Let me picture the situation for you. I am in my room at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, London. The new moon is completely covered by the clouds, the sky is dark, not a single star around.
The silence is almost absolute and palpable. I can hear the sound of my heart pumping synchronizing with my breath.

No wind.

Flat? No. There is so much energy, it gives me goosebumps. A deep quiet before the storm.

Such situation triggers a primal instinct of awareness, readiness, and sharpness of thought.

It feels as if the Universe itself was hitting a “dead center” (and this is one of the stronger that I have ever felt in my life).

A “Dead center” is not dead; no pull in any direction is felt because at the middle point pulls from all directions balance each other. To the sensitive eye, the balance of the middle point is alive with tension. Think of a rope that is motionless while two men of equal strength are pulling it in opposite directions. It is still, but it is loaded with energy.

Throughout this book, it must be kept in mind that every visual pattern is dynamic. Just as a living organism cannot be described by its anatomy, so the essence of a visual experience cannot be expressed by inches of size and distance, degrees of angle, or wave lengths of hue.
These static measurements define only the “stimulus”, that is, the message sent to the eye by the physical world. But the life of a percept – its expression and meaning – derives entirely from the activity of the kind of forces that have been described. Any line drawn on a sheet of paper, or the simplest form modeled from a piece of clay, is like a rock thrown into a pond. It upsets repose, it mobilizes space. Seeing is the perception of action.”

(Arnheim, 1960)

Consider me not a religious man, nor a fatalist, not a believer of the supernatural whatsoever. But in these moments, something unique happens.
I listen in silence and with a blurred focus, zooming in and I can almost sense a small “fetus of thoughts” taking shape from the deep stages of consciousness that are normally impossible to access.

It is a sum of pieces collected along the way, that never get to the highest hierarchy of thoughts, but constantly intertwine to produce daily decision making. Anything we crossed our path on, is registered and it remains somewhere in the big data storage somewhere in the body.

This sixth sense, printing a solution from nowhere in particular highly fascinates me and I believe, it is not less trustable than any other. It is scary, and it creates confusion because it’s hard to grasp and it is not that easily manageable.

Yet, quantifying this unquantifiable is not a good idea. This thing is meant to remain subtle to function correctly.

Like one of those puzzle that don’t make any sense if you look at them from close. A Seurat pointillism at its finest.

It seems appropriate the parallelism with the “Theory of the Dérive (Drift)” (1956) by Guy Debord. A voluntary loss of orientation, opening to new scenarios.

Get in the flow, and get yourself dragged into the cracks of the world.
Incredible wonders await (or the worst nightmares) – in both cases it is highly worth it. I am going to jump in first.

“Where are you going?”
“Nowhere in particular”
“So why do you want to go?”
“I hear it is calling me!”
“What is calling?”
“I have the feeling I will never know, but I will never stop searching for it”.

Until next time,
Marcello.

Reference

Arnheim, R. (1960). Art and visual perception (1st ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press.

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The parkour legend Chris “Blane” Rowat balancing on a rail in London. Summer 2017, a hot day, photoshooting for Skochypstiks. Picture by Andy Day.

“If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you” – Nietzsche

Humans’ perceptions and instincts are inner signals that can and should be trusted. If you feel you are thirsty, you probably need water. If you feel like something is wrong, it probably is.

Human states have been vastly investigated in the literature. Either in the form of models or scales, they all tried to frame a specific condition considering the individual perceptions produced during the direct stimulation.

These methods of measurement have been implemented in psychology, business, physical activity and so on.

In Powerlifting Mike Tuchscherer proposes a method called Reactive Training System (RTS) which is based upon a rate of perceived exertion (RPE). The RTS puts into a relation the RM percentages for a given lift with the number of repetitions that can be performed with a training weight. Its applications are endless – from autoregulating training based on fatigue to developing a better sensitivity with different loads. (if interest in its limitations click here). Similarly, the classic Borg scale is in an RPE system that is used to measure cardiovascular effort by guessing it subjectively in due course of an activity. It can be used in different forms of testing or as a training tool.

