From: Dingus Milktoast Subject: The Mindset of Motion Newsgroups: rec.climbing Date: 2000-09-11 09:55:27 PST I've been giving thought to the importance of motion in climbing. More specifically, the importance of momentum in climbing. Ever noticed how some days you just seem to float past curxes? Or perhaps you climb 5 or 10 feet beyond your next protection opportunity simply because it's easier to keep moving than it is to stop? How about those times you eagerly volunteer for all the hard leads and then just fly up the pitches? Or you throw yourself at a hard lead or a hard problem and then surprise yourself by suddenly realizing you're 5 feet past the curx? There are probably a zillion examples of the idea I'm trying to relate. The mindset of motion. Momentum. The Big Mo. When you have it, everything becomes easier. When you lack it, harder. I remember an interview with Peter Croft. He related that he tended to make larger, more dynamic moves when he was free soloing. He cited reasons... less fatiguing, more efficient, etc. Having watched him climb I came to realize that his "reasons" were merely rationalization for the motion itself. When he committed himself to movement, he surrendered completely to that movement and allowed it to take him to it's natural conclusion. I seek the magical release that comes with the mindset of motion. And I'm pretty sure the sport or discipline is not nearly as important as is the motion itself. So whether it's riding a bike, skating on some blades, practicing martial arts, racing a car, flying a plane; whatever, the secret of advanced performance is surrendering to the natural motion dictated by the sport. Possessing the mindset of motion allows the person to move beyond conscious thought. It's that nearly magical boundary where climbing becomes walking and you can do it without thinking at all. I climbed with Burl over the weekend. Having mostly healed from a summer of injury, he's in "charging mode." He flew up some hardish leads, faced some difficult and scary runnouts and basically hauled my old ass up some routes I wouldn't have been doing otherwise. When faced with the option of hanging out and placing pro or running it out to a stance, he chose to run it out every time. Thus we flew up the pitches. At the end of the day Burl commented he couldn't remember very much about the leads. I laughed, having been there, done that too many times. But then it occurred to me... the mindset of motion. Do you remember your last walk to the mailbox? Remember all of the cracks you stepped over? Remember that small rock you kicked? How you nearly tripped over the cat laying on the front door step? Of course not! Who remembers the single steps of a long walk?! Who frets over a single step when you'll take millions over a life time? When you're climbing moves becomes steps in a long walk, when you move without thought, when you automatically gyrate through a series of convoluted moves as if you were born to the trees and not the earth, when you arrive at the top and remember little of the intervening journey, when you routinely climb past your rest spots like a long train coming to a rest, over shooting the train station by a 1/4 mile, when you find yourself charging every time you go out... then you possess the mindset of motion. When the Big Mo is on your rack, you need less of everything else. That's why repetitive practice is so important for new comers. That's why it's so important to send all the 5.6's, 5.7's, 5.8's and 5.9's you can while developing. It doesn't matter if you can jump on hard 10's in your first few weeks. Sure, testing yourself at your static limit is important too. But learning how to move quickly over moderate ground is the quickest, surest way of learning the mindset of motion. And the mindset of motion is the key to the treasure chest of climbing. Whaddaya think?