1. Form (depends on the move, but generally full range of motion, lift with legs[not the back!] and arch your back)

2. Lift to failure (every set, every day)

3. Recovery – get enough sleep, don’t work the same muscle groups every day, get enough protein and water!

Can you explain what you mean by “axis”, though?

1. Rhythm. Determine if the rhythm is based on 6 beats or 8 (try counting to the music- most people can get it right the first or second time). If you are having trouble, it is often because the music you heard as a child is different than music you listen to or dance to. For example, European classical music (think waltz) is ‘felt’ as ‘up on the beat’. R & B, Jazz, or anything from an African tradition is ‘felt’ as ‘down on the beat’. Look around at a wedding or club sometime and you will see 40 year old caucasian heads bobbing ‘up’ to the beat of a swing dance, making them feel out of sync with everyone else. Rhythm determines the…..

2. Pattern. Dancing is almost always either side to side, or in a box. You can make these patterns in 3 steps (for example Waltz is 3/4 time -you will recognize appropriate music by counting to 6- danced mainly in a box pattern) or with 4 steps. You never use the same foot twice in a row, you are always ‘walking’. Pattern leads to….

3. Position. Closed (facing partner, held in a partial embrace) or open (facing similar direction as your partner).

Many people find that when these basics become natural, their dancing makes a giant leap forward because they are able to apply ‘improvisation’.

The aspect that I think is most interesting about learning the basics (in any field) is that something happens to the left/analytical side of the brain (to use that metaphor) which quiets it down so that the intuitive side is able to begin to improvise. Improvisation before mastering the basics is usually an ugly affair, but after the basics are learned and become natural- it is what transforms any skilled practitioner into an artist.

Lastly- the act of trying to define the basics for something that your know really well is a fantastic exercise. Joe’s simple explanation of the basics of programming is a beautiful reduction of a very complex skill. Developing this reduction may help you realize you own level of mastery of the basics.

I recently (actually through a series of links from your very own blog) read that:

“the primary hurdles in computer science are..

1. assignment and sequence
2. recursion / iteration
3. concurrency*

.. in that order.”*

So if you try to wrap your head around those basic concepts, and focus on exercises which emphasize them and work with them, I think you might see a great improvement in your programming.

*the site was here: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000635.html

The rock is a series of puzzles. And even though it doesn’t move (the rock), each time you encounter it, you will solve it differently.

I think you would like climbing. If you want to impress someone after you’ve climbed, tell them you “boulder.” Bouldering is ropeless climbing usually only a few feet off the ground and horizontally. Bouldering is your best bet if you like games and puzzles. If you boulder then you are attempting to solve climbing “problems” or end goals along specified or unspecified paths.

Oh one last thing: its very important to keep your waist as close to the rock as possible. This gives you much added stability and sight lines as this will force you to lean backward and look onward to a solution.

Dig your blog.

-drew