A New Frontier Called "Play"

Categories: Uncategorized Nov 23, 2013

The following is a guest article by Mark Limbaga:

Crawling is probably one of the most fun things we can ever do. Its benefits have been shared from countless posts before this one.

On that note, for most of us, crawling is usually done in four directions: forward, backward, to the left and to the right. But with a little creativity, you can actually crawl in different angles leaving no stone left unturned.

In fact, recently, my good friend Aleks "the Hebrew hammer" Salkin made a video about crawling diagonally. This is fun. But now, I think its time to add a little more spice and fun to the mix. I present to you the zigzag crawl:

https://youtu.be/4IVamU8_9B8

With this variation, you not only get to crawl from an angle but you also ensure you are hitting the "x", as we all know, X marks the post right?

What's even better, you are not limited to just one variant. So have fun and experiment with the ZigZag crawl. Try doing it as a baby crawl, a leopard crawl, or even a spiderman crawl. Really, you could try it with any other crawling version you can think of.

Just have fun with it and regain your Original Strength.

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There are a couple of reasons we wanted to show you Mark's post and video:

1) Mark was kind enough to share his passion with us. And,
2) Mark has discovered something through Original Strength that we hope everyone eventually learns how to discover: How to play.

Long ago, people had a sense of adventure - a sense that has all but left most of us. These explorers, or pioneers (risk takers), set out across the globe to discover new lands, new dreams, or new promises of life. Whatever their reasons, these adventurers set out into a new frontier, a new "place" that begged for their imaginations to be satisfied. Through imagination, curiosity, creativity, and adventure our world was discovered by these "explorers".

It is curiosity and exploration that has led to many of the discoveries and wonders of our world. It is the imagination and fantasy of our thoughts that has led to our knowledge and understanding of our universe.

In much the same way, it is the curiosity, imagination, and hunger of a child that allows him to discover what his body can do. Through these discoveries born from a sense of adventure, a child builds and develops a perfectly resilient and capable body.

What do you call curiosity, imagination, exploration, and adventure? Play.

Play is the vehicle that allows us to move into new territory, a new frontier, of what our bodies can do and what they were made to do. Play is what propels us to really lay a foundation of reflexive strength, original strength; both as a child and as an adult.

And that is why we want to celebrate with Mark. He is learning to play, and he is excited about it. In fact, about three weeks after Mark made this ZigZag crawl video, he did a pistol squat holding 2-30 pound kettlebells upside down. If you know what a double bottoms-up pistol squat is, you'll know that this is an awesomely impressive feat of strength. A feat of strength that was made possible by simply playing around and exploring with how his body could move. Check it out:

https://youtu.be/29uBb-zdZmo

When you train, when you move, don't forget to use your imagination and your curiosity. Don't forget to awaken your desire for adventure and exploration. In other words, don't forget to play. It is through playing that we restore and build the body we were meant to have.



Special Thanks to Mark Limbaga!

Mark Limbaga SFG is the first ever Strongfirst Kettlebell instructor out of the Philippines. He is also the strength and conditioning coach of the national boxing team and helps people from all walks of life learn to move and regain control of their bodies.

To learn more about Mark, visit his blog at marklimbagastrength.wordpress.com

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