

Let's  look a bit deeper at the processes underlying regular high-carb diets.
Eating a carb rich food creates a strong insulin response, setting in motion a cycle that sends blood sugar levels up and down, makes a mess out of other hormone levels, and  interestingly enough, also wreaks havoc on the neurotransmitters in the brain--specifically Dopamine and Norepinephrin. Do these sound familiar? They are the components in the brain in charge of reward behavior, specifically self-reward ( like the cake you get as a reward for doing something difficult, or celebration, etc.). It turns out that these are the same neurotransmitters involved in addiction to cocaine, caffeine and behaviors like gambling. And as it turns out, freeing oneself from carb addiction is much harder than getting sober from most street drugs!

When faced with the prospect of making a change, people start to sound like true addicts. They say that they don't really eat carbs all that much, come up with reasons why it's healthy and good for them, or make excuses. For that reason, working with the second group can be very frustrating, and results are scarce.  As a general rule they will probably need a therapist alongside their nutritionist to help them kick their carb habit. 

At this point you might be wondering which group you belong to, or people that you know. 

People who are addicted to their food will often show specific signs of high carb consumption. Inflammation can show up as arthritis, eczema, acid reflux, or bad skin (which occasionally can be attributed to other factors as well). Skin tags are a sign of chronically elevated blood sugar.  Lack of muscle definition is also a hallmark of a high carb diet, which creates inflamed tissue that pads the body with pro inflammatory fats; this fat layer is directly linked to degenerative processes and loss of insulin sensitivity, which intensifies through a snowball effect.

That all makes the original question that much more important to consider.
Are you addicted to food? 
Let's put it this way: are you in charge of what goes in your mouth?
If you are, big pat on the back, that's a good place to come from. you are one of the few who can assert real control over your health. If you find that you are addicted, you are certainly not alone--and step one is admitting it to yourself. 
There's an old adage for a good life : 'Don't live to eat, eat to live!'

Mestre Amir Solsky
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Four Ways To Get A Stronger Core For Kicks

3/14/2018

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This Article was first published by the 'Unconventional Athlete' Magazine, and can be seen here:
 https://www.unconventionalathletes.com/4-ways-to-get-a-stronger-core-for-kicks/                              

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Kicking is a diverse skill. On the one hand, it draws on physical conditioning traits such as
strength in particular alignments, and flexibility. On the other hand, there are many techniques and many different kicks.

On the technical side, there are many different martial arts to look at, each comprising different styles. Within each of these, kicks are used in many different ways. Sometimes it's to push, sometimes to sweep. There are low kicks, high kicks and more. But most kicks have a common mechanism at play: one limb pushes the floor, creating kinetic power that travels up into the hips and core, eventually expressing itself through the kicking leg like a whip.

Perfecting technique is the best way to produce greater force in kicks. That
said, while working to improve our abilities there is room to make use of any tools we can find. A conditioning plan can help us connect to weak areas in our alignment chains, and learn to activate muscles that we are not used to using.

This article will look at the conditioning aspect. In the big picture, a practitioner
should be aware of his endurance and speed. Being able to sustain a high intensity performance is essential for any fighting style, so high intensity endurance is a major component of general conditioning. Developing speed is another essential piece for kickers who want to create real abilities.

Looking at specific conditioning, there are many muscle groups and alignments to target in order to create the foundation for kicks. Paying attention to hips and legs is a given. The upper body is there for the lower body to work against; in most kicks, the legs work against the arms and shoulders through some kind of twisting motion, and that is where the core comes into play.
When the core is weak and unstable, the connection between the lower and upper body is
loose. That means that one body part can't work efficiently against the other, and the power of the kick is lost. In this situation, it is usually necessary to learn how to fire all the muscles that are supposed to engage in that chain. Once the core learns how to transmit force between the lower and upper body, then the focus becomes strengthening those muscles to create higher efficiency.

When training specifically for kicking, it is important to include drills that 
mimic the actual action they are meant to fortify. The more similar the alignment is, the
better it will be for the end function.

Reading about kicking is a totally different alignment, so let's get into some exercises to bring these concepts into the body.

1. Here is a beginner friendly exercise to start, Floor Leg Raises:



This is a great exercise for kicking, and most practitioners will have a pretty easy time getting into it. Many people experience soreness, accompanied by better kicking, very quickly while adapting to this drill.
I generally recommend 3-5 sets of 10-20 repetitions on a daily basis. 

2. These Standing Leg Raises can be done in conjunction with the first exercise, or as a second step after training the Floor Leg Raises for a few weeks:



This drill is already much more specific to kicking. It is still easy, and will also 
develop mobility, technique and coordination.
3-5 sets of 10 repetitions each side on a daily basis should be good.

3. The third exercise will be Hanging Leg raises:



This one is more difficult and will have a longer adaptation curve. It is a great
exercise for strengthening the core, and its benefits go way beyond kicking.
3-5 sets of 10 repetitions are recommended, three times a week.

4.  Fourth exercise, Floor Hip Thrusters:



This is great work for frontal kicks, both pushing and snapping kicks. Aggressive protraction and extension of the hip is always a component of frontal kicks, and is often an action that takes a while to develop. Many practitioners struggle with this function of the hips even after years of practice. This drill really narrows it down. Novice practitioners might find it hard to execute, but after some consistent work they will make some interesting discoveries on how to use their bodies this way.
I recommend 3-5 sets of 10 repetitions, 3-5 times a week.

For more inspiration, subscribe to my YouTube channel
and follow me on Instagram and Facebook under  Mestre Amir Solsky.
Mestre Amir Solsky can be contacted for Seminars, design of online programs and personal instruction via his contact page : http://www.fundamentalsofmovement.com/contact-us.html
 
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Mestre Amir Solsky is a celebrity fitness trainer and nutrition expert who has devoted decades to the study of body movement, from martial arts to aerial arts and joint rehabilitation.  He is a Capoeira Master, and the founder of Fundamentals of Movement and Capoeira Los Angeles.  He performs regularly, working with Capoeira and various circus arts such as aerial and hand to hand balancing, Equilibre, contortion and dance.   Amir has been featured on National Geographic’s “Fight Science” and has  appeared in various music videos such as Fall Out Boys and Natasha Bedingfield, and commercials such as “journeys.” Amir has been a writer for the online magazines Onnit and Unconventional Athlete, also providing content to their workouts. His passion lies in continually developing his understanding of human physiology and movement, and his work is to demonstrate the limitless possibilities of our ever evolving and expansive human potential.
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The Luxury Of life Part 2.

7/17/2017

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Nature and life merge at an interesting junction, the very first expressions of life on this planet were expressed through a very specific chemical material called carbon. Life forms that managed to survive (by conforming to the natural laws) evolved or got more complex with time, from a chemical perspective it assembled more carbon mass or a more complex expression of it.


Today we can find some very complex organisms living in present time side by side to very simple and primitive ones, a whole spectrum of life, built in the shape of a pyramid where the most basic often support the most complex.


Throughout our evolution as a species, as well as in more modern times, we have been fighting for our existence as humans. We have created various structures for our societies, which have reached the highest form of complexity in the systems of governments we are seeing today. The majority of our societies have guaranteed their existence by relying on strong armies in order to defend against other human societies.


In the midst of all of that evolving, we were also given the tools to separate ourselves from many of the laws of nature, given the ability to examine them, pick and choose the ones we like. Lately we are also gaining the awareness to evaluate the consequence of our losing touch with those natural laws.


All of these new abilities have developed while we have been living in societies under the rule of law, and under the reality that we needed to defend ourselves, our values, etc.. A society that would decide to not take the martial reality into account might not be as strong and thriving as other societies, or at least that's what it seems like considering there isn't such a society on this planet today.


