elasticity and bending.
One of the reasons why babies learn fast the way they do is because of the nature of the exposure and the elasticity of their minds. Right? Neurologists please correct, basing this only on my own reasoning lol.
They are exposed to many beginner level, novice stage, simple stuff. So it's like a big thing when a baby takes his first steps. From crawling to walking, the improvement is so vast, and the knowledge gained so much, so wide, but it ain't deep.
Same for many things. It's easy to learn the beginner stage and simple stuff first because our mind picks it up quickly and learns faster by practice. On the contrary, for the difficult stuff, you need to practice more. It's definitely harder for Usain Bolt to shave a second off his PB, than it is for me to accomplish the same.
For bboying, learning the beginnings of a windmill, nike, 6 step, indian step, handstand, or even flare, is alot easier than perfecting a flare. It is partially because of the nature of the move and the elasticity of the mind. When we first started bboying, we explored our style, know nothing about knowledge, and just want to form the first set as quick as possible. But as our style develops, we construct better sentences for our sets and replies, and our dance starts to make sense.
Then comes the difficult part. This is when improvement will slow. It's no longer so easy to get a move in one day. Our styles and tendencies make us, but sometimes also limit us. It becomes hard to make more minisets. Sometimes creating new stuff requires brainstorming.
But when you watch videos, you suddenly gain inspiration and have new ideas. Not so much of biting ideas, but the movement of another person opens up a little channel in your mind. More often than not you go like "that's fresh! why haven't I explored it?!" than "wtf was that shit?". The fact that you responded well means that there is a certain thing in his movement that you can make sense of. And the sense you made turned up to be something beautiful. All these is because of an exposure to another movement or idea, thought, interpretation.
But that's not all. we can go deeper. What does that imply? What does being inspired by an external idea mean? What can we conclude from this in the end?
To be inspired means that your mind, or your soul is receptive enough to an external stimulus to be influenced positively. Why this happens is because of 2 reasons:
1. The external stimuli and the person himself have a somewhat understandable understanding field.
2. The person himself has enough brain elasticity to capture and understand the stimuli, even if the difference between the stimuli and the person's mind are very far apart.
Reason 1:
Let's say if I'm going to teach a stranger bboying. And I start by teaching him 1990s straight up by telling him to go on 1 hand and spin like a top. Compare that with breaking down the steps, teaching him to go to handstand in a circular motion, then followed by a whip, then the lean. Why teaching step by step is alot more helpful is this: I convey my information in a way that the student understands and can connect with. To a passer by, seeing Cico do 32 1990s is like "WTF JUST HAPPENED". But to Boy, it may be something like "Oh so he sat in for more spin, that's all I need to do to sqweeze 15 rounds more?". 2 totally different reactions, because of the extreme discrepancies in knowledge and understanding ability.
Reason 2:
There was a period of time earlier this year when I was trying rainbows. I could not understand and feel the motion of the hollowback cartwheel, although I can do it. I just.. couldn't feel it! Until one day I went esplanade and ask Gilbert from FTC. He gave me a tip to reach far out with my second hard for the ground. When I did it, he told me to reach a little more backwards. Boom here comes the rainbow. AND I CAN FEEL IT (Thanks Gilbert, again). This is how I got reverse halo in 2 days. I was thinking that if I grub and place my nonstabbing hand down, my body will unwind, so all I need to do is to pull my left hand to encourage the CCW spin (thanks XF for that inspiration), and boom i spun, but didn't catch. The next day I caught so I got it!. This is how many of you suddenly got a move you didn't know you can. Apart from natural body tendencies granted to you since the Sperm fused with the Egg, your style and movements outside of bboying play a big role in your natural tendencies too. The trick here is, keeping your mind open and mouldable to new ideas, knowledge, perspectives. Things get a little different when you rephrase the question. Instead of "How should I surprise my girlfriend", you can explore the possibilities of startling your mom. Ok that's poor. Sorry I'm thinking of dinner and bboying later...
So long as your mind is mouldable and receptive to new ideas, you are able, physically, to do something new, because you are mentally ready for it. Learning a backflip on matress and road are 2 different things not because the road is easier. (FYI the difficulty of a backflip is influenced by how high you jump and how fast you spin, so matress consperm more difficult) But that we are mentally prepared to fall, so that frees up a large part of the brain. Just like jumping off a building won't kill you. But the 100mph impact with solid ground probably will.
