The Scrolls Of A Dying Art

              What is a dying art? It is a system of something that once thrived long ago and in the modern day has started fading away into a memory or became a joke even to the point where it’s not taken serious anymore. In the fitness world, lost arts from 100+ years ago have begun to fade into the memories of those who done them in the past and/or very few still do them for example: Muscle Control was an old-time art of the bodybuilders from the 1890’s to about 1950’s/60’s. This art thrived as it was a way to learn how to control your body from within to create muscular definition and/or mass naturally with the body’s structural alignment. This is one of many but only one had many exciting qualities that are now coming out of the ashes slowly and with power.

            One of these dying arts that are slowly rising like a phoenix is the Art Of Scrolling. What is scrolling you might ask; it is a style from the old-time strongmen that used long pieces of steel from thin to relatively thick that were bent into shapes or designs using only the hands and body. In the old books from the early 20^th century called this coiling or shaping steel. This was a mighty task to take because it works the body in ways that you have never felt before. To shape steel with your hands can be taxing but if you do it right it builds the tendons and muscles with strength that is unbelievable.

            I have personally have done some scrolling with tough steel and I’m going to tell you, it’s tough, it’s hard but it’s way more fun than most feats in the world of strongmen. You don’t need to be a strongman to get the best benefit. This can be used by athletes from all walks of life from martial artists to arm wrestlers to baseball and more. If you’re not interested in sports and just want a great workout, this will get the job one. The way your body has to shift to move the steel is uncanny and a lot of it has an isometric component to it. It will make you sweat and once you start to move the steel you have to keep going until it’s too difficult to move a single portion of the bend. You can create many designs that your mind can come up with and they may not always be the same.

            Today, very few people practice this art and some are incredible with various designs and shapes that boggle the mind. Imagine creating a wine holder with your own hands; a bow-tie, a couple loops, a swan and more with the power of your imagination and physical strength. Two guys that are keeping this art alive and giving you an opportunity to shine are Bud Jeffries & Jedd Johnson, two extremely strong and intelligent men that will show how to safely and with precise coordination how to turn a steel bar into a thriving piece of art that even Picasso would be impressed by. It is an art that has been fading for decades but with your help, we can bring this art of strength back into what it once was or what it could be with the modern strongmen of today. Build tendons of Iron Cords, build strength within every inch of your body and utilize your mind to create something that is beautiful and strong with character and imagination. 

Train To Move

           The power of movement is essential to everyday life. In fitness when people think of movement, they think roaming on elipticals, moving weights around, aerobic exercise and other types of stuff. That’s all good in some cases but what I’m talking about by movement is using different functions of the body that keeps you healthy, free and open to channel the body by squatting, running, jumping, climbing, lifting and carrying weight and making the habit to be practical and utilizing every inch of your body to it’s potential. Functional Movement is precise in what brings the body as a whole as you move through various patterns, using as many muscles as possible in any given time.

            When it comes to sitting, we usually bring ourselves to sitting in chairs or our beds sometimes but never take the time to actually squat and sit that way or move in the squat. This exercise can help build the tendons and ligaments in the knees and build strength in those muscles. Jumping has become a meaning to use in sports or in other endeavors but never for any real fun anymore, when was the last time you felt like jumping and playing hopscotch or something? Lifting doesn’t always mean heavy but it means picking up an object of certain weight, moving with the weight by carrying it is pretty fun to do, think of carrying a heavy backpack or picking a 50 pound rock and carrying it a certain distance then tossing it. We all know how running goes, personally I’m not a fan of running but I like to sprint and amp up my body’s metabolism so that’s a form of running.

            Some movements are in awkward positions like moving in an animal type fashion like Bear Crawls, hanging and swinging like an ape or climbing like a gecko, your body was meant to move in all sorts of directions granted how you’re structured and the way your body can operate in a certain movement. Even walking in an awkward terrain or non-flatted areas is moving in an awkward position and changing directions as you go along. When you can move in an awkward position, you’re utilizing other muscles you normally don’t use.

            When you move, you have a greater chance of having a longer, healthier life if you practice enough to where you’re using practical movements, progressing and utilizing your mind at the same time. I love moving around even when I’m out in the snow hitting a tire with my Sledgehammer; I’m giving my body strength and heading towards specific goals of movement. I even love to just move around in the living room, stretching my body out and jumping & crawling just for the fun of it. 

          To understand the fun of movement, look to what Mary Poppins says by “in every job that must be done there’s an element of fun. You find the fun and snap the job’s a game.” This applies the same way as moving in your training, you learn to imagine having fun with what you’re doing and making it more enjoyable instead of feeling like you have to punish yourself. This helps having a longer life by using your imagination and building a happy attitude to what you do and incorporate it to other things in your life.

Using Simple Exercises As Power Postures

           I have studied many aspects of training and one concept I have found very useful is the power of Qi Gong, not by moving but holding certain postures like in Yoga and building the body from the inside, creating that electric feel and Isometric Strength. Many people believe that to be really strong, you need to physically do something; lift weights, do tons of push-ups or squats or whatever which is all great but there is a whole other world, the world of being still. Jackie Chan once said in The Karate Kid “Being still and doing nothing are two very different things.”

            The key to understanding how to be still is not just holding but by your focus and your breathing; if you can’t focus, you won’t hold the posture very long. Your breathing is another factor, if you are a shallow breather, you won’t hold the posture very long. These 2 things cannot work without the other otherwise you’re not getting the full benefit of that powerful internal work of art that resides inside you.

            If you took a simple exercise and turned into a posture, it’s a whole different exercise. Let’s take the push-up for example; you can crank out a good 10-20 reps no problem, now hold it like the plank for 10-20 seconds; see how different it is and the way your muscles work differently? How about a weighted implement like simply holding a barbell overhead for time, pretty simple right? Wrong, there are many things going on in your body that you don’t realize, every single inch of your body comes into play and that’s where the real power comes in. My favorite posture is the Wrestler’s Bridge, being able to hold a position with my nose touching the mat, feet flat, hips and butt high and just letting the world pass by for a few minutes; after those few minutes, I come out of it and everything feels like the world was at peace where nothing is wrong, my body feels incredible and just smiling for no reason.

            That’s the embodiment of a power posture having that feeling from the endorphins and while you feel like a billion bucks, your body becomes stronger from within and your tendons just have this power of superb strength. With Power Postures, you open your body from the inside, building who you are and what strengthens you. The power of your mind has more to do with than just physically holding an isometric position. You can do this with just about any exercise, you can do it anywhere, anytime, sitting, standing or laying down. Learn some basic postures and you’ll see how powerful they are.