Back when we were still living in the wild, our species spread across the planet, which coincided with the eradication of most megafauna animals. The reason we were able to depart from the condition of defending against other animals and conforming to the rules of nature, is for the fact that we excelled at conforming to the laws of nature and conquered the world under those laws, till we could make those laws anew.


There might come a time where we can excel at the modern way of existing, and we can reinvent ourselves to a place where semi-martial aware leaders can take office. These leaders will understand the martial reality, evade it and give no hand to it. They will need to understand the fighting game, and create the right climate that will push the aggressive leaders out of control for being destructive. They will prepare the ground for the next line of leaders, when the time is right. Leaders from different walks of life, ones who are completely peaceful, without any hand in organizations who kill people, and without the need to defend. Leaders who can only focus on creating life, enhancing this planet with it and spreading it through the galaxy. These leaders will need to be very connected again to the laws of nature, this time however, assisting it from the outside, with a sense of gratitue for being alive.


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The Luxury Of Life Part. 1

7/15/2017

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There is an interesting term in Biology called Biomass, it means the total mass of organisms in a given area or volume. It is given that that volume or mass can change to become more or less in that given area. What is interesting is when the biomass of an area grows, how does it affect other adjacent areas. Live things tend to grow both by eating other life forms, as well as by utilizing sun energy in a process made by plants, called photosynthesis.
Basically what this means is that the biomass in area A can grow by depleting the biomass in area B, if there were animals that ate what was in area B, or if we are talking about a biomass that is plant derived, it could be growing regardless of what happens to area B biomass.


This is all very nice, we all know that every area has something to do with other areas in our planetary sytem, and there is no way for area A not to have an effect on area B, C etc.. however the term is very specific and limited, it really only talks about area A regardless of all other areas, and that does help keep things simple, even though it doesn't take everything into account.


What is of interest for me in this whole discussion is to look at our entire planet's biomass. Can it grow? can it wither? and what effect would that have?
We do know it gets complexified over time, which seems to be some sort of a purpose for the life force, and we entertain ourselves that as time passes, the living things are also moving in a direction or higher intelligence, and fine tuning the expression of this life force. It also seems that when we recognize the expression of this life force, we see that it follows a different set of rules than the ones ruling living bodies. These are all interesting topics, but lets get back to the original concept of this blurb.


Can the earth biomass grow or wither? If it grows, where will the extra life come from? Can there be more biomass than there is currently? Is there life anywhere else?
We do know that life can wither on this planet with a little help from our friend, the A bomb. And we don't even need to go this far, we are destroying this planet with chemicals, plastic, chopping forests and etc which makes it easy to see how the planet can support less life than it was likely able to a few hundred years ago, considering the half life time of many of these materials.


Since life force of this planet can wither, I will also assume it could grow, and I will consider it growing as a beneficial thing, even when facing the fact that adding more people hasn't proved to be very helpful in this regard thus far in our history.


Which brings me to the obvious conclusion: if people learn to control their destructive urges, develop a real understanding and appreciation of life, we can bring about a great positive change, and support the development on life in the galactic creation.


This should be regarded as common sense, however it still seems that the majority of people don't think in these terms, don't understand them, and obviously don't act on them, which creates a big problem. We destroy ourselves, we destroy the planet, and we destroy life, not being true to its nature. We need to find who we are, what we are, what's the truth and what's the lie.
We might need to shake and break some fundamental structures in our societies, which some people might not like, and might hurt the deep pockets of others.


Going deeper into the topic I brought up earlier, life force does work under a different set of rules than the ones governing living bodies; one of the ways that demonstrates that is, our spirit recognizes other beings, it loves them, harmonizes with them and appreciates them, while our bodies' livelihood depends on eating/preying on other life forms of one sort or another (you can say that the price for our being here is in flesh and blood, and for that matter, the price of any living thing is the life of other living things, or sun and water, though even plants synthesize organic matter). While this seems to contradict, notice how none of this is harmful to the environment; if anything it supports the balance of the environment in mysterious ways.
Living things are able to fight for their existence and so destroy other living things, but that is never done in a way that can threaten the environment's ability to adapt and develop forward as a result.


So basically as an expression of life, we have brought forth many things that were not available prior, some of which are the ability for commercial destruction of this place. Expressing our destructive part through non organic ways, and taking it out of the balanced place it once had, which all other life forms still posses. These urges then took a life of their own to become compulsive, addictive, they need to be contained and brought back to their original place, under a greater reason.


They say money is the source of all evil, which is one side of the coin... but looking into this side of it, many people do worship money first before life. That is an introduction of a fundamental non organic concept that can't have a life of its own and shouldn't be regarded as if it does. Priorities do need to be installed in their right place.


There are many minute examples of how this concept comes about, not many people are capable of grasping the big picture, but the establishment of the bigger picture will help people walk on the right tracks on a personal level
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Thoughts about teaching

4/29/2016

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 Thank you for all the Bday wishes!
It is beautiful to hear from so many friends I've made throughout this life, and so many people I had touched.
I've been recognized as a teacher for a very long time. Initially I was just a curious kid who wanted to know things and to do certain things very passionately and for my own good. That got recognized at a young age when people asked me to teach them.
I never thought I would become a teacher, and if anything I resented that thought. I thought there was no money in that field and thought to make a career in another field. I went to a law school, to business administration school and had many jobs and opportunities that paid better, but at the end I always left them to go back to teaching.
No money in the world could ever been more fulfilling then the relationships I would be making as a teacher, the help I knew I could give to my students, seeing their smiles and happiness that were the results.


It's an interesting thing, the world of teaching is very different then the world of going to a regular job, paying bills etc. It is a real world. It's a common situation when a new students have some issues, I would ask him about it trying to understand, and feel that the student think I only care cause he paid me money ( and if he has a problem he might not pay in the future), which is the premises in the "outside" world. Such an opposite perception, it is sometimes hard for people to disconnect from it and see things as they truly are, which is, if I don't care about the student then how can I really help HIM. It would have been a great world if I could save him that consideration and not mix money in it, like it is in other relationships, but I do have to make a living to be able to teach and there need to be a hierarchical relationship for the student to be able to gain from the teaching as it seem that people absorb less of it when they don't pay and feel equal. Where it mostly ends up being a disservice.


With many people I had met in daily life I always had the feeling that they only think what can they get out of me. Some people ask right away for your occupation, trying to evaluate you that way. And other behaviors that make you feel like they are in it only for the gain, these are fake friends. I can understand people that come to me that are used to that mentality as it is very wide spread unfortunately, and I will try to help them. From the wise words of Tony Robins "connection is not enough, you got to find real love". And my addition is know to separate it from the love of greed.


Wanted to put this out there, I know most people here don't know me yet, and so far only see me as a teacher, and as one, I feel that this concept is very basic in my teaching. And it might be an interesting point for you as well.
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Middle ages, It's Here Now!

3/10/2016

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We all know by now about Isis and the likes of it, wanting to live middle age style, and demonstrating their corporal brutality worldwide. It is similar to the punishments we used to do back then, burning witches and the such. How ignorant we must have been to have no rights for women and other ethnicities ( Interesting how we enslaved them by extending credit money that led for their enslavement according to the Historian Niall Ferguson in his book "Civilization", now it takes other forms), to pollute the rivers to the extent that brought so many plagues and had so many people lose their lives to it. I'm sure that back then there were people that had their head straight on from our perspective today , I wonder how did the rest of the people take the more progressive opinions.


