Nonconformity

I’ve always been a bit of a loner. Never been good at conforming to a group.

It’s not for lack of trying though. I’m actually a bit embarrassed when I look back at my feeble attempts to try to conform, during a time where I was convinced that it meant something was wrong with me because of it.

These days I accept and embrace it. Being content with solitude means I am never in bad company.

to be happy by yourself creates an interesting kind of freedom.

of course we are social creatures by nature, and I think everyone has to find their appropriate balance of people versus solitude. I’ve just learned about myself that I’m pretty far on one end of the spectrum, and I am OK with that.

I still think it’s good for me to get some dosage of social time, just as I think it’s healthy for extroverts to spend time being alone with their thoughts.

anyway, I’ve never been much for conformity, and it was very freeing when I stopped trying.

I think the moral of the story is to find your own way. And then experience the opposite so you understand a wider perspective.

Developing a Healthier Relationship with your social media accounts

It's easy to get caught up in the current world of social media. We get addicted to the idea of meticulously curating the parts of our lives we wish to show people in the hopes of forging our perceived identity.
This may seem like it's about to be a negative post about social media, but it's not. I think SM is an amazing way to connect with people all over the world. It's just important to keep a healthy dose of reality in order to not get consumed. The following tips may not raise your follower count or help you work the algorithm, but they can help you maintain a healthy relationship with your social media presence.

-Post for yourself. Forget about the algorithm, metrics, likes, comments, saves, etc. Your posts should be primarily for you; the number's don't make it a "good post". What makes it a good post is when you feel satisfied with it when you look back at it.

-Post when you want. Don't give into the pressure of feeling like you have to be constantly posting something. There's nothing wrong with posting every day, but the world will still keep turning if you miss a few days. "The wise man speaks because he has something to say, the fool speaks because he has to say something."

-Don't take comments seriously. When you put yourself out there, you're also opening yourself to criticism. However, most of the people who criticize have private accounts and no body of work. It's easier to criticize than to create, and even easier when you can hide behind a keyboard and firewall.

-Don't try to be someone else. Everyone will have their own unique formula for success, but copying someone else's will not be the answer for you.

-Ask yourself: Would I still do what I do if I couldn't tell anyone about it? If the answer is yes, then you're doing things for the right reasons.

There it is, just a few ways to keep a healthy relationship with your social media accounts. Now don't forget to do something today that makes you forget to look at your phone.

Is it Worth Training Like a Pro?

It seems like there is a common theme today of recreational level athletes and enthusiasts trying to hold themselves up to the standards of professional athletes.

of course there’s nothing wrong with having high standards, but sometimes it can be detrimental to the enjoyment of the practice.

so before trying to train like a pro, here are a couple questions you can ask yourself:

-am I doing the thing I set out to do?

-am I doing it safely without putting myself at unnecessary risk?

-do I enjoy doing the thing?

-what is my true goal, and would being better at the thing make me happier?

another question to ask before putting professional athletes on a pedestal, is would they train the same way if they didn’t do it for a living? Would they maintain the same training regime if they weren’t under the pressure of competition? What unnecessary risks are they taking? Does the practice bring joy to their lives?

as always, no answers or absolute statements here, just something to think about when it comes to your practice and goals within it.

Personally, I’ve been trying to get out of the mindset of analyzing every little thing that went wrong, but rather try to see the bigger picture and enjoy it for its flaws.

It’s still a work in progress though.

Two Basic Diet Rules to Live By

I get a lot of questions about my diet, And most of the time I don’t really have any answers. I don’t think there is any universal optimal diet, there are just too many factors to consider from person to person.

so here is the best generalized diet advice I can give:

-shop local when you can. The food is generally fresh, better quality, and more money goes directly to the farmers and producers instead of the middleman. And I think it’s always worth supporting small business farmers who put love and care into what they do.

Even better if you can grow your own food, but that’s definitely a bigger commitment.

Don’t worry about organic, it’s just a certification. Local food should always take highest priority.

