Gymnastics: The More Intelligence, The Harder It Is.

Sounds just about right to some of you?

You see... many people can get away with doing a back tuck by rejecting fear. They pace in circles and tell themselves they can do it... and eventually do. It's harder for smarter people though. Because you're smarter, you know that lying to yourself won't help your skills. That encouragement doesn't work for us. We have to PROVE to ourselves that we can do it.

So much more research goes in it than a regular person would care to do. For example, my friend can do a BHS. I can too. He learned his faster and could do it a week or two before I could even though we started at the same time. We have no gymnastics training or equipment (which includes spotters). Just his backyard. Now, mine looks and works better than his. He can improve, of course, but it may be harder for him now that the motion is ingrained.

They say ignorance is bliss... and I agree.

It's all about learning to embrace the primal nature of our existence. We are taught to deny our urges and to use reason, but reason is only a tool when used appropriately. When reason and examination dominate one's thoughts to the exclusion of flowing with the currents around us, reason becomes a shackle, allowing us limited motion and denying us true artistry. Yet without reason we would be blind to what lies beneath the surface, as without a primal connection to the world we are immersed in we are blind to the flow. Only with both, used in the proper time and place, can we truly approach our potential.

I'm pretty smart, IQ tests put me from 140-150, with 145 being the accepted average. I was shackled by a mind that soaked up knowledge, learned the value of reason, and became adept at empirical observation and interpretation. I was terribly socially retarded, because I did not understand the primal nature of the world around us. I devoted a lot of effort to correcting this deficiency. I have finally become just as good at letting go and feeling the flow around me, reading people and situations, knowing what's going to work and what isn't in a few minutes at most. We have survived for millions of years primarily through these unconscious cognitive processes. I personally don't even think they are "unconscious" since I don't quite believe in that hierarchy of mind, though it is a fairly functional model. I think it gives the wrong impression, but it's more easily understood. The funny thing to me is that this all started with me being terrible with women, despite being smart and attractive. Well, my journey to understanding what the deal with attraction is, as well as what determines where our lives go, led me to the understanding that life is mind-numbingly simple. It seems that everything we are taught is to teach us to live a prefabricated life, when the world we live in is not prefabricated. We are taught to respond in set ways to a constantly changing situation. Unlearning this and relearning a life view that takes what is and uses our primal urges to our advantage teaches us to use the tools we have developed through millions of years of survival and propagation, tools meant to constantly and correctly evaluate the world around us from moment to moment as a matter of life and death. Survival through an ever-changing interpretation of an ever-changing world. Just as this translates to better success in social circles of all types, it also translates to physical success. Trust your body to do what it was born to do!

For those not raised with this mindset, it can be a lifelong challenge to truly give yourself over to your inborn abilities. Don't distrust your senses, we have more sensors and more inputs and outputs than any machine, along with a processor that can do all the calculations faster than physics has a chance to apply itself to us. We are a machine made to learn motion, beauty, and love in all aspects, both physical and emotional; we are unparalleled in the efficiency of our responses. Do not allow conscious thought to over-ride this perfection. Listen to the music, not the song.

One of the benefits of training when younger or younger children, is they think about it less...sometimes.

Not always the case, but sometimes. Things freak me out a lot more now than I understand them instead of just the " hmm double backs/fronts look fun, let's try it "

I would say knowledge can paralyze you. When I was a kid, every carnival ride was game. Now, some rides simply scare me. I look down from 200 feet and get at instant run down of the fall out, drop, and splat. Roller coasters and stuff, no problem. On the ferris wheel, however, I imagine the hinge sticking and the bucket turning over. Aside from that, I have purposely gone swimming when the rip currents are active. I just don't want to hit jelly fish.

I'd be more concerned than most carnivals are extremely sketchy at best. Shoddy work maitenance besides carnies.

I hate jellyfish.

I, too, am more afraid of the Ferris Wheel then rollercoasters :I

I hate goopy fried okra. *dry heaves at the thought*

This has turned into a scary hate thread LMAO

Seiji said:

This has turned into a scary hate thread LMAO

How about, I am scared of trying a double back flip

I am scared of double-flipping a pancake. I have yet to not get hot batter splatter.

Flipping doubles ain't scary, it's the landing that is.

I need to prepare to do some doubles for my birthday as I usually work doubles on my bday.

slizzardman said:

It's all about learning to embrace the primal nature of our existence. We are taught to deny our urges and to use reason, but reason is only a tool when used appropriately. When reason and examination dominate one's thoughts to the exclusion of flowing with the currents around us, reason becomes a shackle, allowing us limited motion and denying us true artistry. Yet without reason we would be blind to what lies beneath the surface, as without a primal connection to the world we are immersed in we are blind to the flow. Only with both, used in the proper time and place, can we truly approach our potential.

