Private session write up
Hey Everyone
Mike A did a personal coaching session with me last night and put the following write-up on the Membership Site Free Forum. I thought I'd put it up on here because he does a great job of describing what can be gained from personal training.
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After the Manchester seminar last week, which I found immensely useful, I still felt that the fundamentals of my game were still not there. The biggest frustration with me is that I knew where I was going wrong, as I take a lot in during coaching sessions / the seminar work but I just couldn't make it all come together.
It's like a million things are rushing through your head - move you lead foot back a little, make your stance wider, hunch over a bit more, step a little to the left when throwing the cross, BREATHE!!, shoulder up on body shots, fluid movement, don't drag your feet!, er.. BREATHE! (i forget to do this a lot, no exaggeration!! worrying eh?) - but the speed they're going at you just end up looking rushed with poor form and posture and basically like you've never even trained before, like a physical mirror image of your mental thought process.
With this in mind i booked a private session with Phil (Wright) as soon as i could. Phil started off (as ever in privates) by asking what i wanted to do or know, and I said that my fundamental game was not there.
The thing that Phil is excellent at is telling you where you're going wrong both phsically and mentally, he gets you to admit that, yes, there's too much nervous energy or you're too expectant of how good you should be (my major flaw).
The exercise i think where it really all came together was where he got me to think of 3 words that described the shadow boxing i'd just done (after correcting some of the more glaring errors)
The three i came up with were -
Current
Fluid
Twist
We talked a lot about what kind of feeling you should be having when doing something as simple as moving around the mat , or throwing a simple cross/jab. As I said to Phil the way I could best describe it (being an electrician! ) was there being a current running down from my body and almost rebounding back up off the floor and through me all the way to the punch. I'm sure you've all had it before but there was a moment and it was - ding! - lightbulb time. The fluid and twist are relatively self explanatory and relate to how I felt I was moving on the mat.
Despite all this the really big thing about the whole session came from the talks in between which are as (if not more essential) in my eyes than the physical side of the game, the understanding has to be there.
Even in the relatively short 2 hour session, as my game was improving my mental state was changing drastically. The best example was the last bout of shadow boxing [eyes shut]. As Phil said I was 'away with the fairies'. I thought i'd been doing it for about 2-3 minutes when in reality it had been 7-8 minutes. I was in almost another state (don't worry i'm not gonna start chanting or anything ) but it all came together.
Crazy Monkey for me , is totally about self awareness and concentrating on (for want of a better phrase) 'inner energy'. It's about becoming totally at ease with yourself, as comfortable with yourself as possible and realising about where the physical force comes from - the mental state. The jab being thrown isn't just coming from your body in a physical motion, it's about manipulating your energy and the flow of it from the ground. Indeed the physical motions on the whole are only an outward expression of what, and how you feel inside.
A constant example I brought up with Phil which I can relate to is The Book of Five Rings (one of my favourite books) by Miyamoto Musashi, the most famous Samurai of his era. He is constantly referring to how good Martial Artists are often intelligent and express themselves in many different ways - painting, calligraphy etc. and it's constantly pointed out about knowing how aware you are of yourself, and how the Martial Arts principles can be applied to anything in life.
I realise to a certain extent i'm preaching to the converted on here but I hope everyone understands what i'm trying to get across. I came back from last nights session absolutely buzzing as it was 5000 lightbulb moments at once. I feel now I actually understand about where all this is coming from I can go on and pretty much do anything in terms of CM if the grafting is put in, and how this can benefit myself. My mates are going to have a hard time over the next few weeks as I try and get them all down to the gym
Labels: crazy monkey, personal coaching, testimonial
posted by Phil Wright
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