-Cook your food from scratch as often as possible. Learn to enjoy it. Not only is this going to save you money, but it allows you to create something and develop appreciation for your food.

if you only follow these two rules, you could do a lot worse for yourself. I’m never going to tell anyone they should eat specific macros, foods, supplements, etc. there are simply too many unknowns so you just have to experiment for yourself. One thing I can guarantee is that whatever diet works for me may not work for somebody else, and even on top of that I’m always experimenting and tweaking things.

so shop local, cook for yourself, and bon appétit.

What makes an influencer/instaguru?

What makes an influencer/instaguru?

is it the number of followers? The never ending quest for glory and validation? The need to document everything? The promotions/partnerships? The dispersion of generalized information/advice? Maybe it’s the haters that gather to speak their disapproval?

Is it more of an attitude/state of mind than something tangible? When does the transition happen from being a regular person? Is it a permanent fixture upon one’s status, or something that can be lost/escaped?

what is the ultimate goal? To help others or help myself?

“when the best leader’s work is done, the people say ‘we did it ourselves’”

Deep thoughts

</serious philosophy>

Reasons for Learning Handstand

Every so often we have to ask the age old question of “why bother learning a handstand?”

Below are a couple of potential answers.

➡️develop body control and awareness

➡️learn a new skill

➡️training to be competitive gymnast or circus artist

➡️crossFit games includes some handstand-based movements

➡️calisthenics competitions

➡️cross training for your main sport/discipline

➡️The walls are too clean, we must dirty them

➡️just for fun

➡️validation from strangers on the Internet. handstand photos get lots of likes, plus give you street CRED from other fitness/movement accounts

➡️balance on one arm so you can be part of that elite 1%

➡️The cool kids are doing it

➡️Look younger by forcing more bloodflow to your face

➡️to be able to show off during your five minutes of inversion in yoga class

➡️reach a seemingly mediocre enough skill level so that you can launch the next hip “30 days to learn a handstand” course

➡️use it to forge your identity as “the weird dude who does handstands”

➡️to bask in the glory of strangers coming up to you and asking if you’re a gymnast

➡️become a more desirable partner for future mates

which of these is the correct answer? Any and all of them, as long as you’re honest with yourself.

Thought Exercise: Take the Blame

Here is a simple but powerful thought exercise and life philosophy I like to employ for when things don't go your way, you don't like or are bothered by something.

Take the blame. Pretend it's personally your fault. Now, what can you as an individual do or change to improve the situation? It might be an action, thought, or even just a change of perspective.

Ask: what can I change about myself to make things better? After all, that's what you have the most control over.

The easiest thing to do is blame an external factor or someone else. While it's true that many things we can't control, there's always something that can be altered, even if it's just the way you react.

"I will turn the inner eye to see its path", so to speak. It puts my trivial problems in a whole new light.

Anyway, just something to think about. Sharing my perspective, let me know your thoughts.

Balance between Creation and Consumption

One thing I strongly believe in is maintaining a balance between creation and consumption.
I think that not maintaining this balance can be a major cause of discontent in the modern world.
It's convenient to consume, but creation allows you to bask in the glory of your own work. The drawback? Creating is difficult, takes time, and there is no guarantee of success. Creation is a way to take control over what you do.

Your creations might get criticized by other consumers, or even yourself. Being a critic is easy, but when you create you start to appreciate the work.
When you consume someone else's work, you're not in control. You're at the mercy of someone else's standards and their creations may have the intent of making you feel a certain way. Consuming is not a negative thing, you should enjoy and appreciate other people's work. However, if you do too much of it without a balance, then your perspectives may not be entirely your own.

The word "creation" may sound intimidating but it doesn't have to be complex. Make something. Write something. Learn a skill you can get better at, it doesn't matter if you're good or not. Cook a meal instead of ordering one.