Truth is that a lot has changed, but also a lot has stayed the same, I would go the distance to say we live in Modern Middle Ages (MMA?). Whether knowingly or unknowingly we still pollute our common environment (see Chemtrails). We are still suffering from plagues of degenerative disease due to ignorance about our lifestyles and consumption, and these are only the things we have immediate control of.


We are living in a world were social media gives people the ability to unite, throw corrupt governments, and do all sort of things that require coordination between strangers. We have these tools as well as progressive knowledge of right and wrong, yet we still can't bring genocide to an end. We are still slaves to the banks and governments that own us. So busy chasing the bills that we don't come about. We don't educate ourselves about what really matters. We fall to the trap of consumerism and dumbing ourselves down. We allow ourselves to keep destroying the planet, ignoring all the signs, and taking no action.


As far as our population numbers it seems we are growing, so apparently we are doing better then ever. But I wonder about the people 200 years from now, when they think about us, what would they say, how obviously stupid we must have been. They will be correct sorry to say. The good thing is that we are probably on the right track, and hopefuly you too are moving in the right direction.


Be well and read my other 
blogs

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* Image is taken from the music album "pleasure to kill" by Kreator
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Cancer Cure Found!

3/3/2016

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How about instead of wasting billions on research to find a cure for cancer, we stop consuming carcinogenic materials, and make them illegal like we do with heavy drugs.
It is rationally impossible to consume compounds that cause cancer, and then find a chemical that will eliminate any possible cancer in all structures of our bodies. What ever happened to preventive medicine?


How about instead of researching for the chemical cure, you go and research sites like PubMed.com where there is lots of scientific research to show exactly which compounds we consume in "food" and cosmetics are carcinogenic, and how bad.


How about investing in research on how to get this information to the masses who doesn't know of the existence on carcinogens in their consumable products, what would happen to cancer if we got the message across to stop consuming those. What would happen to our productivity by which we tend to measure our success. What would happen to our joy of being alive, and so on...


Problem solved! If it didn't you were just listening to the wrong side of the propaganda
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Failing the Food front with Spices

3/1/2016

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Many of us try hard to eat healthy, only to mess it all up with the spices we use. We tend to think spices are healthy, and in any case, what adverse effects could a little bit of powdery stuff have on our health?

The problem starts when we use spices that contain many ingredients as opposed to spices and herbs of one or two ingredients. When you use real spices (herbs), you are benefiting your health since those spices containing a solo ingredient do have beneficial properties. However when you need a heavy duty spice that has more ingredients then your shopping list, it probably means that:
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1.      Your food was low grade if it needed that much seasoning.
2.      Your taste buds aren't functioning due to the numbing effect of sugars, MSG, and not eating enough real foods.
3.      You are loading your body with MSG, which is being used under 50 different names and might even say no MSG added, making it appear to taste so good...but that is the point.  Some of the code names sound so innocent such as 'Yeast extract' to seem more welcoming. Another aggressor you could find in the heavy duty spices is Trans fatty acids, also used under multiple names, and known to cause cancer and other bad health conditions.

So there you have it. Use single spices and herbs and know that you are on the right track for bettering your existential experience or grab the heavy duty “yummy” spices and fool yourself to think you’re making a healthy choice and that the little powder can’t be all that bad for you. 
    ​
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Could it be that everything you know about the world are lies

2/10/2016

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We are going to play a fun game. Imagine you got struck by amnesia and had to reconsider all of your beliefs again.

Some guidelines to think with: Some beliefs could benefit a small percentage of people but that doesn't make that belief an absolute truth, For a truth to be absolute, it needs to represent the entire picture and hold truth for everyone.

Consider these thought filters; Is this thought about the design of our current civilization benefiting you? Or are you trapped in a false perspective that play to the hands of a few perverted predatory individuals and organizations.

Another thing to consider is if something is working for you doesn't necessarily mean that a better and bigger perspective couldn't work even better for you, and solve issues that you might not even be aware of yet.

It seems that there are many pieces of "common knowledge" that stand in the way of us functioning better. Some form of false data striping should be applied to develop the ability to challenge our beliefs and be flexible in the way we hold on to them. That might prove to be crucial.

I've assembled a few beliefs about our civilization. It is fun to play this game with other thoughts as well as there are many more.


1. Great wealth is money
The saying goes that when you are young your energy goes into making money. And when you get older your money goes to fix your fading health. There is also the capitalistic hunger for material, money and power. However, experience many times proves that these commodities don't necessarily provide fulfillment and satisfaction in life. It seems that deep social connections and bountiful health predicate happiness better, with many examples of very happy and poor people as well as depressed rich people living with great limitations. Money isn't the most important thing to live by!  It can be nice to have it but it isn’t worth having at any cost. Some costs are just too much and at the end of the day it’s a commodity. It doesn’t matter where it comes from, it always remains the same.

Health on the other hand always brings happiness and satisfaction. If you are not happy and satisfied then your health is suffering. Healthy disciplines tend to build character in ways that benefit the social fabric. It's worth any cost!
With great health comes great wealth! True wealth.

2. Hard work leads to great wealth
This line of thought possibly comes from the industrial era where lots of hard work and discipline was needed to benefit factory owners. Instilling the believe that 'it is possible for anyone to grow rich' to the masses. In today's reality we see that people work harder and harder in what we call the "rat race", where the hard work blinds you from seeing the big picture due to the fact that you end up having no time to educate yourself.
Success isn't necessarily easy but thinking smart, educating yourself, and seeing the big picture has proven to provide a bigger value especially when it's backed by high work ethics. Many times understanding the situation better can save lots of unnecessary or counter productive work.
Smart work beats hard work.

3. Our main food staples are our worst enemies
It's been over 200 years since the industrial revolution effected our way of eating, with cereal foods, and carbs being mass produced, and new health problems introduced to our culture. With the generous help and support of our world governments, a trend that has been increasing till the 70's when with the endorsement of western medicine we got the recommendation for a diet high in carbs and low in evil fats. Backed by "science" and statistics that been showing a catastrophic increase in degenerative diseases all across the board.
  • The Oat plants family is full of Gluten which attack our system, destroy the villi in our gut, and create anti bodies that are responsible for many auto immune diseases.

  • The soy bean, our favorite bean, is responsible for increased estrogen production causing feminine symptoms in men, carcinogenic, and destroying hormonal balance in woman.

  • Dairy products, containing the carbohydrate lactose which our body mostly can't digest, breaks down and rots in our system causing bloating, gas, and a host of auto Immune issues that also stem from the ratio of casein and albumin.

  • Alcohol, needless to say, is probably our worst enemy of all. Food is much better for us prior to being rot. There is a difference between fermented foods containing gut beneficial bacteria (like sauerkraut), and alcohol which destroy beneficial gut bacteria and everything else in it's way.

And then we wonder why we have bad genetics and why we inherit bad health, When we really only inherit bad health habits.

4. Media bias; World peace has been held back by USA imperialism and the State of Israel by curbing the human rights ambitions of Muslim countries.
We are now starting to see that the USA fulfills a vital part in world management. With great power comes great responsibility. We can't shy away from it, not even for a noble cause, and by shying away from the responsibility it allows all sort of bullies to raise their heads. This doesn't prevent war, but makes it inescapable, and increases the amount of casualties that will be amounting once it occurs. More specifically, not every country is being led by values such as human rights and other modern world luxuries. No one is saying that everyone else should or is ready for such indulgences but In order to protect our way of life, intervention in less fortunate areas is necessary with the belief that our moral supremacy is to be trusted more than their corruption.