Same Photographer, situation, place, time. See above. However, this time it’s me climbing a rusty tower.

 In psychology, different scales have been developed for research and treatment purposes in clinical contexts. Usually, they are validated through extensive testing and a bit more complex than the basic ones seen above.
Just to name two: The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) is used “to assess the severity of symptoms of anxiety” (you could guess right?), and The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) that examines the chronic and the acute state of the art on this topic. Down here you click on the elements I am talking about:

For example, trying to make more quantitative the degree at which an internal emotion is expressed (such as acute fear) can used for exercise selection during practice.

So, check this out: 

When setting up a session of familiarization with fear, you should be working between four to eight PFS-RPE. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you stay true to the scale. Be honest. You might need to regress your sessions a lot or to move them forward according to the stage you are at. Don’t assume you are at a certain stage forever since things change from session to session and we evolve from moment to moment.

Try to assess the current stage you are in a certain condition and move from there.

Gradually progressing into the scale will require a long time, so to make it sustainable – stay in a state you can sustain for a long enough. When training to better handle basophobia (fear of falling) or acrophobia (fear of heights) for example, the time spent at height is everything. You might think you did a great session because the emotions you felt were very intense, but the actual time spent up there might have been too little, therefore the session becomes poor.

The trick to progress in this game is a constant gradual exposure. Start from a manageable drill, work through it, make it harder until even the hardest variation goes from an eight to a three; then start over. On a preparation layer, this is what I call acclimatization to heights.

But, don’t stop here. From time to time retest your skills on a reality base.
This is what makes parkour, climbing, fighting so interesting to my eyes, you can test your level on your skin where the words don’t mean as much as the actual act of doing.

I.e. you can balance on the floor. You can stand at height. Now, be brave, balance at height. There is a lot of learning waiting for you there.

More insights, next week.

Marcello.

Picture by Andy Day – summer 2017, in a photoshoot for Skochy, London.

I do not mean slightly difficult, but extremely tough.

Your body would try all that is in its power to avoid facing them and it will try to protect you in any possible way.

You think you are tired, busy, simply not ready. Not today, not like this. These are all excuses; protective mechanisms at their finest, trying to trick the mind to avoid putting yourself at risk.

Why? In an evolutionary sense, fear protects you from a potential death, that would also imply an inability of transmitting your genes to the next generation (1). One of the most valuable tools in a nutshell. As easy as that.

The body knows, you know, we all know – deep inside.

This may become a problem when the “fear of fear” is installed in people’s minds, creating as consequence illusions and misperceptions (2). Not experiencing fear while stepping into the world of risk can limit possibilities and discoveries. But how can we approach risk without blindly stepping into the darkness and getting irremediably hurt?

Follow me here.

For a given risk, only one performance outcome is possible, and that is relative to the individual level of preparedness.

This means: accept your state and what you can do. Move from there. Regress the scenarios to your possibilities.

The illusion lies in looking into situations that are too hard for an individual’s level of preparedness without adjusting them by a possible and realistic and controllable risk. Stepping over that line should not be an option.

For example: if it’s hard for you to climb a 5.2 (YDS), you don’t even think about free soloing El Capitan. It is simply not in the frame, it is way beyond it.

I am not saying don’t dream big, but keep the feet well grounded when walking your path.

You know Black Mirror’s “Arkangel” episode (4)? The mother that wants to control the daughter at all costs altering her perceptions to protect her from anything? Well, (spoiler alert) it doesn’t end well, doesn’t it?

Get the right amount of risk exposure, tune in your perceptions.

Mental Preparedness:

So, it appears clear that if you want to step up the game and access a wider range of possibilities you need to increase your preparedness. How? I’ll make it general now, and elaborate more in the future:

– expose yourself to a variety of scenarios and gain experience;

– widen your capacity and increase your skill set;

– learn how to better handle your emotions.

As you wait for some more insight, don’t get too cautious and make mistakes: smaller traumas protect us from bigger and more profound ones. As I use to say when I teach impacts management, there is a difference between Eu-traumas and Dis-traumas.