This post is a creation by me. The photos involve the handstand training I did to be able to hold the pose, the hiking I did to find the location, setting up the photo frame and focus, the time I took to learn how to use my camera, editing the photos, and of course writing these words.
If you looked at the photos and read the words, you have consumed my creation. Did you appreciate the work that went into it? Probably not unless you do some similar work yourself. That's OK.
Does this post inspire you to create something? Good. Go forth and conquer. You'll feel better for doing it. My work is complete and the balance is restored.

Information Versus Perspective

This is a topic I think about a lot when teaching, especially when thinking of how to present the material to a group of beginners, initiated, advanced students, or a mixed group.
It's an important question to ask prior to working with a group you don't know.
How much do they already know about the subject?

Beginners likely know little about the subject, so they will benefit more from information. They won't be able to appreciate some of the subtleties of perspective at this point in their journey.

Experienced students are probably familiar with the information, so they can benefit more from hearing a different perspective on the subject. This will allow them to broaden their understanding and take the concepts back into their practice.

When working with a mixed group, it's important to find a good balance of both so the appropriate students can be challenged, and others not overwhelmed or confused.

Here's an example with regards to handstands:

Information:
-"When performing a handstand, you should focus on pushing up through your shoulders. This helps create the structure to keep you stable and builds good habits for the future."
Beginner: "Thanks! I didn't know that, but it's very helpful. I will focus on pushing"
Advanced: "Yeah, of course I know that. Every coach says that. Tell me something I don't know."

Perspective:
-"Here are several ways that you can arrange your shoulders in a handstand depending on your body type, flexibility/strength levels, and skill you wish to perform."
Advanced: "That's cool, I never actually thought about it that way. That gives me something new to play with and another teaching technique I can use with my students."
Beginners: "Huh?

One more note is that information is easier to present. It can be a simple matter of memorization and regurgitation. Perspective can't be faked and is acquired through experience. Information is how and what, perspective is why. A good "why" makes the how and what more potent.

As always, just sharing my own perspective. I think as a teacher it's important to think about not only what you're teaching, but the reasoning behind it. Also important is getting a beat on how much of each your students will understand and appreciate.

Thoughts about learning something online for free

There's a lot of information out there these days, and a lot of it is good information. The reality is that you can probably learn whatever you want to for free. It's just good to be aware of a few things if you plan on learning a skill for free from the internet.

-As a beginner you may not be able to discern good information from BS

-It's going to take you longer to make progress compared to working with a teacher

-The free internet approach is generalized for a wide audience, so people doing the same thing will get different results.

-You're still responsible for your own learning process

-No matter how much information and knowledge you absorb, you still have to put in the work

-Most people have an inflated opinion of themselves, the key to this kind of learning is to be able to make an Honest self-assessment

-Even if you are very knowledgeable, there is a certain blindness we have in terms of self-critique.

-You'll have to take time to do some digging and research to find the right information sometimes.

-Even if you follow the best possible free path, you'll still come out of it with mistakes and bad habits.

Having a good teacher offers many advantages. The main one is that it will save you time and make you aware of your mistakes and bad habits early on in the journey. The disadvantage? It's going to cost money. You should still support the good teachers out there as they spent years making mistakes so you don't have to. As they say, 'a good teacher costs a lot, a bad teacher costs more."

I've taught myself many things, and I continue to, but you can't put a price on quality instruction.

Is free online learning really free? Nothing is free. You'll either pay with money, or time and mistakes. This is why it's so important to be aware of your own individual learning process.

Physical Versus Technical Adaptation

Physical Versus Technical Adaptation

An often overlooked aspect in skill training/learning, especially in the physical realm. Think of it as installing hardware versus downloading software.
Any skill you're trying to learn, you can take a good look to see what it is you lack. People often confuse their lack of skill for a lack of strength/condtioning/power, etc.

Do you actually need to get stronger to learn the skill? Or do you just need to get better?
Sometimes the two are the same, and other times they have very little to do with each other.
Sometimes you need a combination of both to do the job.

Why is this important to know? Because technical adaptations can happen a lot faster than physical ones. You can make massive technical improvements in a relatively short time with good coaching, whereas it will take much longer for your body to physically adapt to the stimulus placed upon it.

