Locks and Twists

Usually my quote, when I have one, is at the end of the post. Today it's kind of appropriate at the beginning (or relative beginning). Each Tuesday and Thursday, and the occasional weekend day, I ask myself if I really should be tiring myself out with biking down to Streb, or going to the gym, or taking another class before I fly. I keep at it both because I need to burn off all my excess energy, and because I figure, that as Nietzsche said, "That which does not kill you makes you stronger." (Never mind Dino's comment about what pessimists say: "Yeah, but if you're not stronger, you're dead") Well, since I don't plan on dying any time in the next 70-120 years, I had better get stronger, no?

Tuesday was an extremely lackluster day, partially due to the heat, and partially to my mood... Yesterday, with the rain, my mood shifted. I walked Fiji during the torrent, sans umbrella, and loved it. Summer storms always energize me. However, Fiji was not as enthused...

The point being that with the weather/mood shift, trapeze time was surprisingly productive.

After last week's sheer terror at being in the catch trap, and even today's, I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to do this:

... my first catcher's lock in the catch trap. Manny was there to talk me through it, fortunately, (baby step by baby step!) since I was in sensory overload, but wow! what a sense of accomplishment once I did.

Aside from some pull-ups, some ab work, some static bar catcher's locks, and some rope climbing, Elena G. and I were slacking for most of catcher training and enjoying the scenery... probably a good idea, as it left more energy to do this:

A 540!! I need to be higher, certainly, but there were no pauses or jerkiness, and so progress has been made. For the past few weeks, I've been at a standstill on the twisting thing, even though it feels like what I need to practice at this point in my flying, so I'd like to apologize to Nietzsche for doubting him (for many, many years!)

The goal, aside from my twisted whip, which I haven't forgotten about, is to do a 540 return. Unfortunately, today's attempts did not meet with as much success as I would have liked:

although I certainly wasn't going where I needed to, I felt that progress was made in the tweaks -- working the turn-around and thinking in the apron.

I also learned that trying to rework your trick at catch time is not the best idea... of course Jeff had to goad me and appeal to my competitive side, which I tried to keep tamped down as much as possible. (As Jeff said, I am competitive, but hate losing. Too true! That's why I take myself out of the game... haven't you figured out that that's why I won't work on what other people are working on?)

Speaking of Jeff, we were honored with the presence of Elena as well:

It was lovely seeing her! I also want to thank both Elenas for their videography skills.

Elena L. couldn't resist playing with my camera:

As for my classmates tonight, Emmanuelle's swing is looking incredible (as Jeff so wrongly pointed out to me, thinking that it would bring out my competitiveness...); Elena is as impressive as usual... girl, you've got the cut/catch solidly. Move on! And Susan has a lovely straddle whip... we all have plateaus that we have to struggle through. Sometimes they end quickly, but I've had some that have lasted months. And there have been times when I've needed to either take a break or switch it up. The main thing is to remember that we fly because we love it, and yes, sometimes it takes our bodies longer to figure things out. It's okay. There's no rush at all. We all come to this from different backgrounds. I was never a gymnast, and any dancing I have done has been for my own pleasure, so my body awareness is not the same as that of someone from a different background, and thus my learning curve is different. Again, it's okay. Trapeze, at least to me, isn't about the competitiveness, but about the joy of flying, the joy of individual accomplishments, of single-minded focus... and since I've been doing it for the past few years, a time for me to be with my adopted family...

And for those wondering about the uncharacteristic sentimentality, well there are a few reasons... I'll miss trapeze when I'm away, but more than that, I'll miss all of you... and under the sarcasm and irony, I am apparently a sentimalist, and finally, (in direct relief) I'm just wait for all those videos to upload to youTube.

Hopefully, I'll see some of the regulars in the class I take this Sunday (I may do one at the other place as well... anyone interested in joining?) Otherwise, have a wonderful summer. I'll try to blog from Israel, and hopefully there will be some interesting aerial stuff to write about...

And since I'm still waiting for the upload, here's a link to a video that I watched on youTube... from the same director as "Cut", it's an interview with an Israeli special ops soldier (though the videographer calls him an assassin...) This is a very typical Israeli take on the conflict... check it out if you like at:

(it's pretty long -- almost half an hour... I listened to it as I would a radio, for the most part, but then you miss the questions that the director posed to the interviewee, which aren't spoken, but printed on the screen...)

Shalom/Salaam/Peace
Namaste

ps... please comment or email me when I'm gone, since the echo of this commentless blog seems kind of endless...