Keep it elastic, keep bending it. Im not talking about your dick. But your mind, the key to unlock likes in the receptiveness of ideas, perspectives and discovery of your own.
Labels: bboy
kysc
I think it's about time for me to get my butt moving after 8 months of lazing around. Since the first time I decided to study for exams, since the first time I remember myself entering the dance studio in a chilling, damp night, carrying books and notes not knowing where to start revision for econs, begins my starvation from bboy.
And up to yesterday's chilling, dry night did I make a point to resume what and where I left off. So hopelessly behind, but glad that I made the decision nonetheless. No use saying that one won't give up bboying but in fact he had. Just say it in the face. I give up.
My decision in the opposite. No matter what command school will fling at me, I will pluck time up to pursue this passion.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guys, it matters to me whether you guys bboy or not in the future. But I will never account bboying to our bonding, just like many of you would not I am sure. Some of you guys would have given up silently. Please don't pledge to each other. These facts are only true to yourself. So if you quit, it's still alright :) We will stick together for a lifetime :))
But I am making a decision to continue, at least for the phase of NS when it's hardest to do so (NS, give me the shit man). So I hope you guys will follow.
Labels: awakening, bboy, friends n loved ones, future, God, kyensai, resolutions, sincerely
past few days
Saturday had many things going on, first i went to the library to borrow a book I've been vying for: The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer. I was so super contented man! Went to hospital to visit grandpa for 2 hours, and seems that he's doing quite fine! He still looks as handsome as ever man. At about 1, I went to the Adidas store, then went out with the crew to shop and walk around for fun, with J. Wong. I was making fun of him with any instance possibly available. He was like "Why is he making fun of me all the time?" with that Australian-Chinese accent. At about 5, left for YMCA for an afterglow, which is a get-together of all volunteers who volunteered for the YMCA camp for the intellectually disabled. I remembered sitting at the tables outside the entrance filling up the CAS log. We're getting all sorts of requests and questions, like one woman asking us to make sure everyone dumped the rubbish in the right places, people asking us where to go, where to sit and stuff. They thought we were the ushers lol. Finally at night about 7, left for Serangoon Island Country Club for Charles' birthday. It was FUN man. Can see Charles having a great time! And thanks Charles for inviting us and booking SIX bowling alleys! Gosh it was damn fun to bowl. My lane was the craziest. We bowled in all sorts of fashion: bowling backwards, through the legs, the complete sideways approach, the slowest ball possible (i got 2.9 km/h with 5 pins down!), superman style (CNE lay on the floor and PUSHED the ball like superman, and yes, it went to the gutters, spin-the-top, football. We laughed and laughed till our throats got sore! I tried replicating my 2.9km/h rampage by pushing the ball even slower. Guess what, it stalled at the gutter and we're all like thinking we're screwed, cos when you row 2 balls, it will jam the machine. So we're like "cannot go to the right gutter". And so all our shots kept hitting the left on -.- Till JUNEN swayed one right in the path of the right gutter and hit the ball which was stalled there! We're thinking we're damn screwed cos 2 balls will go in. but it's not to be. one ball went in, and the machine cleared the pins. At this time, the second ball is approaching the end of the gutter slowly. Just as that sweeping mechanism sweeps the pin into the bank, the ball reaches the end. The best part is that the sweeping mechanism went the opposite way after clearing the pins, pushing the ball back down the gutter into our hands! We got the ball back where we rolled it, literally.
Sunday was the competition at Ulu pandan CC. It was great man. But xinfu had too much fun before the com. He was breaking and cypering hardcore for like hours and stuff. He crashed quite bad, though the performance was really very good already. He was very disappointed with his performance, but needless to say, it's already a phenomenal improvement. Sunshine and Boy were EXTREMELY DOPE. Tosh was damn funny at the last battle, as usual, earning the respect he deservedly demanded. I seldom see this dopeness from them! Always never show in public, until underground (literally) competitions did they show their real guns! We had dinner after the com, sessioned, and went home.
Labels: bboy, birthdays, friends n loved ones