Understanding this difference can help you save time and make your training much more efficient.

Some examples to ponder:
Will strengthening your hand/wrist improve your handwriting? Unlikely.
Stronger/bigger biceps won't make you a better juggler(unless you are trying to juggle chainsaws or shot puts).
Increased shoulder strength mght help you thow further but won't improve your aim.
No amount of hollow holds will help you hold your handstand longer.
Stronger and more flexible shoulders/hips may improve your handstand skills, but only with proper application.
Will jumping higher improve your backflips? Yes, but so will better technique, positioning, and timing.
Improving your 100m time or olynpic lifts? That's probably going to require improving your technique and getting stronger/more powerful.

Anyway, just a couple ideas to thnk about. I see a lot of people thinking they need to get stronger when in reality they just need to get better.

Thoughts on Improving your Learning Retention

I think a topic that doesn't get enough focus these days is learning retention.
There's so much information out there with so much focus on what you can learn. The question is, how much of that can you retain.
If you take a class today, how much of that will you remember tomorrow? What about in a month? A year?
This is a question I try to ask myself a lot both as a student and a teacher.

Here are a few ideas to think about in terms of improving your learning retention.

-Form your own perspective. There's way too much regurgitation out there. Makes notes on your individual success and struggle in learning the skill. Rather than just following what your teacher says, try to apply it to your own process.

-Pretend to teach it. Ask yourself "how would I explain this to someone else?" Sometimes this thought process awakens a new perspective on your path to mastery. I use this one a lot.
In fact, after taking a class or workshop, I try to imagine a scenario of trying to teach that same workshop the following day and what struggles I would run into.

-Make mistakes. Then create the solutions. This may be a longer path towards mastery and retention, but understanding the mistakes makes you appreciate the technique and your own learning process in a broader sense.

-Mindfulness to Mindlessness.Think about what you consciously need to improve upon and find ways to be able to do that without thinking about it. This is an important step in "making it natural" and building complexity.

-Basics. Try to figure out what are the funamental principles in what you are trying to learn. When you can understand the basics on a deep level, everything else flows from that.

-Learn how to learn. Remember everyone has their own learning process. As a student it's your responsibility to understand yours. You do this by learning different things and taking notes on the difficulties you experence. Do you prefer visual, audio, lecture, hands-on correction, getting thrown into the fire, ratio between theory and practical application, harsh/gentle feedback, etc. Or maybe a combination of multiple modalities.
As a successful teacher you need to also have an arsenal of teaching methods to accommodate the differences in students learning styles. In additional you start to recognize in students which techniques to use more of.

-Don't forget to put in the reps. "Knowing is not enough, we must do. Doing is not enough, we must apply." Or something like that.

Anyway, just a few thoughts for today. Let me know if you find it useful or care to add anything to the list.

What to do when you Lack motivation in your handstand practice

Some options on how to approach the training when you lack motivation or hit a slump. The ideas are pertaining more to handstand training, but the concepts can really apply to any skill practice.

1. Suck it up. Sometimes you just have to keep on doing the same thing. You haven't done enough yet to earn a lack of motivation. The reality of the training is that often times you have to repeat same exercises continuously for an extended period of time. It might get monotonous; that's the reality of the training.

2. Don't take it so seriously. Enjoy the process. Nothing bad is going to happen if you don't meet your goals in your self-imposed time frame.

3. Go back to basics. I would define basics as something you can already perform consistently. I can guarantee that whatever level you are, your basics can always use improvement. Going back to basics is a good time to reinforce the foundation upon which your more advanced skills are built; and if you are in a slump this is a great time to take a step back.

4. Train your attributes. This is something that will improve your skill work but can be practiced completely separate. Strength, endurance, flexibility are a few potential examples.

5. Take time to play. Go outside of the sets/reps mentality and just play. No expectation; try something just to see what happens. This is the time that you can start to develop your own unique style. This is also important to keep the fun element of the training.