Then we have the long time notion that Israel has been the reason for the unrest in the Middle East, and an "invation" of the west into it. Today we are learning that the Arab countries have been a facade. That they relay stronger to their tribal denomination. and have been given freedom their citizens only want to slauter one another due to religious differences. Their problems obviously have been larger all of these years than their imaginary Israeli enemy, and now that they keep killing each other by the thousands. It is clear that human rights are a relative issue (not to mention about "refugees" rights already violated by Europe), yet the world still tries to hold onto and overlook Israeli settlements on its land.

"Refugees" are now invading the west. There is nothing wrong with having all sorts of people with conflicting ideologies, but sometimes each one is better off facing their own creation and dealing with their own reality instead of mixing with the opposite way of life. Just like Candida is great when it's contained in the small intestine, helping to break down food, but we wouldn't want it out of the intestine, being systemic and running through our body causing trouble.

We need world leaders that can see the path to making their country flourish in the context of making the planet flourish. We need leaders that can earn other world leaders respect, ones that can coordinate despite contradictory differences toward world betterment, without having the need to have everyone conform to one way of operating. Leaders that don't have the urge to automatically make amends or throw the blame, but instead can look deep and understand the weak link in the system, address it without bias, and find the real obstacles that are truly responsible for the lack of coordination.

5. The way to health is to go through Cardio exercise and Bodybuilding at the gym.
Back in the 70's a new awareness to exercise started to take over the western world, championed by cardio type exercise and bodybuilding gym franchises.
By the 80's the bodybuilding scene was already led by the need for steroids and other components that made it irrelevant for health. The science of the last decade made it clear about all the problems caused by cardio type of exercise, from production of bad hormones that cause us to gain fat and lose muscle, to the pounding of our joints and its corrosion.

Yet somehow even though there has been so much new science to back a new way of training, it seems like the mainstream circuit are still holding onto the notion of the glorious days of bodybuilding, the creation of aerobic dance, and jogging have a magical formula to improve health. Weight lifting can be done in a healthy way of course, and it won't weaken you like its cardio counterpart. But keep in mind the health price in mobility and coordination among other costs. The science keeps moving forward, finding better ways of achieving better results. We can target our goals more specifically then we could in the past. Lots of people are already enjoying these realizations, though it seems that it is still a while from becoming a critical mass.

6. Western Medicine can heal our ailments
Western medicine doesn't deal with solving problems, only with masking symptoms. Western medicine doesn't heal our bodies. We heal despite the medicine if we are strong enough (they do have some beneficial procedures like their medical examinations, but that's not enough to take their advice blindly or taste their medicine as it will most likely injure you one way or another). The number one cause of death in our society is degenerative disease and western medicine claims to not know the reason they occur to begin with. Science did find the reasons behind them but this science isn't available to the doctors since it is bad for business. Medical corporations devise the schooling of doctors in a way that doesn't cover important topics such as nutrition and instead has the main focus be on medicine prescription.

Instead of looking for magical formulas, a good place to look at is the symptom and its root. Why are we feeling lethargic? Why is there a headache? A degenerative process? Where did we get out of balance? How far can we continue with it? What is the price we are paying? When would be a good time to truly address that? In the meantime it might be better to keep and feel the suffering, develop some stronger skin, and keep it to remind us to address it at some point.


Why does captive killer whales always have a sad looking back fin? What set us apart from our wild counterparts? This current blog have been an extension of a shorter blog ("Are you informed") I published a year ago.

At the end of the day we are all connected. Instead of trying to make some gains on someone else's back, realize we can all coexist better if we don't only think selfishly, however do so without self sacrifice.
We can gain more if we realize the big picture and are willing to give away the immediate gain.

There is always the question whether you really know something if you don't act on it. Fact is that you don't. If you don't act on it there is still something about it you haven't realized yet. And here I am acting on my knowledge for you.
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FINE TUNE YOUR BALANCE- MOBILITY AND MOVEMENT PATTERNS WITH A KICK!

2/4/2016

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My name is Amir Solsky, but in the Capoeira world I am known as Contra Mestre Parafina. I got into Capoeira right before I was 18. The art took hold of me for many reasons, as well as my understanding of it deepened throughout the years. At first it was the emphasis on Mobility and Flexibility, later on I found the social aspect very inviting and refreshing, and then onward to appreciate each part the art has to offer, from fighting, to dancing, acrobatics, music and more. Even to this day I still discover new parts about it that thrills me. 
 
We are about to look into one of the basic Capoeira kicks called an Armada (
https://youtu.be/YiJUQOKrl3E), which is a spinning kick that has a major part in creating a dynamic game between the Capoeira players. This kick as well as the rest of the Capoeira moves should be performed comfortably where balance should not be an issue. We are training to be comfortable in every part of the technique, same as we do while walking. Therefore we need to be able to perform the move very slow, even to a point where we could completely stop in any instance, as well as performing it very fast. 
 
One of the main components of that ability is the expansion of balance as well as mobility within the ranges of this movement. Balance is easier to achieve while moving fast at first, and then fine-tuned in slow motion. 
 
- A good way to start is by doing sets of standing leg raiser kicks, straight up forward, together with arm switches as in this Pictures and video (
https://youtu.be/e_GNi514v3o): (pictures below)  (click on the pictures to enlarge)


 
- Following that with a slower knee extension drills to emphasize active flexibility strength:  

Start with standing on a leg with the knee locked straight, bring the other knee up as high as you can without bending the bottom knee. 
 
Then extend the higher knee and hold for 10 seconds, then bend the knee and see if you can get it even higher, repeat 6 times for one set of a total of 60 sec hold. build up to 3-5 sets for each side. (pictures below)  (click on the pictures to enlarge)

 
 
In order to develop the physical ability to perform the kick well, a person needs to be mobile in order to avoid some of the pitfalls that we will look into later in this article. Another alignment that should also be used in order to improve flexibility for this kick is in the front split, as well as front split while leaning backward (https://youtu.be/Uf2wjhCW3bc): 
(pictures below)  (click on the pictures to enlarge)

Once you take the steps to build and put the skills into what is needed for the Armada, you can then move on to focusing on the actual movement that takes place for this kick to happen. For a correct performance of the kick it isn't enough to be able to lift and swing the leg around correctly; that is the easiest part of the kick. What makes the kick powerful and usable is the footwork that happens just before it. 
We will look at two main movements that together will create a quality kick: 
 
The first movement is called the 'Entrada', which is the entrance into the kick. Basically it is a step forward, stepping with your legs parallel to each other and in the direction of your target. (picture below)
 
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From this step you will need to perform a backward spin on your front foot, while pivoting both feet without lifting them off  the ground. This spin should end with your chest facing the target, at which point the back leg will leave the ground and become a kick. A good drill for that is performing the Entrada without the kick, and then simply returning back instead of kicking. Without a quality entrance there will not be a quality kick. In other words, the entrance is the kick, improving the entrance will improve the kick. (https://youtu.be/uOWIpo1V1go). 
 
The second step is the 'Balanca', which is a shift of weight from one leg onto the other while your legs are parallel to each other and parallel to the target. This is the position we take prior to the step forward (the Entrada). The wider the step, the more power I could build into the kick (to an extent). If my feet are very close to each other, when stepping forward, I will not be balanced and my kick will be very weak. 'Balanca' is the shift I make from side to side in the Parallel position prior to stepping forward. For example, if we are kicking to the right, we will start in the parallel position with the body's weight on the left foot. (picture below)
  
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Then we will shift that weight onto the right foot (the 'Balanca'), and step forward with the left foot (the Entrada),  spinning to the right, backward on our left foot to complete the spin and kick the right leg for the Armada. 
 
This kick isn't very difficult. Usually the problem is mostly with coordination, and once we figure it out, it’s pretty easy. Some people might also have some mobility issues and those should be addressed with the drills above. 
 