Eu = positive stress -> will make you grow.

Dis = negative stress -> will destroy you.

Get the Eu, discard the Dis. Don’t get injured, but don’t stop for a few scratches, it’s all part of the game.

To summarize:

Tune in your risks perception by gradually exposing yourself out of your comfort zone, experiencing fear. Let it guide your choices, let it protect you, help you, give you an advice when nobody else can.

Be careful not to fall into the illusion that there are more situations for a single state of risk and preparedness.

Then, increase your mental preparedness by gaining experience, increasing your skill set and learning how to channel and control emotions.

Is this getting any clearer?

Good. Next week I will present the acclimatization and the shock method to fear via height training and I will give you a practical scale that can be used to determine your level in the journey.

Until next week,
-Marcello. 

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1. Dawkins, R. (1989). The selfish gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2. Reiss, S., Peterson, R., Gursky, D., & McNally, R. (1986). Anxiety sensitivity, anxiety frequency and the prediction of fearfulness. Behaviour Research And Therapy, 24(1), 1-8. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(86)90143-9
3. Arkangel (Black Mirror). (2018). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkangel_(Black_Mirror) 

As previously underlined, there is not much that can be done to “avoid” triggering the neural circuits associated with fear, nor it is safe or wise not to listen to its call.

Fear makes our senses sharper and our bodies more ready to face the unknown.

Balancing on the high beams with ParkourWave – Bergamo, 26/04/2018. Pic by Andy Day – All rights reserved.

A lot of complicated words to say that the fear-response system becomes more useless than a cockroach floating upside down in a pool.

So, being able to control and channel the responses of the body is essential. A good process into this world can open possibilities to various activities that will ultimately lead to the development of a stronger mind and a more adaptive body. But how can we be sure we are not stepping over the line and we are working in the right area for our development?

Here is a matrix that can be of help in understanding where to spend energies and time to produce positive adaptations:

The matrix underlines that, for a given stage of fear exposure and preparedness state, there is only a limited amount of situations that can allow growth.

If the preparedness of a person is very low, the fear to which that person can be exposed must be low; failing to do so can produce an impaired state, at times creating long-term damages on the body or augmenting the so-called fear of fear.

I.e. Amber is learning how to balance on a rail. Practicing ground level would be necessary to ensure her development. If the whole process started on a high bridge, nothing good could have come out of that situation, in the first place. She would have probably frozen at that height before slowly climbing down the bridge – in a moment she would have associated rail balancing to a bad experience precluding to herself a whole branch of personal development.

As the preparedness gets “bigger” in value the fear exposure can go hand in hand with it. On the other hand, a new riddle arises. With more tools to face the problems, comes the risk to sit in the comfort zone, producing no more adaptations in the system.

I.e. Luke is an experienced fighter – lightly sparring over and over again without ever going into a real fight will leave him both without a reality check and without an understanding of the deepest layers of his practice.

For today, that is all. Remember – Don’t be crazy but don’t be lazy. Start from manageable, controlled and expected situations not to drown in a sea of chaos. With time move into harder and unexpectable scenarios where you level of skills can be tested and progressed.

In the next article, I will present the basic elements of which this “preparedness” I have been talking about is comprised of and I will discuss the two main methodologies that I have been implementing during the years for the development of my students. 

Until next week,
Marcello.

 (1) LeDoux, J. (1994). The amygdala: contributions to fear and stress. Seminars In Neuroscience, 6(4), 231-237. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/smns.1994.1030

Fear has been vastly considered in its evolutionary perspective, from Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” to the most recent studies of Evolutionary Psychology.

When mentioned, fear appears to be characterised by four main features:

–       It is activated as a response to potentially dangerous stimuli or situations;

–       It is an automatic mechanism;

–       It can’t be managed via cognitive control;

–      It originates in a specific area of the brain: a neural circuit that has the amygdala as one of the greatest contributors.

The amygdala is part of the limbic system, which is responsible for the elaboration of emotions, behaviours, motivations, and memory. As a matter of this fact, impairments in this area have been correlated with overreactions, inability to recognise known objects and to accurately respond to fear-related stimuli until complete loss of fear.

