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Dantes Inferno “The Descent Part 2″

The Descent Continues. I’ve been back to the spot I’ve training for a total of 3 times by the time I posted this and have been working on these types of descents for about a months time . Each time pealing away the fear a little more and finding a way to make the descent smoother, faster and refined.  The beauty of repetition over many days of work is that you start to notice more and more things that can make the movement better.  Either through reattempting the skill in the moment doing something new by mistake, looking at your line and noticing something you didn’t before or by watching yourself on video and reliving the experience wondering why you didn’t chose a different path.  

Most people will not take enough time to revisit a spot and refine their movement.  I tell you if you haven’t done so it will teach you so much about the adaptation process.  So many Parkour practitioners slowly have to convince themselves they can do a movement by giving more and more effort every time and in a way I am doing that too, but instead of doing it all in one session I am breaking it into many sessions.  I think this is better because I don’t show up with an expectation of “I’m not leaving until I get this” sure it makes you work hard, but I show up, warm up and ask myself one question “can you do this?” if the answer is yes I go for it and commit if not then I reevaluate why I can’t and start focusing on that problem.

This video shows how I slowly built up to this stairwell descent and eventually felt skilled, strong, and mentally ready to go from the top floor down to the bottom. 

After training in the gym for the first time with descents in mind I really thought the carry over to real buildings would be easy. I was quickly humbled by the complexity and range of variation of one building to the next and found that each one was a lot like a boss of a video game. Each one had its quirks, cheats, and angles that made it different.  Not only that, but dropping height to the next grab is always different and the landing is going to slightly change for each one too. 

I returned to the gym with a need to work on breaking my comfort zone of down dynos and dropping rail precision's.  I had to build up my repetition to boost my confidence and since I was doing this week by week I would also gain strength for the amount of time i put into each session.  Every time I increased my drop height I was scared and had mess ups along the way.  Every time I came back to train I felt more confidant and better prepared. I could reach further and further out of my comfort zone with ease.  I had to keep my training sessions to twice a week and spanned them about 3 days apart.  I find anything with this type of mental and physical strain needs a lot of rest and reflection.

Every time I returned back to the outdoor location my vision improved. I found better places for my hand holds, better foo holds.  My visualization improved more and more. I became able to practice the descent in my mind.  I discovered the ways that allowed me to stay safe and keep it simple.

I also only gave myself about 10 minutes of continuous work anytime I was on site.  This minimized the possibility of being caught and also kept me focused on the task at hand.  Literally nothing came through my mind, but what I had to do.  I was %100 here and now.  

My first time going over the second level I took my time on the first drop.  I brought a mat out just in case and always do if I can.  I am not reckless, I am focused.  I was scared yes, but once I zeroed in on what I had to do to succeed I targeted my landing and let go. I felt the rail with my feet as I absorbed the light impact, transition to a support and then to a cat hang and I was back on ground floor.  Then I had to do it 5 more times.  Each time my brain sped up, the repetition was building my confidence one drop at a time.  Just as I began to burn in my lungs I knew it was time to stop and come back again next time.  The first part was done I felt calm.

When I returned I wasn’t necessarily as fresh as I was the last time. I felt tired, rushed for time, I didn’t know if should do it this day.  But all I needed was 20 minutes to warm up and 10 minutes to do the descent.  I said okay I will go and see what my mind says.  

I went to my gym and warmed up listened to some Lindsey Stirling. Thank You Lindsey for being such an inspiration to so many.  I put the mats in the back of my truck and headed to the location.  When I arrived I was already in the zone.  I placed the mat adjusted the GoPro and began my process.  I did the first level for warm up and the second level 3 times to convince myself I had the pattern down.  Then I went up to the 3rd level, I looked over the edge for a while said okay I’m ready and made my descent.  I walked around a little at ground level and then up to the fourth and final level.  I waited at the top even longer peering out over the Greenbelt, and the construction sight near by.  I kissed my wedding band as a symbol of respect for my wife knowing her trust in me to allow me to live the life I do and then I went.  

I safety vault turned and drop down to cat hang, positioned my hands for the first drop dragged my foot against the wall to get closer to the next landing pushed and dropped to the rail of the third floor...then the second floor...then first...I was done.

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Dantes Inferno “The Descent Part 1″

You may be asking yourself “Why Dante’s Inferno?” In a nutshell it’s because if you ever read the short story you would understand that Dante describes hell as a series of levels. With each level lower being reserved for those that have done the worst of sins.  I don’t consider what I do a sin, but in ways it is a lot about being in hell and working your way up (or down) toward heaven or nirvana in my case.  