Now it’s time for the do's and don'ts. A common problem we see in the kick, is that people shift their heads forward as they raise their leg in front of them. This is usually due to lack of mobility. (picture below)  (click on the pictures to enlarge)
  

When kicking, the body should stay straight just like in standing, maintaining the ability to arch back while kicking if escape is in order from a counter kick.

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​ Another common problem is shifting sideway when kicking. Many people will shift their weight onto the left after a kick to the right has passed the target, making the hip and body tilt sideways, 
 (pictures below)  (click on the pictures to enlarge)

and allowing the kick to pass much higher from the side which is not needed. The problem is that it will take longer to arrive to a safe base and will throw the player out of the center of the spin, therefore out of balance, and will make movement combinations much more difficult. 
The kick should be executed with the hips squared and comfortably balanced.  (picture below)
 
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After you've practiced and built all of these correct patterns, you might be ready to start training on acquiring the kick. 
 
The first drill will correspond to the coordination needed so that you can figure out your body parts and what needs to happen: (https://youtu.be/C8oZNzKxtJs): 
 
Standing normal, hold you left pants, and move your left leg forward  (click on the pictures to enlarge)
 
Then take a hold of your right leg pants, and take a step backward with your right leg. (picture below)
 
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Once done do it for the other side. for more levels of complexity look at the video link above these pictures. 
 

The second drill is a slow execution of the position we will travel through, to the completion of the kick. Later on these could be performed also faster. (
https://youtu.be/biibV92REFY) 
 
There are many continuations from this kick; we could go into another kick, into an acrobatic, into a floor movement, and many more options. Here is a continuation for going into an escape called 'Esquiva Baixa' (Low Escape):(
https://youtu.be/dXkYBbknA2Y)  
 

Armada finishing low on the floor in the Low Escape position (pictures Below)  (click on the pictures to enlarge)
 

This kick involves the entire body when done correctly.  Most of the impact falls mostly on the legs, as well as the lower back in the connection parts. If you are not used to performing it then these are the areas you will probably feel after training it.  
 
I hope you will enjoy playing and preparing for this beautiful kick. It is one of the main building blocks of the game and it's one of the reasons why the game looks flowy and smooth. The Armada is one of the most basic spinning moves we use for interaction and creation of momentum with the type of movement that will expand as you progress into a big variety of spinning moves and abilities that stem from them. 


This article was published at Unconventional Athletes Magazine, to read other interesting content on it go to:

http://www.unconventionalathletes.com/mag/issue4rev.pdf​
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How can changes in body perspective change your results?

1/11/2016

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​There are many ways to get ahead in the body game. Learning to use your body in different ways always results in a new body perspective and new movement options as it expands your view on what is possible for you.

There are many ways to arrive at these new body perspectives. Some perspectives are easily gained as you learn skills that are easy for you to master due to a high level of function capacity and easy skills. Other skills might be more challenging where many times lots of work has to be put in. During the hard work phase you would make little discoveries along the way, and learn to use the levers of your unique body, or the length of one limb versus another.

Another way to discover these perspectives is through the guidance of someone who has been through the learning curve and understands how to be the tour guide, developing the journey for the new practitioner of the skill.

Another way that helps gain the new body perspective is putting lots of thinking into its mechanics by constantly thinking it over and over, realizing there is something we don't know about it since we can't perform it, and looking for that component that will make everything seem different.

There are many examples of this process in many skills. Complex skills have their common pitfalls, a good example would be the entrance from standing on four into a bridge. Say a practitioner has a good open bridge. Many practitioners have a hard time rotating the shoulder correctly to get in and out of that position. While focusing on the movement of the shoulder could be confusing at first and lead to various falls or wrong positions, a simple que to use the head and look at the hand which is on the floor as you invert your head prior to placing the second hand down can make an easy fix, and open a new way of moving with great ease creating a way that wasn't accessible before and one where great complexities can be added.

As we progress in life we gain new perspective, learning a new language we learn a culture and perspective. As we learn how to better use our body we learn body perspective, our senses sharpen, our ability to understand other bodies grow with it. Looking for new perspectives is a substantial way of searching for and filtering inspiration and gaining complexity.

Enjoy the journey! 
Enjoy where you’re at!
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Useful N.Y. resolution guidelines

1/8/2016

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It's a new year, and it's time to come to a few realizations about ourselves and the world we live in. The life on this beautiful planet has been evolving over millions of years and it has culminated in all the life forms we see around us including ourselves.

There are many riches to this planet on many levels, and we the people and life forms inhabiting it, are linked together by the natural order. This natural order is too important to let it die neglected or kill it obliviously.

We have excelled in developing ourselves, and our technologies. But we've been awful at staying true to ourselves, honoring this place, and the bodies we were given.

It's a time to make a strong reflection. The habits that we never give a second thought to, it's time to analyze them and find which ones contribute to the health of this system, and which we need to modify and channel to a better outcome. It's time to rise to the next level, to use our best talent and reinvent this place, reinvent ourselves, our desires and needs. Time to find how we can create and direct our riches in the direction that'll benefit us all. How to combine our roots into a better style of living, one that adheres to and promotes the natural order, and is not dictated by egocentric purposes.

It's a good time to obliterate our nasty side that makes us consume ridiculous objects, filled with chemicals and other components that defile our inner system, and a good time to find habits that'll make us more active. To support jobs and group efforts that enhance and give real value back to this planet, and it wouldn't hurt if we could also put some thought on how to make better incentives to do just that.

This is a good time to move forward from those silly notions of the past. To develop onward and realize how empty and meaningless they are. Shouldn't be that hard.

​Happy New Years!
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How To Improve Quality Of Movement

12/16/2015

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The majority of people can walk in the street. A small percentage of these people to which we call athletes can also perform other types of movement, and a small percentage out of these can have the control of a higher percentage of their muscles to perform complex movements, manipulating their body against the environment and do what we call 'tricks' with their bodies. Out of these few people who can do tricks, very few can say they have suppleness and fine control of their body.

Many start their journey into movement qualities once becoming aware of their own physical limitations. Many do some improvements, become a bit more efficient within the borders of their lifestyles, not wanting to invest in major changes, and not being aware of how long the road goes. The saying goes that the more you know, the more you realize how much you don't know.

In modern life we have important commodities, be it good food, nice place to stay, important relationships, work conditions, money, vacations, transportation etc. These are important external things that might not seem influenced by how well we move, or how healthy we get, and they very well might not. It is the way we and our ancestors have designed our society, call it the incentive system we've implemented, going through different templates as our modern system evolved. The sad thing is that we have a bigger percentage of obesity and sickness, and a higher percent of sadness, mental health issues, broken marriages and dissatisfaction. Some people think that mental health and mental resilience are not linked to physical health. I have to disagree!

When compared with our hunter gatherer ancestors, as they were spreading throughout the planet, you know they were a very capable group of people, very different then what we've become. You can only imagine how connected we used to be with our bodies as a society back then.

There are many sports and healthy practices. When being asked to recommend  sporting activities for kids, I always tell parents about gymnastics or classical ballet, the type of systems that later in life allow people to excel in many movement fields. Though there are many other fields, like certain martial arts and circus arts, at the end of the day it comes down to the awareness of the teacher teaching the material, the level that teacher has reached, his ability to convert it onto the students, and the ability of the practitioner to recognize that level.
​

I'm just putting this out here, I hope it helps someone to make a better decision
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Develop your health while you are young!