I'm pretty smart, IQ tests put me from 140-150, with 145 being the accepted average. I was shackled by a mind that soaked up knowledge, learned the value of reason, and became adept at empirical observation and interpretation. I was terribly socially retarded, because I did not understand the primal nature of the world around us. I devoted a lot of effort to correcting this deficiency. I have finally become just as good at letting go and feeling the flow around me, reading people and situations, knowing what's going to work and what isn't in a few minutes at most. We have survived for millions of years primarily through these unconscious cognitive processes. I personally don't even think they are "unconscious" since I don't quite believe in that hierarchy of mind, though it is a fairly functional model. I think it gives the wrong impression, but it's more easily understood. The funny thing to me is that this all started with me being terrible with women, despite being smart and attractive. Well, my journey to understanding what the deal with attraction is, as well as what determines where our lives go, led me to the understanding that life is mind-numbingly simple. It seems that everything we are taught is to teach us to live a prefabricated life, when the world we live in is not prefabricated. We are taught to respond in set ways to a constantly changing situation. Unlearning this and relearning a life view that takes what is and uses our primal urges to our advantage teaches us to use the tools we have developed through millions of years of survival and propagation, tools meant to constantly and correctly evaluate the world around us from moment to moment as a matter of life and death. Survival through an ever-changing interpretation of an ever-changing world. Just as this translates to better success in social circles of all types, it also translates to physical success. Trust your body to do what it was born to do!

For those not raised with this mindset, it can be a lifelong challenge to truly give yourself over to your inborn abilities. Don't distrust your senses, we have more sensors and more inputs and outputs than any machine, along with a processor that can do all the calculations faster than physics has a chance to apply itself to us. We are a machine made to learn motion, beauty, and love in all aspects, both physical and emotional; we are unparalleled in the efficiency of our responses. Do not allow conscious thought to over-ride this perfection. Listen to the music, not the song.

*************fantastic post!

Brandon Green

Devote yourself 100% to the experience you are experiencing and do not think of anything else. You`ll be amazed of what you can do.

Yes. Mizu no kokoro.

Miyagi says no.

slizzardman said:

It's all about learning to embrace the primal nature of our existence. We are taught to deny our urges and to use reason, but reason is only a tool when used appropriately. When reason and examination dominate one's thoughts to the exclusion of flowing with the currents around us, reason becomes a shackle, allowing us limited motion and denying us true artistry. Yet without reason we would be blind to what lies beneath the surface, as without a primal connection to the world we are immersed in we are blind to the flow. Only with both, used in the proper time and place, can we truly approach our potential.

I'm pretty smart, IQ tests put me from 140-150, with 145 being the accepted average. I was shackled by a mind that soaked up knowledge, learned the value of reason, and became adept at empirical observation and interpretation. I was terribly socially retarded, because I did not understand the primal nature of the world around us. I devoted a lot of effort to correcting this deficiency. I have finally become just as good at letting go and feeling the flow around me, reading people and situations, knowing what's going to work and what isn't in a few minutes at most. We have survived for millions of years primarily through these unconscious cognitive processes. I personally don't even think they are "unconscious" since I don't quite believe in that hierarchy of mind, though it is a fairly functional model. I think it gives the wrong impression, but it's more easily understood. The funny thing to me is that this all started with me being terrible with women, despite being smart and attractive. Well, my journey to understanding what the deal with attraction is, as well as what determines where our lives go, led me to the understanding that life is mind-numbingly simple. It seems that everything we are taught is to teach us to live a prefabricated life, when the world we live in is not prefabricated. We are taught to respond in set ways to a constantly changing situation. Unlearning this and relearning a life view that takes what is and uses our primal urges to our advantage teaches us to use the tools we have developed through millions of years of survival and propagation, tools meant to constantly and correctly evaluate the world around us from moment to moment.

For those not raised with this mindset, it can be a lifelong challenge to truly give yourself over to your inborn abilities. Don't distrust your senses, we have more sensors and more inputs and outputs than any machine, along with a processor that can do all the calculations faster than physics has a chance to apply itself to us. We are a machine made to learn motion, beauty, and love in all aspects, both physical and emotional; we are unparalleled in the efficiency of our responses. Do not allow conscious thought to over-ride this perfection. Listen to the music, not the song.

Slizzard, you wrote this years ago, but I had to comment on it because it is so fantastic and relates to my life. I have been following this line of philosophy for the last two years. I was a highly introverted kid who was obsessed with knowledge and theory. Social situations stirred up the worst anxieties within me, and I preferred to be alone. Only when I turned twenty five did I realise that my life can not consist of academic research, and that I was denying a major element of my humanity by cutting myself off from social interactions, particularly with women. My intelligence only helped me cover up my many flaws from myself. I eventually took more than a year off from my university work, took up dancing, theater, and strength training, and forced myself to meet girls and interact with them. I now know myself better, and am planning to go back to research in social sciences without giving up my hobbies. I still have a long way to go to finding my primal self, but I'm on my way.

WE aren't our bodies.

I dunno about intelligence, but maybe after you've experienced first-hand what bad spills feel like you become a little more reluctant to jump back in...or it makes you want to throw yourself even harder. :roll:

It did bring to mind something I watched a little while ago, though.

It's a video game commercial, I know, but the monologue is somewhat inspiring.

+1 to Slizzardman...