6. Horizontal progressions. Try variations of the move that are at a similar difficulty level but different to what you typically train. This can spark new interest and motivation, because you're training a new version of the same thing. One clear example with handstand is to break up the static balance practice with handstand walks; the latter is not more difficult, but different enough to broaden your perspective.

7. Take some time off. Train something else. Over the long term, this time off is not going to have any kind of significant impact. It can give you a new perspective on why you train the skill in the first place.

8. Train with or around other people. There is something unique about the group energy of multiple people in the same roommworking towards the same goals. Taking classes or workshops can be very helpful to spark motivation as well of course.

Thoughts on how to become an expert in 30 days

The promise of achieving a high level in a short time. It’s so tempting.
It seems like either 30 days of 6 weeks is the magic number towards unlocking these achievements.
I’ve definitely been seeing this trend a lot recently in the fitness world, but it’s not anything new, nor it is isolated to only the fitness world.

I understand, it’s all just marketing. One of my modern definitions of being a good “marketer” is the ability to spout nonstop BS without breaking character. Think of R. Lee Ermey’s audition story for Full Metal Jacket, where he was cast as the iconic character Gunnery Seargant Hartman after he was able to hurl insults nonstop while being pelted with tennis balls.
Instead of insults, you have to keep talking about how your beneficial your product is and the great lengths you have gone to meticulously craft it, and how it will massively improve peoples’ lives.

This is beside the point though. I want to talk about selling this idea of the 30 day expert. Obviously it’s just a money-making ploy, but I don’t like the message that it sends.
First off anyone who is claiming this took much longer than 4-6 weeks to reach their own “expert level”. So this already smells of deception. Even still, would you want to learn skills from someone who only trained them for a month or two? I’m fairly sure we typically rank experience in years, not days.
Next, if we were able to achieve high levels so fast, the human race would have long ago ascended to godhood or singularity, regardless of paywalls.
Another thought to consider is knowledge versus experience. The former is something that’s more easily quantifiable and to some degree “collectible”. Theoretical knowledge of how to do something can be learned and regurgitated in a relatively short time, but the experience of doing it, not so much. Likewise, it’s a lot easier to show off one’s knowledge or certifications.
In addition, I feel that this concept can serve to discourage and discredit both students and teachers. Am I not a competent student if I can’t “master” a skill in 4-6 weeks? Likewise, am I not a good teacher if I can’t bring my students to “mastery” within that time frame?
If I claim a skill may take months or longer to learn depending on the individual, and someone else claims that mastery can be achieved within 30 days, are they a better instructor than I?

Of course, the 30 day thing is not complete BS; there are benefits and shreds of truth within it.
It’s not a completely unrealistic expectation, just for a very small percentage of the population. As an example, it took me over a year to learn how to backflip, but I’ve taught some people to do it in one day. Does that mean I am qualified to make a “LEARN HOW TO BACKFLIP LIKE A GYMNAST IN JUST ONE DAY” course? Let’s be realistic: the people who I taught to backflip in one day were already high level athletes with good body control. So it’s possible to learn the skill in that time, but not realistic for everyone.
Also, the 30 days mastery course can sometimes be a good gateway for people to begin to understand the bigger picture. If that’s what it takes to get you to start and then continue, then that’s not a bad thing. You can definitely get significantly better at something by practicing it for a month. Become a master? Not so much.

So what can we do to improve this mindset?
First off, let’s remove this negative stigma behind taking a long time to learn something. Everyone is on their own path, starts in different places, and learns at different paces. Learning a skill in less time than somebody else is not a claim to superiority.
I like to say that what comes quickly goes quickly. What is learned in a short time can be easily forgotten.
One of the most common questions I get is “how long” will it or did it take me to learn something. My answer is to stop chasing the shortest path and enjoy the journey. Let’s accept that real skill and real adaptation takes years.
Don’t forget to ask yourself why? Why are you doing this? There is no wrong answer as long as you’re honest with yourself. To help people? To make money? Just for fun? To be able to post about it and collect likes on instagram? Personal self development? To further your art/discipline? The answer to this will also help determine your standard of mastery. Someone who is training hand balance at circus school is going to have a very different standard and approach to someone who occasionally practices handstands in their yoga class or crossfit WOD.
Know the difference between doing something once and being able to do it. Doing it once does not mean you “own” it; it means you’ve done it.
Maybe we can stop using the words “master” and “expert” so casually out of the respect that it takes to truly understand something at a deep level.
Mastery is a never-ending process. There is no final goal, but continuous learning and refining. When you think you know, you’ve already lost.