As I have begun to practice more descent work I have realized it really is all about how you rationalize each individual move you do and at the same time putting the idea out of your mind that you might fall.  Now it is impossible to completely put it out of your head since you use that fear to make sure you do everything exactly the way you need to for success I have made more mistakes at ground level then I have ever made at height.  

I remember reading a post from Rafe Kelley of www.Evolvemoveplay.com about him running along the dirt path of a mountain side and how suddenly it began to rain causing the terrain to become muddy and slippery.  He said that he suddenly felt more alive and aware of himself as a human than in the calm environment that most of us train in.  What I took from this is the idea that we always focus better when we challenge ourselves just outside of our comfort zone and that in my case the presence of danger allows me to push past my own personal limits so long as I carefully train for the situation ahead of time and slowly add more and more danger while mitigating risk.  Now this is no brainer for a many people in my field, but it happens from time to time that even the ones who have been training for 10+ years will look at a challenge and be afraid, and I mean really afraid and have a hard time rationalizing how to overcome that fear.  It is that very situation which proves we are pack animals and rely on each other to support ourselves in times of need.  Sometimes all it takes is someone you trust and some thoughtful words and you can rationalize anything.

It has been difficult rationalizing the reward of training in such dangerous situations, but I feel this is my path and that I will grow from this.

I have found that I am amply prepared strength wise and the main thing I will need to train is reaction time, fine motor patterning, trusting my skill when the time comes, and a lot of patience to only do the Descent if I feel 100% ready to do so.  

This is the current descent I am looking at I will post more as I progress in my training toward besting it. 

Thanks for reading please follow me on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook if you like and train well.

Francesco

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The above video is some training prepping me for some high up strides I want to do. As some of you know I have been scouting around for challenges that I have either always wanted to do or that I have recently been drawn too. One of those Challenges is this green demon right here. 

No i’m not revealing its location and please don’t if you know.  Make people explore and see for themselves that’s part of developing in this art.  

The thing is I could cross this thing with ease as it is, but I want to cross it like I am a “Leaf On The Wind...”

I want to flow across this thing with grace, beauty and speed. To do that I need to train in a situation that mimics how it will feel in the actual moment thus the stride work in the Instagram video at the beginning of the blog.  

You might be interested in why I am aiming for only the perpendicular bars on each strides versus just the parallel ones.  Well there are two reasons for my decisions to do this.  Reason one is because it is a way for me to slowly progress toward to doing farther strides such as to the farther parallel bars while being in control of how far I feel comfortable striding and how much farther I want to push past that comfort. The second reason is that I plan on passing through the middle of the obstacle. That means there will be steel beams in my way that I need to step around and thus the perpendicular strides are better for this situation since I can step around the beams. 

The hardest part with moving quickly across high rails is that you often slow down when uncertain. The second you slow down is also the second you have to focus more on side to side balance which makes regaining momentum forward hard.  Keeping your momentum traveling down the rail to its end point is the second most important thing to strong and consistent yet adaptable footwork.  I say adaptable because though there are better ways to run on a rail when you have to regain balance or change direction slightly you sometimes need to step in odd ways to regain your ground so training in many different foot patterns can be very helpful in chaotic situations.  

For me personally keeping speed was the hardest part because I didn’t trust my footwork. It’s funny I could walk forever with my feet facing forward, but that speed really messes with my confidence. This being my first time I was more concerned with over shooting my steps and slipping on a heel then I was with undershooting and in the video if you watch the fast text you will notice when I almost slip off my heel.

I will continue to post about what I go through with training for my new goals.  Thanks for reading and be a part of my journey, Train safe and smart, apply your learning with certainty and trust and of course find the courage to push past your fears into logical reasoning. 

Francesco Caban

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Same Energy Different Form

I think a lot of athletes, especially those that draw artistry from training, become addicted to regiment and have a very hard time with change.  I am one of them. However, I have also found ways to push past that.  The thing is I get so much out of training. I love the feeling of doing exactly what you want to do, being in the now, developing something extraordinary, the lasting effect of endorphin's after training and reflecting on what I just did. It really is one of the few things you have control over and it’s priceless. 

There was a time when I could train for up to 4-6 hours a day as an adult and even longer when I was a teenager. If I could do that now I would, however the problem with that is I could not get done other things that I felt helped me get ahead in life or that are important for my idea of success (notice I said my idea because success is in the eye of the beholder.) Also as I have aged I have sustained a couple of injuries that have kept me from training exactly what I wanted and instead I have had to make compromises in order to continue what I feel is important to me.  

When I could dedicate the time to training as much as I wanted I had a very free schedule, I had roommates, no serious relationships, and no other things requiring my attention.  Now I have a growing career, I am married and live in a house, I have two cute dogs and I’m constantly thinking about how I can make the next big step or a bunch of small ones to get ahead in my goals.  