11/4/2015

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The later in life people are, the more health conscious they become. Most older people try to eat better and get more conscious of better health choices. The above recommendation is probably something you heard from older people by now. The older people get, the more degenerative issues they experience, both on themselves and friends, which are the results of unhealthy lifestyles.

The younger you are the more impact a healthy lifestyle will have on you. The best time to start is before you are even conceived. Parents should eat very healthy for at least 6 months prior to fertilization for the most impact on the correct development of an unborn child. The younger we are the stronger our hormones and DNA are, with the ability to construct super health and super humans.

People that start training and living healthy at their mid 20's will possibly have a very hard time undoing some of the damages they have already acquired. Their health potential has decreased by then. Of course it is never too late to get healthy and fulfill your health potential at the point where you are at.

But generally speaking there is a great point for early education of young people by directing their attention to building themselves up for a more healthy fulfilling life with the ability to enjoy living in their bodies. The sooner we wake up from the destructive habits we cultivated the better! It's especially sad to see an older person sticking to destructive habits like smoking or drinking, ignoring all the signs and symptoms of deteriorating health, making them seem so irresponsible it is a form of suicide. We sometimes see that with a friend or a relative, at a point where it has gone too far and it is beyond our ability to help or effect that person, it can be painful to observe.

Destructive habits however don't end with smoking and drinking. It goes all the way down to what and how we eat as well as our activity level (including how balanced that activity is). Eating unhealthy food is obviously very damaging to every part of our body from the way we look to our digestive system. With poor digestion comes poor ability to absorb nutrients which leads to shrinking of vital organs and even the brain!

Some people never wake up and realize the importance of healthy living. The consequences are a loss and a person who doesn't know themself, a person that hasn't reached their health potential, and a person that thinks the joy of destructive habits is bigger then the joy of health.

Our society as a whole is a sick society with the majority of people having severe health conditions at a very young age, you can see it by going out to the street. People try to get healthy by following the wrong advice that only causes them to get worse. The advice you will get about health from a sick society will generally not be very helpful. People try to hold onto bad eating patterns by finding a way to make excuses as to why it is healthy, like the concept of eating in Moderation (which I also wrote about in 2012).

You should research what being healthy truly means. The animals in the wild are generally healthy. We should find out what part of the planet we have developed in, what sort of diet was consumed at that part of the world for the past thousands of years, and what type of lifestyle have we developed to survive. I promise you it is very different then today's world, but many times bringing back the old and connecting to our true roots can bring back great ideas.

Health is a journey, we can always find ways to better ourselves, and doing better is fun and fulfilling. The other option is doing worse and there is nothing inbetween. The place between better and worse is a temporary plateau, and after that come worse. Maintaining is an illusion. Fulfill your health potential!
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Creating Pain Free Joints Through Bodyweight and Weight Training 

10/11/2015

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Joint discomfort is a common issue among athletes as well as sedentary people. Ranging from common issues like arthritis to tendonitis and soft tissue tears. There are many ways to look at these types of issues. From the bodies inner environment, i.e. the hormonal and anti inflammatory body environment that could support a healthy and robust connective tissues. Or a bodily environment that would break and degrade them.


To the type of movement a person performs throughout his day to day activities, the level of coordination of his body and how he aligns himself biomechanically. How balanced is his physical activity? Does the resistance load impact his system in a balanced and gradual manner?
In this article we will be looking more into the movement side of the equation. Having pain free joints is the natural way to be. The majority of people that move correctly, have a balanced practice that is put together with all the correct variables, as well as eating correctly, should not experience chronic joint pain. Our bodies should be able to naturally heal any acute damage to the joint structure, as well as any other structure in our body.

A pain, any type of pain, is the alarm the body activates when trying to tell us that something is wrong. Healthy people should not experience pain other then injuries here and there. And if they do experience it they should be questioning their health. This is a pretty simple concept, and is the one thing to look at when things stray from the natural way and into the zone of pain, and specifically here, joint pain.

Manipulating weights isn't a less natural way of moving than bodyweight training. Both ways could cause joint pain when full consideration of variables isn't taken into account. The main difference between the two is that with bodyweight training you are manipulating your own body against other objects. As such, you can create various levels of resistance, and develop strength in relation to your own body weight, in alignments that will translate well to moving your body in space.

Both styles of training should be looked at from the standpoint of joint preparation. If you are about to start training toward the Iron-Cross exercise on the Gymnastics Rings, you should prepare your shoulders and elbows for the specific load that will be placed on them, as well as the muscle mass to support that effort. Failure to do so could lead to bad injuries in those joints. This type of approach of course will apply to martial arts, dance, and any field of movement or specific demands on the body.

Similarly, if you are about to undertake exercising at the local gym, you should ask yourself if your joints are stable enough to take on a high load that you might be desiring. Loading a lax joint heavily might compromise its integrity. A joint focused type of work should be incorporated, prior and as you are increasing your loads.

When it comes to joint pain in training, it usually comes from people wanting to develop muscle and strength through the different methods, without giving extra thought to the condition of their joints.

When loading a muscle, the load also falls on the tendon that connects the muscle to the bone, and on the ligament that connects one bone to another. The problem is that those connective tissues respond differently to resistance than the muscle.

For a muscle to grow stronger it takes a high level of resistance intensity and a relatively smaller number of repetitions. For a connective tissue to strengthen, it takes a smaller resistance (especially when the load is directed at the connective tissue and less on the muscle), and much more repetitions. And that difference in structure and response to resistance, is where problems many times start. The reason being is that a muscle fiber has tissue that has the ability to contract and expand against resistance, and that is it's ability to induce action, while using nutrients and body materials as energy sources. The connective tissue doesn't have this type of active contracting ability, instead its a tissue that has various percentages of collagen, which makes for a gradual elasticity versus solidity along the course of its tissue.

At the higher levels of resistance, sufficient joint strengthening should be taking place, as you can't build a strong muscle on a weak joint. This type of preparation is task specific, as strength is task specific as well. And it should be achieved in the direction of the strength that is about to be developed.

At the lower levels of functionality, a more general approach should be incorporated to challenge the ligaments of the body in multiple directions, challenging their strength, elasticity, and endurance, preparing for day to day chores.

Naturally this type of approach could help prevent a later in life occurrence of arthritis, and prevent the need for rehabilitation type of work for people with degraded joints, as it will thicken the connective tissue, and make it better suited to deal with the daily stresses.

Some of the common practices in relation to joint pain are ultrasound, various types of specific massage technics as well as medications, and heat pads. These are all passive approaches, while they could help with removing inflammation, and reducing the pain. They will not build a stronger and thicker connective tissue, and therefore will not fix the problem on a longer term basis.

Only correct resistance, active work can make the body adapt in a way of strengthening the joints, and putting connective material where it's needed for a better function. And that should be done coupled with a correct nutritional approach in order to minimize inflammatory processes, and provide sufficient building blocks for the tissue.
​
This type of material and work can be found at the Fundamentals of Movement system. Contact us as at FundamentalsOfMovement.com for information, online training programs, and one on one training and seminars.




You can find a slighty modified version of this article that I published on 'Onnit' online magazine here:
https://www.onnit.com/academy/how-to-build-pain-free-joints-with-resistance-and-bodyweight-training/


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The Value Of Strength

9/19/2015

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I've been seeing people working hard at getting specific Strength feats, whether it'd be Planches, Levers or various Handstands, as well as various maneuvers between those strength skills. Some people been employing these in order to get an advantage for their already established field of practice, while others try to achieve these road block in and of themselves. 

Strength is a task specific/ alignment specific quality.