As always, just trying to keep it real. What are your thoughts about 30 days to mastery? There’s no answer to this, just something to ponder.
Personally I’m getting sick with the modern “quick fix” culture.

Lessons learned from working with a couple random kids at a part in London

A few years ago I was in London

and I did some outdoor training at a park. After a time, a group of kids came over to try to do handstands and flips and what not.
I ended up briefly working with a couple of them, so I wanted to share this story talking about two kids in particular, and the parallels and lessons we can draw from it.
Let's call the two kids Samantha and Bart. They were both around 8-9 years old.
Samantha looked like she had a couple years of dance or gymnastics classes under her belt, most likely recreational and not competitive. Bart was a bit less athletic and less coordinated in comparison.
So in this short impromptu "coaching session", Samantha was working her aerial cartwheel while Bart was working on a more basic kick up to handstand. I gave them both demonstrations of stuff to work on. She was getting quite close to not putting her hands down while he was struggling with landing on his feet.

Heres the difference between the two of them: Samantha was self motivated while Bart needed external motivation/validation.
Samantha failed often and was not concerned about her failures. I gave her something to do, and she would continue doing it.
Bart would try one or two times, fail, then call me over to have me look at it.
Samantha didn't continuously need my feedback to keep training, while Bart absolutely required it despite not actually following my advice.
Samantha was failing and learning 10 times in the time that it took Bart to try once. I think Bart was more interested in my attention than he was ini actually improving his handstand. At the same time, I think he may have been discouraged by his own failures and Samanth'a higher skill level(not realizing she already put in a couple years of effort).
Anyway, I don't know what happened to these kids as I just ramdomly worked with them for 15 minutes or so as they were walking by in the park with their parents.
Obviously Samantha was more interesting to work with, but it's not because she was working a more advanced trick but because she showed genuiine interest in wanting to improve.
There are a few lesons we can learn from this.

-Self-Motivation. Who/what are you doing it for? If you could only do the thing completely isolated without receiving any attention from others,would you still do it?

-Failure. Does it motivate you to try again or discourage you? Are you able to apply lesson from those failures? Can you "meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same?"

-Comparison. Can you work on your own shit wiithout comparing yourself to others? I often deal with people who are self-conscious because they are beginners. I have a lot of respect for beginners, because the easiest thing to do is what you can already do. Doing something new that you are not good at? That takes some minerals.

-Supervision versus exporation. When you learn something, do you need to be supervised or prefer to explore and develop the concept on your own?  If you have followed me for a while you should know I prefer exploration.

-Gymnastics. If you have kids, I recommend they do a couple years of recreational gymanstics between the ages of 5-12. Doesn't matter what skill level they reach. The coordination and body awareness they develop here will stay with them the rest of their lives and offers tons of carryover into other activities.

Ultimately the point of this is not about handstands or gymnastics, but about not being resistant towards learning something new.

Podcast: Self Righteousness in the Fitness World

Did a great Podcast on a topic that I have been pondering a lot lately. Here are some of the topics we went into:

• Introduction of myself as a teacher.

• How I got to where I am now as a teacher? (quick origin story)

• Why is self-righteousness a problem in the fitness/movement world?

• Observations as a practitioner and teacher across Fitness and Movement modalities, particularly with "self-importance", especially teaching adults

• How is this observation changing my Movement practice and teaching style?

• Understanding "fancy skills" vs. developing general athleticism as adults

• What are some "red flags" people can look out for when navigating the Movement/Fitness realms (aka how to spot narcissist teachers)

• What do you propose we do about this going forward?