My goals are “To become self sustaining financially so that I can go anywhere are anytime, to have a thriving relationship with my wife, an outstanding reputation within my community as a great teacher, To be Strong-Knowledgeable-Helpful-Moral, And to not get lost in being an artist.”

Without my movement practice I would not remain a sane person.  I rely on it to keep my demons at bay and I have always found a way to keep moving forward even when injured.  I sprained my ankle bad; I focused on climbing, stretching and strengthening. I couldn’t lift due to tendinitis; I focused on hiking. My knee was not cooperating and I couldn’t jump; I focused on soft floor movement.  The list goes on. I could explain over and over again what I have done in exchange for the other. The hard part hasn’t been training.

The hard part is how do I find time to train and keep moving forward toward my goals. It’s the organizational skills that become the silent killers.  The time management.  Because like it or not a clock is ticking and I only have so much time on this earth. I only have so much time to be this warrior.  So I have to sit down and ask myself “what is it that I need to accomplish today?”  I need to manage my time so I can get up early enough without losing to much sleep or recovery time in order to get done the other important things that get me ahead.   

The real warrior comes out when you refuse to let yourself (your movement) go even though you have other important time consuming things that need to get done.  

There was a time when I felt if I gave up my free time I was giving up myself. However, now I have taught myself that the less free time I have, the better I get at expressing myself with the time given to me.  It goes back to a quote from the hobbit by good ole Gandalf “All you need to do is decide what to do with the time given to you”

Once you can have faith in yourself to have the courage to keep fighting for what you believe and keep pushing yourself you find a way to do it no matter what the burden.  

I may not be training 4-6 hours per day now but I’m still using that same energy and passion in a different form.  The form has to change as time changes things, but the passion behind the bright candle does not need be snuffed.  

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p>https://youtu.be/b-TwVz5E5bg

Once you develop Parkour Vision you start cataloging places where you think about doing a certain movement over and over again until you actually do it.  It’s like a premonition of movement that haunts you until you satisfy it by making it a reality.  

The Drop in this video is no different and is one of many movement challenges on a list of places that I am marking off one by one.  I had stared at this drop many times, calculated in my head what it would be like.  The feeling of the landing, the technical aspect of it, if I was still capable to even do it any more.

 Finally I was fed up with this unsatisfied movement haunting and I set out to prepare myself for it. 

It should be known that drops are not really good for you.  They are extremely high impact and become more dangerous the more you weigh and the higher you go.  I felt that I could mediate that danger with proper preparation.  

started out with practicing the drop indoors on to a soft landing of similar landing space.  The hardest thing about a drop is making sure you hit your target.  If you have had a lot of precision landing practice and know how to calm your fears than hitting a target from height is something that you can very well prepare for. There is no magic to it.

Keeping close to the wall as well as absorbing properly were my two biggest concerns. I had to trust my legs were strong enough to take the landing since my arms were not going to be able to help with dispersing impact on the first stage of the drop.  After practicing indoors to get used to the falling rate I gained a lot of confidence. My legs were shot though and I knew I would have to take this drop when I was fresh. A week passed and I felt it was time.

I was mentally alert, I felt rested, my legs were strong.  It was time. After a warm up I went up to the top of the roof and sat to calm my nerves and check in on my mind.  You can see in the video I am making sure I am not getting to amped up by keeping my heart rate down and focusing on breath.  I didn’t want to solely rely on my adrenaline for this.  You still use that part of you, but I want to control it more than feel dependent on it. 

I had placed a mat near my landing zone in places I felt I could possible fall into if I missed my landing. I’m not stupid I try to danger…a little

After feeling calm I  hung over the edge of the building and looked down at my target. It was a good 2-3 feet farther down than I had trained for and it was to a hard surface.  I needed more reassurance of how that would feel since a couple extra feet of falling is very dramatic when it comes to landings.

I went back to the drop I trained in the gym and added a hard object at the bottom with a smaller landing spot. After a few drops to the hard object and the smaller landing surface I went back out to the rooftop and looked at the drop again. I hung over edge looked down, the distance did worry me, but the surface area for landing was a lot bigger than I had trained and that gave me a boat of confidence. I shifted my weight to my strong arm let go of the other exhaled and dropped.

My hand slid against wall as I stayed close to the wall. I had a little more than a foot og landing room, my feet stayed together and I hit the landing “BAM!“ my legs absorbed, the metallic top held under my weight, I bounced back and dropped between the 4 foot space between the building and a car and I was okay.

I breathed, the first attempt was done, a layer of fear peeled away.

I did it two more times to follow the old school mantra “once is luck, twice is a coincidence, three times is skill”

My legs were a little tired. I felt like I had just done a one rep max squat. As I calmed down I couldn’t feel any damage to my body. I felt accomplished, I felt successful, I felt proud.