Anxious states makes you over-think just because speak end related thoughts put a distance, or an illusion of distance, between "you" and your body (that old wrong duality). You and reality. But then thoses "uncounscious" wonderful cognitive and motor processes cannot do the work. Then you fail. Then you learn to fail and being anxious about it. etc...

One way to go is to relax and purposely reach back a state of "innocent" pleasure, enthousiasm, discovery, second per second. That way dopaminergic imputs will raise and the flow can happen.

But humans arise with immature brains so you have to learn that, just like you have to learn how to love and make love (for instance, comparing to animals).

Knowing we are mortals is our curse, but also our greatest gift.

SO yeah, maybe it's harder if you've got that kind of anxious mind that overthinks, but you end up learning far more than just gymnastics skills...

learningtofly said:

Anxious states makes you over-think just because speak end related thoughts put a distance, or an illusion of distance, between "you" and your body (that old wrong duality).

Isn't a old wrong duality, is a true fact, body is body, mind is mind. You isn't a loving, honest, sincere person or a liar, dishonest, vindictive, jealous person because your BODY have a black or white skin, or a large or small stature, is strong or weak. Your body don't determines WHO YOU REALLY ARE. Our body is nothing more than an instrument that we use in this world, a vehicle that we join at conception and that we use until the death (of the body). After the death of the body we are free, then we decide to join a new one to continue our journey in the next life.

learningtofly said:

Knowing we are mortals is our curse, but also our greatest gift.

The greatest gift is know that we are immortals.

Well, I didn't expect this to turn into some kind of "belief" topic.

You may need your belief to be the truth, so I won't argue with you.

learningtofly said:

Well, I didn't expect this to turn into some kind of "belief" topic.

Isn't a belief, is knowledge. You can believe in anything, Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, etc. Belief is blind, because isn't the result of logic and reason. I just wanted to separate things, the mind and body, because who is afraid to take a back flip is not the body, is you. If you know what your body is able due to training, just do what he (the body) become accustomed to do. Bruce Lee has simplified this best through this phrase: “Before I studied the art, a punch was just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. After I studied the art, a punch is no longer a punch, a kick is no longer a kick. Now that I understand the art, a punch is just like a punch, a kick is just like a kick.â€

learningtofly said:

You may need your belief to be the truth, so I won't argue with you.

Is the truth. But there is no problem, you will understand (not believe) that it is true sooner or later.

I don't claim this is the definitive answer ... especially since philosophy is so much about defining terms and this isn't a rigorous exposition just my point of view, lol. I don't think that anyone is claiming that the mind isn't

a key component of who we are, or that we are only our bodies either.

Indeed, whether our mind, body or self is "seperate" or "unified" is a question

that I think is best left to philosophers. To me, both aspects are needed to survive

and thrive in the world. People without a good handle on details won't go far in any complicated endeavor, yet

may be held back by an inability to feel how it all ties together. It's the way of the uni-verse - one yet varied.

In terms of skill development, I don't feel it's neccessary to posit and return to a primal self, even if

one is highly intelligent. I believe evolutionary biologists trace the origin of planning throught to our motor cortex.

And clearly people with highly developed and engaged motor cortex can thrive in athletics, which can be

developed through practice and use. Mind and body are related in this endeavor.

New motor skills that involve complicated mental processing at first, eventually become

ingrained so that they don't conscious thinking to perform. It may be that they are "chunked"

or form engrams, but one eventually is able to just do it without thinking after learning the

technique and performing it enough times. Once this occurs, managing actions

(gently observing and adjusting) becomes the primary mental process.

Letting go is neccessary to transition, but I don't believe it's intelligence that determines the ease or difficulty of this,

but more so the complexity and risk of the skill and one's physical reliablity in the area.

Certainly intelligent people are sometimes able to create mental blocks that require more

time to overcome. One technique to overcome mental blocks is by internally observing yourself

performing to encourage this process, through visualization for example (the fuller the better).

It brings out that managerial mental process, to create trust and quell nerves.

During a great performance the observed and the observer aspects of self become one in the actor.

Relating to a stage performance, an actor in this state can draw in the audience into their world, creating a larger

world of unified beings, where all can be engaged emotionally and mentally together. Great teachers, writers, actors, singers,

artists and even great athletic performers, have the ability to captivate and make us forget ourselves, become highly receptive and aware of a "higher" cojoined plane of existance. That this usually occurs when complexity is reduced to simplicity, to me, points to that our nature may reside at the crossroads of mind and matter, rather than exlusively one or the other.

Isn't a old wrong duality, is a true fact, body is body, mind is mind. You isn't a loving, honest, sincere person or a liar, dishonest, vindictive, jealous person because your BODY have a black or white skin, or a large or small stature, is strong or weak. Your body don't determines WHO YOU REALLY ARE. Our body is nothing more than an instrument that we use in this world, a vehicle that we join at conception and that we use until the death (of the body). After the death of the body we are free, then we decide to join a new one to continue our journey in the next life.

Our consciousness comes from our body, as the brain is a part of your body. No such thing as a "soul", as in something spiritual that isn't a part of our body, has been observed. Ever. What you're saying is a belief, and I think that calling that a fact is questionable at best.