• How to ask better questions that benefit multiple parties

• Lot of thoughts about being a teacher and a student

• Plus a reference to Frank Herbert’s Dune, one of my favorite books

Check out Brandon’s work here: http://brandonchien.net/

Factors to consider for Straight Handstands

The straight-line handstand is important, and there is something you should work towards. Do not however, let it define your practice.
The line is only one portion of the full skill, and it is quite possible to achieve a very high level without having a straight line.

There are two important factors to consider when trying to straighten out your hand stand.

First the physical limitations, in this case shoulder flexibility will be A big reason as to why many people struggle to straighten out.

next factor is a bit more subtle. This is the coordination, sensation, and application of the cues. Someone might be flexible enough, and might be able to demonstrate a nice line with the help of the floor or the wall, but applying the same sensations to the handstand when you are inverted and carrying your full weight on your hands is a different story(not to mention Balance).
This is where you have to deal with managing and determining the proper sensations to feel within your body when practicing the skill, and this is where proper coaching can also make a really big difference.

so remember a lot of times the reason people have trouble getting in a straight line is not because they lack the physical prerequisites, but because they still need to develop the technical awareness.

This was actually my story. I had naturally flexible shoulders, but it took me a few years to get a straight handstand? Why? Technique.

I initially learned to do a banana handstand because my early inspirations were the old time strongman, and that’s how handstands were performed back in the day. It wasn’t until I got into more modern gymnastics training that I gradually started to correct my shape. But I had to modify the technique, and everything felt different than what I was used to and had been doing for years.

The moral of the story? Straight lines are good, but Take your time and don’t worry too much.

Advice for Beginners

Advice for beginners:
Please stop seeing being a beginner as something negative. It's actually quite an amazing thing, going through the effort to learn something new.
In fact, being advanced is actually more dangerous, because it comes with the temptation of thinking you might know something. That's what actually can hinder or stunt continual learning.

Honestly, I love being a beginner and working with beginners. As a teacher I embrace the challenge, and as a practitioner it helps me stay close to the learning process and connect with my students.

So when I get comments like "maybe I should wait until I have a handstand to attend the workshop" I think NO! Not being able to do something is the best possible reason to take a class on it.
Are you afraid of failing? Good luck learning anything. I can guarantee you will fail, but the point is to learn lessons from those failures.
Afraid of other peoples' judgement? Don't be. Most people just worry about themselves. The fact that you're there, going through effort to try to learn something you can't do yet is a very respectable thing.
Comparing yourself to others? Quit it. I can also guarantee there will be people better than you who learn faster. If you focus on their learning process instead of your own its only a setup for disappointment.

So in conclusion, much love and respect to all the beginners out there busting their asses to learn something. Get out there and get after it.

The Yuri Method(TM) of Internet "Branding"

I know I’ve been keeping it real with my postings lately, but let’s get realistic, how long can that last? These days people want the wool pulled over their eyes, so if that’s the case, why not give them the finest of the NZ Merino wool?(a staple in my wardrobe these days)

It’s time to get on the “Branding” bandwagon so I can line my pockets and reach the full potential of my entrepreneurial capabilities. The endgame is of course to become real life Scrooge McDuck.

Now off with the marketing sales pitch, here is what you need to know about The Yuri Method(TM):

-I’m the best there ever was and will be. You mortals cannot even begin to understand the perfection I have attained, let alone try to compare yourselves to it. Any attempts of coming close to what I have achieved are futile. You can say that the next stage of human evolution will be based on me.
Want a piece of this? It’s already too late for you, but by following my method you can slowly approach the ever-distant horizon of perfection.

-My methods and modalities are superior to all others. Nothing anyone else is doing comes close to the ingenuity and innovation of the Yuri Method(TM). Scientific studies have also proven that training this method will actually make you a better person. There’s probably something wrong with you if you’re not training TYM, which can help to fill your void and cure you of your inadequacies.
In order to be mysterious, I will keep all mention of TYM as vague as possible to enhance your curiosity of how much you need it.