There are many different strength factors such as Endurance Strength, Flexibility Strength, Speed Strength and others.
Many people would say Strength is the most important factor in adaptability for new movements and sports, and for success within certain fields. Truth is that coordination is also just as an important factor for the ability to adapt well to new movement patterns and types, and both should be directly addressed for general adaptability. 

Some patterns of strength will translate to other activities better then others. For the purpose of some activities, strength in relation to body mass (Relative Strength) will be the determining factor. For other sports it will be maximal strength, or the ability to produce strength in regardless of body mass. 

Another big factor is the pattern of muscle recruitment, some body alignments within certain over all planning, will give the types of strength that could translate easier to many activities, where other types of strength might have a more narrow application. The best type of strength development for conditioning purposes would be the type that makes the closest mimic to the aplication of it.

The progress I've been seeing  is still at an early phase and there is still lots of things to learn, I been seeing a growing awareness for balance in the practice in order to avoid imbalances that lead to injuries. That is a blessed direction, which deserves much more work. Another thing I've been noticing is the ease with which people adopt to the new pattern, Majority of people are all looking to acquire the same strength skills as road blocks, while there are so many other great skills to acquire that are worth the while (if you look at gymnastics where we take many of these strength skills, not everybody is a rings specialist). For example, look at the Thomas flares from Gymnastics, I have hardly seen fitness people working on that one, many people would like to develop great straight arm strength and are approaching the gymnastics rings for it. But how about static explosive strength under full body load, landing on the elbows for the intensity you only get with the Thomas Flares. 

It is a big picture, there is a lot to be able to think with it, everything is individual, and there is much more material to explore then what we have seen so far. 

We live in an exciting era, where we get to see where the fitness industry is being lead to. It has a gynormous potential to effect people's approach to training, and it's place in our lives. To my view it should be the answer for the "boxed" (as in a box) lifestyles many of us are living, and not just another "boxed" necessity.

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Acquiring the right tastes

9/10/2015

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Babies acquire the taste of the first foods introduced to them, it is a learning curve, as they grow we keep introducing new foods to them, some they like and some they don't, only to discover later that they do like them. Those foods they didn't like at first, we call acquired taste.

Acquiring tastes is something we do throughout our entire life, whether cultivating habits, acquiring tastes for foods, drinks, relationships, movement patterns or concepts, and many other things.

It usually starts with something we could do without, we have no need for it and we ask ourselves, should we pick that up? In case we decided to go for it and succeed, it can become part of our daily routine, the way we look at life and the way we conceive of ourselves, to a point where we might not be able to imagine life without it.

People grow in different ways and directions, everyone has his own interest, some people think ahead and plan how they would like to become, and pick up their habits according to that road map, other might pick up habits at random, or following certain people and adopting their choices.

Sometimes we pick up a habit, and later down the road we realize that this habit didn't take us in the direction we wanted initially to go, the habit was a mistake, but now we have an attachment to this habit and sometimes it's hard to give those habits up, even when we know it is working against us.

Some people have different awareness in this regard, some can isolate the wrong pattern and work out a way to grow out of it, while others might seek some guidance, someone who can help them through the growing pains. Some people develop greater attachment to those old ways, many times greater attachment then they have for their original purpose. When that happens they end up developing in the wrong direction, feeling unfulfilled.

As someone who helps people cultivate new ways, it isn't always easy to understand someone's road, and put him back on it, or help them develop and acquire new ways, many times people resist those new ways, only to like them later, and understand what they have prevented from themselves.

Many times it takes lots of patience, repetition, and the building of trust, to get someone to develop these new patterns. And when thinking about it, it is good for these patterns to be examined in that way, as it could be a very long term commitment.

It is something we all do, but it's good to think about it sometimes.


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Our Talegraph review in India

8/27/2015

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After the Q&A published in the Telegraph Magazine in India, we now got our second post, which is a review of the FOM Seminar. Thank you Manju Bagur for coordinating the media in addition for caring to make the event happens with this much success, it would had never happened without you, great to see the appereciation of the people who came, seeing their new gained perspective that could lead to anything.
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How Do I Start Training With 'Fundamentals Of Movement'.

8/22/2015

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There are a few ways to get started training with Fundamentals Of movement (FOM)

At the moment there are people around the world that are training and studying the system in order to become certified instructors, and be able to hold FOM classes possibly in your neighborhood.
However for today, August 2015, we still don't have such classes.

FOM is geared more toward individualized work, which can be done also in a group setting, people could work in little teams, or by themselves if they are advanced enough, together with the group flow.

At the moment there are four ways to get started with FOM (and of course aside from those you are always welcome to book private sessions or join me to my own training). All ways support each other and it's most recommended to do all if the interest is there.

First way is to start with an online program, you can find out how the Online programming can help you achieve your own personal goals here. In the process you will also realize how well the system work, fixing weak links and taking you to your next level. What you will not get is a comprehensive explanation as to how and why it works.

Second way is to start with a Nutritional program, getting healthier through better eating habits. In FOM we implement small changes to the personal eating habits, in order to facilitate a slightly better lifestyle, or bigger changes, depends on our judgment and consultation with the client. For more information about Nutritional Consultations click here.

Third way is "the Healthy Body program", this one program is a combination of the first two and more, it is our most hands on offering, where results will be most powerful, for information about that click here.

Fourth way is to take a FOM seminar, or Intensive, or a Cert. Seminar, where you will learn the theory behind the system, you will get to understand many of its ways, and play with different concepts. You will get a great wide picture that will give you tools and perspective to analyze everything you had done so far, and get more out of them.

In order to qualify for a Certification seminar you will need to have experience in both sides of the ladder, both the training, and the theoretical part that would need to be implemented by the time of the Cert. The practical knowledge for the cert. is quite comprehensive even for level 1, be ready to work hard to be able to represent us delivering quality health to our friends.
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Why should I train with 'Fundamentals Of Movement'

8/20/2015

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It is interesting to ask people why they train. Usually you get some simple answers like 'I want to look good', when digging a bit deeper you can discover other reasons and deeper interesting perspectives like why a person thinks a certain look is better than another or how would it change their life if they did look a certain way.

Looking at the simple answers there are three themes that we usually come across, that can be present individually, or as a combination of  the three.
First theme, people that want to look good, and might not care about anything else but how they look.
It might seem shallow but who is anyone to judge? People have their own reasons in life, people been through different things, they might not even like to exercise, but at the end of the day they are willing to do the minimum or the maximum to look good.
You would see these people going to the gym or the cross-fit box to lift weights and get more muscle size. Or you would see them at the aerobics room trying to lose weight, or using the cardio machines.

Fundamentals Of Movement offers resistance training that will increase muscle size. Problem with other resistance type training is that muscle does grow, but it doesn't always look proportional.  The work doesn't always distribute evenly throughout the body, and many times doesn't target the weaker less fun parts. With FOM it's always about body alignment for bodyweight resistance and real proportions will always be the results. Instead of only doing robotic moves which are more suited for rehabilitation, we actually get to have fun in the process, using real skills.

Second theme, people who want to be healthy, some might not care about how they look, but rather want only to preserve their body, so that they can happily live in it, free of any pains and disease, plus the doctors recommend it.

For this one FOM is a no brainer. Increasing mobility, giving attention to joint health, and building strength that applies to daily activities, will make any other life activity more rewarding. With whatever time limitation you might have, you could only learn how to Maximize the health benefits from your day to day activities by using your body correctly shopping for groceries, or learn how to better your posture consciously. 
 The more time you invest in yourself the better your health will become following this specific system created for that.

