Principles

These are the principles I have developed in my practice over the years working with different partners, and students of all skill levels. I have found these carry over into all of my creative life, and you may find them influencing you in ways you never thought of. Which is great. But lets not get ahead and just look at them in context of how I teach them, in regards to partner acrobatics. One body working in tandem with other bodies in space.

Now before we begin these are principles, not rules. Rules are arbitrary and can be broken and interpreted and bent, and thrown out the window. No these are principles. They are simpler, applied to all situations, they mold, change into the context of the situation, while the principle itself is never lost. Which is important when working with someone else.

Now these principles apply straight across all the partner acrobatic and movement skills. There is also another set of principles which changes depending on the specific style of partner acrobatics one is practising. They will be covered in more detail in a separate post. Which layer on top of the principles covered now.

Simplicity is whats important when using these principles. So there can be no confusion, or interpretations. If one finds themselves asking “maybe he meant this?” or, “was it supposed to be that…..?”. Remember that isn’t the principle. They are written so they can be understood and applied immediately, with no confusion.

Let’s start

Principle 1 – Self Awareness

Where we are in space

Self awareness is the most important principle, it underlies all the others, it helps our ability to improve and greatly aids our learning process. We need it to learn, to understand our capabilities, to be true with ourselves. Because it is so fundamental to our learning, self awareness can be the hardest to do, when starting out. It is the one that we will constantly need to practice every session, perfect over many reps, in all the variety of moments our life throws at us.

In the context of partner acrobatics, we are focusing this awareness, into two realms. The internal awareness and the external awareness.

One of the fastest ways I have found to build this awareness, comes from the way we talk to our partners, when discussing what we are doing, and debriefing after practising. The way we do this is by always using “ I” Statements. “ I felt this….” , “ I needed that ….,” “I was falling backwards at the moment…..,” “ I couldn’t find my balance,” etc. By focusing on I statements we are constantly bringing our awareness into our bodies, and the signals we are receiving from it. We then turn that information into data we can use, learning from it.

We want to build up and refine our two “maps” of awareness; our internal body map ( what shape am I holding with my body ), and our external body map ( where is my body in relation to the space around it ). As these two maps become clearer, layered with more information, we can apply them to learning new moves, or working with different partners. We now have this “tool” we can fall back on, these feelings of where our body should be, what our body should be feeling when holding these shapes.

When learning we want to start collecting as much information as possible, and that includes all the information our bodies generate. Turning it into useful data that can be interpreted immediately. We tend to rely on constant outside input, which can be distracting, confusing, or just not helpful. And this is compounded by social media, the internet, videos, friends, other people we train with. The only person who is the exception is a really good coach. Who understands when to deliver their cues, feeding their students the right information at the right time. Otherwise all of the external information can become noise.

So by building our awareness muscles, we are learning to understand the information we are generating, but also create a filter through which we can sift out the noise coming at us from the outside. The great thing is this is a muscle that will adapt, change and grow, with constant practice. So you will get better every session, and you can find it spilling over into the rest of your lives.

With constant practice and diligence, this will become an accurate tool in your learning, and will greatly improve your ability to understand new skills.

Principle 2 – Only one person moves at a time

When in doubt hold and wait

We want to think of our movements as a conversation, when two people are talking and trying to learn about one another, they need to leave space for listening. As one person talks the other listens, and these roles change over the course of the dialogue. This allows for a smooth flow of information and they learn about each other. But if the two people are just constantly talking, thinking about what they are going to say next, talking over each other, then they are not listening to one another. No information is being transferred, which means a conversation isn’t happening.

The same applies to moving, and moving with another person. If both people are “talking” / moving their bodies at the same time, then they cannot hear what the other person is “saying” / doing. So the information becomes a screaming match, there is no conversation happening. But if one person can literally stop, hold whatever shape their body is in, and then listen to the movements of their partner, allowing the information of whats happening to come through. Now the conversation has a place to happen, and a dialogue can begin.

The principle of holding and waiting is the physical equivalent of active listening. We are stopping our words / movements, so we can focus on our partners words / movements. Just like active listening, we are not sitting quietly, thinking of what we are trying to say next, ignoring the words coming from our partner. No, we are trying to be empty, focusing on what the information we are receiving feels like to us. So that we can respond by moving in the moment.

This is hard because sometimes we just want to get the trick, or we want to learn the new thing, or we feel like we are better, or can do it, or want it now, etc. The problem with all of these thoughts, is that when we are working with another person, all of these things have to work with both people in mind. Taking into account, their energy levels, their moods, whats been happening in their lives, how they are sleeping, their interpersonal relationships, etc. otherwise the relationship will always have conflict, the partners won’t be satisfied with each other. Which means it will eventually fail, not being able to achieve its full potential.

When both people can learn to accept how they are feeling, and focus on listening to one another this allows the moment to come into focus, giving the attention to what the partnerships needs right now. Which helps us to let go of our ego and not worry about what our mind says “we should be doing”. Leading instead to, “what do we need right now?”, “what am I hearing from my partner?”

As you continue to work with this principle practising it over time, its usefulness to the learning process will slowly reveal itself. When something doesn’t seem to be working;

Then moving forward to the next obstacle. All through the act of holding and listening.

Principle 3 – It should always be comfortable

There should never be any pain.

It will be hard, it can be frustrating, it will not always be easy. But that does not mean it’s not comfortable. You will feel sore, you will be tired, things can be confusing while you are trying, and it will definitely still be comfortable. Being comfortable helps us ensure that at no point through bad training, or just through the risk of working with another body we don’t cause any injuries. Which is painful.

Pain and the struggles of the learning process are two different things. We need to separate them so that we can train safe, working to better understand the messages we are receiving from our bodies. We can struggle and be unable to do something right now, without any signal of pain. Learning new skills, getting better, stronger, is not tied to being in constant pain. If one is in constant pain, or feels pain when doing certain things, that is an indicator that something is wrong. And they should stop immediately.

This is even more relevant when working with another person. It is way too easy for things to go wrong when there is more than one body involved. It can happen quickly too. Someone can be holding on, or limbs get stuck and twisted, or people get pushed just that little too far passed their range of motion. This is why both partners need to respect the comfort rule. They must not try to push or persuade, cause that can lead down a perilous slope into pain and injury.

How you can do this in your practice?

Our safe word is “DOWN” it’s simple and clear. It means we are coming to the floor as safely as possible. Bringing everything to a stop so that everyone is in charge of themselves, before we start debriefing and checking in making sure the base and the flier are both OK.

Also be aware depending on the situation, or the persons level of experience, they may not use down. So respect their decision no matter what word they use, or even just their body language. Respect whatever may be coming across. Return to the floor. Take a moment then discuss what is happening and then move forward.