-TESTIMONIALS! You can’t question the my legitimacy if other people are talking about it, right? Listen to countless stories of people telling me how awesome I am and how I have blown their minds and changed their lives. I get so much praise I can almost bathe in it!

-Knowledge. I know something you don’t; in fact I pretty much know everything you don’t. I’m going to drop lots of vague hints implying this.

-Certifications. I know I have made postings in the past vilifying what certifications and the industry stand for, but I’ve done a complete 180 now. I just feel like there are a lot of people who would pay me extra to be able to put my name in their instagram profile, so I want to capitalize on that.
Become Yuri Certified Today! All you need to do is just listen to me talk for a while, and pay me a bunch more money. In return I will bestow upon you the honor of a fancy piece of paper with your name on it.

-Exclusivity. Only a select chosen few can truly experience TYM in its truest capacity. It cannot be known, only experienced.
Do you want to become a valued member of my inner circle? Yes. However this is only possible if you meet my strict criteria of having deep enough pockets. Then all my wisdom will be revealed.

-Business Coaching. One can’t do handstands and cartwheels forever, so of course a logical progression will be to evolve TYM towards harboring the secret to monetary success(that only the select few willing to part with the most money can achieve).

-Price Increase across the board. This is an absolute necessity so workshop attendees can take the product more seriously. Higher prices equals better results and more value.

-Pay for the opportunity to be around other TYM practitioners. I believe this is what we call “community”.

-Team. I will no longer be teaching my own seminars, they will instead be taught by my team of Yuri certified master instructors. Want to learn the Yuri Method from Yuri? That’s going to cost extra.

-Life Coaching. What is the next logical step after achieving a successful business? Life of course. You may be alive, but do you LIVE? You might look, but do you SEE? Join me on this journey and I can show you how. I have been alive for well over 30 years so you can say that I have quite a bit of life experience to draw from.

-Yuri Flow. The precise art of stringing together random moves to create an exclusive system. Logic dictates that the next level will be to threaten lawsuits to anyone using the movements or flows without giving the proper tribute.
Once enough tribute has been accumulated, I can ascend to CREATOR status where I claim that I invented these movements and they did not exist before me.

-Biohacking. I should probably get on this bandwagon as well, if anything to justify some of the weird shit that I do. Plus it sounds cool and fits well with the whole perceived superiority vibe I am trying to give off.

Anyway, those are some ideas I have on how to “build your brand”, at least based on some observations I have made. Hopefully you caught the sarcasm. This is not meant to be an attack on anyone, just a bit of satire on some of the ridiculous things we see online these days.
Did I miss anything? What else would you like to see from brand Yuri?
If you need me I’ll be off in the corner being my smug self, demonstrating to my internet followers how amazing I am while I waft the aroma of my own farts.

Leg Training and Hand Balance

Should you avoid training legs in order to excel at hand balancing?
As always, it’s really up to you and what your priorities are. Hand balancing is of course an upper body dominated discipline, so carrying extra weight in your legs will not do you any favors. It’s typical for hand balancers who specialize to not perform any kind of leg training apart from flexibility work.

On the other hand, your hand balancing is more dependent on your skill and precision. If you know how to stack your joints and maintain the equilibrium, the weight of your legs should be irrelevant.
Skills like press to handstand(especially from Seated) and planche May be affected more from the change in weight distribution however. That doesn’t mean the skills are unattainable by any means, but it does mean that you might have to work a bit harder and get stronger in order to achieve them.

As for my own practice, there was a period when I did significantly less leg training because hand balancing was my top priority. It wasn’t because getting skinnier legs was going to help my hand balance, it was more about the priorities of where I wanted to spend my time and energy.
In general I do a significant amount of leg training because I’m training disciplines other than handstands that require it. I also find leg training useful for other reasons.

Ultimately, you should do what you enjoy doing. Practicing your handstands is going to have a much more profound impact on your skill progression than not training your legs, so make sure you prioritize the right things.