The third theme we come across is people that want to be able to do a certain move, skill, or combination. These types of athletes are often performers at various levels of ability, as well as regular people who are fascinated by these abilities.
What these people sometimes forget, is to work on the conditioning side of things. Without strength, balance in the joints, and active flexibility, there will be more injuries in the process, which could take a toll on the speed of progression. Specific strength can help overcome plateaus in the progress, and help to increase abilities, so people can also improve beyond their current physical capacity. Strength also helps stabilize the joint preventing injuries, where Active flexibility will help absorb shocks sparing body tissue. Don't forget fat loss to get lean, and energy production systems.
With these the system is well equipped to mimic the type of strain a particular skill demand, and enhance that according to supercompansation/ adaptation principles.

Beyond the conditioning factor we also work with various skills that compliment each other. 

- Floor acrobatics to enhance posterior shoulder and back health. 
- Aerial skills to develop more pulling strength (opposite from pushing the floor during acrobatics) with apparatuses such as fabric, rope and gymnastics rings. 
- Explosive skills for expression of power. We work on various balance work on the floor, as well as partner balance work, various strength and flexibility skills and the system is open for other types of skills that can be analyzed and enhanced through its principles.

FOM is accommodating, it is planned to fit the lifestyle of the practitioner, and maximize her results within the constraints of her time, abilities or desires. The door is always open for further growth and development. It has room for people who only want efficiency in their limited training time, as well as education for those who would like to invest more in their knowledge about these topics as the system is very comprehensive.
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Our Quest For Money

8/16/2015

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I believe that moving ahead in life is about gaining a new perspective.

Are you familiar with the old adage about the 1% that control most of the money in the world economy by controlling banks and governments, basically stealing money from the poor?

Well that very well might be the case. Another way to looking at it is that money wasn't developed by nature wasn't it, so people like you and me are those who created it, basically from thin air! Now some of us managed to create more of it, maybe also by getting us to give it to them, but ultimately we all created it into existence.

It is similar to our quest for health, we create it!  people can learn how to have more for themselves. Health is yours! Whether you have more of it or less, you should claim it. And here it's obvious I couldn't take mine from you, though some dictators do take health from people.

Now part of my ways of staying healthy are eating meat. I take animals life to sustain mine, and I will do so till the animal can out smart me into not eating it, it's called the process of evolution. If I really went to hunt it, it might try to fight me, but in nature animals found better ways to escape and avoid the costly fight.

Same about your money, instead of going on about your life while blaming the rich for your misfortune, open up your eyes, and learn what it really take to change your conditions and how to go about it. the ones you criticize the most probably should be some of your best teachers.

It's far easier to blame powerful successful people for taking what is rightly yours, then it is to ask maybe they are willing to share the wisdom and information. Truth is most people don't have strong enough desire to be truly educated! most desire to stay the same much more then they desire to change. Pessimism has low requirements, learning to ask the right questions is an acquired skill.

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Q&A  Article in the Telegraph

8/14/2015

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Published in the Magazine of Kolkata, India, the main magazine of the region.
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The Importance of Nutrients

7/22/2015

 
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On the left, pre-Colombian skull placed on top of post-Colombian skull of native Indians in Florida.
(Notice the difference in the thickness, what would it be like to live in any of those skulls)

 









Nutrient - Furnishing nourishment
Origin - Latin Nutrient, nutriens, present participle of nutrire to nourish- more at nourish
Nourish - To cause (something) to develop or grow stronger
- Merriam- Webster Dictionary.

In plain speaking, nutrients are substances that makes our bodies grow, they are building blocks that our body can work with and build new tissue with, as well as repair damaged tissue.

There are different compounds in that category, things like Proteins, fats, vitamins, Minerals, water, carbs. They are all needed in different amounts. Generally speaking people that eat food that is dense with nutrients would be healthier and more robust than people who deprive themselves from nutrients.

Generally speaking nutritionally dense foods are usually foods that grow in good soils, or clean waters. Foods that grow naturally without human interference are usually more nutritionally dense then the ones grown by men. And of course natural fresh food are much more nourishing then processes food to all its sorts.

A famous research conducted by Dr. A. Price proved that lack of nutrients in food will cause developmental issues in human beings, he compared people on western diets to people that lived in the wild all across the globe, and he had found that the people on western diets had thinner bones, bad teeth, narrow skulls and what he referred to as a facial injury, narrow gums which makes it so that wisdom teeth has to be pulled ( he had found that in all of our wild couterparts there was enough room for all the wisdon teeth to stay and function correctly ). He describes a narrowing of the nasal breathing cavity in what he had described as "mouth breathers".

Dr. A. Price had found that all of these phenomena and others did not exist in people that lived in the wild, true to their nature.

That brings us to looking at the importance of nutrients, and the consequences of consuming foods that are poor in them. By watering down our food from nutrients, eating a nourishing meal once in every few meals, we are watering down our livelihood, health and well being. Our palate gets used to eating sugary food and other food with powerful taste, that we lose our sensitivity to sense and enjoy foods that have these nutritious substances. We might think we are healthy enough according to the poor western lifestyle standards, so that we can allow ourselves to indulge, but at the end of the day we are promoting inflammation in our bodies, and we are degenerating, causing all sorts of disease, some we might wonder why we suffer from when we are young, problems like constipation, poor digestion, skin disorders, and others takes longer to develop like various autoimmune and a host of degenerative disease.

Buying, growing and seeking quality food is a necessity if we wish to create better health individually, and also as a society, healthier people make better life choices, and have a higher probability to living a more satisfying life. Healthy people are more energetic, they tend to be more optimistic, feeling that more good options are open for them. Extra positive energy is more likely to be used to help others and society and improve the quality of life for all.

We have so many problems on this planet, but it does seem to sustain a big number of us so far. Educating more people on this subject could lead to a much more efficient life for us all, and it could relive all sorts of suffering we now are going through.

Food for thoughts.

Amir Solsky








The golden rules for a healthy body‏

6/17/2015

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Majority of people now days seem to follow various sets of rules regarding their eating habits:

- drink lots of water.
- no red meat!
- eat every 3 hours.
- don't eat more then x amount of calories a day.
- don't eat past 7pm.
- and the various diets: vegan, vegetarian, paleo, Atkins, San Diego diet, pescetarian, low fat, food pyramid etc..

Most people going to a nutritionist, to work on their nutrition, would expect a complete Manuel on how to eat every single moment of the day, so that they don't have to think about it.

This attitude make it so that we grow disconnected from our body. Our body can be more accurate and sensitive then any machine. How could a Manuel book apply to our bodies the way it does for machines.
Comparing it to a machine, it would be similar to driving a car, when the gauges on the dashboard turn on for low oil, and engine is heating, saying I was told to only put gas in every 100 miles so I should be fine.

Our body has all sorts of sensors, and quite many of them. It knows it's condition in every given moment. Our body communicates with us using its own language, which seem we try to ignore; pain, hunger, thirst, tiredness, lust.. Well maybe we don't ignore lust, and maybe not the other ones, but point is we do seem to avoid paying attention to these feeling, thinking what they mean, or planning our day with attentiveness to them.

Now some people are physically less sensitive to their body then other, it has a name, it's called 'insulin resistance', it usually appears as a significant amount of belly fat, and it means that a person will need more insulin in his blood to clear sugar out of it, then a person more sensitive to insulin.
What's the problem? High Insulin put us in a less then favorable condition, and it also mean that our other inner communication systems are lagging. It isn't a fixed condition BTW, it can get better or worst.

This is basically the physical appearance to lack of connection to the body as a result of consumption.

So pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you, increase the sensitivity. Everyone have different consumption needs, and our ability to digest different sorts of food will also change throughout our life for better or for worst.

Hope this gives you a sense of freedom.

Best,
Amir Solsky.
Provider of nutritional relief.
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