The basic mechanisms of fear is similar in animals and humans, and neural circuits in the brain of mammals have been considered by scientists and authors to identify how our brain detects fear and how each individual responds to a dangerous situation. This is the reason why the concepts of Fear and Preparedness are frequently considered together. Where one concerns experiencing fear trough the model presented above, the other refers to the ability of providing an immediate and relevant response when the situation requires so. Therefore, it’s not enough to experience “fear”; appropriate reactions need to be elicited.
The role of memory in this complex system is crucial. Once a situation or an object has been registered in the brain as dangerous, the individual will tend to automatically respond in a similar manner to “stimuli that are perceptually close to an event that predicts adversity, a phenomenon known as fear generalisation”. This process potentially helps the individual to respond faster and more efficiently, making each organism more easily adaptable. Fight or flight. It doesn’t matter which side you pick, but you’d better pick it fast

In the past, this automatic mechanism was capable of determining survival in potentially deadly situations and its evolutionary value is deeply-rooted in the most ancestry and buried parts of our brain. This is the reason why we all experience it.

Flight – London, summer 2017 – Photo by Andy Day, All Rights Reserved.

When it comes to experiencing fear in a movement context, gradual exposure is required to allow the person to work on the preparedness level. As we have seen, fear cannot be controlled, but preventive measures can be taken to provide the mind a concrete sense of manageability of the circumstance.

For those who practice parkour, this is even more understandable. Jumps that seems too scary to be tried can become manageable as the preparedness increases. It is not that the fear all of the sudden disappears. However, understanding that those emotions can be controlled can help attenuating the discomfort and create a pattern of effective management through memory.

There are different ways to channel fear and optimize this process. The individual level of expertise surely influences the ability to react to distress and fear, producing accurate responses. And with the level of expertise, I do not mean how far you can jump. It is more about: how much time did you spend pushing yourself outside your comfort zone? Have you ever worked on practical ways to handle stressful or potentially dangerous situations or you kept avoiding them?

Thanks to Arianna (BSc in Educational and Developmental Psychology) for the help in cracking this riddle and for being an inspiration and a model on many layers. Oh, and for being my life partner, of course.

An extract from some instructional material produced on learning how to deal with impacts. The instructional set is aimed at learning the basic coordination needed for the action of jumping and landing. The other elements are some classic problems almost ever-present in any outdoor environment.

A. Impacts without impacts instructional set:

A1. Jumping without jumping x 50 reps
A2. Landing without landing x 50 reps
A3. Double arms swing x 5-10 mins
A4. Collapse and stabilize x 25 reps

Horizontal surfaces dominant:

B1. Landing focusing on time to immobilisation: three positions. High – Medium – Low.
B2. Precision jumps: low to high – same level – high to low. Land accurately on the forefoot. No noise and again, focus on time to immobilisation.
B3. Plyo challenge: pick a jump you can’t perform standing, that is possible with a jump in between.

B1-B3. Qualitative training: spend 15-30 mins on each element, according to fatigue. Quit when quality is decreasing too much. However, don’t make a bit of fatigue a reason to quit.

Vertical surfaces dominant:

C1. Vertical landing: Progress aiming to bring the body towards a horizontal position.
C2. Tic tac precision: tap the wall go over an obstacle to start with. Increase the height of the obstacle to clear and then the length of the movement.
C3. Tic tac toc:  Increase the distance between

C1-C3. Qualitative training: spend 15-30 mins on each element, according to fatigue. Quit when quality is decreasing too much. However, don’t make a bit of fatigue a reason to quit.

D. Impacts without impacts instructional set x 1 set.

Here’s the video on it:

A note and a reminder: As the surrealist painter Magritte was saying: “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” – “this is not a pipe” on the description of the painting of a pipe. He was underlying the difference between a real object and its representation.

Similarly, when looking through space, the focus should be placed upon looking at shapes and forms rather than function and perception.

Until next time,

-Marcello.

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