You can't run away on harvest day...

A fairly short post today, as I am getting ready to fly out to Seattle for a weekend with my Exuberant Animal friends & colleagues

Supermarkets.  They're a problem.  Don't get me wrong - in many ways they are an incredible achievement of technology and logistics.  But they have so completely isolated us from the sources of our food that we no longer have any perspective on where it all comes from.

Today we're going to visit the meat aisle.  Next time you're at the supermarket take stroll down the meat section and look at what's being sold.  All the meat is pre-cut and nicely wrapped in bloodless little bundles.  You don't see many bones, do you?  Nothing in there even closely resembles the original animal, does it?

And yet it was all an animal once.  If we are going to eat meat (which I do, with gusto) then we owe it to ourselves and the animals we consume to go into the process with our eyes open.

Animals have bones.  They have organs (most of which are edible!)  They bleed.  And, like it or not, they need to be killed and gutted before they are eaten.  It's a natural thing and shouldn't shock or horrify us.  Russ here will take you through it:

(WARNING - you are about to see a chicken die.  Skip the video if you want to, but if you eat meat I think you owe it to your food to understand the process. It's really not that bad.)

For those of us without the means or the desire to kill our own poultry, I strongly suggest you start buying whole chickens at market.  Pound for pound,  buying a whole chicken is far cheaper than buying a pre-cut piece of meat.  Roasting a chicken is extremely easy, will make your house smell amazing, and will impress friends and family.  Moreover, there is something very primal and satisfying in handling the bones, skin and organs.  It is high time we reestablished this connection with our dinners.

Note:  the title for this post comes from a chapter of the fantastic book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.

Solo vs. group training?

Is it better to exercise/train with other people or by yourself?  In my mind, this is an invalid question because you should be doing both.

Many people find that having a running partner or a “workout buddy” helps them to stay motivated.  A partner can provide encouragement and conversation.  The danger, however, is that you and your partner go to the gym and spend 50 minutes chit-chatting and only 10 minutes exercising, or the pace of your run is slowed to accommodate your conversation.  I would suggest that if your partner is there to provide relief from the drudgery of your workout, you may want to reconsider how you’re working out.

 Better, surely, to integrate your partner (or group) into your training.  Some forms of dance and martial arts require this.  My new favorite, however, comes from Exuberant Animal and involves using your partners to provide resistance:

Pretty incredible stuff.  I consider myself to be in good shape and I was amazed at how challenging some of these activities were.  I strongly encourage you to integrate some of these concepts into your practice.  For those of you in New England, Exuberant Animal is holding a weekend seminar just outside of New York City on March 6-7.  Information can be found here.

So why train alone? 

In a word; Clarity.  When you are by yourself, you can fully tune into your body and your environment.  You can feel everything.  Exercise becomes meditative.

This is particularly true of any skill based form of training.  With martial arts and parkour (dance too, I imagine) the challenge is 90% mental.  When you are standing on a ledge looking at a jump, you may know that you are physically capable of making it, but it is still a tremendous challenge to take the leap.  Training partners, through their encouragement, cajoling, or just their very presence, provide a buffer between you and your self-doubt that is comforting and allows you to overcome many challenges.  However, when you are alone and there is nothing standing between you and your fear, making that jump feels twice as satisfying because it is wholly yours.

Last night, around 10 PM, I was filled with a sudden restless desire to go out and train.  I strapped on my shoes and spent the next two hours running and climbing my way through UNC’s campus.  There were still a few people out, but I largely had run of the place.  The darkness and the harsh florescent streetlights had turned the campus into an alien world and there was a strange energy in the air.  Everything felt new again.  I trained like a maniac until I was completely exhausted.  It was an experience I could not have had with other people.  But, at the same time, I cannot wait to take my training group to some of the new places I discovered so we can help each other improve and enjoy each other’s company.



Saturday Afternoon Training

The latest entry in my video training diary. 

It was unseasonably warm yesterday and we took full advantage.  I was joined by Alex, who is making great progess, and first-timer Rory, who blew me away with his natural ability.  Hopefully we'll see more from them soon!

I'm taking a small break from handstands to give my shoulders some rest and working on my kong-to-precisions, which are coming along nicely.

I'm wearing a new pair of shoes:  FiveTen Freerunners.  I'm not sure how I feel about them.  They have amazing grip but are incredibly stiff (even for a new shoe) and too padded for my taste. 

You can find the rest of my training diary here.

Please enjoy!  As always, I appreciate your thoughts & comments.