Wholistic Fitness

Namaste Noble Warriors!

�It takes a long time to learn to be fast.�

– Coach Ilg

MIND CONTROL and WINTER SPORTS

I�m all psyched this time of the year for winter sports. Even though i now live away from Snow Country, i still coach winter athletes and manage to get out tele skiing, snowshoeing, etc., every once in a while. My local area is about 90 minutes away.

I thus wish to send Chi Filled Congratulations to American ski racer Daron Rahlves who got second place to Stephan Eberharter at the Superbowl of Downhill Alpine Ski Racing; the Hahnekamm in Kitzbuhel, Austria! This is the legendary, �killer� ski course that Franz Klammer made famous in the 76 Olympics when he raced out of his mind and nearly his body to win the event even when racing last!

Last year, our very fit Daron STUNNED the gathered 70,000 maddened Austrians when Daron won the Hahnekamm! This caused an emotional catastrophe all across Austria. In fact, if Eberharter hadn�t thrown down his AMAZING run to beat Daron this year, I am confident that the Austrians would have committed mass suicide. Daron�s performances over in Kitzbuhel is a bit like Taft High School beating whatever the hell team is playing in the SuperBowl this Sunday. Or, me beating Lance Armstrong up L�Alpe du Huez.

Don�t know much about Alpine ( or �downhill� as the incorrect but often used term) Ski Racing? There are 4 events in the World Cup: Slalom (tight turns, complex gate setting, slower speeds), Giant Slalom (faster speed, less tight turns), Super G (very fast, wide turns), and Downhill (insanely fast – regularly over 70 mph -, wide turns with speed traps and pre-fatigue sections).

Though I personally focused on Nordic Ski Racing (cross country and Nordic jumping), I also raced for Durango�s Ski Team which won 11 out of 13 State Championships. My best Alpine event was Downhill. My fastest recorded speed was 61 mph on the classic �Peace Downhill� at Purgatory Ski Resort. I actually fell on the crux hairpin turn while in training and the high speed crash in my skin suit caused deep burns into my skin. I was picking skin suit fabric out of my skin for weeks! Out of my penchant for both high speed Alpine racing and the suffering of Nordic endurance ski racing, grew a course record at Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon where i hold the fastest recorded downhill time done on cross country racing skis! Talk about mental control; skinny skis with no edges baby!

Interestingly, my Downhilll record is about the same as my fastest speed on a bicycle but far short of the Speed Skiing World Record currently sizzling at 155 mph by Phillippe Goitschel. Skis go faster than bicycles. I�d like to go for the world Speed Skiing record, but would have to gain some major weight. I don�t think my current 147 lbs is going break any Speed Skiing records. Check the website for a nice chi hit:

http://www.speedski.com/

Since we are on the subject of Winter Sports,

This story, sent in as part of Master Student Sean Madine�s current Cycle Summation, truly reveals a genuine mental control breakthrough for Sean. It�s one thing to control the mind on a nice comfy meditation pillow in a climate controlled room.

It is another thing to control the mind while ice climbing and dropping your final piece of protection and thus putting your life and limbs in an extreme situation.

This extreme sport field is where my Wholistic Fitness Personal Training system originated. As you can see, to this day, it pays off for Students like Sean that do their inner homework and keep their Practices strong.

May your workout today benefit from Sean�s inspiring story and mind/body breakthrough on a Colorado ice climb.

Congratulations Abu!!!!!!!!

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WHOLISTIC FITNESS TRAINING CYCLE SUMMATION SHEET:

The Jiva Khyati Cycle was epitomized by a day of ice climbing in Vail this past

weekend. My partner and I arrived at the base of the Pumphouse (WI 4) just as

another party of six (yes, six) was setting up a toprope. They had already

taken the most obvious line, but there was a natural seam to the right of it

that would be climbable. After a bit of negotiation with some rather sketched

novices (I do my best to not just bully my way into a crowded scene), it was

decided that I would lead the right seam before the large party set a toprope

on it. I rushed so that the guy at the top wouldn�t get the line over us

before I started leading out. I wasn�t as careful as I should have been with

clothing choices and gear organization.

I was in a very balanced mindset once the climbing began. My �mental texture�

was much more solid than usual. The lower section was relatively easy going.

I moved confidently upward. As soon as the angle became steeper, I slowed.

Here is where I noticed my intellectualization kick in. I began to lose trust

in the placements and my movement. I also started to watch the pump-o-meter

rather that just move rest to rest. I even went through my usual bail out

options. But then, I reminded myself that this discomfort was EXACTLY why I

had come to climb � to make the ego squirm.

Whenever my thoughts started to throw me off mentally, I just brought awareness

to deep breathing. Interestingly, my composure remained quite good for the

entire climb. My movement was much slower than I had intended, but I stayed

engaged in the climbing very well. Two things helped me through the

difficulties. First � In a recent email to me, you closed with ��ain�t so

bad.� Whenever I feel that I am over-dramatizing, I bring the �ain�t so bad�

mantra to the fore. It is amazing how this mentally calms and centers me even

when my forearms are screaming. Second � I used a suggestion from the Ilgner

climbing book that I told you about. Whenever I feel stuck or gripped

(struggling as it relates to this cycle�s exercise), I notice that I am

generating a bunch of useless mental chatter like �this ice is crap� or �my

crampons are shearing through� or �there is no good ice to get a stick�. This

is not just useless; it completely interferes with the Dance. Ilgner�s

suggestion in these situations is to accept the current situation and just

gently ask yourself �what now?�. Then listen. Whenever I did this, there was

no mental answer, but all of a sudden I realized that I had passed through the

difficulty. Amazing.

In my rush to begin, I didn�t bring the full rack of screws with me. I was

about ten feet out from a screw and ten feet from the top when the ice got a

bit funky. I reached for my last screw, gave it a turn into the ice and then

proceeded to drop it. How is that for awareness! Well, I just asked myself

�what next?�. I moved slowly, but with solid composure to finish the lead.

The finish consisted of the classic exit moves on frozen dirt and moss that

don�t inspire confidence, especially twenty feet out from the last screw. I

sat at the anchor freezing my ass off (lack of clothing due to my initial rush)

while humming Amazing Grace as I brought up my partner. This was my best lead

yet, baby.