Claude Victoria

Hey guys,

In May I went to Claude Victoria's place in France to train for a week. It was pretty incredible to say the least. Ido does a beautiful job of explaining the visit in his blog (http://idoportal.blogspot.com/2009/02/c ... t-day.html & http://idoportal.blogspot.com/2009/02/s ... orias.html). My experience was very similar to his (similar food, treatment, vibes etc...). My experience very very similar to his.

Anyway, here is a video of Claude training:

We did our yoga for 30-45mins, depending on how sore we were, and then we'd train. He would spot/critique and in between sets he would do sets of headstands. Typically, he did 5-6 sets of these in the morning training and then cooked during the afternoon training.

Because Ido did such a good job of articulating the visit, I'm not going to go into detail about it. Although, if people are curious about the trip, please feel free to ask and I'll do my best to respond.

-Alex

When I click on the video it says "Sorry this video is private"???

My question, how did you get "in"? And how much did you learn, and how good were you before?

Sorry, fixed the video...

My teacher Yuval Ayalon and a couple of other students of Claude recommended me to him. He then invited me to a workshop at his house. My dad lives in Berlin, so I went to Claude's then took a train to Germany. Worked out pretty well.

Before going there I had had 2hours of one-on-one work with Yuval in Vegas. Other than that I'd trained alone for 3+hours a day, 5-6days a week for 5/6 months. I could hold a straddle one arm for a few seconds and half straddle and straight body were nowhere near holding. During the stay I honestly didn't improve much, I just listened to Claude and put in numbers. He simply showed me a few tips and gave me a template to work off of. I'd say now (~1/2 months later) I see the real progress. Digesting the super dense week takes time. I've learned that handbalancing doesn't come magically or over night. It takes years and years of consistent practice and dedication.

I'm guessing Claude doesn't accept anyone, so congrats for getting the opportunity to train with him, it sounds like a great experience I've followed your videos for a little while, and I'm really impressed by your progress, so I just have to say it's well deserved!

I'm just starting to get the hang of the one-armers, and focus in my training has shifted primarily towards one-arm work. It would be awesome hearing some of your experiences from the same period in your training. Any discoveries or "aha-moments" that made you progress just a little bit further? Anything in particular you felt was worth spending extra time working to improve on? Hope you don't think I'm nagging, but I'm hooked on Handbalancing and I'm just trying to gather as much info as I can from people who know their stuff.

Kepp training hard, man! Looking forward to your next progress update.

You've probably read this many times and I'm sorry to repeat it.

Handbalancing isn't a "trick" that you pick up one night and then you have it forever. Sucks for those of us who naturally picked up tricks/skills easily and quickly but its just the nature of the monster. It is a never ending, never perfect practice. Some days will be incredible and some days will be awful. The important thing to note is the trend in your work over the weeks/months.

Claude said everyday, "petit a petit"... little by little.

Exercises that have helped me:

side flags on two/one arm(s)... tilt at hips to touch toe onto same side hand... high sets, low reps

----when you tilt, you want to tuck your ribs "under" your hip bone. It makes the tilt a ton easier and actually feels like a nice lock. I'm sure Handbalancer has a much better way to articulate this sensation.

bridges

using cubes (very easy to make with woodglue and pre-cut wood at homedepot)

Just watching videos on youtube and trying to mimic some of the exercises they do is always good too!

You arent nagging by any means :-)

Thank you for a quick answer, Ace =)

Yeah, it's definitely not a "trick". But it sure becomes an obsession once you're into it Those were pretty much the answers I expected and what Handbalancer has told me also. Just thought I'd ask, as I might pick up personal preferences, tweaks or training tips people employ that I might not have been aware of before, and could experiment with in my own training.

Thanks again for your answer. Now for a handbalancing session!