Daily Movement Prompts, Friday, February 10, 2017 edition: Intermediate Skills
Yesterday, I touched on the issue of Basics and Fundamentals. Even the most professional ballerina still drills fundamental skills. Olympic athletes have drill routines to keep in their best shape. Nearly every type of activity or movement choice has fundamental basics that all participants should keep sharp.
Many Beginners ask, “What’s next?” And when their trainers or instructors see that they have their first grasp of the basics, they start introducing new intermediate skills. These often have a learning skill moment when you might think, “Oh! Is that why I’ve been drilling this?” I like to think of that moment in the original Karate Kid movie when the young boy realizes that the painting and polishing movements translate into karate forms.
What “Ah ha!” moments have you experienced when you started working on your intermediate skills? Which intermediate tasks or drills were your favorites? Which ones were your first challenges?
If you’re a walker, can you stretch your stride? Or work on hills? Or focus on breath? If you’re a climber, which intermediate climbs were the first ones that made you really increase your skills? If you’re a swimmer, which drills or strokes or laps took you past your fundamentals? If you’re a dancer, which moves or drills did you first love doing when you’d gotten your basics under your belt? If you are a yoga practitioner, which poses felt like the new intermediate skills for you? If you have a different favorite pursuit, how would you identify your intermediate drills or skills?
How do you plan to move today? Is it possible to take a basic skill from your favorite activities and move it into the intermediate next focus skill?