Train for Freedom of Movement

Hello Friends,

I recently got back from more travel. I took two more trips, both I was physically active, but in very different ways. One week, I hiked  the San Juan mountains of Colorado, which took me to some of the most beautiful vistas that I’ve ever seen. And then another week, I was in upstate New York doing home improvement projects with my husband on the house we own. 

Building a retaining wall isn’t as glamorous as hiking mountains, but for me, building something that required using my whole body was just as invigorating. Shoveling dirt and lifting stone for hours in the sun made my usual one hour lifting weights in the gym seem paltry by comparison. A full day hike is also physically taxing, but in a different kind of way. Both activities, my body not just held up, but felt pretty durable.  

These days, I’m more interested in being versatile, or having freedom of movement over the duration of my entire life. For the first 10 years of my training, I was pretty hyper focused on just martial arts mostly because I was chasing the feeling of safety. However, training for years in a specific sport can come with a cost — chronic injuries and muscular imbalances — especially if you don’t cross train or include some type of functional strength training. 

We live in a culture that glorifies and rewards being really good at one specific thing. We hyper-specialize in sports and in our careers. There's definitely merit in specializing in certain areas of our lives, but our bodies are built for a diverse range of movement. Plus, our brains thrive on novelty as well. 

Martial arts will always be my primary movement practice. But I’m also interested in being a well-rounded human that's fit enough to choose my own adventure. I keep in shape because I want to be able to not only adequately defend myself if necessary, but also to have the freedom to do many other things… hike, swim, jump, climb, run, dance, cartwheel, play, build a retaining wall… I want to have the freedom to choose these activities until I’m old and my hair turns grey. And while I might not win an olympic medal over my lifetime, true gold for me is being able to to move in all the ways that bring me joy for as long as possible. 

What is your definition of freedom when it comes to your body and movement? How do you imagine movement unfolding across your lifetime?