The Opposite Of Learning

A couple of things have happened today that made me think about myself, and my inability to correct consistent shortcomings.

Sometimes it feels like I'm destined to forever be the naughty kid who touches the wet paint sign..

Yeah, I know it's wet.

Yeah, I know I'll get paint on my hand

Yeah, I know I'll get into trouble

But, evermore, I touch the wet-paint sign.

Sometimes you need a smack round the head to realise that there are things in your life that you need to change...because there are people in your life who are worth changing for.

Does doing the same thing over and over again mean you can't change?

I taught myself how to do the Turkish Get-Up.

I taught myself by watching DVDs and You-Tube of RKCs, by reading Pavel's books.

I travelled to Denmark in the spring of 2008 for RKCI thinking I had a pretty good TGU.

I spent 3 days under beautiful blue Danish skies having my TGU ripped apart and put back together again by some of the greatest Kettlebell athletes on the planet.

Pavel, Kenneth Jay, Mark Reifkind, Mark Cheng, Will Williams.

Now my TGU is  almost perfect, right?

I perform my perfect TGU for 2 years.

Over and over.

Repetition after repetition.

I travelled to San Jose in the spring of 2010 for RKCII knowing I had a pretty good TGU.

And I wasn't far off right.

This time, the greatest Kettlebell athletes in the world fine tuned my technique, minor corrections here and there.

Now my TGU is  almost perfect, right?

Fast forward.

To now.

December 2010.

A TGU everyday for the day of the month.

I perform my perfect TGU everyday..

Over and over.

Repetition after repetition.

And what happens?

My TGU changes.

In the words of Gunny Tom Highway, the kick-ass Clint Eastwood character from the great film 'Heartbreak Ridge':

"it adapts, it improvises, it overcomes"

It becomes smoother, more fluid.

More efficient.

This is the opposite of learning.

It's practice makes perfect in a completely unexpected way.

Forced into constant, recovery-free repetition, my body found the perfect TGU.

Not text book perfect, but perfect for me.

After all of that tweaking and correction, my TGU can still change.

And if I my TGU can change.

I can change.

And, to those of you who patiently wait for me to change,

I promise:

I will change.

You know who you are.

General Out.