This is part one of a three part sequence.
When I was young, in High School, around 15 years old, I tried to do every sport I could. I tried everything that there was on offer at my school from Athletics to Swimming to Basketball and many others. The one which I enjoyed the most was Ultimate Frisbee which I played for many years… In order to do these sports I had to be fit. I did all the trainings and I went an extra mile by adding gym sessions whenever I could.
During my University I was one of the founding members of the University’s Ultimate Frisbee team and I played my heart out for them throughout my Uni. Then, as I started working, I joined a local Ultimate championship and I was on the first team in a tight championship. I was really chuffed for helping the team win the national championship! At the post tournament party I had promised to allow the team to shave my hair and they did! Fond memories…
Every single workday I actually supplemented all of this by going to the gym and running for 20 min and then cycling for 20 min… as fast as I could to make my cardio work out really tough… My routine was to go to the gym at lunch, grab a sandwich post gym session and eat at my desk working… it was worth it for my physical shape. For all intents and purposes, at that time, I was in a top shape.
And then I tried a DeRose Method class (my first — which I still vividly remember). My teacher was slightly podgy, slightly on the heavy side. I was told that there was going to be a physical part and I thought I would nail it. Add that to the slight roundish frame of my teacher and I was sure I would breeze through it! Little did I know…
I have to be honest… I had my behind handed to me. By the end of the class there was a puddle of sweat where I had been… at moments during the class I shook so bad that I was worried! I had never experienced that… You are excused for thinking that the teacher must have suffered too, right? Wrong… She was smiling throughout while kicking my behind… As best as I can recall she put me in my place, after having wiped the floor and laughed at me… superlatives do that day no justice… you would have needed to be there… hahahahha
So how could it be that a fairly fit person could be so pushed?
Well, the physical element of the DeRose Method is really that intense and powerful. But more than that, it is also super complete, balanced and helps to avoid injuries. As a teacher I have had the same pleasure that my very first teacher had, to make very fit people wonder how the hell can they not keep up. One of the most memorable was an Olympic speed skater who could not keep up with me! (ok I will stop blowing my horn now….)So how does it work?There are two elements that make this physical portion so powerful:
- Rules of execution
- Balanced sequence.
The combination of these elements is what creates the incredible results we observe from different practitioners and teachers of the DeRose Method.
In the next article we will explore these elements!