A Different Way to Use, Train, & Treat the Knee (Part 3)

Part 1 of this series explained how knee should not be used as a load-bearing joint. Part 2 showed how pressuring the knee can help build safety, alignment, and desired force at the desired time.  This third and final segment Read more ›

A Different Way to Use, Train, & Treat the Knee (Part 2)

In part 1, I suggested that using the knee as gas instead of brakes could help free up the knee for motion and elicit the hips and ankle-foot as stabilizers.  For folks with chronic pain, however, their nervous system likely Read more ›

To Twist or Not To Twist

Torsion.  We all have it: a particular line of twist running through our carriage, gripping us in a certain way and keeping us upright.  Each fold and joint tells its story, whether you realize it or not.  It’s how we Read more ›

Architecture of a Body-Centric PE Lesson (Part 2)

To recap Part One:  Create a sense of intrigue  Provide multiple points of entry  Establish pockets of safety  Ask instead of assume  This sh*t’s hard (which is why so few do it) After the weight shift lesson , three of Read more ›

Up Leg, Down Leg, and Arches Preference

Pairs.  Roles.  Asymmetry.  The body knows and the body has ways.  Understanding the differences between the halves helps you appreciate them.  One side isn’t ‘good’.  The other isn’t ‘bad’.  They hold a function within the system. Here’s a big picture Read more ›

Coming Together

Flexion and extension.  Compression and Suspension.  There are pairs that govern movement, both globally and locally.  The system and its parts act to pull apart and come together.  Posture, moving fast, and any sort of training or exercise is versed Read more ›

Suspension & Compression

This piece serves as the follow up to How To Push Down.   When we are talking about compression, we are also talking about tension.  It is the interaction of these two push-pulls that creates suspension.  Otherwise everything would collapse.  Read more ›

Calming an Irritation (Fixing a Foot-Hip)

This post serves as a follow up to: A Path Towards Harm.  Otherwise titled: The things I did wrong when I didn’t pay attention or have compassionate patience.   The tag to this blog used to read, “fix yourself.”  But Read more ›

Pain: Solutions Based on Self-Study

This hurts.   The most common reaction is to stop using it or doing that.  It’s even the advice of many medical professionals.  Rest, it is assumed, is a cure all.  But what happens when this magic pill doesn’t work?  When Read more ›

Exploration & Safety (Part Two)

The following is part two of my course notes and findings from Stress, Movement, and Pain.   As practitioners seeking to help bio-psycho-social organisms, we have to be able to read, analyze, and gather information from all three dimensions.  The Read more ›

Rotational Organization

The following is a glimpse into the mind of Nicole Uno (IG @unotraining).   Rotational Organization allows for the simultaneous existence between contract and relax.  Thoroughly simplified, consider two gears.  There is an impetus of force and a corresponding area Read more ›

The World of Fighting Monkey (part 2)

Engaging with your work demands a certain degree of ownership.  There must be a benefit to the challenge presented, beyond just a hard-to-apply confidence.  A task can serve as a test of will, a test of adaptability, and/or a test Read more ›

The World of Fighting Monkey (part 1)

Doing without knowing.  Playing, creating, learning.  Adjusting and adapting.  Describing Fighting Monkey is an act in organizing verbs.  Everything overlaps and intertwines and is a wonder.  The only certainty you are left with is that you have experienced something good Read more ›

A Purpose and Description of Exploratory Movement

“I’m going to explore the depths of the ocean.” “You’re gonna what?” “I’m going to get into this magical pressure suit, close myself off to the known world, and look for cool stuff.”   “Why would you want to do Read more ›

Learning Acrobatics and Developing Elasticity

Movement overlaps. Brain work = joint work = speed, power, strength, and coordination work.  We have structures and we have capacities.  Our practice establishes the abilities of both.  There is a general consensus that if your parts work better you’ll Read more ›

Dynamic Movement as An Extension of Control

Body control is all the rage.  A popular want is increasing active range of motion.  People want to get there so they can do stuff there.  Functional Range Conditioning uses slow, controlled movement to examine individual joints, build capacity in Read more ›