Lessons from Climbing

Today's session left me with quite a few thoughts, so I thought I'd share.

There is a technique in climbing known as the drop-knee. It involves "twisting" the leg so that the knee points downwards after a foot placement and does wonders in stabilisation, prior to making the next move. I have been taught this technique and have used it before. Yet, I don't know how to use it. What this means is that I have been taught a method which can possibly be used as a solution, but I make use of it only when someone has hinted or shown me the answer. In other words, I don't know how to apply what I've learnt.

Two particular routes (or problems) I was attempting proved this. In both cases, I read the problem and planned the moves in my head, until I came to a particular sequence that, no matter how I imagined, seemed impossible to do. I knew I would be too short to do whatever I'd thought of, and I was right - kept falling at those points. Then, I happened to watch other girls climb the same problems, and in both of my "impossible" situations, they employed a drop-knee and completed the routes flawlessly. My thoughts spelled out at that point would have gone smth like "Oh WOW, nice move. Dammit I should've known." It's like the drop-knee wasn't in my library of solutions, so even though I was physically able to do it and complete the problem in the end, I couldn't have planned it out in the first place. Thinking back, I've used it countless times, but I realise it's because ppl specifically said that it needed to be used or because I've seen the beta.

This brought to light a huge flaw in my way of learning and depth of understanding. Engineering and climbing how different? There is a problem and you read it and decide what method of solution to apply, and more often than I should be comfortable with, I come back after discussions thinking "I should've thought of that." Application requires understanding and practice (without looking at the solutions) helps. Obviously an area I have to buck up on in both school and climbing.

Lesson #1 - Even though I can do smth, it's only when I can identify where and how to apply it that I've truly mastered it.

Today I made a new friend in the climbing gym. A and myself were trying the drop-knee problem again and again and she was attempting the same problem. Inevitably, we started giving each other pointers on footwork and body positioning. (She was the one who first did the drop-knee on that problem.) Eventually, we all managed to complete the route, but more important was the conversation that developed throughout all those tries. It started from the mutual intention to progress further on the route, then to the climbing background/how often do you climb, and by the end of the day, we were chatting like long-time friends as we walked to the bus stop together. Best thing was, we only exchanged names at that time.

That's smth I love about this sport, everyone and anyone can want to help each other. And that's great, because it's difficult to spot mistakes and alternatives when you're on the wall - it's a better view from the outside than when you're staring intensely at the next hold. Competitors or random strangers can become friends. Different school, different team, different nationality and all - hardly matters.

Lesson #2 - There is a common goal. If we don't have to or choose to compete, we can all get further together.

[I think applicability is limited in the rat race though.]

Lesson #3 - It can be really easy to make friends if we all know how to start communicating.

Speaking about competing, I think I will join the first comp available when I get back [heck whatever lessons I have on that Friday]. I need to start on a training plan though, right now I've just about gained back enough ability to enjoy climbing again. And I intend to simply enjoy for a while longer xD

But really, I'm glad that I've been improving. The boulder routes have been changed once since I started climbing at Westway, and this new set is awesome. So far, every time I visit I've been able to do some routes that I wasn't able to do the previous times - a sure sign of improvement! It's unlike a few weeks back, where every time I came I was unable to do any more than I'd previously done.

I think I still prefer to climb with others. [The only time I climbed in Derby I climbed alone and it was totally depressing, both in terms of my performance and the atmosphere.] Aside from the help and encouragement, and live demo, I can tag my performance to those of others. Someone whose standard I should match, someone whose skill level I should aim to reach in the near future, and someone whose rapid improvement I can be inspired from. But it's not a matter of competing against them. It's not about "losing" every time other ppl do better than me, but realising how I can use their examples and learn to do as well as them. There's like a continual competition with myself, always wanting to be better than I used to be.

Lesson #4 - External influences govern improvement to significant extents, but without my own drive, there will be no improvement at all.

K la, enlightened. Time to sleep.