The thing I have to remember is that you can always prepare for a situation, you may be scared when that situation finally happens, but if you stay calm in the mind and trust your training and hard work you can accomplish the task.

You can make any situation that brings you fear and break it down into parts to practice to become comfortable. You do still eventually have to put the pieces together and that takes courage and strong will it is best to rely on all the factors not just one.

Thanks for reading

If you like this please share it. Also you can follow me on Instagram and YouTube at “Movement Monastery”

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More Human Than Human

I just got out of “Blade Runner 2049” and I couldn’t be happier with that experience. I would watch it again and again just like Tron Legacy, Prometheus, Ghost In A Shell (the anime feature film)   Chappie, District 9, Contact, Interstellar, Arrival etc.  These movies are all a little slow, but they get you feeling small and insignificant in certain ways. They make you value the relationships you have and the necessity to sacrifice for something you believe in.  It is an age old tale I know and some people may find it unnecessary to have feeling like that. However, the beauty of being conscious is really what we are after.  That idea of “what is consciousness actually and how much of what we do in any moment is something we really let in to our thoughts?”  How does this relate to movement? It relates 100% to movement!  Practically all of the major events I can remember from Movement Practice are because of how present I was during those events. I don’t remember the exact details around me, But I remember the feelings. The feeling of time stopping and all that is present is you and the emotion.  That unknown personal emotion that only you get to be a part of.  You are this piece of dust in the universe and you and you alone get to experience this.  I will never feel what others felt exactly, but I might be able to slightly empathize on that feeling.  Movement practice is a vehicle for transforming your view of the world around and inside of you both physical and metaphysical it is the simplicity and complexity of experiencing a timeless emotion that should be encouragement enough for you to step outside and let the nutritional movement experience guide you toward the present.  Because that is all you get.

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I had the pleasure of attacking these I-Beams last week while warming up for another descent I had planned for.  It’s important to try all angles and sides on climbing structures as it builds other movement challenges you might not have considered. For example it was easier to climb the outside part of the I-Beam versus the inside because it allowed me to get to a higher point before transferring to my feet to the Parallel I-Beam on the second floor.  However this also is opportunity to address the slower slide and prepare for that situation again.  Another thing you don’t see from the POV climb is that I used my Knee “OH NO!!!” in the concave part of the Parallel I-Beam.  Now look I fully understand why we preach to not use your knees, but in situations where it becomes the better leverage point and is actually safer than using your feet please by all means use them.  Safety has no place for unnecessary Dogmas.

The flat portion of the I-Beams were way to slippery with my current shoe, I think barefoot or a stickier rubber would have been better. I am currently wearing MingRen  DoubleStar shoes which in my opinion are a flashy alternative to Feiyue if you like thin cheap shoes that work fairly well.  here’s a link to an Amazon Seller https://goo.gl/G4ej35  They are not my only shoes I prefer, but are great all around shoes in my 17 year of Movement Practice Opinion.

In the last portion of this video you see me set up for a descent and decide to not do it.  It’s moments like these that I am happy to get on film.  Any time you train at height you need to feel comfortable with your skills and ability to handle dangerous situations.  Danger is always present but Risk can be mitigated. How so? Think of a business proposal between you and another person. If you have all the skills required to do the work necessary within the deadline there is little risk on your part because you are sure you can do the work, if you don’t have all the skills required for the job or are over worked you may not be able to get the deadline.  That being known deciding to train at height is similar.  I felt that I had the skills to complete the movement I was about to do, but I didn’t have the rested legs to feel safe with the impacts since I don’t plan on rolling aiming for a ledge.  I could feel the soreness in my legs and when I went through a mental Opps check I said I don’t feel %100 for this kind of Danger and the Risk feels higher.  Also I could sense my heart rate had increased and my breath was getting shallow as well as my hands were starting to sweat.  All were signs that adrenaline was kicking in when I didn’t want it to.  You want to decide to do the jump with an alert mind. Being mindful and in tune with your body keeps you healthy. I was truthful to myself and decided to not do the Descent that day but instead wait for or plan for a day when I know I will be fresh and ready.  Another factor was the time of the day and week.  It was busy with people and I know that I was only going to get one shot at this descent due to knowing that I might get some “attention ;) ” after doing it. That added on to my list of things and in the end I said this isn’t for me today and left.  I don’t feel bad or upset that I didn’t do it. In Fact I feel better that I was able to stay level headed during the whole situation and think clearly. 

Thanks for reading I will be posting regularly on all aspects of my training and life.  Please if you like these posts show some Love and Like my Blog, Follow, or Share. It is my goal to become self sustaining though the spreading of knowledge of my practices, lifestyle, and goodwill toward others.

Francesco Caban

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